[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 104 (Friday, May 29, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32365-32366]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11540]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Finding of No
Practicable Alternative for the Proposed Heavy Off-Road Mounted
Maneuver Training Area at Fort Benning, Georgia
AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of the Army (Army) announces the availability
of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed
Heavy Off-Road Mounted Maneuver Training Area (HOMMTA) at Fort Benning,
Georgia. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), the Draft EIS analyzes the potential environmental and
socioeconomic impacts, and recommends related mitigation measures,
associated with constructing, operating, and maintaining a HOMMTA of at
least 2,400 contiguous acres at Fort Benning to support off-road
mounted maneuver (Proposed Action). The Proposed Action would support
the Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) in its mission to train the
maneuver forces of the Army and would increase the total amount of
heavy off-road maneuver training area on Fort Benning, enabling Fort
Benning to conduct realistic training in accordance with current Army
training requirements. The Proposed Action would provide a training
area to meet existing training needs; it would not result in additional
Soldiers, traffic, or any training off of the Installation. Training
land development would occur over a 2- to 3-year period; development
would primarily include vegetation removal and the construction of tank
trails, culverted water crossings, and road upgrades, as well as
burying existing overhead utilities. As feasible, buffers would be used
to protect environmentally sensitive resources such as streams,
wetlands, cemeteries, and archaeological sites. A Draft Finding of No
Practicable Alternative (FONPA) addressing potential impacts on
wetlands and 100-year floodplains is also available in the Draft EIS
for comment.
DATES: Comments must be received by July 13, 2020 to be considered in
the preparation of the Final EIS.
ADDRESSES: Please send written comments to Fort Benning Environmental
Management Division, Attn: NEPA Program Manager, 6650 Meloy Drive,
Building 6, Room 309, Fort Benning, Georgia 31905-5122, or email
comments to john.e.brown12.civ@mail.mil.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact Mr. John Brown, Fort
Benning Environmental Management Division, at (706) 545-7549 between 9
a.m. and 4 p.m. ET. Fort Benning has also established a web page that
contains information updates and background on the HOMMTA and the EIS
at https://www.benning.army.mil/Garrison/DPW/EMD/HOMMTA/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fort Benning plays a critical role in
supporting the Army's overarching mission. As the Army's MCoE, the home
of the Army's Armor and Infantry Schools, Fort Benning must support the
institutional training of Infantry and Armor Soldiers and leaders. The
institutional training conducted at Fort Benning provides Army leaders
with the opportunity to respond to a wide variety of situations that
they can expect to encounter on the modern battlefield. Fort Benning is
also home to several deployable units that conduct off- road mounted
maneuver training, including the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade,
Task Force 1-28 Infantry, and elements of the 75th Ranger Regiment.
Fort Benning must be able to train and develop highly skilled and
cohesive units capable of conducting operations across the full
spectrum of potential conflicts. Inherent in and vital to training
Infantry and Armor Soldiers and leaders properly is the requirement to
provide sufficient heavy off-road mounted maneuver training area.
Currently, the only training area at Fort Benning suitable for heavy
off-road mounted maneuver training is the Good Hope Maneuver Training
Area (GHMTA).
Since the initial development of the GHMTA, the Army's training
strategy has changed to ``cross-domain movement and maneuver'' that
requires additional contiguous area for heavy off-road maneuver. In an
attempt to accommodate this requirement, the Army continued to improve
the off-road maneuver area within the GHMTA. Despite these
improvements, the existing GHMTA landscape contains slopes, streams,
wetlands, and other limitations that cannot support the increased
maneuver training
[[Page 32366]]
requirements of the MCoE and Fort Benning's tenant units. As such, Fort
Benning proposes to construct a new HOMMTA with sufficient contiguous
area to enable all units and courses to complete required cross-domain
movement and maneuver training.
The Draft EIS analyzes the potential environmental and
socioeconomic impacts associated with the Proposed Action, including
direct, indirect, and cumulative effects. Mitigation of adverse effects
through avoidance and environmentally sensitive design, such as
establishment of buffers, would be used to avoid impacts to sensitive
resources to the maximum extent practicable. Where these efforts are
not sufficient to avoid adverse effects, the Draft EIS recommends
additional mitigation measures that the Army may implement to further
reduce identified adverse impacts.
In support of the EIS, the Army is also preparing other studies,
analyses, and permit applications to meet Federal requirements, such as
Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, Sections 401 and 404 of the
Clean Water Act (CWA), and Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act.
The Army identified three reasonable Action Alternatives that would
meet the purpose of and need for the Proposed Action; these three
Action Alternatives (i.e., three distinct locations on Fort Benning
where a HOMMTA could be constructed) are analyzed in detail in the
Draft EIS.
1. Alternative 1 (Preferred Alternative): Northern Mounted Maneuver
Training Area Alternative: This alternative includes approximately
4,724 acres and is located adjacent to and east of the current Northern
Maneuver training Area and west of and near Fort Benning's Digital
Multi-Purpose Range Complex (DMPRC).
Of the Action Alternatives, Alternative 1 would provide the most
preferable size and configuration to enable high-quality heavy off-road
mounted maneuver training. Accordingly, the Army has identified
Alternative 1 as the Preferred Alternative to implement the Proposed
Action.
2. Alternative 2: Red Diamond Alternative: This alternative
includes approximately 3,744 acres and is located south of the Southern
Maneuver Training Area (SMTA) near the Installation's southern
boundary.
3. Alternative 3: Eastern Boundary Alternative: This alternative
includes approximately 2,405 acres and is located between the northern
dudded impact area and the Installation's eastern boundary.
The Army also carried forward the No Action Alternative for
detailed analysis in the Draft EIS. While the No Action Alternative
would not satisfy the purpose of or need for the Proposed Action, this
Alternative was retained to provide a comparative baseline against
which to analyze the effects of the Action Alternatives as required
under the Council on Environmental Quality's NEPA Regulation.
Resource areas analyzed in the Draft EIS include: Land use
(recreation), air quality, noise, soils and topography, water
resources, biological resources, cultural resources, socioeconomics,
infrastructure, and hazardous and toxic materials and waste.
Based on the analysis presented in the Draft EIS, potentially
significant adverse impacts could occur to biological resources (i.e.,
from disturbance of unique ecological areas). Impacts to all other
resource areas would be less-than- significant adverse (i.e.,
negligible, minor, or moderate), or beneficial. Recommended mitigation
measures are presented in the Draft EIS to reduce potential adverse
effects.
All Action Alternatives for the Proposed Action may adversely
impact wetlands and/or 100-year floodplains. Accordingly, the Army has
also prepared a Draft FONPA to comply with Executive Order (E.O.)
11988, Floodplain Management, and E.O. 11990, Protection of Wetlands.
As described in the Draft EIS, environmental protection measures (e.g.,
buffers from heavy maneuver training) and regulatory compliance
measures (e.g., permitting under Sections 401 and 404 of the CWA) would
be implemented to minimize adverse impacts on these resources.
Government agencies, Native American Tribes, and the public are
invited to review and comment on the Draft EIS. The public comment
period begins with the publication of this Notice of Availability in
the Federal Register and will last for 45 days. The Draft EIS and Draft
FONPA are available to the public on the HOMMTA web page at https://www.benning.army.mil/Garrison/DPW/EMD/HOMMTA/. The comment period will
also include a public meeting that will provide an opportunity for the
public to comment about the Proposed Action, Alternatives, and
environmental impact analysis. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and the
need to maintain social distancing, Fort Benning will host the public
meeting by telephone. Specific details of the telephone meeting will be
announced in local media and on the HOMMTA website, https://www.benning.army.mil/Garrison/DPW/EMD/HOMMTA/. The HOMMTA Draft EIS and
meeting materials will be provided online at https://fortbenning.consultation.ai/. If you cannot access the meeting
materials online, please submit a request to Mr. John Brown at
john.e.brown12.civ@mail.mil or by mail to address provided above so
materials can be sent to you. Please ensure your request is postmarked
no later than June 15, 2020 so that Fort Benning can mail the meeting
materials prior to the telephone meeting date. Later requests for
documents will be accepted, but the requests may not be fulfilled prior
to the HOMMTA telephone meeting date.
Following the public comment period, the Army will consider all
public comments and prepare a Final EIS and Record of Decision prior to
making any decision regarding the Proposed Action. Comments must be
received or postmarked by July 13, 2020 to be considered during
preparation of the Final EIS.
Brenda S. Bowen,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-11540 Filed 5-28-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5061-AP-P