Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Disposal and Reuse of Naval Air Station Dallas, Texas

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the

Disposal and Reuse of Naval Air Station Dallas, Texas

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as

implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations

(40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the Department of the Navy announces its

intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate

the environmental effects of the disposal and reuse of Naval Air

Station (NAS) Dallas, Texas.

Pursuant to 40 CFR 1501.6, the Federal Aviation Administration will

be a cooperating agency in the preparation of the EIS.

In accordance with recommendations of the 1993 Base Closure and

Realignment Commission, the Navy plans to close NAS Dallas and to

relocate functions and operations to other Department of Defense

locations. The off-station housing area in Duncanville, Texas, is also

being closed and a separate Environmental Assessment is being prepared

for this action.

The proposed action to be addressed in the EIS is the disposal of

Navy-owned portions of NAS Dallas based on the reasonably foreseeable

reuse of NAS Dallas, taking into account uses identified by the NAS

Dallas Redevelopment Committee. A major portion of the base

(approximately 75 percent of the real estate) is leased to the U.S.

Government by the City of Dallas and will be returned to the City in

accordance with the terms of the lease agreement. The Navy intends to

analyze the environmental effects of the reuse of NAS Dallas, which is

anticipated to include, but not be limited to, aviation support uses,

commercial and light industry, office space, or a combination of those

uses. In accordance with CEQ regulations, the ``no action'' alternative

of Navy retention of NAS Dallas in a caretaker status will also be

addressed in the EIS. However, because of the process mandated by the

Base Closure and Realignment Act, selection of the ``no action''

alternative would be considered impracticable for the Navy to

implement.

Major environmental issues that will be addressed in the EIS

include, but are not limited to, air quality, water quality, wetlands,

endangered species, cultural resources, and socioeconomic impacts.

The Navy will initiate a scoping process for the purpose of

determining the scope of issues to be addressed and for identifying the

significant issues related to this action. The Navy will hold a public

scoping meeting on Thursday, June 2, 1994, beginning at 7:30 p.m., at

the Building 12 auditorium on NAS Dallas. This meeting will be

advertised in the Dallas and Grand Prairie area newspapers.

A brief presentation will precede request for public comment. Navy

representatives will be available at this meeting to receive comments

from the public regarding issues of concern to the public. It is

important that federal, state, and local agencies and interested

individuals take this opportunity to identify environmental concerns

that should be addressed during the preparation of the EIS. In the

interest of available time, each speaker will be asked to limit oral

comments to five minutes.

Agencies and the public are also invited and encouraged to provide

written comment in addition to, or in lieu of, oral comments at the

public meeting. To be most helpful, scoping comments should clearly

describe specific issues or topics which the commenter believes the EIS

should address. Written statements and/or questions regarding the

scoping process should be mailed no later than June 30, 1994, to

Commanding Officer, Southern Division, Naval Facilities Engineering

Command, P.O. Box 190010, North Charleston, SC 29419-9010 (Attn: Mr.

Darrell Molzan, Code 203DM), telephone (803) 743-0796, Fax (803) 743-

0993.

Dated: May 13, 1994.

Lewis T. Booker, Jr.,

LCDR, JAGC, USN, Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 94-12111 Filed 5-17-94; 8:45 am]

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