Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Proposed Disposal and Reuse of Excess Property at Naval Air Station Memphis, Millington, TN

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Proposed

Disposal and Reuse of Excess Property at Naval Air Station Memphis,

Millington, TN

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, as implemented

by the Council on Environmental Quality 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 excess property at Naval Air

Station (NAS) Memphis, Millington, Tennessee.

In accordance with recommendations of the 1993 Base Closure and

Realignment Commission, the Navy plans to realign NAS Memphis. As part

of the realignment, air operations conducted at NAS Memphis will be

either disestablished or transferred to other naval facilities. The

proposed action involves the disposal of the majority of the land,

buildings, and infrastructure associated with the air operations at NAS

Memphis including runways, taxi ways, hangers, etc. Approximately 1500

acres will be declared excess.

The Navy intends to analyze the environmental effects of the

disposal of the excess NAS Memphis property based on the reasonably

foreseeable reuse of the property, taking into account uses identified

by the Millington Base Reuse Committee determined during the scoping

process. It is anticipated that reuse of NAS Memphis will include, but

not be limited to, aviation uses, education or institutional uses,

commercial and light industry, office space, wildlife preserve,

recreational uses, or a combination of those uses. The EIS will

evaluate alternative reuse concepts of the property, including the ``no

action'' alternative, which would be retention of the property by the

Navy in caretaker status. However, due to provisions found in the Base

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

would be considered impractical 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 socio-economic impacts of

the reasonably foreseeable reuse of the property.

The Navy is initiating this 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 June 28, 1994, beginning at 7 p.m., at the Baker

Community Center, 7942 Church Street, Millington, Tennessee. This

meeting will be advertised in Millington 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 commentor believes the EIS

should address.

Written statements and/or questions regarding the scoping process

should be mailed no later than July 31, 1994, to: Commanding Officer,

Southern Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, P.O. Box

190010, North Charleston, SC 29419-9010 (Attn: Mr. Laurens Pitts, Code

203), telephone (803) 743-0893.

Dated: June 6, 1994.

Lewis T. Booker, Jr.,

LCDR, JAGC, USN, Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 94-14081 Filed 6-8-94; 8:45 am]

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