Public Hearing for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Base Realignment of the Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, MD

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

Public Hearing for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for

Base Realignment of the Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division,

Patuxent River, MD

Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR

Parts 1500-1508) implementing procedural provisions of the National

Environmental Policy Act, the Department of the Navy has prepared and

filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the Draft

Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Base Realignment of the Naval

Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), Patuxent River,

Maryland.

In response to the recommendations of the 1993 Defense Base Closure

and Realignment Commission and to legislative requirements in the 1990

Base Closure and Realignment Act (Public Law 101-510), NAWCAD Trenton,

New Jersey is relocating functions to NAWCAD Patuxent River, Maryland.

In addition, the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) headquarters will

be relocating administrative offices from Arlington, Virginia, to

NAWCAD Patuxent River. NAVAIR is currently a tenant command at NAWCAD

Patuxent River, providing test, evaluation and support for various base

activities. Proposed construction includes a 462,500 square foot NAVAIR

Headquarters building; a 100,000 square foot Propulsion System

Evaluation Facility (PSEF) that comprises engine test facilities and

laboratories; and a 3,650 square foot expansion of the child-care

facility. The proposed construction also includes a parking garage,

surface parking lots, stormwater detention basins, fuel supply for the

PSEF, and on-base widening and realignment of Buse Road. The

realignment involves the transfer of approximately 2,800 personnel (500

military and 2,300 civil service) and their families to the tri-county

region of Saint Mary's, Calvert, and Charles Counties.

The DEIS has been distributed to various Federal, state, and local

agencies, elected officials, special interest groups, local libraries,

and the media. A limited number of single copies are available at the

address listed at the end of this notice.

A public hearing to inform the public of the DEIS findings and to

solicit comments will be held on Thursday, September 15, 1994, at 7:00

p.m., in the Joseph E. Carter Office Building, Saint Mary's County

Governmental Center, State Route 245, Leonardtown, Maryland. The pubic

hearing will be conducted by the Navy. Federal, state, and local

agencies, and interested parties are invited and urged to be present or

represented at the hearing. Oral statements will be heard and

transcribed by a stenographer, however, to assure accuracy of the

record, all statements should be submitted in writing. All statements,

both oral and written. In the interest of available time, each speaker

will be asked to limit oral comments to five (5) minutes. Longer

statements should be summarized at the public hearing and submitted in

writing either at the hearing or mailed to the address listed at the

end of this announcement. All written statements must be postmarked by

October 11, 1994, to become part of the official record.

Additional information concerning this notice may be obtained by

contacting Mr. Mike Bryan (Code 20N), Engineering Field Activity

Chesapeake, 901 M Street SE, Building 212, Washington Navy Yard,

Washington, DC 20374-5018, telephone (202) 685-3061.

Dated: August 25, 1994.

P.W. Kelley,

Capt., Jagc, USN, Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 94-21438 Filed 8-31-94; 8:45 am]

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