Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement/ Environmental Impact Report for Treated Effluent Disposal from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton to the City of Oceanside, California

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement/

Environmental Impact Report for Treated Effluent Disposal from Marine

Corps Base Camp Pendleton to the City of Oceanside, California

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act as implemented by

Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508),

and pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CA Public

Resources Code Sec et. seq. 21000) the U.S. Marine Corps and City of

Oceanside intend to prepare a joint Environmental Impact Statement/

Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) to evaluate the environmental

effects of the disposal of treated effluent from five existing sewage

treatment plants at Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Pendleton to the City

of Oceanside, California.

The proposed action would construct two new sewage pipelines to

connect five existing sewage treatment plants in the Santa Margarita

Basin in MCB Camp Pendleton to existing sewage outfalls in the City of

Oceanside. One proposed pipeline would transport treated effluent from

three existing sewage treatment plants at MCB Camp Pendleton to the

existing outfall serving the La Salina sewage treatment plant in the

City of Oceanside. A second proposed pipeline would transport treated

effluent from two existing sewage treatment plants at MCB Camp

Pendleton to the existing outfall serving the San Luis Rey sewage

treatment plant in the City of Oceanside. All effluent from these

pipelines at MCB Camp Pendleton would then be transported for ocean

disposal via existing City of Oceanside land and ocean outfalls. No

[[Page 9328]] additional treatment of MCB Camp Pendleton effluent would

be provided by City of Oceanside sewage treatment plants.

Alternatives currently under consideration that will be addressed

in the EIS/EIR include construction of a new tertiary sewage treatment

plant at MCB Camp Pendleton, upgrade and consolidation of existing

sewage treatment plants, injection wells, percolation ponds, and no

action. Alternative pipeline alignments will also be evaluated.

Major environmental issues that will be addressed in the EIS/EIR

include land use, hydrology, water quality, air quality, biological

resources, cultural resources, noise, traffic/circulation/access,

public services and utilities, human health and safety, and hazardous

materials and waste management.

The Department of the Navy published a Notice Of Intent in the

Federal Register on September 26, 1991, initiating a scoping process

for preparation of an EIS/EIR for a sewage effluent compliance project

at MCB Camp Pendleton for the San Onofre and Santa Margarita Basins. A

scoping meeting was held in the City of Oceanside on October 17, 1991,

and an EIS/EIR was begun. Since that time, the proposed action has been

revised as additional studies have been undertaken, and additional

alternatives have been identified that needed to be evaluated. While

the EIS/EIR for the San Onofre basin is continuing, the EIS/EIR for the

Santa Margarita basin is beginning. Therefore, the scoping process is

being reopened until March 6, 1995, in order to collect additional

comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the EIS/EIR for the

Santa Margarita basin proposed action. However, no additional scoping

meetings will be held.

Agencies and the public are invited and encouraged to provide

written comment on scoping issues. To be most helpful, scoping comments

should clearly describe specific issues or topics which the commentor

believes the EIS/EIR should address. Written statements and or

questions regarding the scoping process should be mailed no later than

March 6, 1995 to Commanding Officer, Southwest Division, Naval

Facilities Engineering Command, 1220 Pacific Highway, San Diego,

California 92132-5190, (Attn: Ms. Sheila Donovan, Code 2032), telephone

(619) 532-3624.

Dated: February 13, 1995.

Robert Watkins,

Colonel, USMC, Head, Land Use and Military Construction Branch,

Facilities and Services Division, Installations and Logistics

Department.

[FR Doc. 95-3983 Filed 2-16-95; 8:45 am]

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