Job Corps: Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the New Job Corps Center on Treasure Island, in San Francisco Bay, CA

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Job Corps: Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)

for the New Job Corps Center on Treasure Island, in San Francisco Bay,

CA

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration.

ACTION: Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the

new Job Corps Center on Treasure Island, in San Francisco Bay,

California.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations

(40 CFR Part 1500-08) implementing procedural provisions of the

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Department of Labor,

Employment and Training Administration, Office of Job Corps, in

accordance with 29 CFR 11.11(d), gives notice that an Environmental

Assessment (EA) has been prepared and the proposed plans for the

establishment of a Job Corps Center on Treasure island in San Francisco

Bay, California, will have no significant environmental impact.

Pursuant to 29 CFR 11.11(d)(1), this Preliminary Finding of No

Significant Impact will be made available for public review and comment

for thirty (30) days.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by February 10, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Any comment(s) are to be submitted to Lynn Kotecki,

Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor, 200

Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC, 20210, (202) 219-5468.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Copies of the EA and additional

information are available to interested parties by contacting Marta

Aguilar-Dugan, Region IX (Nine), Office of Job Corps, 71 Stevenson

Street, Suite 1015, San Francisco, California, 94119, (415) 744-6658.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the proposed action is to

create a new Job Corps Center in the San Francisco Bay Area that would

provide up to 850 enrollees with training and support services in a

residential environment. The Job Corps training and services include

basic education, vocational skills training, work

[[Page 2797]]

experience, counseling, health care, and related support services. The

program is intended to prepare participants to obtain and hold gainful

employment, pursue further education or training, or satisfy entrance

requirements for service in the Armed Forces.

The Proposed Job Corps Center will be developed on land and in

buildings now occupied by the United States Navy. The Job Corps would

occupy about 35.5 acres of the 403-acre Treasure island. Treasure

Island is located adjacent to Yerba Buena Island and the San Francisco-

Oakland Bay Bridge in San Francisco Bay. Naval Station Treasure Island

will be closed by the Department of Defense on September 30, 1997. The

Job Corps Center has been proposed as one of the first non-military

uses of the base, and is planned for implementation before the base

closure is fully complete.

The Job Corps Center would be planned for an optimum capacity of

720 single residents and 130 non-resident students. It is estimated

that many of the non-residents would be single parents with up to 60

children that would use child care services available to the Job Corps

on Treasure island. Therefore, a total of 910 people would be served at

the Center.

The Job Corps would take possession of a total of 470,347 gross

square feet of floor space in twelve existing buildings. The streets,

sidewalks, parking lots, and utility systems serving the buildings are

in place and mature landscaping is found around many of the structures.

Job Corps' estimates of the rehabilitation work that would be

necessary to adapt these buildings to meet the needs of their programs

indicates that 3 of the buildings would need no rehabilitation work, 2

would require major renovation and the remaining 7 would require minor

to moderate modifications. The buildings that would require no work

include the following: Building 363, which houses an existing Job Corps

sponsored Culinary Arts school (with about 120 students); Building 368,

the cafeteria; and Building 364, which would be reserved for future

upgrading by Job Corps' vocational training students. Minor

rehabilitation, such as upgrading of fire doors, HVAC, electrical and

plumbing systems and interior space conversions to meet Job Corps

needs, would be undertaken in Buildings 369, 450, 487, 488, and 489.

Building 365 would require moderate rehabilitation work to reconfigure

the existing space into storage. Loading docks and a freight elevator

would be added. An area on the second floor of Building 442, the 3-year

old medical/dental building would be reconfigured to provide medical

wards.

The buildings slated for major rehabilitation are Buildings 366 and

367. Building 366 would be reconfigured from open bay dormitories to

vocational shops. The bathrooms would have to be converted to male/

female facilities and an interior elevator would be added. Building 367

would be reconfigured from an open bay dormitory to classroom space.

The bathrooms would also have to be reconfigured and an elevator

installed.

The only new building anticipated at this time would be a building

to house recreational facilities for the students on the ``campus''.

The size and configuration of the building has not been defined,

although it is expected that it would be located on what is now a 1.5-

acre grassy playing field/landscaped area near Buildings 369, 488 and

489, which would be dormitories.

Treasure Island, the site of the proposed project, is a manmade

island of about 403 acres. It was built on Yerba Buena Shoals and a

sand spit extending north from Yerba Buena Island between 1936 and 1939

as the site for the Golden Gate International Exposition. The island

was constructed from sediments dredged from San Francisco Bay. The

Exposition or ``World's Fair'' opened on the island in February 1939

and had a second run in 1940.

A few months after the Fair closed, the Navy leased Treasure Island

from San Francisco and the Yerba Buena-based Naval activities spread

out to cover both islands. The island became a major naval facility

during World War II, and has operated as a Naval Base continuously

since. After the war, the City of San Francisco agreed to trade the

deed to Treasure Island in exchange for Government owned land south of

San Francisco where the San Francisco International Airport was

eventually built.

Exiting buildings on Treasure Island, today, includes three Naval

training center facilities, 907 family-housing units, 1,000 bachelor

quarters, medical/dental clinics, a brig, 5 active piers, recreational

facilities, a school and a child-care center, a commissary, a sewage

treatment plant, fire station, Naval Public Works department and a

variety of other facilities. The Treasure Island Museum is located in

the Headquarters building, which is one of only three remaining

structures built for the 1939 Exposition.

Treasure Island is considered an urban setting and is located

within the boundaries of the City and County of San Francisco. As a

federal/military enclave within the City, the Island has not been

subject to local planning and zoning regulations; San Francisco is

currently beginning work on a reuse plan for conversion of the Island

from military to civilian use.

The project will help offset the substantial population and

employment loses that are occurring in the Bay Area from the Navy's

base closure actions affecting Treasure Island and other nearby

facilities. The Job Corps will replace more than 10% of the Navy's

current Treasure Island population, which will decline to zero by late

1997.

The Job Corps Center will also provide employment opportunities for

teachers and support staff, and will purchase goods and services from

the surrounding communities. This will offset a small proportion of the

economic losses to the region from the base closure actions. The

ability of the Job Corps to begin functioning on the site before the

Navy leaves Treasure Island in 1997 is considered a benefit, as it will

help smooth the transition from military to civilian employment on the

site.

The San Francisco Bay Area is considered one of the most

earthquake-prone areas of the United States. Treasure Island lies

approximately 11 miles east of the San Andreas Fault and 10 miles west

of the Hayward Fault, both major faults. It is estimated that there is

a 90 percent probability that one or more large earthquakes (magnitude

7 or greater) will occur in the San Francisco Bay region during the 30-

year period between 1990 and 2020.

Since there are no active or buried faults located beneath Treasure

Island, the risk of ground rupture due to fault displacement is very

low. However, the island is potentially subject to violent to extremely

violent ground shaking and there is a high potential for liquefaction

in the event of major earthquake. Previous Navy studies of buildings on

Treasure Island have determined that only Building 2 and 3 are likely

to sustain more than 25 percent damage should a significant earthquake

event occur. The Job Corps would have no activities in Buildings 1 or

2. However, the Job Corps will consider seismic forces and risks to

buildings occupants when retrofiting the existing Navy buildings to

meet Job Corps requirements.

The potential for major seismic activity around the Pacific Rim

places Treasure Island at risk to damage from Tsunamis. Tsunamis having

a wave height or runup of 8 feed at Treasure Island can be expected to

occur once every 200 years. The possibility of a Tsunamis is considered

to be a low risk, particularly since the Job Corps Center

[[Page 2798]]

would be protected behind the Island's perimeter dike, the top of which

is more than 8 feet above sea level. The emergency preparedness and

response plan for this facility will consider warning and response

protocols for this risk.

The proposed Job Corps Center will not have any significant impacts

on natural systems or resources. Implementation of the existing

Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan for Treasure Island will reduce

the risks of stormwater pollution of San Francisco Bay as a result of

activities on the Island. The project will not introduce any

significant new sources of potential pollution to the Island.

Treasure Island, including the area where the Job Corps activities

would be centered is not considered a valuable, unique or sensitive

natural area. The Job Corps would utilize existing buildings and urban

spaces for the same, or similar uses that have been continuing for

decades. The Project is not expected to have any adverse effects on

vegetation and wildlife including rare, threatened or endangered

species of plants or animals.

It is not expected that the Job Corps programs will introduce any

new stationary sources of air pollutant emissions; however, if any

future vocational training programs involve the use of equipment

requiring permits to operate from the BAAQMD, such permits will be

sought and the conditions met. The majority of the Job Corps students

at Treasure Island will be residential students and will contribute

proportionately fewer vehicle miles, hence fewer air pollutants, than

most residents of the Bay Area. No adverse impacts on air quality are

projected.

No long-term adverse noise impacts are expected. The Job Corps site

is outside the traffic noise impact zone of the Bay Bridge, and no

significant impacts from local traffic noise is expected. The site may

currently be within the 60 dBA CNEL zone of flights from Alameda Naval

Air Station. However, since Alameda Naval Air Station is being closed

concurrently with Treasure Island, this potential impact will be

temporary and no special mitigation is deemed necessary.

Construction work necessary for the modification and upgrading of

some of the existing buildings would result in short-term noise

impacts, although most noisy work would occur inside the building

shells. Air compressors, trucks, lifts, concrete pumpers, and other

equipment would be operated around the buildings undergoing remodeling

and could result in short-term noise impacts at surrounding locations.

To mitigate these potential impacts, construction activities will be

limited to the hours of 7AM to 6PM, and sound control devices and

muffled exhausts will be required on noise-generating equipment.

The existing streetlighting and security lighting systems are

expected to remain in place. The addition of the Job Corps Center to

Treasure Island will not affect existing views of nighttime lights on

Treasure Island from off-site locations. No impacts are expected.

Treasure Island contains no archeological or prehistoric resources

as it was constructed with materials dredged form the bottom of San

Francisco Bay.

The only buildings on the Island found to have historical

importance are Buildings 1, 2 and 3. None of these buildings are within

the area that would be used by the Job Corps. It is concluded that the

project would not have any impacts on historic or archeological

resources.

No electricity, natural gas, telephone or cable telephone services

would have to be extended nor would the capacity of any supply lines

have to be increased to serve the project.

The Jobs Corps will be dependent upon the central steam heating

system on Treasure Island for space heating. It is now known who will

be responsible for this utility service after the Navy leaves. The Job

Corps will work with the Navy and City of San Francisco during the Base

Closure and Realignment process to ensure that this utility service

will remain operational or that a substitute is implemented prior to

base closure.

Water supply for domestic use and firefighting is adequate to meet

the project's needs.

The existing sewage treatment plant has ample capacity to

adequately treat and dispose of the sewage generated by the proposed

project. Because some of the buildings will be changed from residential

to instructional facilities, the Job Corps will generate less sewage

from the same complex of buildings than the Navy has in the past.

Solid waste disposal will continue to be provided by private

contractors.

The project's impact upon daily peak hour traffic on the Bay Bridge

by Job Corps personnel will be an addition of fewer than 150 round

trips, which is less than 20 percent of the traffic generated by the

Naval Station in recent years. This traffic will have little or no

effect on the Bay Bridge traffic, and is not considered a significant

impact.

Job Corps personnel will experience difficulty merging onto the Bay

Bridge during peak traffic periods, just as Navy personnel do today and

have in the past. It is not known if San Francisco's reuse plan for

Treasure Island will consider improvements to these sub-standard access

ramps. Nor is it known if such improvements are physically feasible at

a reasonable cost. The Job Corps will work with the City of San

Francisco during the reuse planning process to ensure that access

improvements for Treasure Island are carefully considered and

evaluated.

Medical services will be available to Job Corps personnel from the

medical/dental clinic which the Job Corps will acquire from the Navy.

Treasure Island is within the jurisdiction of the San Francisco

Police Department. Police services will be provided by the City and

County of San Francisco with support from military police as long as

the Navy remains on the base. Subsequently, the San Francisco Police

Department will be responsible for all calls for service from the

Island. The proposed Job Corps Center's potential need for police

services is not expected to have a significant impact on the City and

County of San Francisco.

Fire services will be provided by the Navy until base closure. At

that time the operation of the Fire Station will be the responsibility

of the City and County of San Francisco. San Francisco is also expected

to address the fire services in the Reuse Plan.

Preliminary screening has indicated that radon gas is not a

significant concern at Treasure Island. No impacts are expected.

Asbestos may have been used in the building materials for seven or

eight of the twelve structures to be acquired by the Job Corps. The Job

Corps will survey the buildings for asbestos-containing materials and

abate them as necessary in conjunction with the other rehabilitation

efforts required to adapt the buildings to Job Corps uses. Any

asbestos-containing materials removed from the buildings will be

disposed of at licensed, off-site facilities in accordance with Federal

and State regulations. Completion of the abatement program will

eliminate any potential health hazards from asbestos.

Compliance with the Federal Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard

Reduction Act of 1992 by the Navy and/or the Department of Labor is

expected to adequately address any potential lead-based paint hazards

at the facility.

Water supplied to Treasure Island is well within the Federal

drinking water quality standards for lead. No adverse impacts upon the

water supply are expected.

[[Page 2799]]

There are twenty Installation Restoration sites on Treasure Island

containing hazardous wastes cataloged by the Navy. None of these are

located within the confines of the area that would be transferred to

the Department of Labor for the proposed Job Corps facility. Two of the

seventy-five Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) on the base are within

the boundaries of the Job Corps site. These underground storage tanks

have been removed. One of the sites requires further remediation work,

consisting of the removal and treatment of soil with petroleum

hydrocarbon contamination and, possibly, the treatment of contaminated

groundwater. Groundwater beneath Treasure Island is not withdrawn for

any domestic or irrigation use. Remediation of this UST site will be

completed by the Navy before base closure is complete. The Navy intends

to conduct all remediation work with proper site safety protocols; no

adverse impacts are projected.

PCB-containing transformers have been removed from Treasure Island.

One of the identified Installation Restoration sites, which will be

cleaned, has PCB contamination. This site, however, is far from the

buildings that will be utilized by the Job Corps. No impacts from PCB

contamination are projected.

Naval Station Treasure Island is a regulated hazardous waste

generator. The sources of hazardous wastes generated on the Island are

primarily in the military training and industrial activities on the

site, which are concentrated on the eastern and southern sides of the

Island. Activities resulting in the generation of hazardous waste do

not occur in the residential and administrative buildings that would be

used by the Job Corps. The medical/dental building generates small

quantities of medical wastes, which are disposed of in accordance with

appropriate regulations. It is presumed that these practices will be

continued by the Department of Labor, as required by law, upon transfer

of the medical building. No adverse impacts to Job Corps personnel is

expected as a result of on-site chemical use.

On February 3, 1994 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Select

Committee on Base Closure conducted a Public Hearing on the proposed

location of a Job Corps Center at Treasure Island. The Public Hearing

was attended by approximately 37 people, of which 18 offered comments

and testimony. Every piece of testimony offered was in support of the

project; no testimony was submitted, in person or in writing, that

questioned or opposed a Job Corps Center at Treasure Island.

The Alternatives considered in the preparation of the EA were: (1)

The ``No Build'' Alternative, (2) the ``Alternative Sites''

Alternative, and (3) the ``Continued as Proposed'' alternative. The

``No Build'' Alternative would mean that the Department of Labor would

not proceed with plans for development of the proposed Job Corps Center

on Treasure Island, and a unique opportunity for the youth of the area

to educationally benefit from a Job Corps would be forgone. Although

choosing the ``No Build'' would result in no environmental impact upon

the area, the opportunity to obtain land and buildings that can be

adapted to meet Job Corps need would also be lost. The benefits to the

City of San Francisco and to the region from the location of an

expanded Job Corps presence on Treasure Island would also be foregone.

The Job Corps has investigated alternative locations in the Bay

Area for the proposed center. However, the alternative sites were

rejected in favor of Treasure Island because none of these sites have

the potential to be adapted to Job Corps functions as quickly or as

cost effectively as the Treasure Island site. In addition, two of the

sites were within or adjacent to residential areas and the proposed

Presidio, much of which will be redeveloped as a Park. The other site

was considered significantly constrained due to soil contamination.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Select Committee on Base

closure conducted a Public Hearing on February 3, 1994, regarding the

proposed location of a Job Corps Center at Treasure Island. The Public

Hearing was attended by approximately 37 people. The results of the

hearing confirmed that there was unanimous support from all

participants at the hearing for a Job Corps Center at Treasure Island.

Based on the information gathered during the preparation of the EA

for the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration,

the Office of Job Corps finds that the development of the Treasure

Island Job Corps Center will not cause any significant impact on the

environment and, therefore, recommends that the project continue as

proposed. This proposed action is not considered to be highly

controversial.

Dated at Washington, DC, this 23rd day of December 1994.

Peter E. Rell,

Director of Job Corps.

[FR Doc. 95-673 Filed 1-10-95; 8:45 am]

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