Revised Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and To Open Scoping for the Disposal and Reuse of Long Beach Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, CA

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

Revised Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement and To Open Scoping for the Disposal and Reuse of Long Beach

Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, CA

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2) of the National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as implemented by the Council on

Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), the

Department of the Navy announced in the Federal Register (September 3,

1996) its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and

to open scoping to evaluate the environmental effects associated with

the disposal and reuse of Long Beach Naval Shipyard (NSY), Long Beach,

California.

This Revised Notice of Intent supersedes the previous notice and

sets a new date for a scoping meeting. Long Beach NSY is located in

Long Beach Harbor, immediately east of Long Beach Naval Station, and

includes approximately 259 acres of real estate. Of this, approximately

4 acres will be retained as a government-owned, contractor-operated

parcel, and 85 acres will revert automatically to the City of Long

Beach in conformance with the original deed which transferred land from

the City to the Navy. These parcels are not included as part of the

disposal and reuse of the Long Beach NSY. The proposed action involves

the disposal of land, buildings, and infrastructure for subsequent

reuse of the remaining 170 acres.

As a result of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act (DBCRA)

of 1990 (Public Law 101-510), and in accordance with the Base

Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process of 1995, Long Beach NSY is

slated for operational closure on September 30, 1997. The DBCRA, as

amended by the Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996,

established procedures to minimize hardships on local communities

adversely affected by base closures and to facilitate economic recovery

of such communities. In this regard, job creation and economic

development are given the highest priority in the reuse of closed

military

[[Page 51086]]

bases, in accordance with objectives for disposal of federal property.

The Secretary of the Navy must consider the community's

redevelopment plan proposed for the base slated for closure. The

development plan is a plan approved by the Local Redevelopment

Authority (LRA) which provides for the reuse or redevelopment of the

closed military installation. The City of Long Beach was designated as

the LRA by the Secretary of Defense. The City of Long Beach has

prepared a reuse plan (July 1996) with recommendations for the reuse of

surplus Long Beach Naval Shipyard property.

An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is being prepared by the

Department of the Navy in accordance with NEPA and DBCRA requirements.

The EIS will analyze the environmental effect of the disposal and reuse

of the Long Beach NSY. The environmental studies will be based on the

reasonably foreseeable reuse of the existing buildings and

redevelopment of the site. The EIS will analyze three reuse

alternatives in an equal level of detail and a ``no action''

alternative. The proposed action is the disposal of the base for reuse.

Alternative 1 is consistent with the reuse plan proposed by the LRA and

would involve demolition of three piers, two dry-docks (one large dry-

dock would remain), and most buildings. These would be replaced by a

152-acre container terminal; an intermodal railyard; an 18-acre (one

pier) shipyard facility surrounding the remaining dry-dock, with a

100,000 square-foot support building (possibly an existing building);

and six 500,000-barrel tanks in a 36-acre liquid bulk facility.

Alternative 2, Two-pier Shipyard, would be identical to the proposed

action except that the shipyard area would be expanded to 32 acres and

contain 2 piers and some additional buildings. Alternative 3,

Commercial Shipyard, would involve the conversion of the existing

shipyard for commercial use. Under this alternative, all the piers and

dry-docks would remain and most of the buildings could be reused. The

EIS will also address any alternatives that are raised during the

public scoping process. Environmental issues to be addressed in the EIS

include: geology, topography, and soils; hydrology; biology; noise; air

quality; land use; historic and archaeological resources; socio-

economic; transportation/circulation; public facilities/recreation;

safety and environmental health; aesthetics; and utilities. Issue

analysis will include an evaluation of the direct, indirect, short-

term, and cumulative impacts associated with the proposed action. The

decision to implement the proposed action will not be made until the

NEPA process is complete.

ADDRESSES: The Department of the Navy will initiate a scoping process

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

for identifying significant issues relative to this action. A public

meeting to allow oral comments from the public will be held at the Long

Beach Public Library, Main Branch, 101 Pacific Avenue, Long Beach,

California on October 17, 1996 at 7:00 P.M. This meeting will be

advertised in area newspapers. Navy representatives will be available

at the scoping meeting to receive comments from the public regarding

issues of concern. A brief presentation describing the disposal and

NEPA processes will precede request for public comments. It is

important that federal, state, and local agencies, as well as

interested organizations and individuals, take this opportunity to

identify environmental concerns that they feel should be addressed

during the preparation of the EIS.

Agencies and the public are invited and encouraged to provide

written comments 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 that the commenter believes the EIS

should address. Written comments or questions regarding the scoping

process and/or EIS should be postmarked no later than October 28, 1996

and sent to the following address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Melanie Ault (Code 232MA), BRAC

Program Office, Southwest Division, Naval Facilities Engineering

Command, 1420 Kettner Boulevard, Suite 507, San Diego, CA 92101-2404;

telephone (619) 556-0250 Ext. 226.

Dated: September 25, 1996.

D.E. Koenig,

LCDR, JAGC, USN, Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 96-24962 Filed 9-27-96; 8:45 am]

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