Notice of Intent To Prepare a Joint Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report for the Proposed Disposal and Reuse of Naval Air Station Alameda and the Alameda Annex of the Fleet Industrial Supply Center, Alameda, California

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

Notice of Intent To Prepare a Joint Environmental Impact

Statement/Environmental Impact Report for the Proposed Disposal and

Reuse of Naval Air Station Alameda and the Alameda Annex of the Fleet

Industrial Supply Center, Alameda, California

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

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

Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) and the

California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Department of the

Navy, in association with the City of Alameda, California, announces

its intent to prepare a joint Environmental Impact Statement/

Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the proposed disposal and

reuse of Naval Air Station (NAS) Alameda and the Fleet and Industrial

Supply Center, Oakland, Alameda Annex and Facility (Alameda Annex/

Facility). The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act (Public Law

101-510) of 1990 , as implemented by the base closure process of 1993,

directed the Navy to close NAS Alameda and the Alameda Annex/Facility.

The Navy will be the lead agency for NEPA documentation and the

City of Alameda will be the lead agency for CEQA documentation.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be a cooperating agency for

the NEPA documentation.

NAS Alameda and the Alameda Annex/Facility are located on Alameda

Island, at the western end of the City of Alameda, Alameda County,

California. Alameda Island lies along the eastern side of the San

Francisco Bay adjacent to the City of Oakland.

NAS Alameda is approximately two miles long by one mile wide, and

occupies approximately 2,842 acres, including 1,734 acres of uplands

and 1,108 acres of tidelands. The Base, which is scheduled for

operational closure in April, 1997, is currently developed with

airfield, industrial, office, residential, educational, institutional,

and open space uses.

The Alameda Annex/Facility consists of two parcels which comprise

approximately 188 acres of land area, adjacent to NAS Alameda to the

east and bordered on the north by the Oakland/Alameda Estuary, which

separates Alameda Island from the City of Oakland. It is developed with

warehouses, open spaces, storage and administrative buildings. The

Alameda Annex/Facility is scheduled for operational closure in

September, 1998.

The EIS/EIR will address the disposal of both NAS Alameda and the

Alameda Annex/Facility to public or private entities and the potential

impacts of reuse alternatives. All available property will be disposed

of in accordance with the provisions of applicable laws, including

Public Law 101-510 and applicable federal property disposal

regulations.

The NAS Alameda Community Reuse Plan, developed by the Alameda

Reuse and Redevelopment Authority (ARRA), includes both NAS Alameda and

the Alameda Annex/Facility, and constitutes the preferred Reuse Plan

for the EIS/EIR. The Plan is a mixed use proposal and identifies seven

distinctive reuse sub-areas and recommendations for reuse. The EIS/EIR

will examine the potential impacts to the environment that may result

from the implementation of the preferred Reuse Plan and potential

alternative reuse scenarios. The alternatives may include mixed use,

still based in large part on the Reuse Plan, but emphasizing open

space, a seaport industrial focus, and an option with a limited use

airfield and increased residential uses. A ``no action'' alternative,

which would result in the federal government retaining the property in

an ``inactive'' caretaker status, will also be included.

ADDRESSES: Federal, state and local agencies, and interested

individuals are invited to participate in the scoping process to

determine the range of issues and reuse alternatives to be addressed. A

public scoping meeting to receive oral and written comments will be

held on Wednesday, March 13, 1996, at 7:00 p.m., at the Alameda High

School Cafeteria, located at 2200 Central Avenue, Alameda, California.

In the interest of available time, each speaker will be asked to limit

oral comments to five minutes. In addition, written comments may be

submitted by March 29, 1996, to Mr. Jerry Hemstock, Code 185JH,

Engineering Field Activity West, Naval Facilities Engineering Command,

900 Commodore Drive, San Bruno, California 94066-5006, telephone (415)

244-3023, fax (415) 244-3737. For further information regarding the NAS

Alameda Community Reuse Plan, contact Mr. Paul Tuttle, Alameda Reuse

and Redevelopment Authority, Naval Air Station Postal Directory,

Building 90, Alameda, California 94501-5012, telephone (510) 263-2870,

fax (510) 521-3764.

Dated: February 15, 1996.

M. A. Waters,

LCDR, JAGC, USN, Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 96-3920 Filed 2-21-96; 8:45 am]

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