Record of Decision for the Establishment of the United States Navy Mine Warfare Center of Excellence in the Corpus Christi Bay Area, Texas

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

Record of Decision for the Establishment of the United States

Navy Mine Warfare Center of Excellence in the Corpus Christi Bay Area,

Texas

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

Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and the Council on Environmental Quality

regulations implementing NEPA procedures (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), the

Department of the Navy announces its decision to establish the Mine

Warfare Center of Excellence (MWCE) in the Corpus Christi Bay area by

collocating its Mine Warfare (MIW) and Mine Counter Measures (MCM)

assets in proximity to each other at Naval Station (NAVSTA) Ingleside

and Naval Air Station (NAS) Corpus Christi, Texas. The proposed action

includes new construction at these installations and off-base, use of

or modification to existing facilities at the installations, and the

establishment of offshore training and operating areas.

Congress directed the Navy to establish the MWCE at NAVSTA

Ingleside in the FY94 Defense Appropriations Act. A Notice of Intent

(NOI) was published in the Federal Register on November 19, 1993,

indicating the Department of the Navy would prepare an Environmental

Impact Statement (EIS) for the establishment of the United States Navy

Mine Warfare Center of Excellence in the Corpus Christi Bay Area,

Texas. Two public scoping meetings were held to determine the scope of

significant issues to be examined in the EIS. The first meeting was

held on December 7, 1993 in Flour Bluff, Texas, and the second meeting

was held on December 8, 1993 in Corpus Christi, Texas. A Draft EIS

(DEIS) was filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

and distributed to agencies and officials of federal, state, and local

governments, citizen's groups and associations, media, public

libraries, and interested parties for review and comments. The Notice

of Filing and Notice of Public Availability appeared in the Federal

Register on May 5, 1995. The period of public review and comment on the

DEIS was from May 5, 1995 through June 19, 1995. Two public hearings

were held during this period: the first on June 6, 1995 in Flour Bluff,

Texas, and the second on June 7, 1995 in Ingleside, Texas. Comments on

the DEIS were received in three forms: (1) Letters, (2) written

comments received at the public hearings, and (3) oral statements made

at the hearings. Comments included concerns about habitat impacts,

terrestrial vegetation impacts, seagrass impacts, mitigation, water

quality, landuse, wildlife impacts, and surfing impacts. Those comments

and Navy responses were incorporated into the Final Environmental

Impact Statement (FEIS), which was filed with the EPA on December 15,

1995 and distributed for public review.

Two letters of comments were received during public review of the

FEIS. The Office of the Governor had no substantive comment and the EPA

reiterated its ``lack of objection'' rating given on the DEIS.

The EIS evaluated the reasonable facility alternatives to

implementing the proposed action in the Corpus Christi Bay area and the

environmental impacts of the construction, modification, and operation

of the proposed facilities and establishment of offshore training and

operating areas. In addition to the various facility alternatives

discussed in the EIS, a ``No Action'' alternative was evaluated. In the

``No Action'' alternative, an MWCE would not be established leaving

assets and facilities spread out at several locations. This alternative

was eliminated because it would continue to degrade the Navy's ability

to properly perform its expeditionary warfare mission in support of

possible contingencies world-wide. This alternative also would not

comply with Congressional direction.

New facility construction includes a Magnetic Silencing Facility

(MSF), required to measure the magnetic signature of MIW ships, to be

located at a site north of Jewell Fulton Canal near NAVSTA Ingleside.

The MSF consists of two components: An electromagnetic roll (EMR)

``crib'' and a ``check'' range. The EMR ``crib'' requires 27 feet of

water depth, navigable access to the pier, and a turning basin. The

facility will consist of two parallel timber piers approximately 50

feet apart and 320 feet long that are 14 feet wide, an instrument

building, and a generator building. The ``check'' range will consist of

a Closed Loop Degaussing (CLDG) component built over the ``crib'' with

minimum modification to the proposed pier configuration to accommodate

all classes of MIW ships. Dredging of the MSF site will remove

approximately 450,000 cubic yards (CY) of dredged material. The 50-year

maintenance requirement could require dredging of approximately 720,000

CY. Dredge material will be disposed of at Navy's existing upland

disposal site near the La Quinta Channel area. Dredging of the MSF will

cause the loss of approximately 3.5 acres of seagrass. The Navy has

prepared a mitigation plan to compensate for the loss of the seagrass

area which has been approved in concept by the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers (USAEC).

The Aviation Mine Counter Measures (AMCM) Sled Facility, required

to train helicopter pilots in the launching and recovery of magnetic

influenced AMCM sleds, will be located on North Padre Island adjacent

to the Padre Island National Seashore. The facility will include a

landing pad, launch ramp, a staging area capable of holding and

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maintaining the sleds, tiedown capability, maintenance/personnel

support structure, security systems, and on-site wash rack. Mobile

fueling capability will be provided for sled operations; however, no

permanent fueling facilities will be constructed. Construction of the

AMCM facility at North Padre Island will result in a removal of

approximately 1.77 acres of ephemeral fresh to brackish wetland swales.

The Navy will replace the wetlands at a ratio established through the

permitting process.

A small craft pier will be constructed near the east end of the

existing wharf at NAVSTA Ingleside where dredging is not required. The

pier will be 600-foot by 30-foot, reinforced concrete construction and

will include utilities. The function of the pier is to accommodate

utility boats used in support of the mine warfare exercises and other

assignments. A 32-foot wide concrete launching ramp extending from the

existing wharf deck located adjacent to the east of the small craft

pier will also be constructed.

Administrative Facilities required for the MWCE will be located in

existing facilities at NAS Corpus Christi and NAVSTA Ingleside. Support

for two MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter squadrons will be accommodated by

modifying existing hangars and support facilities at NAS Corpus

Christi. New bachelor enlisted housing (approximately 119,130 square

feet) will be constructed in a vacant site within the Community

Facilities Area of NAS Corpus Christi to house approximately 722

enlisted personnel.

Mobile Mine Assembly Group (MOMAG) Unit Fifteen will use existing

Hangar 3 (Building 760) at NAS Kingsville for administrative and

operations space. Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Mobile Unit Six

will reside in existing facilities located in the Housing Area to the

southeast of the hospital at NAS Corpus Christi. An additional 200-foot

by 50-foot ``drive-through'' building will be required to complete the

storage needs for EOD equipment. An on-shore explosive pit will also be

constructed in the southwest section of NAS Corpus Christi near the

existing skeet/trap range for EOD training purposes.

Training and operating areas will be established in the Gulf of

Mexico off North Padre Island, collocated with the AMCM Sled Facility,

and within Mineral Management Service (MMS) Lease Blocks 732, 733, 734,

793, 799, and 816. This will include a permanent drill minefield and an

Ordnance Detonation Area, required for the detonation of practice mines

using a maximum of 10 pounds C-4 explosive (equivalent to 8 pounds of

TNT). This area (a one nautical mile by one nautical mile area) is in

the southeast corner of MMS Lease Block 816. Surface restrictions in

these areas will be established to allow for both daily MIW training

and quarterly integrated training.

In selecting the preferred facility and operating site locations,

various alternatives were considered with respect to environmental

impacts, as well as other factors including cost. The evaluation

criteria included a location's ability to meet a best balance of

project need, physical, biological, and socioeconomic impacts. A brief

summary of the alternatives considered and their rational for the

selection follows:

Six alternative sites in the coastal bend area of Texas were

considered for the location of each of the two components (``crib'' and

``check'' range) of the MSF. Because one of the operational

requirements of the MSF is for the ``check'' range to be visible from

the EMR ``crib'' instrumentation, a two step evaluation was used to

select the site(s) for the two components. The initial step consisted

of the evaluation of the six EMR component sites followed by the

evaluation of the ``check'' range component sites which were

operationally acceptable (visible) to the EMR. One EMR site was

initially eliminated because it was outside of the acceptable operation

distance for MCM-type ships and a second was eliminated because it did

not provide access to the Gulf. The chosen EMR alternative (Jewell

Fulton Canal) was selected because it represented the least potential

adverse impacts to the environment. Once the Jewell Fulton Canal site

was selected for the location of the EMR component, the CLDG component

was determined to the most acceptable ``check'' range alternative

because it required no additional dredging and limited adverse impacts

to bay waters.

The only site considered for the small craft pier was NAVSTA

Ingleside because it already provides existing Navy homeport and

support facilities unavailable at any other locations in the Corpus

Christi Bay area.

Five alternatives initially were considered for the AMCM facility;

of these, three were determined to be operationally unacceptable and

one had the potential for major environmental impacts. The launch-from-

a-ramp facility located on the beach was judged to be the most feasible

alternative. The beach launch alternative considered three sites, of

these the North Padre Island site was determined to be the most

operationally acceptable and would cause the least potential impact to

the environment and public.

For the MOMAG facility, three sites other than the chosen NAS

Kingsville site were considered: NAVSTA Ingleside, NAS Corpus Christi,

and government facilities in San Antonio, Texas. NAS Kingsville had

available administrative and operations space which could meet space

requirements without new construction and also had existing support

facilities.

Only NAS Corpus Christi had available space to meet EOD

administrative and on-shore explosive pit requirements in acceptable

landuse areas.

Three alternative sites were considered for the Very Shallow Water/

Littoral Training Area: San Jose Island, Mustang Island, and North

Padre Island. San Jose Island and Mustang Island were eliminated

because these two sites contain enough impediments (navigation

fairways, oil and gas pipelines, offshore platforms, and/or areas of

heavy beach usage by the public) to make the areas operationally

unacceptable. Thus, the North Padre Island site was selected as the

location for the Very Shallow Water/ Littoral Training Area.

All five of the areas considered for the Medium Water Depth

Training and Operating Areas met the evaluations criteria (within

reasonable operational distances and in areas of minimal or non-

existent finfish habitat). The three chosen sites (MMS Lease Blocks

793, 799, and 816) were selected because they are adjacent to each

other, making operations more convenient, and are currently unleased.

The only areas considered for the Deep Water Training and Operating

Areas were MMS Lease Blocks 732, 733, and 734. They were the only

unleased deep water blocks within acceptable distances which met the

criteria of having minimal or non-existent finfish habitat.

All practicable means to avoid or minimize environmental impacts of

these facilities and operating areas have been adopted. Activities have

been located in existing buildings as much as practicable, with some

buildings requiring rehabilitation/remodeling. New facilities have been

sited after extensive alternatives analysis, and the chosen sites

result in the least environmental impact of the reasonable

alternatives.

Impacts to water quality, air quality, benthic organisms, marine

and natural resources will briefly occur during dredging and dredged

material disposal activities and the various facility

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construction activities. However, these short-term impacts are not

considered significant within the context of the over-all project area

and with implementation of specific construction measures described

herein and in the EIS. Generally, construction of the various proposed

facilities will incorporate erosion control measures consistent with

the requirements of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System

(NPDES) General Permit for Construction Activity. Where necessary, a

Notice of Intent (NOI) will be submitted to the EPA for any proposed

facility which exceeds five acres of construction area. This process

will include the preparation and implementation of a Storm Water

Pollution Prevention Plan. All open portions of sites will be

landscaped and revegetated following construction. During construction,

noise-producing activities will be generally conducted during normal

operating hours to limit disturbance and annoyance. During dredging and

disposal of dredged material, the best available equipment and

techniques will be used to minimize the quantity and area of

distribution of suspended sediments. Dredging plans will be formulated

to meet the requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act

(Clean Water Act) and necessary permits.

In accordance with Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899

and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, all required permits from the

USACE to perform work in navigable waters of the United States and for

the placement of fill material in waters of the United States will be

obtained prior to construction and operation of the proposed

facilities. In addition to the submission of permit applications to

allow work in jurisdictional waters, a permit application will be

submitted to the USACE to establish surface restricted areas to allow

for offshore training and operating in accordance with 33 CFR 334,

Danger Zone and Restricted Area Regulations.

In accordance with the Coastal Barrier Resources Act of 1982, the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that the construction of

the proposed AMCM sled facility on North Padre Island qualifies for an

exception under Section 6(a)(4) of that Act; that is, military

activities essential to national security. In addition to the Coastal

Barrier Resources Act, the proposed beach site is covered under the

Texas Open Beaches Act. The policy of the State of Texas is that the

public shall have free and unrestricted access to state-owned beaches.

Section 61.022 of the Act provides an exemption for lawful structures

authorized by the Constitution or laws of the state or the United

States. The Navy will coordinate with the local county government, the

Texas General Land Office, and the Office of the Attorney General

consistent with the Texas Open Beaches Act when acquiring beach front

property and before construction of the ramp facility.

In compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act,

potential impacts to cultural resources have been evaluated at the

proposed sites. No sites listed on the National Register of Historic

Places, outside of NAS Corpus Christi and NAS Kingsville, exist in the

proposed area of operations. Any alterations of historic properties at

either NAS Corpus Christi or NAS Kingsville, above or beyond normal

maintenance, for proposed facilities will be consistent with existing

cultural resources management plans and Section 106 of the National

Historic Preservation Act. Underwater anomalies were identified at the

proposed Jewell Fulton Canal EMR ``crib'' site and a single anomaly,

which would be avoided during construction, near the proposed AMCM sled

ramp. In the event that construction would disturb the anomalies,

additional investigations to establish signature identity and determine

potential National Register eligibility would be performed. The State

Historic Preservation Office concurs with this procedure.

To ensure compliance with the Endangered Species Act and Marine

Mammal Protection Act during training and operations, a Memorandum of

Agreement between the National Marine Fisheries Service and the

Department of the Navy is being finalized to implement a mitigation

plan that would incorporate visual and electronic surveillance before,

during, and after each planned detonation activity.

Impacts associated with the relocation of 9,697 personnel (both

military and dependents) have been addressed and coordinated with state

and local governments and agencies. A Navy housing study has projected

that there will be a shortfall of affordable one- and two-bedroom

family housing units. This projected deficit in one- and two-bedroom

units will be particularly acute among junior enlisted personnel. The

Secretary of the Navy has solicited proposals from qualified private

developers interested in forming a limited partnership to develop,

maintain, and manage a family housing project in which a maximum of 400

units of affordable housing will be made available to Navy families on

a preferential basis.

Approximately 2,926 school age children are expected to move into

the area. The Corpus Christi School District is expected to have the

largest influx of approximately 1,201 school age children; however,

this increase represents less than three percent of its present

enrollment and only half of its available additional capacity. The

Flour Bluff School District, which is projected to experience an

increase of approximately 677 school aged children, is expected to

experience the greatest impact because of its small size, proximity,

and current crowded conditions. However, planning for 24 new buildings

to provide additional capacity is now underway. This is expected to

resolve overcrowding concerns for the next five years.

Pursuant to Executive Order 12898, Environmental Justice, potential

environmental and economic impacts on minority and low income

populations and communities were assessed. No disproportionate

concentrations of minority or low income populations were identified in

the area of impacts of the various facilities and operations.

Additionally, the Navy has ensured that opportunities for community

involvement (including minority and low income individuals and

populations) in the NEPA process have been provided.

There are adequate utility capacities in the region to support the

establishment of the MWCE. Potable water use in the region would

increase about four percent through the turn of the century as a result

of the establishment of the MWCE. Additional discharges to area

wastewater treatment plants from proposed MWCE facilities is not

expected to exceed facility capacities. Community support, such as

police and fire protection, must be increased to accommodate the new

residents; however, this is not expected to impose a significant burden

on the communities.

Questions regarding the Environmental Impact Statement prepared for

this action may be directed to: Commanding Officer, Southern Division,

Naval Facilities Engineering Command, P.O. Box 190010, North

Charleston, South Carolina 29419-9100 (Attention: Mr. Will Sloger, Code

064WS), telephone (803) 820-5797.

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Dated: February 21, 1996.

Duncan Holaday,

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations and Facilities)

Dated: February 21, 1996.

M.D. Schetzsle,

LT JAGC, USNR, Alternate Federal Register Certifying Officer.

[FR Doc. 96-4479 Filed 2-27-96; 8:45 am]

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