Notice of Availability and Public Hearing for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Disposal and Reuse of Naval Air Station Cecil Field, Jacksonville, FL

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy, DoD

Notice of Availability and Public Hearing for the Draft

Environmental Impact Statement for Disposal and Reuse of Naval Air

Station Cecil Field, Jacksonville, FL

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 1500-1508), the Department of

the Navy prepared and filed with the U. S. Environmental Protection

Agency a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to evaluate the

proposed disposal and reuse of Naval Air Station (NAS) Cecil Field,

Jacksonville, Florida. A Notice of Availability (NOA) for the DEIS was

published in the Federal Register on April 25, 1997. The April 25 NOA

initiated a 45-day public comment period on the DEIS.

In accordance with the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act (PL

101-510), as implemented by the 1993 and 1995 Base Realignment and

Closure processes, the Navy has been directed to close Naval Air

Station (NAS) Cecil Field, located in Duval and Clay Counties, Florida.

The Navy intends to dispose of approximately 17,000 acres of land in

two of the station's operational areas, the Main Station and the Yellow

Water area.

The Navy intends to retain other NAS Cecil Field assets including

Outlying Field (OLF) Whitehouse, the Yellow Water Family Housing Area,

and the Pinecastle Target Complex.

The Navy's DEIS addresses the environmental impacts associated with

the disposal and proposed redevelopment of NAS Cecil Field. The

proposed redevelopment includes a mix of aviation, industrial,

forestry, and recreational uses in the Duval County portion, and the

portion in Clay County would be retained for conservation purposes. The

DEIS also addresses the environmental impacts of four alternative reuse

scenarios (ARSs), which consist of reasonable future uses of the

military property to be disposed at NAS Cecil Field.

The DEIS has been distributed to various federal, state and local

agencies, elected officials, and public interest groups. The DEIS has

also been filed for public review at the local libraries. A limited

number of single copies are available, and may be obtained by

contacting the Navy representative listed at the end of this notice.

The Department of the Navy will hold a public hearing for interested

parties and agencies to provide comments on the DEIS on May 27, 1997,

beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Drill Hall at the Post of Snyder,

Florida Army National Guard Center, 9900 Normandy Boulevard,

Jacksonville, Florida.

Following a presentation by the Navy, the public will be invited to

submit oral comments on the DEIS. Oral statements will be heard and

transcribed by a stenographer; however, to ensure accuracy of the

record, all statements should be submitted in writing. In the interest

of available time, speakers will be asked to limit oral comments to

five minutes.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties and agencies are invited to review and

comment on the DEIS. Written comments may be mailed to or sent by

facsimile to the Department of the Navy at: Commander, Southern

Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Attn: Mr. Robert

Teague, P.E. (Code 064), P.O. Box 190010, North Charleston, SC 29419-

9010, phone: 803/820-5785, facsimile: 803/820-5993. Comments must be

postmarked, if mailed, or received, if sent by facsimile, by June 10,

1997 to be considered part of the public record. All written and oral

comments received on the DEIS at the hearing and during the 45-day

comment period will be considered in a Final Environmental Impact

Statement (FEIS) to be prepared by the Navy.

Dated: May 6, 1997.

D.E. Koenig,

LCDR, JAGC, USN, Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 97-12212 Filed 5-8-97; 8:45 am]

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