Notice of Intent To Prepare a Joint Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report and To Re-Open Scoping for Disposal and Reuse of the Long Beach Naval Station and Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, CA

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

Notice of Intent To Prepare a Joint Environmental Impact

Statement/Environmental Impact Report and To Re-Open Scoping for

Disposal and Reuse of the Long Beach Naval Station and Naval Shipyard,

Long Beach, CA

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40

CFR parts 1500-1508) implementing procedural provisions of the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the California Environmental Quality

Act (CEQA), and the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act (DBCRA),

the Department of the Navy (Navy) and the City of Long Beach,

California, announce their intent to prepare a joint Environmental

Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) and to re-open

scoping for the proposed disposal and reuse of Long Beach Naval Station

and Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, California (hereafter referred to as

the Naval Complex). Navy will be the lead agency for NEPA documentation

and the City of Long Beach will be the lead agency for CEQA

documentation.

In 1991, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC

Commission) recommended the closure of the Long Beach Naval Station.

The recommendation was approved by President Bush and accepted by the

One Hundred Second Congress later that same year. In 1995, the BRAC

Commission recommended closure of the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. The

recommendation was approved by President Clinton and accepted by the

One Hundred Fourth Congress later that same year. The Naval Station was

operationally closed on September 30, 1994, and the Naval Shipyard is

scheduled for operational closure on September 30, 1997. The Naval

Station was declared surplus to the needs of the Federal Government in

September 1995. Navy intends to declare the Naval Shipyard surplus to

the needs of the Federal Government in the near future.

The Naval Complex is located on Terminal Island in the Long Beach

Harbor District and is generally located south of Ocean Boulevard and

east of the Long Beach/Los Angeles municipal boundary. The Naval

Complex includes over 500 acres of real property and 602 acres of

submerged lands. The fuel depot, located on Naval Station property,

will be retained by Navy. A small government-owned, contractor-operated

parcel within the Naval Shipyard was also excluded from the BRAC

Commission's closure recommendations and will be handled under separate

authority. The title of the United States to approximately 85 acres of

land and 602 acres of submerged lands is subject to reversion to the

City of Long Beach in accordance with the judgment in United States of

America v. 1039 Acres of Land, etc. et al.

Pursuant to DBCRA and associated Department of Defense policy, Navy

must treat the city's redevelopment plan for the installation as part

of the Federal action. The redevelopment plan is a plan developed by

the Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) and

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provides for the reuse or redevelopment of the closed bases. The City

of Long Beach was approved as the LRA for both the Naval Station and

the Naval Shipyard by the Secretary of Defense. The City of Long Beach

has prepared separate reuse plans for the Naval Station and the Naval

Shipyard. The City Reuse Plans include development of all Naval Station

and Naval Shipyard property within the jurisdiction of the City of Long

Beach, including the reversionary parcels. Accordingly, the

environmental impacts of use of these parcels will also be evaluated in

the EIS/EIR.

Initially, Navy determined that disposal and reuse of the Naval

Station and Navy Shipyard should be evaluated in separate NEPA

documents because the Naval Station and Naval Shipyard were closed

under separate BRAC Commission actions and it was possible to make

functionally independent decisions. In addition, the Naval Shipyard had

not yet been declared surplus. Accordingly, Navy prepared and

distributed a Final Environmental Impact Statement, dated February

1997, for disposal and reuse of the Long Beach Naval Station. Navy also

published a notice of intent to prepare an EIS for disposal and reuse

of the Long Beach Naval Shipyard on September 30, 1996.

Although the Naval Station and Naval Shipyard were closed under

separate BRAC Commission actions, Navy has reevaluated its initial

decision and determined that it is appropriate to address the disposal

and reuse of the Naval Complex in a single environmental document. This

determination was based on several factors: the properties are

adjacent; the proposed reuse by the LRA for each property is generally

similar; the proposed disposal and reuse actions will now occur in the

same general timeframe; and there is the possibility that a combined

analysis could identify mitigation measures to reduce impacts to the

Roosevelt Base Historic District and other potential environmental

impacts.

Navy and the city of Long Beach have decided to prepare a joint

EIS/EIR for these properties. The city of Long Beach, through its

Harbor Department, prepared an EIR for the proposed development of the

Naval Station property. The EIR was certified by the Board of Harbor

Commissioners on September 3, 1996. The city, through its Harbor

Department, published a notice of preparation on November 1, 1996 for

proposed development of the Naval Shipyard but has not completed an EIR

for that development. Therefore, for CEQA purposes, the joint EIS/EIR

will serve as an EIR for the Shipyard and a subsequent EIR for the

Naval Station.

The proposed Navy action involves the disposal of land, buildings,

and infrastructure for subsequent reuse of the Naval Complex. This

property includes administrative buildings, housing, recreational

facilities, utility systems, ship repair and maintenance, warehouses,

and other support facilities. The proposed city of Long Beach action

involves the reuse of the Naval Complex in accordance with its Reuse

Plans. These Plans propose the demolition of 6 piers, two dry-docks

(the large dry-dock would remain), and most of the buildings. The Reuse

Plans also require over 6 million cubic yards of material to be dredged

from the West Basin. Under the city of Long Beach's proposed reuse, the

former Naval facilities would be replaced by a total of 315 acres

devoted to marine container terminal and intermodal railyard

operations; an 18-acre shipyard facility surrounding the remaining dry-

dock; an 18-acre Sea-Launch satellite launch vehicle preparation

facility; a 36-acre liquid bulk facility; a 15-acre police facility;

and over 100 acres of neobulk, breakbulk, and other port and port

ancillary facilities.

As the LRA's Reuse Plans would require demolition of the Roosevelt

Base Historic District, Navy will undertake an adaptive reuse study of

the historic district. Navy will also reinitiate consultation under

section 106 of the National Historic preservation act with the State

Historic Preservation Officer and the Advisory Council on Historic

Preservation to develop a Memorandum of Agreement addressing potential

effects on the historic district and identifying possible mitigation

measures.

This joint EIS/EIR will analyze the environmental effects of the

disposal and reuse of the Naval Complex. Environmental issues to be

addressed in the joint EIS/EIR include: Geology, topography, and soils;

hydrology; biology; noise; air quality; land use; historic and

archeological resources; socioeconomics; transportation/circulation;

public facilities/recreation; safety and environmental health,

including environmental justice; aesthetics; and utilities. The

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

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

probable environmental impacts of the project include potential adverse

impacts upon biology, noise and vibration levels, air quality,

historical resources, transportation/circulation, ground shaking,

liquefaction, and risks from hazardous material.

Alternatives will be developed primarily from the reuse plans

adopted by the LRA. A ``no action'' alternative, wherein Navy would

retain the property in caretaker status, will be included in the joint

EIS/EIR. Other alternatives may be developed from suggestions received

during the public scoping process or from the adaptive reuse study of

the Roosevelt Base Historic District that will be undertaken by Navy.

Navy and the city of Long Beach encourage the involvement of all

interested parties in the development of potential alternatives.

No decisions regarding disposal will be made until this NEPA/CEQA

process is complete.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Department of the Navy and the city of Long

beach will initiate a scoping process for the purpose of determining

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

significant issues relative to this action, including the use of

baseline data for the period prior to the closure of the Naval Complex

pursuant to California Resources Code Section 21083.8.1. A public

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

Beach City Council Chamber, 333 West Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach,

California on August 20, 1997 at 6:00 p.m. This meeting will be

advertised in area newspapers and notices will be mailed to the

interested parties, including responsible agencies, identified through

scoping and during preparation of previous documents. Navy and city of

Long Beach 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/CEQA processes will

precede requests for public comments. It is important that federal,

state, and local agencies, as well as interested organization and

individuals, take this opportunity to identify other reuse alternatives

and environmental concerns that should be addressed during preparation

of the joint EIS/EIR.

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

joint EIS/EIR should address. Written comments or questions regarding

the scoping process and or the joint EIS/EIR should be postmarked no

later than September 3, 1997 and sent to

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the address below. To ensure that all comments are received and

addressed, Navy will be the point of contact for this joint EIS/EIR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Melanie Ault, BRAC Program Office,

Southwest Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, 1420 Kettner

Boulevard, Suite 501, San Diego, CA 92101-2404.

Dated: July 16, 1997.

D.E. Koenig,

LCDR, JAGC, USN, Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 97-19107 Filed 7-18-97; 8:45 am]

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