Notice of an Additional Public Hearing in Great Mills, MD for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Increased Flight and Related Operations in the Patuxent River Complex, Patuxent River, MD

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

Notice of an Additional Public Hearing in Great Mills, MD for the

Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Increased Flight and Related

Operations in the Patuxent River Complex, Patuxent River, MD

AGENCY: Department of the Navy.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of the Navy (DON) has prepared and filed with

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the Draft Environmental

Impact Statement (DEIS) for River Increased Flight and Related

Operations in the Patuxent River Complex, Patuxent River, MD. The DON

announced in the May 22, 1998 Federal Register that three public

hearings would be held to provide information and to receive public

input on the DEIS. The DON announces that it will hold an additional

fourth public hearing in Great Mills, MD to inform the public of the

Patuxent findings and to receive oral and written comments on the DEIS.

Federal, state and local agencies, and interested individuals are

invited to be present or represented at the hearing.

DATES: The additional public hearing date and location is: Monday, June

22, 1998, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at Great Mills High School, 21130 Great

Mills Road, Great Mills, MD.

An open information session, beginning at 5:00 p.m., will precede

the scheduled formal public hearing at 7:00 p.m. The open information

session will allow individuals to review the results of the analysis

presented in the DEIS and Navy representatives will be available to

answer questions and/or clarify information related to the DEIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION TO PROVIDE COMMENTS OR FOR A COPY OF THE DEIS

CONTACT: Ms. Sue Evans or Ms. Kelly Burdick, c/o Office of Legal

Counsel, 47031 Liljencrantz Road, Building 435, MS 39; Patuxent River,

Maryland 20670-5440

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality

regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) implementing the procedural

provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, the DON has

prepared and filed with the EPA, the DEIS for Increased Flight and

Related Operations in the Patuxent River Complex, Patuxent River,

Maryland. The DEIS identifies and evaluates the potential environmental

impacts in test areas of the Patuxent River Complex that are controlled

and scheduled by the Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division

(NAWCAD). The complex includes all the flight and ground test

facilities at NAS Patuxent River and OLF Webster Field Annex, as well

as the restricted airspaces, aerial and surface firing range, and

targets (Hooper, Hannibal, and Tangier Island) comprising the

Chesapeake Test Range (CTR). The DEIS assesses the impacts of the no

action alternative and three proposed future operations workload

alternatives. The no action alternative would maintain the complex's

current level of flight hours into the future (18,400 annually, which

represents an approximate ten-year average of annual flight hours). The

three workload alternatives propose increases in baseline operations by

as few as 2,500 annual flight hours or as many as 6,200 annual flight

hours.

A Notice of Intent to prepare the EIS was published in the Federal

Register on April 1, 1997 and five scoping meetings were held between

May 6 and May 15, 1997. A Notice of Availability of the DEIS was

published in the Federal Register on May 15, 1998.

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

agencies, elected officials, special interest groups, the media, and

concerned citizens. In addition, copies are available for review at 18

repositories around the Chesapeake Bay: Anne Arundel South County

Branch Library, Deale, MD.; Caroline County Public Library, Denton,

MD.; Calvert County Public Library, Prince Frederick, MD.; Dorchester

County Central Library, Cambridge, MD.; Somerset County Libraries,

Deale Island, Princess Anne, and Ewell (Smith Island), MD.; St. Mary's

County Libraries, Lexington Park and Leonardtown, MD.; St. Mary's

College Library, St. Mary's City, MD.; Talbot County Libraries, Easton

and Oxford, MD.; Worcester County Library, Pocomoke City, MD.; Eastern

Shore Public Library, Accomac, VA.; Central Rappahannock Law Library,

Fredericksburg, VA.; Northumberland County Library, Heathsville, VA.;

Tangier Island Public School Library, Tangier, VA.; Laurel Public

Library, Laurel, DE.

Federal, state and local agencies, and interested individuals are

invited to attend or be represented at the hearing. All statements,

both oral and written, will become part of the public record on the

DEIS and will be responded to in the Final Environmental Impact

Statement and will be given equal consideration. Written comments on

the DEIS should be mailed to the address above and must be postmarked

not later than 5:00 p.m. on July 6, 1998 to be part of the official

record. Written comments will also be accepted via e-mail at the

Internet website at http://www.tamsconsultants.com/paxriver/, by

facsimile at (301) 342-1840, or by calling toll-free (888) 276-5201.

Dated: June 1, 1998.

Lou Rae Langevin,

Lieutenant, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy, Alternate

Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 98-14860 Filed 6-3-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3810-FF-P