Record of Decision and General Conformity Determination for the Development of Facilities To Support Basing U.S. Pacific Fleet F/A-18E/ F Aircraft on the West Coast of the United States

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Deparment of the Navy

Record of Decision and General Conformity Determination for the

Development of Facilities To Support Basing U.S. Pacific Fleet F/A-18E/

F Aircraft on the West Coast of the United States

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice of record of decision.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Navy, after carefully weighing the

operational, environmental, and cost implications of basing U.S.

Pacific Fleet F/A-18E/F aircraft in the western United States,

announces its deicsion to base those aircraft, and associated military

and civilian personnel, and family members, at Naval Air Station (NAS)

Lemoore.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Samuel L. Dennis, Naval Facilities Engineering Field Activity West

Command (Code 7031), 900 Commodore Drive, San Bruno, CA 94066-5006,

telephone number (650) 244-3007.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the entire Record of Decision

(ROD) is provided as follows:

The Department of the Navy (DON), pursuant to Section 102(c) of the

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Section

4331 et. seq.), and the regulations of the Council on Environmental

Quality (CEQ) that implement NEPA procedures (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508),

hereby announces its decision to construct facilities to support basing

of U.S. Pacific Fleet F/A-18E/F aircraft, and associated military and

civilian personnel, and family members, at NAS Lemoore, California.

F/A-18E/F aircraft incoroprate major operational improvements that

enhance strike/fighter capability and replace older outdated aircraft

models that cannot accommodate new weapons and weapons systems. The F/

A-18E/F aircraft is intended to replace existing strike/fighter

capacity on the West Coast.

Basing and operating of 164 F/A-18E/F aircraft will be accomplished

as set out in the Preferred Alternative described in the Final

Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). To support personnel,

operations, and maintenance associated with the F/A-18E/F homebasing,

12 construction projects, consisting primarily of additions to existing

facilities, are required at NAS Lemoore. The homebasing of the F/A-18E/

F aircraft will also increase aircraft operations at NAS Lemoore and

associated training ranges, particularly the R-2508 complex.

Implementation of the decision will begin in 1999 with Phase I, the

introduction of 92 F/A-18E/F strike/fighter aircraft comprising one new

fleet replacement squadron and four new fleet operational squadrons.

Phase II of the implementation process, extending to 2010, involves

replacement of 72 existing F/A-18C/D strike/fighter aircraft based at

NAS Lemoore with F/A-18E/F strike/fighter aircraft.

Pursuant to Section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) (42 U.S.C.

7476(c)), the DON has determined that the homebasing of F/A-18E/F

aircraft as NAS Lemoore will conform to the San Joaquin Valley Unified

Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD) Implementation Plan.

Process

A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS for the homebasing of up

to 164 F/A-18E/F aircraft on the West Coast of the United States was

published in the Federal Register on April 23, 1997. Three public

scoping meetings were held on April 28, 29 an 30 of 1997, in Lemoore,

CA; El Centro, CA; and Point Mugu/Camarillo, CA, respectively.

A Notice of Availability (NOA) for the Draft EIS (DEIS) was

published in the Federal Register on December 12, 1997. Public hearings

were held on January 7 and 8, in Lemoore, CA, and El Centro, CA,

respectively. Approximately 75 individuals, agencies, and organizations

submitted comments on the DEIS. The FEIS addressed all oral and written

comments.

The NOA for the FEIS was published in the Federal Register on June

5, 1998. Public notices and news releases noting the availability of

the FEIS and draft Final Clean Air Act (CAA) Conformity Determination

were published in local and regional newspaper on June 5, 1998. The DON

received approximately 40 public comments during the 30 day public

comment period.

Alternatives Considered

The DON screened nine West Coast Navy and Marine Corps Air

installations as potential sites for homebasing the F/A-18E/F aircraft.

This screening process examined installations relative to the following

operational criteria: (1) Field elevation, (2) training ranges, (3)

basing at least two F/A-18E/F squadrons at each installation, (4)

airfield tempo of operations, (5) 24-hour aircraft operations, (6) dual

runways, and (7) field carrier landing practice. Installations meeting

the operational screening criteria were NAS Lemoore and Naval Air

Facility (NAF) El Centro.

The DON evaluated operational, logistical, and personnel

requirements, environmental impacts, and life cycle cost of homebasing

at each of the alternative locations. Based upon this comparative

analysis, the DON selected NAS Lemoore as its Preferred Alternative.

NAS Lemoore is also the environmentally preferred alternative.

Environmental Impacts

Environmental resources involving land use and airspace, visual

resources, socioeconomics, cultural resources, traffic and circulation,

air quality, noise, biological resources, hydrological resources,

utilities and services, public health and safety, and hazardous

materials and waste were analyzed in the EIS. The DON also considered

potential cumulative impacts of the proposed action and consistency of

the proposed action with federal policies addressing environmental

justice. This Record of Decision focuses on the

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significant impacts that could result from the homebasing of F/A-18E/F

aircraft at NAS Lemoore.

Air Quality

There is the potential for significant impacts on air quality due

to emissions from activities associated with the increased air

operations associated with the F/A-18E/F aircraft. Direct and indirect

emissions would exceed the relevant CAA conformity de minimis

thresholds for ozone and PM10 precursors. A formal CAA conformity

determination that net emission increases have been addressed as

required by SJVUAPCD Rule 9110, which incorporates by reference the EPA

Determination of Conformity for General Federal Actions (40 CFR

51.860). Maximum conformity-related emission increases to support F/A-

18E/F aircraft equal 340.12 tons per year of reactive organic

compounds, 304.77 tons per year of nitrogen oxides, and 167.86 tons per

year of PM10. These conformity-related emissions have been compensated

by mobile source conformity offsets previously obtained by NAS Lemoore

as a result of the closure of Castle Air Force Base in 1995 and an

additional 218.28 tons of reactive organic compound mobile source

conformity offsets transferred by the Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA). In the Air Force ROD for the disposal of Castle Air Force Base,

signed in January 1995, the Air Force transferred to the DON air

credits so that the DON could achieve conformity for the then proposed

realignment of Navy aircraft from former NAS Miramar to NAS Lemoore.

That realignment did not occur, leaving the DON with unused offsets in

the amount of 100 tons per year of reactive organic compounds, 367.1

tons per year of nitrogen oxides, and 151.6 tons per year of PM10. The

remainder of the Air Force credits, 2311.2 tons of reactive organic

compounds and 642.7 tons of nitrogen oxide were transferred to the FAA

by the Air Force for their use in satisfying any conformity

requirements generated by a airport redevelopment proposal for Castle

Air Force Base. To date the civilian airport redevelopment proposal has

not required the use of mobile source conformity offsets. The DON

identified the need for 218.28 tons of reactive organic compounds to

support the introduction of the F/A-18E/F aircraft. The FAA concurred

in the request and transferred this amount of reactive organic compound

mobile source conformity offsets for DON use at NAS Lemoore effective

July 22, 1998. The remaining pollutant-specific deficiencies and

surpluses are: a dificienty of 21.84 tons per year for reactive

compounds; a surplus of 62.33 tons per year for nitrogen oxides; and a

deficiency of 16.26 tons per year for PM10 (FEIS Appendix E).

The SJVUAPCD recognizes and supports interpollutant trading for

purposes of demonstrating CAA conformity. Nitrogen oxides are

recognized by the SJVUAPCD as both ozone and PM10 precursors. The

surplus conformity offsets of nitrogen oxide emissions are more than

sufficient to provide interpollutant offsets that address the reactive

organic compound and PM10 conformity offset requirements. Consequently

CAA conformity has been demonstrated (FEIS Appendix E) pursuant to 40

CFR 51.858(a) (2) and 40 CFR 58.858(a) (5) (iii). Both EPA and SJVUAPCD

have concurred with DON's conformity determination. No other comments

were received on the draft Final CAA General Conformity Determination.

This ROD provides an enforceable mechanism for implementing the

mobile source conformity offsets consistent with the EPA's general

conformity rule. NAS Lemoore will follow SJVUAPCD procedures to ensure

that new, relocated or modified facilities and equipment meet

applicable rules and regulations (including all state implementation

plan requirements) prior to facility construction or installation.

As part of this Record of Decision, I approve the CAA Conformity

Determination included in FEIS Appendix E.

Hazardous Substances

There is the potential for significant impacts from the exposure of

flightline personnel at NAS Lemoore to hazardous substances contained

in aviation fuel. With increased fuel handling to support the

additional F/A-18E/F aircraft, the risk of exposure to hazardous

substances will increase. Additionally, increased fuel handling will

increase the risk of fuel spills. To mitigate these potential impacts,

plans and programs governing the construction of new fuel storage

areas, the operation of new fuel storage areas, and fuel handling

procedures will be amended to implement procedures for reducing

exposure to hazardous substances associated with increased fuel usage.

Combined with current efforts to meet regulatory requirements for the

installation of enhanced monitoring equipment for the existing fuel

storage areas, the risk of exposure to hazardous substances will be

reduced to a less than significant level. Additionally, existing Spill

Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans will be amended to

account for the increased risk of fuel spills.

Schools--There is the potential for significant impacts to schools

because the homebasing of F/A-18E/F aircraft will add between 783 and

1,283 students to area school districts. Area schools are either near

or over capacity. An increase in student population will exacerbate

this situation. School districts may be eligible for federal funding

which aids local school districts in the education of military

children. Schools must apply for impact aid and the funds are paid

directly by the Department of Education. To mitigate these potential

impacts, the DON will assist affected school districts, to the extent

practicable, in their pursuit of federal impact aid. Implementation of

this mitigation measure may reduce the level of impact to one that is

less than significant. However, full funding of federal impact aid is

unlikely because of federal funding decreases in recent years.

Traffic

There is the potential for significant impacts to traffic

circulation at the signalized intersection of Grangeville Road and

State Route 41 during the evening peak hour due to increases in

personnel assigned to NA Lemoore. This impact could be mitigated by

increasing the signal cycle at the Grangeville Road and State Route 41

intersection during evening peak hour. With a change in cycle length

from 80 to 90 seconds, the impact on the intersection would be reduced

to a less than significant level. As this mitigation measure involves

local off-base roadways, DON has no authority to implement the measure.

Implementation is under the control of state and/or local officials.

Noise

While there will be no significant impacts from noise associated

with operation of F/A-18E/F aircraft, it is clear from public comments

throughout the EIS process that the public is concerned with noise

impacts from aircraft, especially overflight of national parks and

wilderness areas. In response to these public comments the Navy

conducted focused noise analyses for four areas of concern: the NAS

Lemoore airfield and vicinity, the transit routes to the R-2508

Airspace Complex, the R-2508 Airspace Complex, and the VR-1257 military

training route (MTR). The focused noise analyses are discussed in FEIS

Section 4.7.

Average daily noise levels, expressed as Community Noise Equivalent

Level (CNEL), will increase by up to 5 dBA at

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NAS Lemoore and some areas in the immediate vicinity. Even with this

increase military family housing, on-base schools, and affected off-

base agricultural lands will not be exposed to incompatible noise

levels.

There are two primary flight corridors connecting NAS Lemoore with

the R-2508 Complex. These corridors are identified by the name assigned

to the associated R-2508 access points, Kiote and Swoop. Both of these

corridors overfly western parts of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National

Parks. Aircraft from NAS Lemoore normally enter the R-2508 Complex via

one access point and return to NAS Lemoore via the other, thus

separating aircraft flying in different directions at similar altitude.

A new access point, Fangg, has been proposed north of the Kiote access

point and near the northwestern corridor of the R-2508 Complex. This

proposal is currently under review by FAA. Development of the Fangg

access point is being coordinated with the National Park Service and

the R-2508 Central Coordination Facility (CCF). If the new access point

is approved by the FAA, NAS Lemoore will discontinue use of the Kiote

access point. Thus, the entry and exit points for the R-2508 Complex

would be from the northern and southern most access points and away

from the areas most used by park visitors.

Analysis of noise from existing NAS Lemoore air traffic along these

corridors indicates a CNEL level of 50 dBA. The addition of the F/A-

18E/F aircraft would increase the CNEL by about 6 dBA, resulting in

CNEL levels along the highest ridgelines between 50 and 56 dBA.

Visitors to national parks and wilderness areas will hear individual

aircraft, but the noise will be of limited duration and will not

significantly affect use of the parks or wilderness areas.

Establishment of the Fangg access point will route aircraft away from

areas generally used by park visitors. DON will continue to work with

the National Park Service to address concerns about overflight and

noise.

Once the aircraft cross the crest of the Sierra Mountains they

enter the R-2508 Complex. Aircraft from NAS Lemoore generally operate

in the northern half of the complex and are required by the range

manager to maintain flight altitudes of at least 3,000 feet above

ground level (AGL) when flying over designated noise sensitive areas.

Phase 1 of the proposed action will increase the number of Navy

operations in the R-2508 Complex by approximately 7,000 per year,

resulting in a 19.5 percent increase in total military operations

within the complex. This would result in a CNEL increase of less than 1

dBA.

Implementation of Phase 2 of the proposed action, the replacement

of existing F/A-18C/D aircraft with F/A-18E/F aircraft, will result in

a decrease in noise impacts within the R-2508 Complex. This decrease

would occur because most of the sorties would be conducted by newer F/

A-18E/F aircraft, which produce less noise at higher power settings

than the existing F/A-18C/D aircraft.

Aircraft stationed at NAS Lemoore use a number of military training

routes (MTRs). All but one of these routes avoid significant noise

sensitive land uses. The VR-1257 low altitude MTR passes over portions

of Joshua Tree National Park and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Portions of the corridor are flown at altitudes as low as 400 feet AGL.

As a result of discussions with the National Park Service the Navy

voluntarily raised the flight altitude for the portion of VR-1257 that

crosses Joshua Tree National Park. This portion is flown at FAA's

maximum allowable altitude of 1,500 feet AGL. Current use of the VR-

1257 is relatively low. Only 164 sorties were flown in 1997, of which

87 were attributed to F/A-18C/D aircraft. An additional 50 sorties per

year would be added to VR-1257 by F/A-18E/F aircraft. CNEL noise levels

would increase only by an undetectable 0.5 dBA. With F/A-18E/F aircraft

using the MTR, CNEL noise levels would be 55 dBA for those portions of

the route flown at 400 feet AGL, and less than 50 dBA for those

portions of the corridor flown at or above altitudes of 1,000 AGL.

Visitors to Joshua Tree National Park and Anza-Borrego Desert State

Park will hear individual aircraft, but the noise will be of limited

duration and will not significantly affect use of the parks. DON will

continue to work with the National Park Service and state park

officials to address concerns about overflight and noise.

Response to Comments Received Regarding the Final Environmental

Impact Statement

The DON received 40 comments on the FEIS from two federal agencies,

one state agency, three local agencies, and numerous citizens groups

and individuals. A majority of the comments received on the FEIS dealt

with noise impacts to national parks, wilderness areas, and State parks

associated with increased aircraft operations. Generally those that

commented upon noise impacts to recreational areas simply disagreed

with the conclusions reached by the FEIS. Substantive comments are

addressed below.

Several commentors criticized the discussion of noise impacts for

not considering the unique nature of solitude in national parks and

wilderness areas. Federal and state land management agencies generally

have not adopted noise criteria for open space, natural resource

management, or recreation lands under their jurisdiction. The National

Park Service, for example, identifies ``sounds of nature'' and

``natural quiet'' as resources to be protected, but does not have any

quantitative criteria for determining when the magnitude or frequency

of noise events constitutes an adverse impact on these resources.

Consequently, noise impacts affecting park and wilderness lands were

assessed using existing annual average day/night noise criteria (CNEL).

The National Parks and Conservation Association commented that the

Navy failed to comply with Section 4(f) of the Transportation Act (49

U.S.C. Section 303(c)) which requires special analysis of actions that

use parklands. The Navy is not required to undertake such special

analysis for aircraft operations. Section 1079 of Title 10, U.S. Code,

expressly excludes military aircraft operations from the application of

section 4(f) of the Transportation Act.

The National Parks and Conservation Association has suggested the

proposal to add a fourth access point to the R-2508 Complex merits the

issuance of a supplemental EIS. A supplemental EIS is not required for

every piece of information added to a final EIS as a result of review

of the draft EIS. By establishing an iterative review and revision

process for NEPA documents, CEQ regulations clearly contemplate

modification and expansion of analysis in the final EIS over that

contained in the draft. The establishment of a new access point is

adequately discussed in the FEIS. The types of impacts associated with

the new access point do not differ from those described for the

existing access points. In fact, because establishment of a new access

point will move aircraft away from areas normally used by park

visitors, the overall impact of establishing a new access point is

positive. A supplemental EIS is not warranted.

The National Parks and Conservation Association has stated that the

ongoing Department of Defense/National Park Service study of the

perception of aircraft noise upon park visitors must be completed prior

to any decision on the proposed action. The FEIS discusses the noise

levels associated with the proposed action and their impact upon the

human environment based upon existing criteria. Should the ongoing

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study develop new criteria for analysis of noise impacts on parks or

wilderness areas, DON would evaluate that information to determine

whether supplemental analysis under NEPA was warranted.

Conclusions

In determining where to homebase the U.S. Pacific Fleet F/A-18E/F

aircraft on the west coast, I considered the following: assets and

capabilities of existing Navy and Marine Corps Air Stations; the F/A-

18E/F operational and training requirements; environmental impacts;

costs associated with construction of facilities, the operation and

maintenance of aircraft, and training of personnel; and comments

received during the DEIS and FEIS public involvement periods.

After carefully weighing all of these factors and analyzing the

data presented in the Final Environmental Impact Statement, I have

determined that the Preferred Alternative, homebasing the F/A-18E/F

aircraft at NAS Lemoore, has the fewest adverse environmental impacts,

best meets the operational requirements for the F/A-18E/F, and involves

the minimum additional costs associated with the development of

facilities to support the F/A-18E/F aircraft and personnel.

Therefore, on behalf of the Department of the Navy, I have decided

to implement the proposed action by homebasing 164 F/A-18E/F aircraft

at NAS Lemoore. In addition to the specific mitigation measures

identified in this Record of Decision, the Department of Navy will

continue to review its operational procedures and coordinate with other

federal, state, and local entities as necessary to determine if any

additional mitigation measures are feasible and practicable.

Dated: July 28, 1998.

Duncan Holaday,

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy, (Installations and Facilities).

[FR Doc. 98-21247 Filed 8-6-98; 8:45 am]

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