Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on the Fallon Range Training Complex Requirements Document for the U.S. Navy Fallon Range Training Complex, Fallon, Nevada

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NV-030-1610-00]

Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on

the Fallon Range Training Complex Requirements Document for the U.S.

Navy Fallon Range Training Complex, Fallon, Nevada

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Carson City Field Office U.S. Naval

Air Station Fallon, Nevada.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement

(EIS) on the U.S. Navy Fallon Range Training Complex Requirements

Document; and notice of scoping period and public meetings.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Carson City Field Office

and the U.S. Navy Fallon Range Training Complex (Navy) will jointly

direct the preparation of an EIS to be produced by a third-party

contractor on the impacts (direct, indirect, and cumulative) from

required Navy training on public and Navy-owned lands in central

Nevada. The BLM and the Navy invite comments on the scope of the

analysis.

EFFECTIVE DATES: Four public scoping meetings will be held in January,

1999 to allow the public an opportunity to identify issues and concerns

to be addressed in the EIS. Representatives of the BLM and the Navy

will be available to answer questions about the Fallon Range Training

Complex Requirements Document and the EIS process. Comments will be

accepted until February 5, 1999.

The scheduled public meetings are:

Eureka, NV (7:00-9:00 p.m.)--January 20, 1999, Eureka Opera House

Austin, NV (7:00-9:00 p.m.)--January 21, 1999, Austin High School

Fallon, NV (7:00-9:00 p.m.)--January 27, 1999, Fallon Convention

Center, 100 Campus Way, Fallon, NV

Reno, NV (7:00-9:00 p.m.)--January 28, 1999, BLM Nevada State Office,

1340 Financial Blvd., Reno, NV

A Draft EIS (DEIS) is expected to be completed by April, 1999 and

made available for public review and comment. At that time a Notice of

Availablity (NOA) of the DEIS will be published in the Federal

Register. The comment period on the DEIS will be 60 days from the date

the NOA is published.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scoping comments may be sent to: Field

Manager, Bureau of Land Management, 5665 Morgan Mill Road, Carson City,

NV 89701. ATTN: Navy EIS Project Manager.

For additional information, write to the above address or call

Terri Knutson (BLM) at (702) 885-6156 or Sam Dennis (Navy) at (650)

244-3007.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Navy has submitted the Fallon Range

Training Complex Requirements Document for the update, consolidation,

and analysis of all Navy training requirements on public and Navy-owned

lands in central Nevada. The Navy requirements document includes:

Electronic Warfare, Airspace, Target Complex (Bravo-17, Bravo-19,

Bravo-20), Tracking/Communications, and Land Training.

The EIS will address issues brought forth through scoping comments

and will be evaluated by an interdisciplinary team of specialists. A

range of alternatives and mitigating measures will be considered to

evaluate and minimize environmental impacts and to assure that the

proposed action does not result in undue or unnecessary degradation of

public lands.

Federal, state, and local agencies and other individuals or

organizations who may be interested in or affected by the BLM/Navy

decision on the Fallon Range Training Complex Requirements Document are

invited to participate in the scoping process with respect to this

environmental analysis. These entities and individuals are also invited

to submit comments on the DEIS.

It is important that those interested in the Navy activities

participate in the scoping and commenting processes. To be most

helpful, comments should be as specific as possible.

The project schedule is as follows:

Begin Public Comment Period--December, 1999

Issue Draft EIS--April, 1999

Issue Final EIS--July, 1999

Issue Record of Decision--September, 1999

End 30-day Appeal Period/Implementation--October, 1999

The BLM/Navy's scoping process for the EIS will include: (1)

Identification of issues to be addressed; (2) Identification of viable

alternatives; (3) Notification of interested groups, individuals, and

agencies so that additional information concerning these issues, or

other issues, can be obtained.

Dated: December 10, 1998.

Karl Kipping,

Associate Manager, Carson City Field Office.

[FR Doc. 98-33657 Filed 12-18-98; 8:45 am]

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