83 FR 12568 - Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Air Force Reserve Command F-35A Operational Beddown

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Air Force

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 56 (March 22, 2018)

The United States Air Force (USAF) is issuing this notice to advise the public of the intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) F-35A Operational Beddown. The EIS will assess the environmental consequences that could result from the beddown and operation of 24 Primary Aerospace Vehicles Authorized (PAA) F-35A aircraft with 2 Backup Aircraft Inventory (BAI), facility and infrastructure development, and personnel changes at a military base in the continental United States where the AFRC conducts a global precision attack mission.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 56 (Thursday, March 22, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12568-12569]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05807]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Air Force


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Air Force Reserve Command F-35A Operational Beddown

AGENCY: Department of the Air Force, Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The United States Air Force (USAF) is issuing this notice to 
advise the public of the intent to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) F-35A 
Operational Beddown. The EIS will assess the environmental consequences 
that could result from the beddown and operation of 24 Primary 
Aerospace Vehicles Authorized (PAA) F-35A aircraft with 2 Backup 
Aircraft Inventory (BAI), facility and infrastructure development, and 
personnel changes at a military base in the continental United States 
where the AFRC conducts a global precision attack mission.

DATES: The USAF intends to hold public scoping meetings from 5:00 p.m. 
to 8:00 p.m. in the following communities on the following dates:

1. Homestead Air Reserve Base (ARB)--17 April 2018, at the William F. 
Dickenson Community Center, 1601 N Krome Avenue, Homestead, Florida 
33030
2. Naval Air Station (NAS) Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base (JRB)--19 
April 2018, at the Cendera Center, 3600 Benbrook Hwy., Fort Worth, 
Texas 76116
3. Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB)--24 April 2018, at the Tucson 
Convention Center, 260 S Church Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 85701
4. Whiteman AFB--26 April 2018, at Knob Noster High School, 504 S 
Washington Avenue, Knob Noster, Missouri 65336.

ADDRESSES: The project website (www.AFRC-F35A-Beddown.com) provides 
more information on the EIS and can be used to submit scoping comments. 
Scoping comments can also be submitted to Mr. Hamid Kamalpour, U.S. Air 
Force, (210) 925-2738, AFCEC/CZN, 2261 Hughes Ave., Ste. 155, JBSA-
Lackland AFB, Texas 78236-9853, [email protected].
    For comments submitted by mail, a comment form is available for 
download on the project website. Comments will be accepted at any time 
during the environmental impact analysis process. However, to ensure 
the USAF has sufficient time to consider public input in the 
preparation of the Draft EIS, scoping comments should be submitted via 
the project website or to the address listed above by 11 May 2018.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AFRC F-35A mission includes the beddown 
and operation of one squadron of 24 PAA F-35A aircraft with 2 BAI. The 
24 PAA AFRC F-35A aircraft with 2 BAI would replace either 24 AFRC F-16 
aircraft at Homestead ARB or NAS Fort Worth JRB or 24 AFRC A-10 
aircraft at Davis-Monthan AFB or Whiteman AFB. The USAF has identified 
NAS Forth Worth JRB as the preferred alternative, and Davis-Monthan 
AFB, Homestead ARB, and Whiteman AFB as reasonable alternatives. Along 
with the No Action Alternative, all four bases will be evaluated as 
alternatives in the EIS. The United States Navy is a Cooperating Agency 
to the USAF for this EIS.
    Scoping and Agency Coordination: To effectively define the full 
range of issues to be evaluated in the EIS, the USAF will solicit 
comments from interested local, state, and federal agencies and elected 
officials, Native American tribes, interested members of the public, 
and others. Public scoping meetings will be held in the local 
communities near the alternative bases. The scheduled dates, times, 
locations, and addresses for the

[[Page 12569]]

public scoping meetings concurrently being published in local media.

Henry Williams,
Acting Air Force Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-05807 Filed 3-21-18; 8:45 am]
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