Assessment of BRAC 133 Final Environmental Assessment of July 2008 and Transportation Management Plan of July 2010

Assessment of BRAC 133 Final Environmental Assessment of July 2008 and Transportation Management Plan of July 2010
Author: United States. Department of Defense. Office of the Deputy Inspector General for Policy and Oversight
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2011
Genre: Military bases
ISBN:

On October 13, 2010, the DoD IG Technical Assessment Directorate initiated a detailed independent engineering assessment of the sufficiency of the Army's Final Environmental Assessment Implementation of 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Recommendation 133, dated July 2008 (BRAC 133 EA), and the Transportation Management Plan for BRAC 133 at the Mark Center, dated July 2010 (BRAC 133 TMP). The assessment was undertaken in response to a requirement of the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, Section 2704, "Transportation Plan for BRAC 133 Project under Fort Belvoir, Virginia, BRAC Initiative," (Public Law 111-383). The Act directed that the DoD IG "submit to the congressional defense committees a report evaluating the sufficiency and coordination conducted in completing the requisite environmental studies associated with the site selection of the BRAC 133 project." We issued a draft report, considered your comments, and are releasing our final findings, recommendations, and report. As reported in the February 24, 2011 draft, we determined that the proposed traffic mitigations in the BRAC 133 EA may not be sufficient to support the Finding of No Significant Impact (FNSI) and recommended that the Army perform a reassessment of the transportation effects, including a traffic impact analysis and monitoring program. The Army responded to our draft stating that they do not intend to perform any new traffic analyses because recent studies sufficiently support the suggested improvements. However, we found that the recent studies were inadequate to support the FNSI and are standing by our recommendation. We also found that the 2010 BRAC 133 TMP did not include or sufficiently address several critical travel demand management strategies and recommended that that the Army revise and update the BRAC 133 TMP and conduct a more technically robust, standalone traffic impact analysis. The Army agreed to revise the TMP; but did not agree to conduct a more technically robust traffic impact analysis, stating that more recent traffic studies were sufficient. However, the recent traffic studies did not adequately address existing and projected peak hour traffic volumes; appropriate site variables; and effects of BRAC 133 traffic on additional intersections and interchanges beyond the narrowly defined BRAC 133 EA and/or TMP study limits. Therefore, we are standing by our recommendations.

Draft Finding of No Significant Lowry Air Force Base Realignment. Environmental Assessment for Lowry Air Force Base Realignment

Draft Finding of No Significant Lowry Air Force Base Realignment. Environmental Assessment for Lowry Air Force Base Realignment
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 29
Release: 1989
Genre:
ISBN:

The Base Closure Act, Public Law 100-526, directs the Secretary of Defense to close and realign all military installations recommended by the Commission on Base Realignment and Closure. As a result of the Commission's recommendations, Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado, will absorb an additional training mission due to the closure of Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois. This Environmental Assessment has been conducted in order to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (Public Law 91-190), which requires Federal agencies to evaluate and disclose the environmental impacts of a proposed Federal action. The EA was prepared in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality's Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508) and Air Force Regulation 19-2, Environmental Impact Analysis Process. Procedural requirements of other pertinent environmental legislation, including the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act, are also addressed and compliance status is documented. Only the effects of the additional mission at Lowry AFB are addressed in this assessment. The effects of the closure of Chanute AFB are being addressed in a separate document. As provided for in the Base Closure Act, the need, purpose, or reason for the realignment does not have to be addressed in the NEPA document. Therefore, the purpose of the action is addressed only to the extent necessary for an understanding of the proposed project. A detailed description of the project is presented in the next section, Alternatives Including the Proposed Action.

Implementing Base Realignment and Closure Decisions in Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act

Implementing Base Realignment and Closure Decisions in Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 84
Release: 1991
Genre:
ISBN:

Signing the Records of Decision (RODs) for U.S. Army Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) has been impeded by modified proposed action, lack of environmental information, and unclear definition of responsibilities in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. This policy analysis provides a framework to implement the spirit and intent of NEPA in accordance with BRAC mandates. Changes in U.S. Army force structure require base realignments and closures. These actions may not proceed without adequate implementation of NEPA. The issues and problems associated with implementing NEPA for BRAC are complex and difficult to define concisely. This policy analysis attempts to identify the underlying problems of BRAC and evaluates alternative strategies to overcome difficulties in preparing environmental analyses and documentation. These strategies focus on improving decision-making, NEPA flexibility, and the overall substantive quality of environmental analysis and documentation.