Re: Draft Overseas Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Statement for the Undersea Warfare Training Range and Notice of Public Hearings.
To Whom It May Concern:
The Department of the Navy (Navy) would like to announce that it has prepared and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a Draft Overseas Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Statement (Draft OEIS/EIS) to evaluate the construction and operation of a proposed Undersea Warfare Training Range. The Navy requires an instrumented undersea warfare training range to support worldwide deployment and current and future mission requirements in fulfillment of the US world role and the Global War on Terror, and to counter the threat of modern diesel submarines. The proposed USWTR provides an environment that is consistent with real-world threat situations where training exercises can be conducted under safe and controlled conditions, as well as providing critically-important real-time training feedback.
The proposed action is to instrument a 1,713-square-kilometer (500-square-nautical-mile) area of the ocean with undersea cables and sensor nodes, creating an undersea warfare training range (USWTR), and to use the area for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training. The Navy is requesting a Letter of Authorization for potential effects on marine mammals. The location alternatives considered are Alternative/Site A in the Cherry Point OPAREA, Alternative/Site B in the Virginia Capes OPAREA, and Alternative/Site C in the Jacksonville OPAREA. These three potential sites, along with the No Action Alternative, are evaluated in the Draft OEIS/EIS. Site A in the Cherry Point OPAREA is the Navy’s preferred alternative.
The Draft OEIS/EIS is available at <http://projects.earthtech.com/USWTR/>. Alternatively, single copies of the DEIS are available upon request by contacting Mr. Keith Jenkins at (757) 322-4046.
Public hearings are scheduled as follows:
1. November 15, 2005 at the Chincoteague Community Center, Chincoteague Island, VA
2. November 17, 2005 at the Crystal Coast Civic Center, Morehead City, NC
3. November 21, 2005 at the Wilson Center for the Arts Florida Community College, Jacksonville South Campus, Jacksonville, FL
At each location, the information session is scheduled from 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm and from 6:30 pm - 7:00 pm, followed by the public hearing from 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Additional information concerning this notice may be obtained by contacting Keith Jenkins at Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic; 6506 Hampton Blvd; Attn: Keith Jenkins, Code EV21KJ; Norfolk, VA 23508-1278, or Fax (757) 322-4894.