Notice2021-18465
Record of Decision for the Proposed Heavy Off-Road Mounted Maneuver Training Area at Fort Benning, Georgia
Primary source
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Published
August 27, 2021
Issuing agencies
Defense DepartmentArmy Department
Abstract
The Department of the Army (Army) announces the availability of its Record of Decision (ROD) for the proposed Heavy Off-Road Mounted Maneuver Training Area (HOMMTA) at Fort Benning, Georgia. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the ROD identifies the Army's Selected Alternative (and basis for its selection), the Environmentally Preferred Alternative, and the mitigation measures the Army commits to implement with the Selected Alternative. The ROD is based on the results of the Army's Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that analyzed the potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts associated with constructing, operating, and maintaining a HOMMTA of at least 2,400 contiguous acres at Fort Benning to support off-road mounted maneuver (Proposed Action).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 164 (Friday, August 27, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 164 (Friday, August 27, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48129-48130]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-18465]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
Record of Decision for the Proposed Heavy Off-Road Mounted
Maneuver Training Area at Fort Benning, Georgia
AGENCY: Department of the Army, Department of Defense.
ACTION: Notice of availability (NOA).
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SUMMARY: The Department of the Army (Army) announces the availability
of its Record of Decision (ROD) for the proposed Heavy Off-Road Mounted
Maneuver Training Area (HOMMTA) at Fort Benning, Georgia. In accordance
with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the ROD identifies
the Army's Selected Alternative (and basis for its selection), the
Environmentally Preferred Alternative, and the mitigation measures the
Army commits to implement with the Selected Alternative. The ROD is
based on the results of the Army's Final Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) that analyzed the potential environmental and socioeconomic
impacts associated with constructing, operating, and maintaining a
HOMMTA of at least 2,400 contiguous acres at Fort Benning to support
off-road mounted maneuver (Proposed Action).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact Mr. John Brown, Fort
Benning Environmental Management Division, at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a1cbcec9cf8fc48fc3d3ced6cf90938fc2c8d7e1ccc0c8cd8fccc8cd"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9af0f5f2f4b4ffb4f8e8f5edf4aba8b4f9f3ecdaf7fbf3f6b4f7f3f6">[email protected]</span></a> or (706) 545-7549 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
ET. Fort Benning has also established a web page that contains
information updates and background on the HOMMTA Final EIS and ROD,
including the materials identified in this NOA, at <a href="https://www.benning.army.mil/Garrison/DPW/EMD/HOMMTA/">https://www.benning.army.mil/Garrison/DPW/EMD/HOMMTA/</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Proposed Action will support the
Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) in its mission to train maneuver
soldiers and leaders of the Army and would increase the total amount of
heavy off-road maneuver training area on Fort Benning, enabling the
Army to conduct realistic training in accordance with current Army
training requirements.
The Proposed Action will provide a training area to meet existing
training needs; it will not result in additional soldiers, traffic, or
any training off of the Installation. Training land development will
occur over a 2- to 3-year period; development will primarily include
vegetation removal and the construction of tank trails, culverted water
crossings, and road upgrades, as well as burying existing overhead
utilities. As feasible, buffers will be used to protect environmentally
sensitive resources such as streams, wetlands, cemeteries, and
archaeological sites.
Fort Benning serves a critical role in supporting the Army's
overarching mission. Fort Benning's institutional training provides
Army leaders with the opportunity to respond to a wide variety of
situations that they can expect to encounter on the modern battlefield.
Fort Benning must be able to train and develop highly skilled and
cohesive units capable of conducting operations across the full
spectrum of potential conflicts. Inherent in and vital to training
Infantry and Armor soldiers and leaders properly is the requirement to
provide sufficient heavy off-road mounted maneuver training area.
Currently, the only training area at Fort Benning suitable for
heavy off-road mounted maneuver training is the Good Hope Maneuver
Training Area (GHMTA), which contains various environmental constraints
that cannot support the maneuver training requirements of the MCoE. As
such, Fort Benning proposed to construct a new HOMMTA with sufficient
contiguous area to enable all units and courses to complete required
cross-domain movement and maneuver training.
The Final EIS, published on February 26, 2021 and supported by
other studies, analyses, and permit applications to meet Federal
requirements (e.g., the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act),
analyzed the potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts
associated with the Proposed Action, including direct, indirect, and
cumulative effects. The Final EIS responded to comments received on the
Draft EIS. The Final EIS also identified mitigation measures that the
Army may implement to reduce potential adverse impacts.
The Army studied three reasonable Action Alternatives (i.e., three
distinct locations on Fort Benning where a HOMMTA could be constructed)
that would meet the purpose of and need for the Proposed Action:
Alternative 1 (Preferred Alternative): Northern Mounted Maneuver
Training Area Alternative: This alternative includes approximately
4,724 acres and is located adjacent to and east of the current Northern
Maneuver Training Area and west of and near Fort Benning's Digital
Multi-Purpose Range Complex (DMPRC).
Of the Action Alternatives, Alternative 1 would provide the most
preferable size and configuration to enable high-quality heavy off-road
mounted maneuver training. Accordingly, the Army identified Alternative
1 as the Preferred Alternative to implement the Proposed Action in the
Draft and Final EIS.
Alternative 2: Red Diamond Alternative: This alternative includes
approximately 3,744 acres and is located south of the Southern Maneuver
Training Area (SMTA) near the Installation's southern boundary.
Alternative 3: Eastern Boundary Alternative: This alternative
includes
[[Page 48130]]
approximately 2,405 acres and is located between the northern dudded
impact area and the Installation's eastern boundary.
The Army also analyzed the No Action Alternative in detail. While
the No Action Alternative would not satisfy the purpose of or need for
the Proposed Action, it was retained to provide a comparative baseline
against which to analyze the effects of the Action Alternatives as
required under the Council on Environmental Quality's NEPA Regulations.
During formal consultation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service,
the Army determined that potential moderate adverse impacts on the
federally listed red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) would occur primarily
from removal of clusters and habitat during HOMMTA construction,
resulting in up to 11 ``incidental takes.'' The HOMMTA Biological
Opinion, however, reached the conclusion that the Army can reduce those
potential adverse impacts through mitigation, and implementation of the
HOMMTA with Alternative 1 would not jeopardize recovery of the RCW.
Potential impacts to Unique Ecological Areas, a subcomponent of
biological resources, may be significant if they cannot be fully
avoided with implementation of Alternative 1. No other resource is
anticipated to experience significant adverse impacts.
Based on the analysis presented in the Final EIS, the No Action
Alternative is the Environmentally Preferred Alternative. Of the Action
Alternatives, Alternative 2 is the Environmentally Preferred
Alternative. Considering potential environmental and socioeconomic
impacts, national defense needs, Fort Benning's mission requirements,
and the purpose of and need for the Proposed Action, however, the Army
has selected Alternative 1 (i.e., the Army's Preferred Alternative) to
implement the Proposed Action. The Army determined that Alternative 1
strikes a proper balance between providing environmental protection and
achieving the Army's training requirements.
The Army received several comments during the Final EIS waiting
period. The Army took these comments into account in making its
decision; however, the comments do not present information that
constitutes significant new circumstances or information relevant to
environmental concerns that would require supplementation of the EIS.
The ROD formally adopts numerous mitigation measures that the Army
will implement to reduce potential adverse environmental impacts under
Alternative 1. All practicable means to avoid or minimize environmental
harm from the Selected Alternative have been adopted. Mitigation
measures that the Army considered but does not adopt at this time are
listed in the Draft Mitigation and Monitoring Plan in the Final EIS
with explanations of why those mitigation measures were considered not
practical or necessary.
An electronic copy of the ROD is posted on the HOMMTA EIS web page
at <a href="https://www.benning.army.mil/Garrison/DPW/EMD/HOMMTA">https://www.benning.army.mil/Garrison/DPW/EMD/HOMMTA</a>. Additionally,
interested parties may contact Mr. John Brown (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT) to request a printed copy.
Publication of the ROD formally concludes the NEPA planning process
for this Proposed Action, acknowledging that the Army will implement
the adopted mitigation measures as identified in the ROD. The Army will
implement Alternative 1, including all mitigation measures identified
in the ROD, as described in the Final EIS.
James W. Satterwhite, Jr.,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021-18465 Filed 8-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5061-AP-P
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