Notice2022-00749
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Regional Special Use Airspace Optimization To Support Air Force Missions in Arizona
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Published
January 18, 2022
Issuing agencies
Defense DepartmentAir Force Department
Abstract
The Department of the Air Force (DAF) is issuing this Notice of Intent (NOI) to advise the public of its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the potential environmental consequences associated with optimizing the Special Use Airspace (SUA) managed by the DAF to support aircrews stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB), Luke AFB, and Morris Air National Guard Base ([ANGB] located at Tucson International Airport) in Arizona and to request comments on potential alternatives and impacts, and identification of any relevant information, studies, or analyses of any kind concerning impacts affecting the quality of the human environment.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2597-2599]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00749]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Air Force
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
Regional Special Use Airspace Optimization To Support Air Force
Missions in Arizona
AGENCY: Department of the Air Force, Federal Aviation Administration,
Department of Defense.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The Department of the Air Force (DAF) is issuing this Notice
of Intent (NOI) to advise the public of its intent to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the potential
environmental consequences associated with optimizing the Special Use
Airspace (SUA) managed by the DAF to support aircrews stationed at
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB), Luke AFB, and Morris Air National
Guard Base ([ANGB] located at Tucson International Airport) in Arizona
and to request comments on potential alternatives and impacts, and
identification of any relevant information, studies, or analyses of any
kind concerning impacts affecting the quality of the human environment.
DATES: This NOI begins the public scoping process for identifying
issues and potential alternatives for consideration in the EIS.
Notifications are being concurrently published in local newspapers
within the potentially affected localities. Scoping comments are
requested by March 4, 2022 to ensure full consideration in the Draft
EIS in accordance with 40 CFR 1501.9. In-person scoping meetings will
be held at the dates and locations below. All meetings will be open-
house style from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (Local). There will not be a
formal presentation, please attend at your convenience. Persons with
hearing impairments should notify the DAF at least 7 days in advance of
the meeting dates to ensure that sign language assistance can be
available. Masks worn over the nose and mouth and social distancing are
required at all in-person meetings. Spanish interpreters will be
available at scoping meetings.
<bullet> February 7, 2022. Sonoran Desert Inn & Conference Center,
55 South Orilla Avenue, Ajo, Arizona 85321.
<bullet> February 8, 2022. Superior Town Hall, 199 N Lobb Avenue,
Superior, Arizona 85173.
<bullet> February 9, 2022. Bagdad Event Center, 121 Main Street,
Bagdad, Arizona 86321.
<bullet> February 10, 2022. Congress Fire Department, 26733 Santa
Fe Road, Congress, Arizona 85332.
<bullet> February 22, 2022. Village Hall, 15 Jake Scott Street,
Reserve, New Mexico 87830.
<bullet> February 23, 2022. Clifton Community Center, 100 North
Coronado Blvd., Clifton, Arizona 85533.
<bullet> February 24, 2022. Animas High School, 1 Panther Blvd.,
Animas, New Mexico 88020.
In addition to the in-person meetings, the project website
<a href="http://www.ArizonaRegionalAirspaceEIS.com">www.ArizonaRegionalAirspaceEIS.com</a> provides a virtual presentation of
the meeting materials for those persons that do not wish to attend or
are unable to attend an in-person meeting. All the handout(s) and
displays for the in-person meetings are available on the website.
The EIS is still in the early planning stages and the schedule is
subject to change. The schedule will be updated throughout the EIS
process on the project website. Major milestone dates are as follows:
<bullet> Draft EIS and Notice of Availability (NOA) publication,
Fall 2023
<bullet> Draft EIS Public Comment Period and Hearing, Fall 2023
<bullet> Final EIS and NOA publication, Summer 2024
<bullet> Record of Decision signature, Summer/Fall 2024
ADDRESSES: For questions regarding the Proposed Action or EIS
development, or to request sign language assistance at the in-person
scoping meetings, contact Grace Keesling, at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#91f6e3f0f2f4bffaf4f4e2fdf8fff6bfa0d1e4e2bff0f7bffcf8fd"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f29580939197dc999797819e9b9c95dcc3b28781dc9394dc9f9b9e">[email protected]</span></a>
or (210) 925-4534. Comments may be submitted through the project
website <a href="http://www.ArizonaRegionalAirspaceEIS.com">www.ArizonaRegionalAirspaceEIS.com</a>,
[[Page 2598]]
by mailing to Arizona Regional Airspace EIS, c/o Cardno, 501 Butler
Farm Rd., Suite H, Hampton, VA 23666, or in person at the scoping
meetings.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Air Force utilizes portions of the
National Airspace System (NAS) for aerial training and test activities
known as Special Use Airspace (SUA). As a specific type of SUA,
Military Operations Areas (MOAs) are specific airspace, defined by
vertical and lateral limits, established for the purpose of separating
certain military flight activates from other civil and commercial air
traffic. Air Force aircrews stationed in Arizona are continually
challenged to meet critical training requirements within existing MOAs
established decades ago. The MOAs that are currently used for Air Force
training in Arizona, specifically low altitude airspace and airspace
that supports supersonic operations at low altitude, have become
saturated with aircraft. While the Air Force manages an extensive
network of valuable SUA in the region, including the restricted areas
associated with the Barry M. Goldwater Range, the volume and attributes
associated with the individual MOAs are insufficient to meet the
current training requirements. The Air Force is proposing a regional
approach that aims at optimizing the existing training airspace to meet
current and future mission requirements of multiple users. The airspace
proposed for optimization includes the following MOAs: Tombstone,
Outlaw, Jackal, Reserve, Morenci, Bagdad, Gladden, Sells, Ruby, and
Fuzzy. These MOAs overlie land located throughout southern Arizona and
a small portion of western New Mexico.
The purpose of the Proposed Action is to optimize existing Air
Force SUA to address the existing and future training deficiencies of
aircrews stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB, Luke AFB, and Morris ANGB due
to existing airspace limitations. The need for the Proposed Action is
driven by two primary factors: The need for aircrews to be able to
conduct flight training near their home base; and the need to conduct
required training to ensure readiness and increase survivability. As
currently configured, the identified MOAs do not provide the
appropriate altitudes (down to 500 feet above ground level [AGL] and
lower), terrain variety, and attributes (ability to fly supersonic at
lower altitude and use of chaff and flares) to support required
training.
The Proposed Action is to modify existing Air Force MOAs to address
existing and future training deficiencies. The Proposed Action includes
changing published times of use; adjusting the horizontal dimensions of
some airspace; lowering the floor of some airspace to allow for low-
altitude training; and adjusting airspace attributes to allow for
supersonic speed at lower altitude and use of chaff and flares. The
Proposed Action does not include any changes at the installations
(personnel, infrastructure, aircraft inventory, or airfield
operations), ground disturbance beneath the MOAs, or weapons
deployment.
Three preliminary action alternatives that meet the purpose and
need for the Proposed Action have been developed. Comments received
during scoping may result in changes or additions to these
alternatives. Additionally, the No Action Alternative (Alternative 1),
whereby the proposed modifications of the training airspace would not
occur, will be evaluated to provide a benchmark that will enable Air
Force decision makers to compare the magnitude of the environmental
effects of the Proposed Action and any reasonable alternatives.
Alternative 2 (Proposed Action) would optimize the existing Air
Force managed airspace, including the following changes to the times of
use, horizontal and vertical dimensions, and attributes: Published
times of use for all MOAs would be modified to provide consistency
across the airspace; Tombstone A, B, and C would be combined and the
northern boundary of the MOA and associated Tombstone Air Traffic
Control Assigned Airspace (ATCAA) would be expanded; an exclusion zone
would be established below 13,000 feet above mean sea level (MSL)
surrounding Bisbee Douglas International Airport; the floor of
Tombstone MOA would be lowered to 100 AGL from the existing 500 feet
AGL; the floors of Outlaw and Jackal MOAs would be lowered to 500 feet
AGL from the existing 3,000 feet AGL; the floors of the Bagdad and
Gladden MOAs would be lowered to 500 feet AGL from the existing 5,000
feet AGL; use of chaff would be authorized in Tombstone MOA; the
minimum flare release altitude in Tombstone, Gladden, and Bagdad MOAs
would be lowered to 2,000 feet AGL from 5,000 feet AGL; the minimum
flare release altitude in Outlaw and Jackal MOAs would be lowered to
2,000 feet AGL from 3,000 feet AGL; and the authorization for
supersonic flight would be lowered to 5,000 feet AGL from the existing
30,000 feet MSL in Tombstone, Outlaw, Jackal, Morenci, and Reserve
MOAs.
Alternative 3 would include those modifications proposed for
Alternative 2 except that the northern boundary of the Tombstone MOA/
ATCAA would not be expanded. Additionally, to increase the volume of
airspace available to support Davis-Monthan AFB, the floor of Jackal
MOA would also be lowered to 100 feet AGL from the existing 3,000 feet
AGL.
Alternative 4 would include those modifications proposed in
Alternative 2 except supersonic flight would be authorized down to
10,000 feet AGL in the Tombstone, Outlaw, Jackal, Morenci and Reserve
MOAs (vs 5,000 feet AGL in Alternative 2). While this option would not
fully optimize the airspace for supersonic operations, lowering the
authorized altitude in the MOAs would improve the current capabilities.
Based on previous NEPA actions in the region and familiarity with
the affected environment, the following is a preliminary list of issues
and concerns that will be the focus in the EIS: Noise and sonic boom
impacts to domestic animals, wildlife, special status species,
children, quality of life, property values, homes, and cultural
resources; effects to cultural resources and Native American tribes;
effects to Environmental Justice populations; aircraft safety and
impacts to civilian pilots (crop dusting, predator control, and cattle
management) and commercial operations; air quality impacts to wildlife
and public; effects from use of chaff and flares, specifically fire
risk; and effects to special use land management areas such as
wilderness areas, national wildlife refuges, and national parks/
monuments.
Scoping and Agency Coordination: To effectively define the full
range of issues and alternatives to be evaluated in the EIS, the Air
Force is soliciting comments from interested local, state and federal
elected officials and agencies, Tribes, as well as interested members
of the public and others. The DAF is requesting comments concerning the
proposed SUA optimization, feasible alternatives, possible measures to
mitigate, minimize and/or avoid adverse environmental impacts, and any
other information relevant to the Proposed Action and any reasonable
alternatives.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, State Historic Preservation
Offices for Arizona and New Mexico, and tribes with interest in land
beneath the airspace are being consulted to ensure compliance with the
Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act. The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has agreed to be a Cooperating
Agency for this action. The FAA would update aeronautical charts to
reflect any modifications to existing airspace that result from this
proposal and published in FAA Order
[[Page 2599]]
JO 7400.10(C), Special Use Airspace (<a href="http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/">http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/</a>).
Adriane Paris,
Air Force Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022-00749 Filed 1-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001-10-P
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