United States Fleet Forces Command, Va. –
The Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, as joint lead agencies, have prepared and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (OEIS) (ID# SEIS-007-17-USN-1723491961) that evaluates the reasonably foreseeable effects on the human environment of Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard training and testing activities conducted within the Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing (AFTT) Study Area.
The Navy and Coast Guard’s Proposed Action is to conduct military readiness training activities, and research, development, testing, and evaluation activities in the AFTT Study Area. These military readiness activities include the use of active sonar and explosives within existing range complexes and testing ranges and additional areas located in the Atlantic Ocean along the eastern coast of North America, in portions of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, at Navy pierside locations and port transit channels, near civilian ports, and in bays, harbors, and inland waterways (e.g., the lower Chesapeake Bay).
These military readiness activities are generally consistent with those analyzed in the AFTT EIS/OEIS completed in 2018 and are representative of training and testing that has been conducted in the AFTT Study Area for decades. Since the completion of the 2018 Final EIS/OEIS, the best available science has been updated, the regulatory environment has changed, the Study Area has changed, and what is known about our impacts has been refined. All of this has been incorporated into this Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS analysis. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is a Cooperating Agency for the Supplemental EIS/OEIS.
The purpose of the Proposed Action is to ensure the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, are able to organize, train, and equip service members and personnel to meet their respective national defense missions in accordance with their congressionally mandated requirements.
Potential direct, indirect, cumulative, short-term, long-term, irreversible, and irretrievable impacts to the environment from two action alternatives and a No Action Alternative are evaluated in the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS. Resources evaluated in detail include air quality, sediments and water quality, vegetation, invertebrates, marine habitats, fish, marine mammals, sea turtles and other marine reptiles, and birds and bats.
The 60-day public comment period begins on September 20, 2024, and ends November 21, 2024. The comment period includes an additional 15 calendar days (from the required 45 days) to allow the public more time to review and comment. The public can submit comments during the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS public review and comment period at one of the in-person public meetings, online via the project website, or by U.S. mail. All comments must be postmarked or received electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on November 21, 2024, for consideration in the Final Supplemental EIS/OEIS.
Three in-person, open-house style public meetings will be held to inform the public about the proposed action and alternatives and about the opportunity to provide comments on the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS.
The in-person public meetings will be held as follows:
- Tuesday, October 8, 2024, 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. New Bedford Whaling Museum, 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA 02740
- Thursday, October 10, 2024, 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza, 1 Veterans Pl, Silver Spring, MD 20910
- Wednesday, October 16, 2024, 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. New Orleans Marriott Metairie at Lakeway, 3838 N Causeway Blvd, Metairie, LA 70002
Two virtual public meetings in the form of a webinar and question and answer session will be held for the public to learn about the proposed action and alternatives. The virtual public meetings will be conducted as follows:
- Tuesday, October 22, 2024, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT
- Thursday, October 24, 2024, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT
Registration for the virtual public meetings is available at the project website www.nepa.navy.mil/aftteis/. Recordings of the virtual public meetings will be posted to the project website at www.nepa.navy.mil/aftteis/ for the public to view following their completion.
Comments on the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS may be provided at the in-person public meetings, submitted electronically through the project website: www.nepa.navy.mil/aftteis/, or by mail to: Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Atlantic; Attention: Code EV22SG (AFTT EIS Project Managers); 6506 Hampton Boulevard, Norfolk, VA 23508‐1278