[Federal Register: February 8, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 26)]
[Notices]
[Page 6456-6457]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08fe06-54]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) in Support of New Facilities for the U.S. Army Medical Research
Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Fort Detrick, MD
AGENCY: U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Department of
the Army, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army announces its intent to prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the construction and operation of
new USAMRIID facilities and the decommissioning and demolition or reuse
of existing USAMRIID facilities at Fort Detrick. This EIS is being
prepared and considered in accordance with requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, regulations of the President's
Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and the
Army's implementation of NEPA (32 CFR part 651), 29 March 2002.
The proposed new USAMRIID facilities will provide biocontainment
laboratory space, animal facilities, and administrative offices, as
well as operational and administrative support facilities. These new
facilities will be located adjacent to the existing USAMRIID facilities
within the National Interagency Biodefense Campus on Area A of Fort
Detrick and near the biomedical research facilities of mission
partners, including the Agricultural Research Service Foreign Disease--
Weed Research Unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the planned
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Integrated
Research Facility, and the Department of Homeland Security's National
Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center. The existing USAMRIID
facilities on Area A will be decommissioned and either demolished or
reused following occupancy of the new USAMRIID facilities.
The construction will occur in two stages. Stage 1 will provide
approximately 700,000 gross square feet (gsf) of new building space for
the replacement of outdated and compressed existing USAMRIID facilities
in order to sustain the current mission and to expand medical testing
and evaluation (T&E) capacity in support of immediate Department of
Defense (DoD) and national demand. Stage 2 will encompass approximately
400,000 gsf of new building space for the balance of USAMRIID's
expanded mission and for additional capacity to meet intensified
national requirements for medical test and evaluation in support of
biodefense research as well as to accommodate increased collaborative
efforts among USAMRIID's mission partners. In addition, approximately
200,000 gsf of the existing USAMRIID facilities may be renovated and
reused for laboratory or non-laboratory use, to be determined by
evolving biodefense requirements.
DATES: A public scoping meeting to describe the EIS to the public will
be held on Wednesday, February 22, 2006, 7 p.m. at Governor Thomas
Johnson High School, 1501 N. Market St., Frederick, MD 21701. Comments
on the scope of the EIS for the proposed project should be received no
later than March 10, 2006. Additional information on submitting
comments is included in the public participation section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caree Vander Linden, USAMRIID Public
Affairs, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5011; telephone:
(301) 619-2285, fax: (301) 619-4625.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: USAMRIID, an organization of the U.S. Army
Medical Research and Materiel Command, was established in 1969 to
conduct basic research, applied research, and advanced technology
development against biological threats, resulting in medical solutions
to protect military personnel. USAMRIID's medical countermeasures
against diseases such as anthrax, smallpox, botulinum intoxication, and
Ebola have included development of vaccines and drugs, diagnostic
capabilities, and medical management procedures.
USAMRIID has established itself as the lead biodefense laboratory
of the DoD, with unique high-level
[[Page 6457]]
biocontainment facilities (as regulated by the Centers for Disease
Control and prevention (CDC)) and expertise to safely conduct critical
biomedical research. In addition to its original mission to protect
military personnel, USAMRIID has been assigned a second mission to
leverage these capabilities to support government-wide biological
defense efforts by acting as the DoD's lead laboratory for T&E of
medical biological defense products.
USAMRIID must expand its facilities to meet both the requirements
for increased understanding of current biological threats and the
threat of emerging diseases to U.S. military service members and
citizens. Replacing the existing USAMRIID facilities on Area A of Fort
Detrick is essential to accelerate the research, development, testing,
and evaluation of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics for military and
civilian applications. This laboratory complex, built primarily in the
1950s and 1960s for 325 personnel, now houses approximately 750 staff
personnel in approximately 500,000 gsf of floor space. Major utilities
and other support systems within the laboratory complex have exceeded
their life expectancies and cannot readily accept new technologies.
Despite high levels of maintenance that consume up to 25% of the
USAMRIID operating budget, the existing facilities no longer provide an
adequate platform for USAMRIID to execute its critical missions. It is
estimated that approximately 900 people will staff the Stage 1 facility
and a total of approximately 1,300 people will be employed upon
completion of Stage 2.
The proposed new USAMRIID facilities will include biocontainment
laboratories designed, constructed, and operated to Biosafety Levels
(BSLs) -2, -3, and -4 and enhanced BSL-3 standards. The animal
facilities will be designed, constructed and operated to Animal
Biosafety Level (ABSL) -2 and enhanced ABSL-3 standards. (Note: BSLs
and ABSLs are designations within a well-defined system established by
the CDC and the National Institutes of Health consisting of facilities,
equipment, and procedural guidelines designed to minimize risk of
exposure to potentially hazardous biological pathogens for laboratory
workers and the outside environment.) These BSL and ABSL facilities
will enable USAMRIID researchers to safely conduct the research and
development and medical T&E work required to support USAMRIID's
evolving missions. The research conducted at USAMRIID has been and will
continue to be solely defensive in nature. The army does not conduct
offensive chemical or biological weapon research in any way, and is
firmly committed to compliance with both international and domestic law
including, but not limited to, the Convention on the Prohibition of the
Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological)
and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction and the Biological Weapons
Anti-terrorism Act.
Environmental analyses of the Proposed Action and alternatives will
evaluate land use, climate, geology, soils, water resources, wetlands,
plant and animal ecology, air quality, historical and cultural
resources, socioeconomic environment, noise, odors, transportation,
energy resources, hazardous material management, human health and
safety, environmental justice, and cumulative effects with respect to
unknown or potentially significant impacts. The issues to be addressed
will include safety of laboratory operations and demolition of the
existing biocontainment laboratories; public health and safety;
handling, collection, treatment, and disposal of research wastes;
analysis of other risks; and pollution prevention.
The EIS will address several alternatives, including demolition of
the existing USAMRIID facilities; partial renovation of existing
USAMRIID facilities for laboratory or non-laboratory use; and a No-
Action alternative, under which the proposed new USAMRIID facilities
would not be built and operated and the existing USAMRIID facilities
would not be decommissioned and demolished or reused. Additional
alternatives may be identified in the public scoping process.
Public participation: The Army invites full public participation to
promote open communication and informed decision-making. All interested
persons and organizations, including minority, low-income,
disadvantaged, and Native American groups, are urged to participate in
this NEPA environmental analysis process. Assistance will be provided
upon request to anyone with special needs to facilitate their
participation in the NEPA process.
To ensure that the full range of issues related to this Proposed
Action and the scope of this EIS are addressed, oral and written
comments are invited from all interested parties, including appropriate
Federal, state, and local agencies, and private organizations and
citizens. The scoping process supporting this effort will include:
establishment of the public USAMRIID EIS Web site at http://www.usamriid.army.mil/eis
; dissemination of public information
packages; publication in local newspapers; and coordination with public
interest groups. These efforts will allow the public to provide input
regarding the scope of the study and reasonable alternatives.
Public comments are welcome throughout the NEPA process and should
be directed to Caree Vander Linden at the address above. Additional
formal opportunities for public participation after the public scoping
phase are tentatively scheduled as follows: review and comment on the
Draft EIS, August-September 2006; public information meeting on the
Draft EIS, August 2006. Notices of Availability for the Draft EIS,
Final EIS, and Record of Decision will be provided through direct mail,
the Federal Register, and other media. Notifications also will be sent
to Federal, state, and local agencies and persons and organizations
that submit comments or questions throughout the NEPA process. Precise
schedules and locations for public meetings will be announced in the
local news media. Interested individuals and organizations may request
to be included on the mailing list for public distribution of meeting
announcements and associated documents.
Dated: February 3, 2006.
Addison D. Davis,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Environment, Safety and
Occupational Health).
[FR Doc. 06-1165 Filed 2-7-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-08-M