[Federal Register: July 15, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 135)]
[Notices]               
[Page 38185-38186]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15jy99-35]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

 
Notice of Public Hearing for and Availability of the Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement for Disposal and Reuse of Naval Air 
Station (NAS) South Weymouth, MA

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DOD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Navy (Navy) has prepared and filed with 
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (DEIS) for Disposal and Reuse of NAS South Weymouth, 
MA. A public hearing will be held to receive oral and written comments 
on the DEIS. Federal, state, and local agencies and interested parties 
are invited to be present at the hearing.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 4, 1999 at 7 p.m.


[[Page 38186]]


ADDRESSES: Abigail Adams Intermediate School, 89 Middle Street, 
Weymouth, MA 02189.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert Ostermueller, Northern 
Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, 10 Industrial Highway, 
MSC 82, Lester, PA 19113, telephone (610) 595-0759.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as implemented by the 
Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), 
Navy has prepared and filed with the U.S. EPA the DEIS for the Disposal 
and Reuse of NAS South Weymouth, MA.
    In response to the recommendations of the 1995 Base Closure and 
Realignment Commission and to the legislative requirements of the 1990 
Base Realignment and Closure Act, NAS South Weymouth was officially 
closed in September 1997.
    Navy has prepared a DEIS which addresses the environmental impacts 
of disposing of NAS South Weymouth and of its potential reuse. It is 
Navy's policy to adopt the local community's reuse plan as its 
preferred alternative. The preferred alternative presented in the DEIS 
is the Final Reuse Plan developed and approved by the South Shore Tri-
Town Development Corporation.
    The Final Reuse Plan alternative is a combination of land uses to 
include: Business/research and development (regional headquarters, 
small businesses, high-technology, etc.), retail (super-regional retail 
entertainment center/retail along Route 18), residential (new senior 
housing), institutional (homeless services), recreation (public golf 
course), open space (wetlands and parks), and infrastructure (roads). 
The preferred alternative would generate over 9,540 jobs at full 20-
year buildout, and would increase traffic and demand on utility systems 
in the area substantially.
    A Notice of Availability for the DEIS was published in the Federal 
Register on July 2, 1999 and the DEIS has been distributed to various 
federal, state, and local agencies, elected officials, special interest 
groups, the public, and the media. In addition, copies are available 
for review at three repositories around NAS South Weymouth: Burton L. 
Wales Library, Abington MA; Rockland Memorial Library, Rockland, MA; 
Hingham Town Library, Hingham, MA; and Weymouth Tufts Library, 
Weymouth, MA. Single copy requests for the DEIS may be directed to the 
point of contact listed previously.
    One public hearing will be held to inform the public of the DEIS 
findings and to solicit and receive oral and written comments. The 
hearing will be held on Wednesday, August 4, 1999 at the Abigail Adams 
Intermediate School, 89 Middle Street, Weymouth, MA 02189. The hearing 
will begin at 7 p.m.
    Federal, state, and local agencies and interested parties are 
encouraged to attend or be represented at the meeting. Oral statements 
will be heard and transcribed by a stenographer; however, to assure the 
accuracy of the record, statements should be submitted in writing. All 
statements, both oral and written, will become part of the public 
record for this study and will be responded to in the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement. Equal weight will be given to oral and 
written statements.
    In the interest of available time, each speaker will be asked to 
limit his/her oral comments to five minutes. If longer statements are 
to be presented, they should be summarized for the public hearing and 
submitted in written long-form at the hearing or mailed to the point of 
contact address listed above. All written comments must be postmarked 
by August 16, 1999 to become part of the official record.

    Dated: July 12, 1999.
Ralph W. Corey,
CDR, JAGC, USN, Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 99-18075 Filed 7-14-99; 8:45 am]
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