Final EIS on Navy FRTC ready for decision

by Rachel Dahl -- A 30-day wait period ended on Monday, February 10th for the Environmental Impact Statement on the Fallon Range Training Complex Modernization plan at Naval Air Station Fallon. According to information given at a public meeting held by the Navy on January 28^th, the Record of Decision on the EIS can now be issued by the Secretary of the Navy and the plan will be forwarded to Congress for further action. At the request of Churchill County Commissioners, the Navy held their eighth public meeting over the course of two years, complying with requests for one additional public meeting after the final EIS was issued. The Navy Project team, along with several Navy subject experts provided posters and information, meeting with members of the public and special interests at 5:00 p.m. to answer specific questions, and then at 6:00 p.m. Captain Evan Morrison, commanding officer Fallon Naval Air Station welcomed over 200 people, providing an overview of the plan, saying, “there is no other place in the country that has the facilities and the infrastructure to provide us the required training our men and women need.” According to Morrison and the EIS document itself, the FRTC is the Navy’s premier aviation training range. “Aviation and ground training conducted here is critical to defending and securing the United States and its interests abroad,” he said. Every naval aviation and naval special warfare units train on the Fallon ranges prior to being deployed for their missions. He also said that 85% of the total Non-Combat Expenditure Allowance of ammunition is utilized on the Fallon ranges. “That’s how critical our ranges are.” The personnel who complete their training at Fallon are known throughout the Navy as subject matter experts in the latest and most effective tactics and they are used to help train aviators and ground units before they go on deployment. “Today’s technology has outpaced the current size and configuration of the Fallon ranges,” said Morrison. In response to these tactical and technological advances, the Navy conducted a comprehensive analysis in June of 2015 referred to as the “90-days To Combat Study”  to determine the land and airspace needed to meet combat training requirements for modern aircraft and weapon systems. The study showed there are current gaps in aviation weapons, and ground mobility training. Morrison said the current size of the bombing ranges in the Dixie Valley training area severely restrict the extent to which the Navy can train. The result is that crews and special operation forces are unable to train in sufficiently realistic conditions. “The Navy must reconfigure the Fallon ranges to ensure the safety and success of service men and women in combat,” he said. “I would just like to emphasize, this is not just something we want to do or is a nice to have, after a very detailed analysis this is what we’re asking for because it’s a requirement to make sure we’re ready and prepared as we go into combat.” In the view of the Navy team, modernization of the bombing ranges and the Dixie Valley training area would address current gaps in training and provide more realistic training capabilities, while maintaining the safety of local communities. Alex Stone, Project Manager for the Environment Impact Statement with the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet then provided an overview of specifics in the final EIS, and the Navy’s proposed mitigation measures. In his overview of the document, he reviewed the notable changes from the draft EIS to final EIS, and the mitigation measures that were worked out with the stakeholder community to reduce any identified impacts. In his overview, Stone said there are about 200,000 acres (232,000 acres) of withdrawn land (Navy-managed land) for which the authorization will expire in November of 2021. “We’re proposing to renew that withdrawal and propose to withdraw an additional 600,000 acres and acquire some non-federal land.” He said that additionally, the Navy wants to modernize the airspace to use for better training, as well as modernized the range structure and target infrastructure to meet current training requirements. The NEPA process requires the federal government to study environmental impacts before making a decision, a process which includes involving the public and taking public input before making decisions. The Navy began a scoping process several years ago, and after that began holding public meetings to take comments and develop a draft EIS which was released over a year ago. They then held seven public meetings in several communities to get input on the draft proposal. Those comments were considered as the development of the Final EIS, which was released January 10^th. The Navy received a total of 1,466 comments during the Draft EIS process, and the final EIS contains responses to all of those comments. Many of the comments did lead to actual changes in the EIS. January 10, 2020 started the 30-day wait period required by NEPA before the Record of Decision is issued. At the end of the wait period the Navy may consider any comments made on the EIS before making a decision. For the land withdrawal the ultimate decision on the pubic land withdrawal is made by Congress. Although four alternatives were analyzed during the EIS process, Alternative 3 was chosen as the preferred alternative. According to Stone, in addition to the public part of the NEPA process, the Navy worked closely with the various stakeholders, cooperating agencies, and tribes throughout the process. “We had an unusual number of cooperating agencies, and every page of the EIS reflects their input,” he said. “Their involvement and your involvement leads to a better document and ultimately a better decision.” Stone mentioned that at this point the ROD and the congressional action may be seen as the end of the process, but the implementation of the modernization plan will take many years to complete, and “we will continue working with the stakeholders and the tribes in the coming years.” More information on the FRTC plan and process, along with the specific changes made throughout the process can be found online at www.FRTCModernization.com. Read about the Fallon Pauite-Shoshone Tribe response to the FRTC EIS here: https://www.thefallonpost.org/fallon-paiute-shoshone-tribe/fallon-tribe-opposes-navy-expansion-plans/     Support local, independent news – contribute to The Fallon Post, your non-profit (501c3) online news source for all things Fallon. Never miss the local news -- read more on The Fallon Post home page.