Environmental statements; availability, etc.: Base realignment and closure— Vint Hill Farms Station, VA; disposal and reuse,

[Federal Register: January 14, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 9)]

[Notices]

[Page 2219-2220]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr14ja98-49]

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army

Record of Decision on the Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Disposal and Reuse of Vint Hill Farms Station, Warrenton, VA

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: The Department of the Army announced its Record of Decision (ROD) on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the disposal and reuse of the 701 acres of Vint Hill Farms Station, Warrenton, Virginia, in accordance with the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990, Public Law 101-510, as amended.

Under the Act, the Secretary of the Army has been delegated the authority to dispose of excess real property and facilities located at a military installation being closed or realigned. The Army is required to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act during the process of property disposal and must prepare appropriate analyses of the impacts of disposal and, indirectly, of reuse of the property on the environment. The ROD and the FEIS satisfy requirements of the law to

[[Page 2220]]

examine the environmental impacts of disposal and reuse of Vint Hill Farms Station.

Encumbered disposal involves the transfer of property to others with use restrictions imposed by the Army. The ROD concludes that surplus property will be conveyed subject to restrictions, identified in the FEIS, that relate to the following: reservations for the right access property to remediate areas until cleanup is completed, reservation for access to utilities necessary to implement remediation actions, restrictions (conservation easement) prohibiting disturbance of wetlands and a 100-foot upland buffer adjacent to wetlands. The Army will impose reservations to deed restrictions as necessary and appropriate to protect human health, the environment, and public safety.

The Army has taken all practicable measures to avoid or minimize environmental harm associated with its preferred alternative of encumbered property disposal. The Army will continue to work with individual future owners to avoid, reduce, or compensate for adverse impacts that might occur as a result of disposal. Mitigation measures for reuse activities are identified in the FEIS.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD and FEIS are available for review at the Fauquier County Public Library in Warrenton, Bealeton Branch Library in Bealeton, and Prince William County Center Library in Manassas. A copy of the ROD may also be obtained by writing to Mrs. Shirley Barnett, U.S. Army Materiel Command, ATTN: AMCSO, 5001 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22333-0001, or by calling (703) 617-8172.

Dated: January 6, 1998. Raymond J. Fatz, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Environment, Safety and Occupational Health), OASA (I, L&E).

[FR Doc. 98-844Filed1-13-98; 8:45 am]

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