Record of Decision for the Proposed Construction and Operation of a Currency Production Facility Within the National Capital Region
| Published date | 21 October 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 58393 |
| Record Number | 2021-22909 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Engraving And Printing Bureau |
Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 201 (Thursday, October 21, 2021)
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 201 (Thursday, October 21, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58393-58394]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22909]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Record of Decision for the Proposed Construction and Operation of
a Currency Production Facility Within the National Capital Region
AGENCY: Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Department of the Treasury.
ACTION: Notice of availability (NOA).
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), Bureau of
Engraving and Printing (BEP) announces the availability of the Record
of Decision (ROD) for the proposed construction and operation of a
Currency Production Facility (CPF) within the National Capital Region
(NCR) (Proposed Action). Treasury previously published its Final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Proposed Action on June 4,
2021.
In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),
the ROD identifies all alternatives Treasury considered for the
Proposed Action, identifies the environmentally preferable alternative,
states Treasury's decision to implement the Preferred Alternative, and
discusses factors balanced by the agency in making its decision. The
ROD also adopts all practicable mitigation measures to avoid or
minimize environmental harm and commits to monitoring their
implementation. The Proposed Action will replace Treasury's
insufficient Washington, DC production facility (DC Facility), and will
provide Treasury with a modern, scalable, sufficiently sized production
facility within the NCR that meets Treasury's needs. Treasury has also
signed a Finding of No Practicable Alternative (FONPA) addressing
potential impacts on wetlands Executive Order 11990, Protection of
Wetlands.
DATES: Treasury's Acting Assistant Secretary for Management signed the
ROD on October 8, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the ROD, Final EIS, FONPA, and other
related materials are available on the project website at https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/home/bep-replacement-project. If you cannot
access the materials online, you may request hard copies of the
materials via the methods identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this NOA.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact Mr. Harvey Johnson,
USACE--Baltimore, Programs and Project Management Division: (1) By
email to: [email protected]; (2) by phone at: (410) 977-6733; or
(3) by mail to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, ATTN:
Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) Project EIS, Michael Schuster,
Planning Division, 2 Hopkins Plaza, 10th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21201.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BEP's mission includes manufacturing U.S.
currency notes; research, development, testing, and evaluation of
counterfeit deterrents; and development of production automation
technologies. Treasury currently operates two production facilities for
this purpose: The DC Facility and a facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The
DC Facility has been in operation for more than 100 years and is
neither able to support modern currency production nor able to support
Treasury's, and specifically the BEP's, current and future mission.
Within the DC Facility, manufacturing processes are inefficient and
inflexible. The DC Facility's configuration poses safety risks to
staff, and the downtown location of the DC Facility prevents Treasury
from complying with physical security standards. The condition,
configuration, and location of the DC Facility severely limit
Treasury's ability to modernize the DC Facility through renovation,
rendering modernization of existing facilities an untenable long-term
solution.
Over the past 20 years, Treasury has considered several scenarios
to address the inadequacy of its current facilities in the NCR,
including renovation of the DC Facility and new construction within the
NCR. Treasury concluded that construction of a new replacement CPF, as
opposed to renovation of the DC Facility, was the most efficient and
cost-effective option. As such, Treasury, on behalf of the BEP,
proposed to construct and operate a new CPF within the NCR to replace
its existing DC Facility. The Proposed Action will provide Treasury
with a modern, scalable, sufficiently sized production facility,
resulting in more efficient, streamlined currency production, while
allowing Treasury to maintain its presence within the NCR.
Treasury's Final EIS analyzed the potential environmental,
cultural, and socioeconomic impacts associated with the Proposed
Action, including cumulative effects. Minimization of adverse effects
through avoidance and environmentally sensitive design will be used to
avoid impacts to sensitive resources to the maximum extent practicable.
Where these efforts are not sufficient to avoid adverse effects, the
Final EIS identified additional mitigation measures that Treasury may
implement to further reduce identified adverse impacts. The ROD
identifies the mitigation measures that Treasury formally commits to
implement and monitor.
In support of the EIS, Treasury, with assistance from USACE,
conducted site-specific studies in accordance with federal and state
requirements, such as Sections 404/401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
As part of the planning process, Treasury gathered data on numerous
potential sites in the NCR that had the potential to support Treasury's
initial minimum criteria for construction of a new CPF. Treasury
evaluated each potential site against various screening criteria to
identify reasonable alternatives. Following an extensive and thorough
screening process, Treasury identified one reasonable Action
Alternative (the Preferred Alternative) that would meet the purpose of
and need for the Proposed Action. This Preferred Alternative is
summarized below and analyzed in detail in the Final EIS.
Preferred Alternative: Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC)
200 Area--Former Poultry Research Area
This alternative includes a 104.2-acre parcel of land located in
BARC's Central Farm in the 200 Area building cluster (Treasury's
proposed parcel). The parcel is located in Prince George's County,
Maryland, between Odell Road to the north and Powder Mill Road to the
south; Poultry Road runs north to south through the parcel. The parcel,
generally
[[Page 58394]]
consisting of grassland, cropland, scattered trees, and abandoned
buildings, is available for redevelopment. Treasury would construct a
new entrance road connecting its proposed parcel to Powder Mill Road
and would construct several minor modifications to Powder Mill Road in
the vicinity of the new intersection. The entrance road and Powder Mill
Road modifications require construction activities in an additional 18-
acre area, bringing the combined Project Site to a total of
approximately 122 acres.
Treasury also carried forward the No Action Alternative for
detailed analysis in the Final EIS. While the No Action Alternative
would not satisfy the purpose of or need for the Proposed Action,
Treasury retained this Alternative to provide a comparative baseline
against which to analyze the effects of the Preferred Alternative as
required under the Council on Environmental Quality's NEPA regulations
(40 Code of Federal Regulations 1502.14[c]).
Resource areas analyzed in the Final EIS include: Land use; visual
resources; air quality; noise; topography and soils; water resources;
biological resources; cultural resources; traffic and transportation;
utilities; socioeconomics and environmental justice (EJ); hazardous and
toxic materials and waste; and human health and safety. Treasury
dismissed air space, recreation, and geology from detailed study.
Treasury determined the Proposed Action has no potential to cause
significant adverse impacts to these resource areas.
Based on the Final EIS analysis, without implementation of
mitigation measures, significant adverse impacts could occur to visual
resources, water resources, cultural resources, traffic and
transportation, and EJ communities (i.e., due to disproportionate
adverse traffic impacts). Impacts to all other resource areas would be
less-than-significant adverse, negligible, or beneficial. However, in
the ROD, Treasury has adopted all practicable means to avoid or
minimize environmental harm from the Preferred Alternative. These
mitigation measures will further minimize identified potential adverse
impacts to each of these resource areas. Importantly, all potential
significant adverse impacts will be reduced to less-than-significant
levels.
The Preferred Alternative for the Proposed Action will also
adversely impact wetlands. Accordingly, Treasury has prepared a FONPA
to comply with Executive Order 11990. As described in the Final EIS and
ROD, regulatory compliance measures (e.g., permitting under Sections
404/401 of the CWA) and adopted mitigation measures will be implemented
to minimize adverse impacts on wetlands.
A Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS for the proposed project was
published in the Federal Register on November 15, 2019 (84 FR 62565)
and the public scoping period closed on December 15, 2019. Treasury
held one public scoping meeting on December 3, 2019. A Notice of
Availability of the Draft EIS was published in the Federal Register on
November 6, 2020 (85 FR 71074) and the public review and comment period
closed on December 21, 2020. Treasury held a Virtual Public Meeting on
December 2, 2020. Treasury considered and addressed in the Final EIS
comments received on the Draft EIS during the comment period. A Notice
of Availability of the Final EIS was published in the Federal Register
on June 4, 2021 (86 FR 30040).
Treasury has taken into consideration information and analyses
presented in the Final EIS, including potential environmental impacts
and recommended mitigation measures; supporting studies; consultation
with agencies and Native American Tribes; and the comments received
from the public during formal review and comment periods. Treasury has
also evaluated our national currency production needs, the BEP's
mission requirements, and the purpose of and need for the Proposed
Action. Based on these considerations, it is the decision of Treasury
to implement the Preferred Alternative and the associated mitigation
measures as outlined in the ROD.
Dated: October 15, 2021.
Charles C. Davis,
Project Manager, Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
[FR Doc. 2021-22909 Filed 10-20-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
