SBCT Final EIS - Govsupport.us

Executive Summary• Effects to Native Americans. Eleven federally recognized tribes have some cultural affiliationwith the PCMS region.• Effects on the rural communities surrounding PCMS.• Impacts to the fragile grassland ecosystemNEPA Process, including TieringNEPA is a federal law that directs the Army to disclose the effects of its proposed activities to the publicand officials who must make decisions concerning the proposals. The NEPA process began when theArmy published the NOI in the Federal Register. The Army sought public input to help identify environmentalissues and concerns through the process called “scoping.”The regulations that implement NEPA encourage tiering EISs. Tiering is the process of referencing informationpresented in other previously prepared NEPA documents, such as EISs, to minimize repetition.This EIS assesses stationing alternatives for the 2/25 th SBCT to include Hawaii, which was analyzed in2004. If an alternative other than Hawaii is selected by Army decision makers upon reviewing the informationcontained within this EIS, a site-specific NEPA document tiered to this EIS will be prepared. If anIBCT moves to Hawaii under this action and additional facilities are required in Hawaii, additional NEPAdocumentation may be required. If the Army decides to keep the SBCT in Hawaii, no additional NEPAdocumentation is anticipated because the 2004 Transformation FEIS and this EIS provide sufficientanalysis.In addition to the 2002 Programmatic FEIS for Army Transformation and the 2004 FEIS for the Transformationof the 2 nd Brigade, this EIS incorporates information from a variety of other sources. Thesesources are referenced in the document bibliography.Proposed ActionThe Army’s Proposed Action is to home station the 2/25 th permanently in a location that meets nationalsecurity and defense policy guidance, provides for SBCT training and operational requirements, providesa high quality of life for the 2/25 th Soldiers and their Families, and facilitates the rapid deployment of theSBCT to uphold U.S. security objectives and interests.The U.S. District Court allowed the 2/25 th to complete its transformation and training in Hawaii to meetits training requirements in preparation for its current deployment. The brigade has deployed to southwestAsia and it will return from that deployment in early 2009.Essential Activity Group Components of the Proposed ActionFour primary activity groups must be integrated and synchronized by the Army as critical elements of theProposed Action and alternatives. These activity groups are necessary components of action for meetingthe Army’s requirements for permanently stationing the 2/25 th SBCT. Primary activity groups and theirimpacts are separated out in this chapter and subsequent environmental analysis chapters for ease of comparisonand understanding to ensure the full impacts of the Proposed Action at alternative sites can beunderstood. In addition, they are the primary activities resulting in effects to the human environment andtheir direct, indirect, and cumulative effects are considered in subsequent chapters of this document. Thefour primary activity groups are:1) Cantonment Area Construction – This activity group includes the construction of administrativeoffices; housing; vehicle parking and maintenance facilities; equipment storage; recrea-February 2008 xviii 2/25th SBCT Final EIS