Integrated Training Area Management EA and Final FNSI

Fort WainwrightThe Fairbanks North Star Borough nonattainment area for CO was redesignated from nonattainment toattainment for CO by the EPA on 27 September 2004 (Fed. Reg. 27 July 2004 (69FR44601-44607).Areas classified as attainment but operating under a maintenance plan are referred to as maintenanceareas. Areas of Fort Wainwright located within the North Star Borough maintenance area are subject togeneral conformity regulations to ensure that federal activities do not interfere with the pollutant limits setin state implementation plans. A portion of Fort Wainwright is located within this maintenance area.Ice fog is an air pollution problem in interior Alaska caused by man-made sources of water vapor. It canoccasionally occur for weeks at a time, whenever temperatures go below -35° F. Cooling waters frompower plants are the largest single source. Automobiles are next in importance because of their widerangingmobility and exhaust pipes close to ground level. Also, many cars are left with engines idling forhours at a time during very cold weather (Benson 1970).Donnelly Training AreaDonnelly Training Area is designated as an attainment area for the six regulated NAAQS and is permittedas a separate facility from Fort Wainwright. Since the annual potential emission is less than 100 tons forany of the criteria pollutants, no air quality operating permit is required at this time.Fugitive dust is typically generated from daily industrial activities such as bulk material handling, storage,and construction projects. The Delta River and Jarvis Creek are large sources of fugitive dust during windevents in summer, and sometimes during winter months. Driving heavy machinery, constructionequipment, and personal and tactical vehicles on unpaved surfaces can also generate fugitive dust.No air quality monitoring data exists for Donnelly Training Area or for any of the surroundingcommunities. Particulate sampling equipment was recently installed at Fort Greely, but insufficient datahave been collected to provide an accurate measure of air quality relative to this pollutant. Air quality atDonnelly Training Area approximates natural baseline conditions, given the low density of humandevelopment and emission sources present. While Donnelly Training Area does experience periodicepisodes of ice fog, they are generally short in duration. Strong and persistent temperature inversions dooccur but, due to the limited number of emission sources, the inversions are unlikely to cause pollutantlevels that exceed the NAAQS.3.12.2 Environmental ConsequencesAlternative 1: Continue ITAM Program without a Management Plan (No Action)Under the No Action Alternative, ITAM projects would continue to take place without a managementplan or standard operating procedures. Overall, impacts to air quality under Alternative 1 are minor due toLRAM activities.SRA, TRI, and GIS programs would not have any impacts to air quality. RTLA would contribute aninsignificant amount of emissions from vehicles used during monitoring activities. LRAM impacts arediscussed below.LRAMMaintenance and repair activities under all LRAM projects requiring vehicles would contribute to minoremissions through vehicle exhaust and from generation of dust. Dust may be generated from travel on dirt_____________________________________________________________________________________________Environmental AssessmentUnited States Army Alaska, Integrated Training Area Management ProgramManagement Plan 69