HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment of the Air ForceThe Honorable Ken Olson
City of Laurel
115 W 1st Street
Laurel, MT 59044
Dear Mayor Olson:
DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FOI
HEADQUARTERS AIR COMBAT COMMAND
LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, VIRGINIA
~uN ~ 200
~~~o~,~ ~
D JUN g ~IpB D
CITY OF LAUREL
The United States Air Force (Air Force) is in the process of preparing an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the potential environmental consequences of a proposal to
expand and enhance the existing Powder River Complex (PRC) near Ellsworth Air Force Base
(AFB) SD. The proposal would create the Powder River Training Complex (PRTC). The PRTC
would more effectively use limited resources and finite flying hours by providing locally the
realistic training needed by B-1 and B-52 aircrews flying from Ellsworth AFB SD and Minot
AFB ND, respectively. This airspace proposal addresses the training and other limitations
affecting the existing PRC training assets as they are currently configured.
The proposed action would restructure and reconfigure the existing Powder River
Military Operations Areas (MOAs) and associated Air Traffic Control Assigned Airspaces
(ATCAAs). The PRTC proposal would establish two air refueling routes, create additional low
altitude MOA (500 feet Above Ground Level [AGL] up to, but not including, 18,000 feet above
Mean Sea Level [MSL]) and high-altitude ATCAA (18,000-60,000 MSL) combinations in
portions of South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. The proposal would support
additional ground-based assets to simulate threats and an increase in aircraft training flights,
permit the use of training chaff and flares, and authorize supersonic flight above 10,000 AGL.
Three action alternatives and a no-action alternative have currently been identified for analyses
and are discussed in the attached meeting brochure (Atch 1). All or portions of the following
locations have the potential of being affected by the proposal's overhead training airspace due to
one or more of the alternatives: Montana-Crow and Northern Cheyenne Reservations and the
counties of Big Horn, Carter, Custer, Fallon, Powder River, Rosebud, Treasure, and
Yellowstone; North Dakota----Standing Rock Reservation and Adams, Billings, Bowman,
Golden Valley, Grant, Hettinger, Morton, Sioux, Slope, and Stark counties; South Dakota
Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Reservations, and Butte, Corson, Harding, Lawrence,
Meade, Pennington, Perkins, Ziebach counties; and Wyoming: Campbell, Crook, Sheridan, and
Weston counties.
Recognizing that open communication of issues is a critical element of the EIS process,
the Air Force will host public meetings in communities underlying and/or adjacent to the
proposed airspace as identified in the meeting flyer at attachment 2. Community meetings are
also being coordinated on each Native American Reservation. The Air Force intends to
coordinate public involvement far the ,purpose of Section 106 review under the National Historic
Preservation Act with public involvement in the EIS prepared under the Environmental Impact
Analysis Process. Meetings with public, agency, and Native American stakeholders during this
GfodaC~'awer ~For,America
scoping process will help identify the full range of reasonable alternatives, potential impacts, and
key issues to be considered in the environmental impact analysis process.
The Air Force is committed to community outreach and as an additional effort to inform
the public of these meetings, we request your assistance in posting the enclosed flyer in a
conspicuous place within your community. The scoping meetings will be in an open-house
format, where Air Fore representatives will describe the proposed action and alternatives,
explain the National Environmental Policy Act, outline opportunities for public involvement, and
answer questions about the proposal. The public meetings will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.,
and interested parties or citizens are welcome to come at any time since infarmation will be
provided throughout the duration of the open house. The Air Force will publish notices of EIS
preparation and upconning public scoping meetings in local newspapers.
Public and agency comments received during the meetings, as well as written comments
received by the Air Force during the scoping period and throughout the environmental process,
will be considered in the preparation of the EIS. The Air Force will accept comments at any
time during the environmental process; however, to ensure the Air Force has sufficient time to
consider public input in the preparation of the Draft EIS, comments should be submitted to Ms.
Linda Devine, HQ ACC/A7PP, 129 Andrews Street, Rm 317, Langley AFB VA 23665-2769,
by August 4, 2008.
If you any specific questions about this proposal or desire additional information, please
contact the public affairs office at Ellsworth AFB SD, 605-385-5056. You xnay also obtain
information including the two attachments to this letter, from our website at
www.accplanning.org. Thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter.
Sincerely
C O LD, .E.
Acting Chief, Programs Division
Attachments:
1. Scoping Meeting Brochure
2. Flyer
rjCo6aC~'awer ~F'orAmerica