Final FONSI and EA for hot cargo pad on Kirtland AFB - Kirtland Air ...

<strong>Final</strong> <strong>EA</strong> Addressing Construction, Operation, <strong>and</strong> Maintenance of a Hot Cargo Pad
1.1 Introduction
1. Purpose <strong>and</strong> Need <strong>for</strong> Action
This section describes the purpose <strong>and</strong> need <strong>for</strong> the Proposed Action at Kirtl<strong>and</strong> Air Force Base (AFB),
provides summaries of the environmental review process <strong>and</strong> the applicable regulatory requirements, <strong>and</strong>
presents an overview of the organization of the document.
Federal agencies are required to consider the environmental consequences of proposed actions in the
decisionmaking process under the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969 (42 United States Code [U.S.C.] Sections 4321 to 4370d) <strong>and</strong> the Council on Environmental
Quality’s (CEQ) implementing regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500–1508).
Kirtl<strong>and</strong> AFB is also required to consider U.S. Air Force (USAF) NEPA-implementing regulation
(32 CFR 989), <strong>and</strong> Department of Defense (DOD) Instruction 4715.9, Environmental Planning Analysis.
This Environmental Assessment (<strong>EA</strong>) addressing the Construction, Operation, <strong>and</strong> Maintenance of a Hot
Cargo Pad at Kirtl<strong>and</strong> AFB was prepared in accordance with NEPA. This <strong>EA</strong> evaluates the potential
environmental impacts associated with construction, operation, <strong>and</strong> maintenance of a <strong>hot</strong> <strong>cargo</strong> <strong>pad</strong> at
Kirtl<strong>and</strong> AFB, <strong>and</strong> other related components including construction of a new taxiway to the proposed <strong>hot</strong>
<strong>cargo</strong> <strong>pad</strong>; replacement of a existing deteriorating taxiway to Pad 5; relocation <strong>and</strong> addition of anti-ram
barriers, defensive fighting positions (DFPs), <strong>and</strong> personnel shelters surrounding the proposed <strong>hot</strong> <strong>cargo</strong>
<strong>pad</strong> <strong>and</strong> Pad 5; addition of new lighting at the proposed <strong>hot</strong> <strong>cargo</strong> <strong>pad</strong> <strong>and</strong> Pad 5; <strong>and</strong> removal of existing
lighting at Pad 5.
Kirtl<strong>and</strong> AFB is just southeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico (see Figure 1-1), at the foot of the Manzano
Mountains. These mountains define the eastern boundary of an area called East Mesa. Kirtl<strong>and</strong> AFB
encompasses approximately 52,000 acres of the East Mesa <strong>and</strong> has an average elevation of 5,400 feet
above mean sea level. L<strong>and</strong> use <strong>for</strong> areas adjacent to the installation includes the Cibola National Forest
to the northeast <strong>and</strong> east, the Isleta Indian Reservation (Isleta Pueblo) <strong>and</strong> Cibola National Forest
(including Manzano Wilderness Area) to the south, <strong>and</strong> residential <strong>and</strong> business areas of the City of
Albuquerque to the west <strong>and</strong> north.
Kirtl<strong>and</strong> AFB was established in the late 1930s as a training base <strong>for</strong> the Army Air Corps. In 1941,
construction of permanent barracks, warehouses, <strong>and</strong> a chapel was completed, <strong>and</strong> a single B-18 bomber,
Kirtl<strong>and</strong> AFB’s first military aircraft, arrived. Troops soon followed, <strong>and</strong> Kirtl<strong>and</strong> AFB grew rapidly
with U.S. involvement in World War II. The installation served as a training site <strong>for</strong> air crews <strong>for</strong> many
of the country’s bomber aircraft, including the B-17, B-18, B-24, <strong>and</strong> the B-29. After World War II,
Kirtl<strong>and</strong> AFB shifted from a training facility to a test <strong>and</strong> evaluation facility <strong>for</strong> weapons delivery,
working closely with both Los Alamos National Laboratory <strong>and</strong> S<strong>and</strong>ia National Laboratory. In 1971,
Kirtl<strong>and</strong> AFB <strong>and</strong> its adjoining neighbor to the east, S<strong>and</strong>ia Army Base, were combined. The two
divisions of the installation are still referred to as Kirtl<strong>and</strong> West <strong>and</strong> Kirtl<strong>and</strong> East, respectively. Kirtl<strong>and</strong>
AFB is now operated by the 377th Air Base Wing (377 ABW).
The 377 ABW is a unit of the Air Force Materiel Comm<strong>and</strong> (AFMC), <strong>and</strong> its prime mission, as the host
unit at Kirtl<strong>and</strong> AFB, is to support more than 100 Mission Partners with support personnel, resources,
equipment, <strong>and</strong> facilities. The installation functions as a test <strong>and</strong> evaluation center <strong>for</strong> the Space <strong>and</strong>
Missile Systems Center <strong>and</strong> Air Force Operational Test <strong>and</strong> Evaluation Center; <strong>and</strong> it is the headquarters
<strong>for</strong> operational organizations, such as the Air Force Security Police Agency, Air Force Inspection
Agency, S<strong>and</strong>ia National Laboratories, <strong>and</strong> Albuquerque Service Center <strong>for</strong> the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE). Kirtl<strong>and</strong> AFB also functions as a training base <strong>for</strong> the 58th Special Operations Wing of
Kirtl<strong>and</strong> AFB, NM January 2011
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