Final BRAC report delayed by public concern

EGLIN AFB - Public interest in the new Joint Strike Fighter mission has delayed the release of the final Environmental Impact Statement on the project.

The base announced Tuesday that the final draft of the EIS will be ready sometime this fall, after the original September deadline.
An exact date was not available.

The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission named Eglin Air Force Base as the new home of the Army's 7th Special Forces Group Airborne from Fort Bragg, N.C., and the newly established F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Training Center.

The draft of the EIS says one of the benefits of the process is improved communications between all parties.

"The problem is, we have not heard from the main player, and that's Eglin," said Valparaiso Mayor Bruce Arnold. "We have heard nothing since the interim DEIS was published."

Somewhere in the alphabet soup of RAICUZ, DEIS, FEIS, JLUS and BRAC, are Eglin's answers.

The base started the process with its Range and Air Installation Compatible Use Zone Study.

The results were included in the Joint Land Use Study that included Walton, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties.

Valparaiso opposes the base's two proposals to incorporate the Joint Strike Fighter Training Center. In comments submitted to Eglin, city officials said the alternatives "would significantly impact Valparaiso to the point of destroying the city."

The city suggested the base include a third alternative that would adjust the runways, flight paths and takeoffs to lessen projected noise levels.

"We've been forthright and shot from the hip all the way through," said Arnold. "We haven't exaggerated anything. We just leveled with them, period. I think they owe it to us to listen."

After announcing the findings at a public hearing in 2007, the base incorporated the Joint Land Use Study and comments submitted by residents and city officials into a draft of the EIS.

The EIS is the base's proposed actions and alternatives to integrate the new training site and Army installation.

According to Bob Arnold, chairman of Eglin's Mission Enhancement Committee, "the Air Force is taking the concerns of the community very seriously. We are working with due diligence to ensure all public comments are taken into account."

Air Force officials will use the extra time to study public comments concerning the BRAC-mandated actions. All comments submitted to Eglin will be submitted to the Department of Defense as a part of the EIS.

"The beddown of the JSF is very complex and challenging - it's the first time the Air Force has been directed by BRAC to stand up an Integrated Joint Training Site for an aircraft that is still in development," Bob Arnold said in a statement released Tuesday.

"Since the public hearing on the draft EIS, the Air Force has been taking a hard look at everyone's inputs. This process has taken longer than originally anticipated, but this is not surprising given the complexities involved and the number of comments we have received."

Despite the delay in filing the final EIS, the base's realignment will be complete by Sept. 15, 2011.

Mission personnel and their families will start arriving in September 2009. According to reports from the Eglin Installation Growth Committee, BRAC-related growth will net 8,223 mission personnel and 4,960 family members.

The next major step in the process will be the publication of the final EIS, which will include the Air Force's responses to the comments received on the draft.

STAY IN THE KNOW

To receive a final copy of the Environmental Impact Statement, contact Mike Spaits at 882-2878.

Daily News Staff Writer Mona Moore can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 1443.