Record of Decision; Acquisition of Site for Development of a Replacement Underground Safety Research Program Facility for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (CDC/NIOSH) in Mace, West Virginia
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in cooperation with the General Services Administration (GSA), announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the acquisition of a site in Mace, West Virginia, and the development of this site into a replacement for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Underground Safety Research Program facility (Proposed Action). The acquisition and development will replace the former Lake Lynn Experimental Mine in Fayette County, Pennsylvania and will support research programs focused on miner health and safety issues. The site to be acquired and developed includes 461.35 acres located off U.S. Route 219 in Randolph and Pocahontas Counties near Mace, West Virginia (Site).
Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as implemented by Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), Federal agencies are required to evaluate the environmental effects of their proposed actions and a range of reasonable alternatives to the proposed action before making a decision. In compliance with NEPA, CDC published a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the acquisition of the Site and construction of a new underground safety research facility on February 14, 2019 and a Final EIS on July 16, 2021. The Draft EIS was available for public review and comment for 51 days. All comments received were considered when preparing the Final EIS. The Draft and Final EIS analyzed two alternatives: the Proposed Action Alternative (acquisition of the Site and construction of a new underground safety research facility) and the No Action Alternative. The Final EIS identified the Proposed Action Alternative as CDC’s Preferred Alternative.
After carefully considering the Final EIS and all comments received, CDC has made the decision to implement the Proposed Action Alternative. CDC’s rationale for this decision is detailed in the ROD. The ROD incorporates all the mitigation and minimization measures described in the Final EIS.
The ROD is available for viewing on the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov (reference Docket No. CDC-2018-0057)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sam Tarr, Office of Safety, Security, and Asset Management (OSSAM), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road N.E, H20-4, Atlanta, Georgia 30329-4027, phone: (770) 4888170, or email: [email protected].
10-27