The U.S. Coast Guard now has more time to conduct more analysis on the proposed Base Seattle Modernization project.
The Department of Homeland Security has extended the U.S. Coast Guard’s timeline to finalize the project’s Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) from May 7 to Dec. 31, giving the agency more time “to consider public comments received on the Draft PEIS and conduct additional analysis that will help inform a final Record of Decision.”
Before a Record of Decision is issued “stating the Coast Guard’s decision on the selected alternative,” the public will have a chance to look over the final PEIS, which studies the project’s potential environmental and socioeconomic effects and pinpoints any mitigation measures “associated with land acquisition, facility and infrastructure modernization, and continued operation to support current and future Coast Guard missions at Base Seattle,” according to the agency.
Base Seattle, south of downtown on Puget Sound, is the largest Guard installation in the Pacific Northwest, essential for regional missions and polar activities, and homeport for polar ice breakers and northwest cutters.
Most buildings and infrastructure were constructed before 1950, and many were repurposed over the years. This, the Guard has said, impedes its ability to efficiently execute its missions.
The Coast Guard’s proposal would expand the base from 22 to possibly 54 acres. The agency released its draft PEIS last October.
The draft, which details the impacts from a base expansion, is available in its entirety at https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/NEPA.