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Located in southeastern Nevada, the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) land base consists of approximately 2.9 million acres of federal land that has been withdrawn from public use and reserved for military use, most recently by the Military Lands Withdrawal Act of 1999, Public Law No. 106-65 (MLWA). In accordance with Section 3016 of the MLWA, the Department of the Air Force has notified Congress of a continuing military need for the NTTR land withdrawal in coordination with the DoD and plans to submit a legislative proposal through the Department of the Interior (DOI) to extend the NTTR land withdrawal. Congress has reserved the authority for renewing the NTTR land withdrawal for itself, through the Defense Withdrawal Act of 1958 (43 USC Sections 155–158), and will make the final decision as to whether or not to renew the NTTR land withdrawal. The current NTTR land withdrawal expires in 2021 unless legislation is enacted extending it.
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 United States Code [USC] Sections 4321-4370h (NEPA) requires agencies to include an environmental impact statement (EIS) with any proposal for legislation significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Under NEPA, the Air Force will prepare a Legislative EIS (LEIS) to support a legislative proposal for renewing the NTTR land withdrawal. Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations at 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508 the Air Force is inviting public participation in the NEPA process. In addition to the MLWA, NEPA and CEQ regulations, the Air Force will follow the applicable procedures set forth in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regulations at Title 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 2300 implementing the DOI’s authority to process federal land withdrawal applications.
The LEIS will assess the potential environmental consequences of extending the existing NTTR military land withdrawal beyond the current withdrawal expiration date. As part of the withdrawal extension, the Air Force proposes to continue military operations on the NTTR's existing 2,949,603 acres of land. In addition to extending the existing land withdrawal, the Air Force is also proposing to withdraw up to an additional 301,507 acres to improve the range's capacity to support military testing and training.
The U.S. Air Force Warfare Center is the proponent of this proposal. The Headquarters Air Force, Operations, Plans and Requirements (HAF/A3O) is managing the Legislative EIS (LEIS) process with Leidos as the contractor performing the work. The LEIS is the detailed environmental statement required by law that will support the legislative proposal. The Air Force is the lead agency for the LEIS, while the BLM, the Department of Energy (DOE), which includes the Nevada National Security Site and the National Nuclear Security Administration, Nevada Department of Wildlife, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) are cooperating agencies. The Air Force recognizes that there may be impacts to other stakeholders and will have dialogue with the appropriate Nevada state agencies as well as local counties and cities that may be impacted by the land withdrawal. The Air Force will also conduct government-to-government consultation with each of the federally recognized tribes potentially affected by the NTTR land withdrawal.
This website is provided by the Air Force for the purposes of providing information and assisting in the evaluation of potential environmental and human consequences resulting from the proposal to extend the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) land withdrawal.
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The Legislative EIS is now final and the mailing list is currently closed.
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