Navy Med to release reports by September

Neighbors and County Council want more time to respond to environmental impact statement

Bethesda residents and elected officials did not mind a later release of the two complicated documents, but hoped the Navy would extend the subsequent 45-day public comment period.

‘‘I think the September release is preferable to the middle of the summer,” said Ilaya Hopkins, president-elect of the East Bethesda Citizens Association. ‘‘Only 45 days to comment would not leave people with adequate time to review it.”

The Navy confirmed its EIS and master plan were still in the works during a briefing with the Montgomery County Council Monday afternoon. A final EIS and master plan are expected to come out next spring, according to David ‘‘Ollie” Oliveria, the new BRAC program manager for Navy Med.

Navy officials lengthened an earlier public scoping period that ended in February, and held additional meetings in Bethesda to solicit input from residents.

That extended public comment period was partly why the EIS and master plan have taken longer than expected. The Navy also needed more time for a ‘‘more extensive traffic study than we had anticipated,” said Brian Badura, NNMC spokesman.

‘‘I think it will be a better study, and I hope residents will be happier with the end result,” Badura said.

The national BRAC timeline shows a three-year construction phase at Bethesda beginning later this year and ending by fall 2010. Navy officials said the sequence of building construction on the base will be determined when the EIS and master plan are released.

Councilman Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Potomac said he wanted an additional 45 days to review and react to the Navy reports.

‘‘In light of the magnitude of what we expect to be in the draft EIS, and the complexity of the situation, we think it serves the interest of the community,” Berliner said.

The final EIS must address concerns brought up during public scoping periods. A double-long comment period could delay the final EIS, compressing the military’s tight construction and integration timeline.

At Monday’s meeting with the council, Oliveria likened BRAC to ‘‘trying to build the car as it races around the track.”

A federal integration project like BRAC would usually take seven or eight years, but ‘‘we’re doing it in three,” he said.

In an attempt to ensure the county’s voice is heard during BRAC, County Executive Isiah Leggett formed a BRAC committee that includes Navy officials, county planners and agency directors, elected officials, local business leaders and representatives from Bethesda-Chevy Chase neighborhood associations.

‘‘Our biggest concern is that the expansion is done the right way,” East Bethesda’s representative Ilaya Hopkins said. ‘‘We think an adequate and thorough review of the study is a step in that direction.”