The General Services Administration announced on Oct. 4 that it plans to prepare an environmental impact statement that will evaluate the potential effects of establishing a training center near Blackstone, VA, about 160 miles south of Washington, DC, where personnel based at U.S. embassies overseas can be trained.

The new training site, which will be called the Foreign Affairs Security Training Center, or FASTC, will be located on the Virginia Army National Guard's Maneuver Training Center at Fort Pickett and in Pickett Park, both in Nottoway County, VA.

"Training will include small arms weapons training, driving courses, and classroom instruction," says a U.S. Department of State (DOS) fact sheet. "When fully operational, DOS expects to train approximately 8,000-10,000 students per year, with courses ranging from one week to several months long."

Training for U.S. Government employees will be conducted by the Department of State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The training center will provide facilities for instruction in both "hard skills," such as mock urban environments, explosives ranges, driving tracks and firing ranges, and "soft skills," such as classrooms, simulation labs and a fitness center.

The GSA originally evaluated 41 candidate sites for the new FASTC, said a Federal Register notice published on Oct. 4, but eventually determined that "the only potentially suitable location for the proposed FASTC facility" were the sites in Nottoway County. These consist of a 750-acre parcel owned by the County and a 900-acre parcel, known as the "Maneuver Area," located at the Virginia Army National Guard's base.

GSA says its environmental impact study will kick off with an open house "public scoping meeting," which will be held at the Blackstone Armory in nearby Blackstone, VA, on October 18 between 6:30 PM and 8:30 PM. The Armory is located at 1008 Darvills Road, Blackstone, VA 23824.

For further information about the environmental impact statement or the upcoming scoping meeting, contact Abigail Low, GSA's project manager, at 215-446-4815 or FASTC.info@gsa.gov

The environmental and planning studies that will begin shortly on the site are being done under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Both NEPA and NHPA require public participation in the decision-making process.

from Government Security News magazine

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