Details on Naval Base Kitsap’s plans for a Ford-class capable dry dock were plentiful the last time Navy officials spoke at what was the first Kitsap Industrial Readiness Summit in 2023.

Similar levels of information would be scarce this time around, NBK Commanding Officer John Hale telling local officials that a draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Bremerton Waterfront improvements plan is now not expected for public release until at least early 2025.

Hale and other officials at the summit, hosted by the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance, indicated there’s still a lengthy process of evaluations that requires time to complete. “We haven’t seen a major infrastructure update here at PSNS for at least half a century,” Hale said. “There’s a lot of proposed alternatives, a lot of removal, construction, replacements of the piers, wharves, clay walls, buildings, cranes. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

Navy officials say much of the infrastructure at PSNS and the Intermediate Maintenance Facility dates back to the late 1800s and early 1900s as it had served classes of ships no longer utilized in modern naval fleets. To date, Hale said that PSNS is the only naval shipyard on the West Coast with a drydock that can accommodate the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier—infrastructure that is set to be used with the recent arrival of the USS Ronald Reagan.

The Navy’s Proposed Action is to construct a multi-mission dry dock at PSNS & IMF with the capability to service Ford-class carriers, upgrade Dry Dock 6 to meet current seismic standards and to modify, demolish and/or replace other facilities to make space for the new dock. The proposition also includes “dredging to create turning basins, entrance channels, and adequate water depth at wharves and piers.”

The EIS would provide the public with an early evaluation of potential impacts to the environment caused by the proposal. Officials had hoped to issue a draft of the EIS in 2023 and a final EIS and record of decision by the end of this year.

Once a draft EIS is presented to the public, public review and comments will be accepted. A final EIS will then be submitted and, after a 30-day wait period, will be followed by a formal decision.

“One thing I wanted to clarify from the event is that the purpose and need of the Bremerton Waterfront Environmental Impact Statement hasn’t changed,” Katharine Crabtree with NBK said. “We still need to meet the mission requirement of providing the Ford-class carrier maintenance capabilities at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.”