[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40196-40197]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15986]
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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[Notice 13-072]
National Environmental Policy Act; Sounding Rockets Program;
Poker Flat Research Range
AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Notice of availability of the Final Environmental Impact
Statement (FEIS) for the NASA Sounding Rockets Program (SRP) at Poker
Flat Research Range (PFRR), Alaska.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, as amended,
(NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality
Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR
Parts 1500-1508), and NASA's NEPA policy and procedures (14 CFR Part
1216, subpart 1216.3), NASA has prepared and issued a FEIS for its
continued use of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) owned and
managed PFRR, outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. The Bureau of Land
Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and UAF have
served as Cooperating Agencies in preparing the FEIS.
The purpose of this notice is to apprise interested agencies,
organizations, tribal governments, and individuals of the availability
of the FEIS.
DATES: NASA will issue a Record of Decision (ROD) based on the FEIS no
sooner than 30 days from the date of publication in the Federal
Register of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Notice of
Availability of the FEIS.
ADDRESSES: The FEIS may be reviewed at the following locations:
(a) ARLIS, 3211 Providence Drive, Anchorage, Alaska, 99508
(907-272-7547)
(b) Z.J. Loussac Public Library, 3600 Denali Street, Anchorage,
Alaska, 99503
(907-343-2975)
(c) Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, 310 Tanana Loop, Fairbanks, Alaska,
99775
(907-474-7481)
(d) Noel Wien Library, 1215 Cowles Street, Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
(907-459-1020)
(e) Juneau Public Library, 292 Marine Way, Juneau, Alaska 99801
(907-586-5249)
(f) NASA Headquarters Library, Room 1J20, 300 E Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20546-0001 (202-358-0168)
A limited number of hard copies of the FEIS are available, on a
first request basis, by contacting Joshua Bundick, NASA Wallops Flight
Facility, Mailstop: 250.W, Wallops Island, Virginia 23337; telephone at
757-824-2319; or electronic mail at [email protected]. The FEIS
is also available on the Internet in Adobe[supreg] portable document
format at http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code250/pfrr_eis.html.
NASA's ROD will be made available, once issued, on the same Web
site as above and by request to the contact provided above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joshua Bundick, Manager, Poker Flat
Research Range EIS, NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Mailstop: 250.W,
Wallops Island, Virginia 23337; telephone: 757-824-2319; fax: 757-824-
1819; electronic mail: [email protected]. A toll-free telephone
number, 800-521-3415, is also available for persons outside the local
calling area. When using the toll-free number, please follow the menu
options and enter the ``pound sign ()'' followed by extension
numbers ``2319.''
Additional information about NASA's SRP and UAF's PFRR may be found
on the Internet at http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code810 and http://www.pfrr.alaska.edu, respectively. Information regarding the NEPA
process for this proposal and supporting documents (as available) are
located at http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code250/pfrr_eis.html.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Since the late 1960s, NASA, other government
agencies, and educational institutions have conducted suborbital rocket
launches from the PFRR. While the PFRR is owned and managed by the
Geophysical Institute of UAF, the NASA SRP has exclusively funded and
managed the support contract with PFRR for more than 25 years.
[[Page 40197]]
The PFRR is the only high-latitude, auroral-zone rocket launching
facility in the United States where a sounding rocket can readily study
the aurora borealis and the sun-earth connection.
Related Environmental Documents
In 2010, concerns raised by agencies and organizations regarding
the potential impact of its operations at PFRR prompted NASA to review
its 2000 SRP Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS).
In doing so, NASA determined that while the overall environmental
analysis in the 2000 SRP FSEIS remains sufficient to support the
Agency's broad decision to continue the SRP at PFRR, potential changes
in both operations and the environmental context of the launch corridor
north of the site warranted preparation of additional site-specific
environmental analysis. Accordingly, the FEIS tiers from the
programmatic 2000 FSEIS and provides a focused analysis of SRP
operations at PFRR.
Alternatives
The FEIS evaluates the environmental consequences of five
alternative means for continuing sounding rocket launches at PFRR. The
alternatives differ primarily in the level of effort that would be
exerted to locate and recover past and future launch related items in
downrange lands. Two alternatives also include a restriction on
planning rocket motor or payload impacts within designated Wild or
Scenic Rivers. NASA has identified Alternative 1, Continue NASA SRP
Activities and Flights at PFRR within Existing Flight Zones with
Environmental Screening for Recovery of New and Existing Stages and
Payloads (Environmentally Responsible Search and Recovery Alternative)
as its Preferred Alternative.
Cooperating Agency Actions
The FEIS will serve as a decision-making tool not only for NASA but
also for its two Federal Cooperating Agencies, BLM and USFWS. Directly
north of the PFRR launch site are its downrange flight zones, over
which rockets are launched and within which spent stages and payloads
impact the ground. Within these flight zones are BLM's Steese National
Conservation Area and White Mountain National Recreational Area, and
the USFWS-managed Arctic and Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuges.
Historically, the managing entities have issued UAF annual or multi-
year special-use authorizations for impact of rockets and recovery
operations on these lands.
BLM and USFWS are currently considering if and how future
authorizations for rocket impact and recovery would be issued for the
lands under their management. As such, the FEIS considers the effects
of each agency's respective action--both issuance and non-issuance of
future authorizations.
Review of Draft EIS
NASA mailed over 150 copies of the Draft EIS (DEIS) to potentially
interested Federal, State, and local agencies; tribal governments;
organizations; individuals; and public reading rooms. Following the
U.S. EPA's publication of a Notice of Availability (NOA) of the DEIS in
the Federal Register on September 28, 2012 (77 FR 59611), NASA
published its own NOA of the DEIS on October 10, 2012 (77 FR 61642). In
addition, NASA held public meetings in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska,
and made the DEIS publicly available in electronic format on the
project Web site. The public review and comment period for the DEIS
closed on November 28, 2012. NASA received a total of 6 submissions
(letters, emails, and transcribed oral comments) from Federal agencies,
non-governmental organizations, and individuals. The resulting 40
comments received spanned a broad range of topics; however the majority
of commenters expressed concern regarding effects of the SRP on special
use lands (e.g., designated Wilderness and Wild Rivers) and wilderness-
based recreation. Both the comments received on the DEIS and NASA's
responses to those comments are included in the FEIS in Appendix K. In
parallel with preparing the FEIS, NASA also formally consulted with
resource agencies regarding the potential effects of its operations on
federally threatened and endangered species and cultural and historic
resources. The outcomes of these consultations are summarized in the
FEIS and are also included in Appendix A.
In summary, notice of the availability of the FEIS is hereby given.
Olga M. Dominguez,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Strategic Infrastructure.
[FR Doc. 2013-15986 Filed 7-2-13; 8:45 am]
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