[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 197 (Thursday, October 13, 1994)] [Unknown Section] [Page 0] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 94-25314] [[Page Unknown]] [Federal Register: October 13, 1994] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Office of Commercial Space Transportation [Docket 49815 (Licensing Commercial Space Launch Activities); and Docket No. 43098 (Financial Responsibility Requirements); Notice 94-17] RIN 2105-AB85; 2105-AA26 Public Meeting; Notice AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Office of Commercial Space Transportation, DOT. ACTION: Notice of public meeting. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation's (DOT) Office of Commercial Space Transportation (OCST) is holding a public meeting to obtain industry input to assist it with rulemaking activities currently under consideration. OCST seeks information that will assist it in developing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) addressing specific requirements for launch and launch site operator license applications submitted to OCST. OCST seeks to standardize its review of license applications while at the same time allowing prospective licensees design and operational flexibility for their proposals. OCST also plans to develop a second NPRM addressing implementation of financial responsibility requirements and allocation of risks associated with the conduct of licensed activities. Accordingly, OCST seeks views concerning the range of activities that may be covered by these requirements and the scope of the U.S. Government's payment of third-party claims that exceed the amount of required liability insurance. DATES: The meeting is scheduled to take place on October 27 and 28, 1994, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day, in Room 2230 of the Department of Transportation's Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC. ADDRESSES: Written submissions may be provided to OCST in addition to or in place of oral remarks presented at the public meeting. We would appreciate receiving each submission in triplicate with an indication of the Docket Number (listed above) to which it refers. One submission may be used to address both the licensing and financial responsibility dockets. Submissions should be sent to Docket Clerk, Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street SW., Room 4107, Washington, DC 20590. Comments will be available for public inspection at this address from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Written submissions should be provided by November 14, 1994. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Linda Strine, Deputy Assistant Director for Program Affairs, OCST, (202) 366-2980. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION- Background- The Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984, 49 U.S.C. 2601-2623, as recodified at 49 U.S.C. Subtitle IX--Commercial Space Transportation, ch. 701, Commercial Space Launch Activities, 49 U.S.C. 70101-70119 (1994) (the Act), authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to oversee and regulate commercial launch activities and the commercial operation of launch sites carried out within the United States or by its citizens. The Act requires that this responsibility be exercised to protect the public health and safety, safety of property, and national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. The Secretary's responsibilities under the Act, including licensing commercial launches and the operation of launch sites, as well as the obligation to encourage, facilitate and promote establishment of a competitive United States commercial space transportation industry, are implemented by OCST. - OCST implements its licensing and regulatory authority through the Commercial Space Transportation Licensing Regulations (Regulations), 14 C.F.R. Ch. III. At the time the Regulations were published in April 1988, no commercial launches had yet taken place. In adopting its approach to licensing commercial launch activities, as reflected in the Regulations, OCST recognized the need to establish a regulatory environment responsive to the needs of an emerging industry while assuring the public that commercial launch activities would be conducted safely and responsibly. At that time, OCST indicated that it would ``continue to evaluate and, when necessary, re-shape its program in response to growth, innovation, and diversity in this critically important industry.'' 53 Fed. Reg. 11006. - Both OCST's experience in administering the Act and launch companies' experience in operating in a commercial environment subject to DOT's regulatory oversight have evolved with time. OCST now seeks to streamline its licensing process while continuing to ensure safety and preserving the flexibility necessary to address myriad launch technologies and associated issues. Accordingly, OCST contemplates issuing rules of general applicability to enhance industry certainty regarding what is required of an applicant in the licensing process and what is required of a licensee after a license has been issued. -Launch and Launch Site Operator Licensing Procedures Under the Act, a DOT license is required for any person to launch a launch vehicle or operate a launch site within the United States. In addition, a license is also required for a U.S. citizen to launch a launch vehicle or operate a launch site outside the United States. Foreign corporations, partnerships, joint ventures, associations or other entities controlled by U.S. citizens do not need licenses to conduct these activities from foreign territory unless the foreign nation involved has agreed that the United States shall exercise jurisdiction over the activity. In exercising this licensing authority under the Act, the Secretary must protect public health and safety, safety of property, and national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. - The Regulations issued in 1988 reflect OCST's approach to evaluating license applications on a case-by-case basis. To date, OCST has relied on these Regulations, and on guidelines it makes available upon applicant request, to advise prospective applicants of the information OCST requires to perform safety and mission reviews of a launch license application. Having obtained six years of experience in evaluating launch proposals and conducting safety research, OCST is now prepared to streamline the launch licensing process by standardizing requirements wherever possible without impeding innovation. In response to industry requests for greater certainty in the application process, and in order to achieve consistency, OCST proposes to codify certain specific information requirements in regulations. In doing so, the issues to be addressed include: (1) the scope of launch licenses; (2) risk management techniques that enable license applicants to demonstrate acceptable levels of safety; (3) application information requirements; (4) relationship to and consistency with Federal range requirements; and (5) reliance by license applicants on, among other things, industry standards. With respect to launch license application reviews, OCST is interested in obtaining views on at least the following:-What elements of a launch proposal must OCST evaluate to assure launch safety;- Which pre-launch or launch processing operations and procedures should OCST assess to assure launch safety;- What safety methodologies do launch operators currently utilize to assure safe launch operations, and what approaches are available to evaluate these methodologies;- How should OCST utilize the analyses of Federal ranges in its licensing review process;- What information must launch license applicants submit to other federal agencies, including federal ranges, that must also be submitted to OCST as part of the license application review? Can OCST utilize that information to avoid duplicative document preparation and submissions by license applicants; and- What should OCST require with respect to on orbit safety.- When the Regulations were published in 1988, OCST indicated that it would handle commercial launch site proposals on a case-by-case basis while safety studies and research were ongoing. Since 1988, the vast majority of licensing proposals submitted to OCST have been for commercial launches of launch vehicles from a Federal range. However, in light of the growing and intensified interest in operating commercial launch sites, OCST has determined that establishing certainty in the site operator licensing process through rules of general applicability is necessary to facilitate this burgeoning industry. With respect to OCST's approach to reviewing applications for a license to operate a commercial launch site, OCST seeks views concerning such matters as: (1) the scope of launch site operator licenses; (2) risk management techniques that enable license applicants to demonstrate acceptable levels of safety; (3) application information requirements; (4) reliance by license applicants on industry standards; and (5) reliance by license applicants on other Federal safety standards. With respect to site operator license applications, OCST is interested in obtaining views on at least the following:- How should OCST assess a proposed launch site with respect to geography, meteorology, proximity to population, risk to downrange population, and other characteristics associated with the physical site;- What process and standards should OCST utilize, including safety methodologies, to assess the capability of a launch site operator to manage safety; - What is the relationship between a site operator license and its associated safety reviews, and a launch license authorizing a launch from a commercial launch site and its associated safety reviews;- For launches conducted from a commercial launch site, how should responsibility for safety be allocated between the launch licensee and the site operator; and- Given that OCST must evaluate flight safety functions, such as flight termination or tracking, to assure the safety of launch operations, how should those functions be addressed by the licensing process when the launch will be conducted from a commercial launch site. - Scope of Financial Responsibility Requirements- In 1988, Congress amended the Act to require that licensees obtain liability insurance or otherwise demonstrate financial responsibility up to a statutory limit of $500,000,000, in order to protect launch participants from third-party claims resulting from activities carried out under a license in connection with a particular launch. Licensees must also obtain liability insurance or otherwise demonstrate financial responsibility up to $100,000,000, to compensate the U.S. Government for damage or loss to its property resulting from those activities. Reciprocal waivers of claims are also required whereby each party involved in launch services agrees to be responsible for certain losses it may sustain and losses sustained by its own employees resulting from an activity carried out under the license. - The 1988 Amendments further provide that, to the extent provided in advance in an appropriation law or authorized by statute, the Secretary of Transportation shall provide for the payment by the U.S. Government of successful third-party claims against a licensee, contractor, subcontractor, or customer of the licensee, or a contractor or subcontractor of a customer, resulting from an activity carried out under a license, to the extent the total amount of claims arising out of any one launch exceeds the amount of third-party liability insurance required of the licensee, up to a total of $1.5 billion above that amount. The U.S. Government bears the risk of government property losses that exceed the level of insurance coverage required of the licensee. -OCST prescribes financial responsibility requirements for licensees on a case-by-case basis after analyzing the maximum probable third-party and government property losses associated with proposed licensed activities. Those requirements are imposed on licensees in license orders. Currently, license orders issued by OCST reflect insurance requirements for both launches and launch site operations associated with the conduct of those launches. Concerns have arisen over the extent to which pre-launch activities are intended to be covered by the financial responsibility requirements of the Act, and the Government payment of excess third-party claims provision. Clarification is needed to provide certainty to the industry so that it may manage risks appropriately.- The Act provides guidance on these issues. To the extent the Act provides for payment by the U.S. Government of successful third-party claims in excess of required insurance, it is only available for claims ``resulting from an activity carried out under the license issued or transferred under [chapter 701] for death, bodily injury, or property damage or loss resulting from an activity carried out under the license.'' 49 U.S.C. 70113(a)(1)(emphasis added). Moreover, claims may be paid under this provision of the Act only to the extent the total amount of successful claims related to one launch exceeds the required amount of third-party liability insurance and does not exceed $1.5 billion above that amount. 49 U.S.C. 70113(a)(1)(emphasis added). - Licenses are available to authorize the conduct of a launch, as defined in the Act, or the operation of a launch site. Because the U.S. Government payment of excess third-party claims provision is only available for claims resulting from an activity carried out under the license for damage or loss resulting from an activity carried out under a license, and because the Act defines launch as ``to place or try to place'' a launch vehicle and any payload in a suborbital trajectory, in Earth orbit in outer space or otherwise in outer space, 49 U.S.C. 70102(3), one interpretation of this language is that, with respect to launches, it only extends to claims resulting from ignition and flight of a launch vehicle. In other words, it may not be available for claims resulting from preparatory activities conducted at the launch site. Alternatively, some preparatory activities may reasonably be considered integral to the launch itself or part of the launch process. OCST seeks industry views on what those activities are and why they may fall within the statutory definition of a ``launch.'' - OCST plans to adopt specific criteria for determining when an activity would be considered part of a launch for purposes of imposing financial responsibility requirements and to determine when U.S. Government payment of excess third-party claims may be available. OCST also seeks industry views on how the U.S. Government payment of excess third-party claims provision applies to licensed site operators, if at all. Diverse points of view exist regarding these issues, and OCST seeks information regarding the basis for each point of view as well as recommendations as to which should be adopted.- OCST recognizes that many other issues are associated with implementation of the financial responsibility and allocation of risk requirements of the Act. The issues presented in this Notice are limited in scope because their resolution will necessarily affect OCST's approach to licensing launch activities and site operators. At the meeting, OCST will welcome any other comments on financial responsibility matters, as time allows. - Standards- In accordance with the Presidential Decision Directive, NSTC-4, outlining the National Space Transportation Policy issued August 5, 1994, OCST would like to work with the U.S. commercial space sector to promote the establishment of technical standards for commercial space products and services. OCST solicits industry views on what safety standards should be developed to support this goal, and how they should be implemented. Meeting Schedule- Because of time constraints and the need to ensure that each subject area is fully aired, OCST intends that one full meeting day be accorded to licensing issues and one-half day to issues concerning the scope of financial responsibility requirements. Licensing issues will be discussed on October 27, 1994. Financial responsibility issues will be addressed in the morning session on October 28, 1994. If licensing issues are exhausted before the time allotted on October 27th, the meeting will move directly to financial responsibility issues. - OCST looks forward to an informative and interactive discussion of the issues among the participants at the meeting, as opposed to a forum for the presentation of prepared statements. However, persons wishing to present prepared remarks at the meeting, whether in a personal or a representative capacity on behalf of an organization, will be given an opportunity to do so during the afternoon session on October 28, 1994, between 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., and may reserve between five and 15 minutes to do so. In addition, OCST plans to reserve an hour at the end of each day to discuss technical standards and other issues of concern to participants that may not be part of the rulemaking activity. Any time remaining on October 28, 1994, may be used for further discussion of the issues related to rulemaking activities.- Those who are interested in presenting remarks at the meeting should notify OCST no later than October 17, 1994, to reserve up to 15 minutes of time. If possible, OCST will notify interested persons if additional time is available. DOT officials chairing the meeting may take additional time to ask clarifying questions of the speaker. To reserve speaking time, please telephone Ms. Linda Strine (202) 366- 2980. Issued in Washington, DC, October 6, 1994.- Frank C. Weaver, - Director, Office of Commercial Space Transportation. [FR Doc. 94-25314 Filed 10-12-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-62-U