[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 60 (Thursday, March 28, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14919-14920]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-7629]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE


Office of the Secretary; Preparation of the Ground-Based 
Midcourse Defense Extended Test Range Environmental Impact Statement

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: In order to meet the requirement to increase the realism of 
GMD integrated flight testing, MDA proposes to enhance the current test 
capability that includes the missile launch sites and array of sensors 
and other test equipment associated with the Ronald Reagan Ballistic 
Missile Test Site (RTS) at Kwajalein Atoll, the Pacific Missile Range 
Facility (PMRF) in Hawaii and Vandenberg Air Force Base (AFB) in 
California. The Department of Defense is publishing this notice to 
announce the initiation and preparation of the Ground-Based Midcourse 
Defense (GMD) Extended Test Range (ETR) Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) per Council of Environmental Quality regulations.

Background

    The Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Joint Program Office of 
the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has been directed to conduct more 
operationally realistic testing of the GMD element of the Ballistic 
Missile Defense System (BMDS). The BMDS being developed is intended to 
provide an effective defense to the United States, its deployed forces, 
and its friends and allies from limited missile attack, during all 
segments of an attacking missile's flight. The GMD element of BMDS is 
being developed to protect the entire United States against limited 
ballistic missile threats during the midcourse segment of an attacking 
missile's flight. The extension of the GMD test range would increase 
the realism of GMD testing by using multiple engagement scenarios, 
trajectories, geometry, distances, speeds of targets and interceptors 
that closely resemble those in which an operational system would be 
required to provide an effective defense. The extension of the GMD test 
range is a separate effort, independent of the test bed that MDA 
proposes to develop in order to validate the operational concept of 
GMD. Both the validation of the GMD operational concept test bed and 
the extension of the GMD test range are intended to be interoperable 
parts of the multi-parted BMDS test bed, if MDA proceeds with both 
efforts.

Alternatives

    Potential alternatives to be analyzed in the EIS, that may meet 
some of the enhanced test objectives, may include launching target and/
or interceptor missiles from Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC) on Kodiak 
Island, Alaska, adding interceptor launches from Vandenberg AFB and 
launching target missiles from aircraft over the broad ocean area. 
Enhanced GMD testing may also include use of existing ship-borne 
radars, new land-based radars in southern Alaska and an early-warning 
radar at Beale AFB. The early-warning radar at Beale AFB may already 
have been upgraded to support the separate, validation of the GMD 
operational concept part of the BMDS test bed. If the early-warning 
radar at Beale AFB has not already been upgraded, new software and 
hardware will be installed that will enhance the radar's detection and 
discrimination capabilities as part of the extension of the GMD 
integrated flight test range. The target and interceptors may be 
launched in sets of two under some testing scenarios from either KLC or 
VAFB. Existing launch sites and test resources would continue to be 
used in enhanced test scenarios. Other reasonable alternatives 
identified during the scoping process would also be evaluated in the 
EIS. In addition, the EIS will analyze the No-Action Alternative, which 
would be a MDA decision not to enhance the capabilities of the existing 
test range but to continue testing within the existing range 
constraints to develop and improve the GMD system.
    As with current testing, all missile intercepts from test 
activities would occur over the broad ocean area. The environmental 
impacts associated with these intercepts have been analyzed in previous 
NEPA documents. To the extent that enhanced testing would involve 
similar effects over the broad ocean area, those analyses will be 
incorporated by reference in the EIS.
    The action alternatives could include construction of two 
interceptor launchers, one additional target launch pad and 
construction/alteration of launch support facilities at the KLC, 
construction of In-Flight Interceptor Communication System (IFICS) Data 
Terminals (IDT), military and commercial satellite communications (MIL/
COMSATCOM) in the mid-Pacific and at KLC or VAFB, added range 
instrumentation (tracking and range safety radars) in the vicinity of 
sites, and use of either existing Battle Management Command and Control 
(BMC2) Facilities at RTS, or new BMC2 Facilities that may be developed 
at Fort Greely, AK and/or Shriever AFB or Cheyenne Mountain Complex, CO 
in the validation of the GMD operational concept part of the BMDS test 
bed.
    The MDA will analyze the environmental issues associated with 
licenses or permits required to implement the proposed action at each 
of the potential extended test range sites. The Federal Aviation 
Administration (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) 
will be a cooperating agency in this Environmental Impact Analysis 
Process because of their regulatory authority in licensing the Kodiak 
Launch Complex. The term of the current Launch Operator License (LOL) 
held by the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation will expire in 
September 2003. Renewal or modification of the KLC LOL is considered a 
major federal action and will require environmental review of the 
proposed activities. The range of alternatives that the FAA may 
consider in its licensing decision may include but are not limited to 
(1) renewing the license in current status; (2) licensing with the 
addition of MDA's proposed activities in whole or part and (3) the No 
Action Alternative, not renewing the license. As a Cooperating Agency, 
the FAA may use the analysis contained in the Extended Test Range (ETR) 
EIS to support its licensing decision.

Scoping Process

    This EIS will assess environmental issues associated with the 
proposed action; reasonable alternatives including the no-action 
alternative; foreseeable future actions; and cumulative effects.

[[Page 14920]]

Scoping will be conducted to identify environmental, safety and 
occupational health issues to be addressed in the EIS. Public scoping 
meetings will be held as a part of the process. The scoping meetings 
will be held in Kodiak and Anchorage, Alaska and Lompoc, CA. Exact 
dates, locations and times of the scoping meetings will be advertised 
at a later date.
    Public input and comments are solicited concerning the 
environmental safety and occupational health issues related to the 
proposed action. To ensure the program office will have sufficient time 
to fully consider public input on issues, written comments should be 
mailed to ensure receipt no later than thirty days after public 
release.
    As a part of the decision-making process, the U.S. Army Space and 
Missile Defense Command (USASMDC) is managing the preparation of the 
EIS for flight-testing of GMD on behalf of the MDA. Comments concerning 
the public scoping process or the EIS process should be addressed to: 
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, ATTN: SMDC-EN-V (Mrs. 
Julia Hudson-Elliott), 106 Wynn Drive, Huntsville, AL 35805, or by e-
mail at [email protected].

    Dated: March 26, 2002.
L.M. Bynum,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 02-7629 Filed 3-26-02; 1:49 pm]
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