[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 101 (Friday, May 24, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36663-36664]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-13130]



[[Page 36663]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG-1998-3584]


Proposed Modernization of the Coast Guard National Distress and 
Response System

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a Supplemental Program 
Environmental Assessment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard intends to prepare a Supplemental Program 
Environmental Assessment (SPEA) for the National Distress and Response 
System Modernization Project (NDRSMP). The SPEA will supplement our 
July 1998 Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) with respect to 
modernizing and deploying the National Distress and Response System 
(NDRS) and it will examine reasonable alternatives for the deployment 
of dual mode VHF/UHF radio equipment to either an existing NDS antenna 
tower site, antenna tower space leased from a commercial provider, or 
new construction of an antenna tower site. We are requesting early 
public input on these alternatives and the potential for environmental 
impacts as a result of implementing them.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before June 24, 2002.

ADDRESSES: To make sure your comments and related material are not 
entered more than once in the docket, please submit them by only one of 
the following means:
    (1) By mail to the Docket Management Facility (USCG-1998-3584), 
U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (2) By delivery to Room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    (3) By fax to the Docket Management Facility at 202-493-2251.
    (4) Electronically through the Web Site for the Docket Management 
System at http://dms.dot.gov.
    In choosing among these means, please give due regard to recent 
difficulties and delays associated with delivery of mail through the 
U.S. Postal Service to Federal facilities.
    The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this 
notice. Comments and material received from the public, as well as this 
notice, will become part of this docket and will be available for 
inspection or copying at Room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. You may also find 
this docket on the Web Site at http://www.dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
the proposed project, or the associated assessment, call Donna M. 
Meyer, Environmental Program Manager, National Distress and Response 
System Modernization Project, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 202-267-
1496 or e-mail her at [email protected]. For questions on viewing 
or submitting material to the docket, contact Dorothy Beard, Chief, 
Dockets, Department of Transportation, 202-366-5149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments and related material on our 
Supplemental Program Environmental Assessment. If you do so, please 
include your name and address, identify the docket number for this 
notice (USCG-1998-3584), and provide background support for each 
comment. You may submit your comments and material by mail, hand 
delivery, fax, or electronic means to the Docket Management Facility at 
the address under ADDRESSES; but please submit your comments and 
material by only one means. When submitting by mail or hand delivery, 
submit your comments or material in an unbound format, no larger than 
8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you 
submit them by mail and would like to know if the comments and/or 
material were received by the facility, please enclose a stamped, self-
addressed postcard or envelope. The Coast Guard will consider all 
comments and material received during the comment period.

Public Hearing

    We do not now plan to hold a public hearing. But you may submit a 
request for one to the Docket Management Facility at the address under 
ADDRESSES explaining why one would be beneficial. If we determine that 
one would aid us in preparing the SPEA, and would significantly aid in 
our environmental review and analysis for the proposal, we will hold 
one at a time and place announced by a later notice in the Federal 
Register.

Background

    The National Distress and Response System forms the backbone of the 
Coast Guard's Short Range Communication System (SRCS) that supports 
Coast Guard Activity, Group, Marine Safety Office (MSO), Vessel Traffic 
Service (VTS), Air Station, Cutter and Station operations. As part of 
the SRCS, the NDRS incorporates the use of VHF-FM radios to provide 
two-way voice communications coverage for the majority of Coast Guard 
missions in coastal areas and navigable waterways where commercial and 
recreational traffic exists. The system, consisting of approximately 
300 remotely controlled VHF transceiver sites, monitors the 
international VHF-FM maritime distress frequency (Channel 16), and is 
the primary command and control network to coordinate Coast Guard 
search and rescue (SAR) response activities. The secondary function is 
to provide command, control, and communications for the Coast Guard 
missions of national security, maritime safety, law enforcement, and 
marine environmental protection.
    In July 1998, the Coast Guard published a Programmatic 
Environmental Assessment that considered general concepts to modernize 
the current obsolete and nonstandard system. The alternatives we 
considered included:
    Alternative A--Status quo.
    Alternative B--Upgrade status quo by systematically upgrading the 
existing network with modern analog transceivers. This alternative 
replaces old equipment with new equipment and adds additional radio 
capability. It is expected this alternative would require additional 
antenna sites.
    Alternative C--Dual mode VHF and/or UHF network replaces existing 
analog network with dual mode (digital and analog) transceivers. It is 
expected this alternative would require additional antenna sites. And,
    Alternative D--Multi-mode: Satellite, cellular, VHF and/or UHF 
network. This alternative replaces the existing network with multi-mode 
equipment that utilizes satellite, cellular, and VHF/UHF 
communications. It is expected that this alternative would require 
additional antenna sites.
    Alternatives B, C, and D would all require approximately the same 
number of additional antenna sites. Since 1998, new circumstances and 
relevant information regarding the deployment of the system to an 
existing antenna site, or leasing an antenna site, or constructing a 
new antenna site as well as the Coast Guard's preference for

[[Page 36664]]

Alternative C, call for a Supplemental Program Environmental Assessment 
to consider any environmental impacts that were previously not taken 
into account.

Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment

    Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, 
and the President's Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 
CFR parts 1500-1508), we intend to prepare a Supplemental Program 
Environmental Assessment for the National Distress and Response System 
Modernization Project.
    Information, data, and comments obtained throughout the course of 
the Scoping process may be used in the preparation of the SPEA. The 
purpose of this notice of intent is to inform the public, local, State, 
and Federal government agencies that a Supplemental PEA will be 
prepared.
    In addition, the SPEA will provide those interested with an 
opportunity to present their comments, information, or other relevant 
observations concerning alternatives and potential environmental 
impacts relating to the deployment and installation of the NDRSMP. 
Alternatives under consideration include: (1) Taking no action; (2) 
deployment to existing antenna tower sites; (3) leasing antenna space 
on an existing tower; and (4) new construction of a tower site.
    Our efforts to coordinate with appropriate Federal, State and local 
agencies, and private organizations and citizens who have expressed 
interest in this proposal will continue. The SPEA will be made 
available for public and agency review and comment. To ensure that the 
full range of issues related to the proposed action are addressed and 
that all significant issues are identified, we invite your comments and 
suggestions.

    Dated: May 17, 2002.
C.D. Wurster,
RADM, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Acquisitions.
[FR Doc. 02-13130 Filed 5-23-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P