[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 189 (Monday, September 30, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61372-61373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24729]


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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 aaailability of supplemental program environmental 
assessment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard announces the availability of the 
Supplemental Program Environmental Assessment for the National Distress 
and Response System Modernization Project (NDRSMP). The Supplemental 
PEA provides an update to and supplements environmental information to 
the Programmatic Environmental Assessment that was issued in July 1998. 
The Coast Guard is requesting comments on the alternatives and the 
potential environmental impacts as a result of NDRSMP.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before October 28, 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 Internet 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 the 
Supplemental Program Environmental Assessment, 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 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. You may also find this docket, including the 
SPEA, on the Internet at http://www.dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
the proposed project, or the associated Environmental Assessment, 
contact Ms. Donna M. Meyer, Environmental Program Manager, National 
Distress and Response System Modernization Project, U.S. Coast Guard 
Headquarters, 202-267-1496. For questions on viewing or submitting 
material to the docket, contact Ms. Dorothy Beard, Chief, Dockets, DOT, 
at 202-366-9329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    Comments and related material on the Supplemental Program 
Environmental Assessment (SPEA) are encouraged. Please provide the name 
and address of

[[Page 61373]]

the comment originator, 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.

Proposed Action

    The U.S. Coast Guard intends to modernize its National Distress and 
Response System (NDRS). The NDRS forms the backbone of the Coast 
Guard's Short Range Communication System (SRCS) that supports a wide 
range of Coast Guard operations, including 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 NDRS 
consists of approximately 300 remotely-controlled VHF transceivers and 
antenna sites, and was originally intended for monitoring the 
international VHF-FM maritime distress frequency (Channel 16), and as 
the primary command and control network to coordinate Coast Guard 
search and rescue (SAR) response activities. The secondary function was 
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 (PEA) that considered general concepts for a 
new system to modernize the current obsolete and nonstandard National 
Distress System (NDS). The alternatives considered by the Coast Guard 
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.
    Alternative D--Multi-mode: Satellite, Cellular, VHF and/or UHF 
Network. This alternative replaces the existing network with multi-mode 
equipment that uses 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 
Alternative C called for preparation of a Supplemental Program 
Environmental Assessment to consider any environmental impacts that 
were previously not taken into account.

Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment

    The Coast Guard has prepared a Supplemental Program Environmental 
Assessment (SPEA). The SPEA identifies and examines those reasonable 
alternatives to effectively deploy the modernized NDRS. The SPEA 
analyzed the no action alternative and three action alternatives that 
could fulfill the need and meet system requirements. The successful 
deployment of the NDRS will utilize a combination of only the action 
alternatives by using an existing antenna, leasing antenna space from a 
service provider, or constructing a new antenna site. The SPEA is a 
program document meant to provide a broad environmental review of a 
Federal agency's (Coast Guard) national program. In this case, the SPEA 
has provided a broad, general view of the environmental impacts that 
can be anticipated by modernizing and deploying the NDRS nationwide. 
The SPEA cannot foresee all possible site specific and cumulative 
environmental impacts as a result of implementing any of the action 
alternatives. However, once specific and individual sites have been 
identified for deployment of the NDRS, those sites will undergo a more 
narrow environmental review (tiering). This narrower environmental 
review of individual and specific sites will result in the issuance of 
either (1) Categorical Exclusion, (2) Finding of No Significant Impact 
(FONSI), or (3) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
    The purpose of this Notice of Availability is to inform the public, 
local, State, and Federal government agencies that a Supplemental PEA 
is available for review and comment. You are encouraged to submit your 
comments, information, or other relevant observations concerning the 
merits of the alternatives and potential environmental impacts relating 
to the deployment and installation of the National Distress and 
Response System Modernization Project. Coordination with appropriate 
Federal, State and local agencies, and private organizations and 
citizens who have expressed interest in this proposal has been 
undertaken and will continue. All comments will be considered in either 
the preparation of a FONSI or the development of an EIS (if necessary).

    Dated: September 13, 2002.
C.D. Wurster,
RADM, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Acquisitions.
[FR Doc. 02-24729 Filed 9-27-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P