[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 4 (Monday, January 8, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 796-797]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-22421]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[USCG-2006-24685]


Long Range Aids to Navigation (LORAN) Program; Office of 
Navigation and Spectrum Management

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS, Office of the Secretary, DOT.

ACTION: Notice; request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation in coordination with the 
Department of Homeland Security is considering the need to continue to 
operate or invest in the North American LORAN-C Radionavigation System 
beyond fiscal year 2007. Future investment decisions might include: 
Decommissioning the LORAN-C system, maintaining the LORAN-C system as 
currently configured, or developing a fully deployed Enhanced LORAN 
(eLORAN) system. Contributing factors to these decisions are (1) 
whether the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other available back-up 
systems are adequate for the public's navigation and timing needs, thus 
making the LORAN-C system redundant, and (2) whether the eLORAN 
investments made to date provide enhancements that now merit 
consideration as a complementary capability to GPS, and not merely as a 
GPS back-up. The Department of Transportation and the Department of 
Homeland Security seek public input on the various decisions currently 
under consideration. For more information on LORAN, you may visit 
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before February 7, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket 
number USCG-2006-24685 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S. 
Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one 
of the following methods:
    (1) Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov.
    (2) Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (3) Fax: 202-493-2251.
    (4) Delivery: 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
call Mr. Greg Wheeler, Department of Transportation, Office of 
Navigation and Spectrum Policy, 202-366-4894, e-mail 
[email protected] or LT Michael Herring, Project Officer, Office of 
Navigation Systems, Coast Guard, telephone 202-372-1561, e-mail 
[email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or 
submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program 
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-493-0402.
    You may obtain a copy of this notice by calling the U.S. Coast 
Guard Infoline at 1-800-368-5647 or read it on the Internet on the 
Coast Guard Navigation Center Web site at http://www.navcen.uscg.gov or 
at http://dms.dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    All comments received will be posted, without change, to http://dms.dot.gov and will include any personal information you have 
provided. Please see DOT's ``Privacy Act'' paragraph below.
    Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include your 
name and address, identify the docket number for this notice (USCG-
2006-24685) and give the reason for each comment. You may submit your 
comments by electronic means, mail, fax, or delivery to the Docket 
Management Facility at the address under ADDRESSES; but please submit 
your comments by only one means. If you submit them by mail or 
delivery, submit them 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 that they reached the Facility, please 
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will 
consider all comments received during the comment period.
    Viewing comments and documents: To view comments, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time, click on ``Simple Search,'' enter the last 
five digits of the docket number for this notice, and click on 
``Search.'' You may also visit the Docket Management Facility in 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.
    Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review the 
Department of Transportation's Privacy Act Statement in the Federal 
Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov.

Background and Purpose

    The North American LORAN-C system is a low frequency hyperbolic 
radionavigation system. It is approved for use in the U.S. Coastal 
Confluence Zone (CCZ) and as a supplemental air navigation aid. More 
information about LORAN-C is available at: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/loran/default.htm.

[[Page 797]]

    While the current LORAN-C system is based on technology developed 
in the 1960's, a portion of the stations have been updated to allow for 
an enhanced signal (Enhanced LORAN) once the entire system is upgraded. 
More information about Enhanced LORAN (eLORAN) is available at: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/loran/9th-pulse-modulation-ldc.html. Although 
eLORAN would improve both the accuracy and reliability of LORAN 
transmissions, and provide a precise timing service, further capital 
investment would be required before such a system would be fully 
operational.
    The Department of Transportation and the Department of Homeland 
Security are evaluating: (1) Decommissioning the LORAN system, (2) 
maintaining the system as currently configured, and (3) whether further 
investment in modernizing and improving LORAN is in the public 
interest.

Next Steps for this Project

    At this time, the Department of Transportation and the Department 
of Homeland Security seek public input on the various decisions 
currently under consideration, namely (1) the extent to which the 
current LORAN-C in its current form is used for positioning, navigation 
and timing, and (2) the extent to which eLORAN would be applied to 
these same practices as either a complementary service or as a backup 
to GPS. After considering all comments, the Department of 
Transportation and the Department of Homeland Security will inform the 
public of the agreed course of action with respect to future investment 
in LORAN.

    Dated: December 22, 2006.
Robert Zitz,
Deputy Under Secretary for Preparedness, Department of Homeland 
Security.
Jeffrey N. Shane,
Under Secretary for Policy, Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. E6-22421 Filed 1-5-07; 8:45 am]
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