[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 13 (Thursday, January 22, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4047-4048]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-1171]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2007-28460]


Long Range Aids to Navigation (Loran-C) Program; Draft 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the availability of a Draft 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on the Future of the 
Long Range Aids to Navigation (Loran-C) Program. We request your 
comments on the Draft PEIS.

DATES: Two public meetings concerning the Draft PEIS are planned. The 
public meetings will be held on February 18, 2009, in Washington, DC 
and on March 3, 2009, in New Orleans, LA. Comments and related material 
must reach the Docket Management Facility on or before March 9, 2009.

ADDRESSES: The Washington, DC meeting will be held at the Ronald Reagan 
Building and International Trade Center, Oceanic Rooms A & B, 1300 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20004, telephone 202-312-1326. 
The New Orleans, LA meeting will be held at the Hilton New Orleans 
Riverside, Rosedown Room, 2 Poydras Street, New Orleans, LA 70140, 
telephone 504-556-3739. Each meeting will consist of an informational 
open house from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and a public scoping meeting from 6 
p.m. to 8 p.m. The public meetings may end later than the stated time, 
depending on the number of persons wishing to speak.
    Send written material or comments you wish to have as part of the 
meeting record to Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, 
(CG-54132) Electronic Navigation Branch, 2100 Second Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20593-0001, Attn: LCDR Robert Manning no later than 
February 9, 2009.
    You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket number 
USCG-2007-28460 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S. 
Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one 
of the following methods:
    (1) Online: http://www.regulations.gov.
    (2) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (3) Hand delivery: Room W12-140 on the Ground Floor of the DOT West 
Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The 
telephone number is 202-366-9329.
    (4) Fax: 202-493-2251.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
call LCDR Robert Manning, (CG-54132) Electronic Navigation Division, 
U.S. Coast Guard, telephone 202-372-1560, or 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 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments and related material on the 
Draft PEIS on the Future of the Loran-C Program. All comments received 
will be posted, without change, to http://www.regulations.gov and will 
include any personal information you have provided. We have an 
agreement with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to use the Docket 
Management Facility. Please see DOT's ``Privacy Act'' paragraph below.
    Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include the 
docket number for this notice (USCG-2007-28460), and give the reason 
for each comment. You may submit your comments and material by 
electronic means, mail, fax, or delivery to Docket Management Facility 
at the address under ADDRESSES; but please submit your comments and 
material by only one means. We recommend that you include your name and 
a mailing address, an e-mail address, or a telephone number in the body 
of your document so that we can contact you if we have questions 
regarding your submission. For example, we may ask you to resubmit your 
comment if we are not able to read your original submission. 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 Docket Management Facility, please enclose a stamped, self-
addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all comments and 
material received during the comment period.
    Viewing the comments and Draft PEIS: To view the comments and the 
Draft PEIS, go to http://www.regulations.gov, select the Advanced 
Docket Search option on the right side of the screen, insert USCG-2007-
28460 in the Docket ID box, press Enter, and then click on the item in 
the Docket ID column. If you do not have access to the Internet, you 
may view the docket online by visiting the Docket Management Facility 
in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the DOT West Building, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE.,

[[Page 4048]]

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. The Draft PEIS is also available at the 
project Web site, http://www.uscg-e2m.com/LoranPEIS/.
    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 a 
Privacy Act, system of records notice regarding our public dockets in 
the January 17, 2008, issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 3316).

Background and Purpose

    Loran is a radionavigation system first developed during World War 
II and operated by the USCG. The current system (Loran-C) is a low 
frequency hyperbolic radionavigation system approved for use in the 
Coastal Confluence Zone (CCZ) and as a supplemental air navigation aid. 
Loran-C provides navigation, location, and timing services for both 
civil and military air, land, and marine users in the continental U.S. 
(CONUS) and Alaska. The USCG operates 18 CONUS Loran Stations, 6 Alaska 
Loran Stations, and 24 monitoring sites.
    The Draft PEIS on the Future of the Loran-C Program is a program-
level document designed to provide the USCG with high-level analysis of 
the potential impacts on the human environment from the alternatives 
for the future of the Loran-C Program. The Draft PEIS evaluates the 
following five alternatives on the future of the USCG Loran-C Program:
    (1) No Action Alternative. The No Action Alternative refers to the 
current, existing conditions without implementation of the Proposed 
Action.
    (2) Decommission the USCG Loran-C Program and Terminate the North 
American Loran-C Signal.
    (3) Automate, Secure, and Unstaff Loran-C Stations.
    (4) Automate, Secure, Unstaff, and Transfer Management of the 
Loran-C Program to Another Government Agency.
    (5) Automate, Secure, Unstaff, and Transfer Management of the 
Loran-C Program to Another Government Agency to Deploy an eLoran 
system.
    The preferred alternatives include Automate, Secure, Unstaff, and 
Transfer Management of the Loran-C Program to Another Government 
Agency; or Automate, Secure, Unstaff, and Transfer Management of the 
Loran-C Program to Another Government Agency to Deploy an eLoran 
system. It is important to note that this draft PEIS does not obligate 
the Coast Guard, DHS, or any other entity to undertake any specific 
course of action with respect to Loran.
    We are requesting your comments on the environmental concerns that 
you may have related to the Draft PEIS. This includes suggested 
analyses and methodologies for use in the Draft PEIS or possible 
sources of data for information not included in the Draft PEIS. Your 
comments will be considered in preparing the final PEIS.

    Dated: December 30, 2008.
James A. Watson,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Prevention Policy.
[FR Doc. E9-1171 Filed 1-21-09; 8:45 am]
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