[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 68 (Friday, April 10, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16439-16440]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-7913]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Office of Commercial Space Transportation; Notice of Availability 
and Request for Comment on the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement for Streamlining the Processing of Experimental Permit 
Applications

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of 
Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), Council on 
Environmental Quality NEPA implementing regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-
1508), and FAA Order 1050.1E, Change 1, the FAA is announcing the 
availability of and requesting comments on the Draft Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement for Streamlining the Processing of 
Experimental Permit Applications (PEIS). The FAA Office of Commercial 
Space Transportation is the lead Federal agency for the development of 
the PEIS. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the 
U.S. Air Force are cooperating agencies. Under the Proposed Action 
evaluated in the PEIS, the FAA would issue experimental permits for the 
launch and reentry of reusable suborbital rockets from both FAA-
licensed and non-licensed launch sites using the PEIS as the basis for 
determining the potential environmental consequences of issuing 
experimental permits.
    Under the No Action Alternative, the FAA would continue issuing 
experimental permits for the launch and reentry of reusable suborbital 
rockets using its present method of analyzing environmental 
consequences case by case, without tiering from a programmatic 
document.
    The PEIS examines the potential environmental impacts of issuing an 
experimental permit for the operation of reusable suborbital rockets 
anywhere in the U.S. and abroad, and the potential site-specific 
impacts of permitted launches from seven FAA-licensed commercial launch 
sites: California Spaceport, California; Mojave Air and Space Port, 
California; Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska; Mid-Atlantic Regional 
Spaceport, Virginia; Space Florida Launch Complex-46 at Cape Canaveral 
Air Force Station, Florida; Oklahoma Spaceport, Oklahoma; Spaceport 
America, New Mexico; and one Federal range, the Shuttle Landing 
Facility at John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
    Subsequent environmental analyses that fall under the scope of the 
PEIS could tier from this document and incorporate the findings of the 
PEIS by reference, allowing an applicant and the FAA to focus on the 
relevant and unique impacts of an experimental permit application. 
Tiering and incorporation by reference would streamline the development 
of subsequent environmental analyses in accordance with NEPA and FAA 
Order 1050.1E.
    The PEIS will not authorize the launch or reentry of reusable 
suborbital rockets from launch sites. Individual launch operators would 
be required to coordinate with site operators to gain access to a site. 
In addition, the launch operators would be required to apply to the FAA 
for an experimental permit, which would require an individual safety 
and environmental review.

DATES: The public comment period for the NEPA process begins with the 
publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Notice of 
Availability of the Draft PEIS in the Federal Register. To ensure that 
all comments can be addressed in the Final PEIS, the FAA must receive 
comments no later than May 25, 2009.

[[Page 16440]]


ADDRESSES: Comments submitted by mail should be addressed to Ms. Stacey 
M. Zee, FAA Environmental Specialist, FAA Experimental Permits PEIS, c/
o ICF International, 9300 Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA 22031. Comments may 
be submitted via electronic mail to [email protected]. 
Comments also may be submitted via fax to (703) 934-3951.
    The Draft PEIS may be viewed at the following locations:

Alaska

Chiniak Public Library, Mile 41, Chiniak, AK 99615.
Kodiak Library, 319 Lower Mill Bay Road, Kodiak, Alaska 99615.

California

Kern County Library, 9507 California City Blvd., California City, CA 
93505.
Lompoc Library, 3755 Constellation Rd., Lompoc, CA 93436.
Lompoc Public Library, 501 E North Ave., Lompoc, CA 93436.
Mojave Public Library, 16916-1/2 Highway 14, Mojave, CA 93501.

Florida

Merritt Island Public Library, 1195 North Courtenay Parkway, Merritt 
Island, FL 32953.
Titusville Public Library, 2121 S. Hopkins Ave., Titusville, FL 32780.

New Mexico

Truth or Consequences Library, 325 Library Lane, Truth or Consequences, 
NM 87901.
Hatch Public Library, 503 E Hall St., Hatch, NM 87937.

Oklahoma

Clinton Public Library, 721 Frisco Ave., Clinton, OK 73601.
Elk City Carnegie Library, 221 West Broadway, Elk City, OK 73644.

Virginia

Island Library, 4077 Main St., Chincoteague, VA 23336.
Eastern Shore Public Library, 23610 Front St., Accomac, VA 23301.

    The FAA also sent the Draft PEIS to interested persons and agencies 
shown on the distribution list in Chapter 8 of the PEIS. The Draft 
PEIS, along with the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare the Draft PEIS, 
are available on the Internet in Adobe[reg] portable document format at 
http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/environmental/review/documents_progress/.
    Additional Information: Under the Proposed Action, the FAA would 
issue experimental permits for the launch and reentry of reusable 
suborbital rockets from both FAA-licensed and non-licensed launch sites 
using the PEIS as the basis for determining the potential environmental 
consequences of issuing experimental permits. An experimental permit 
would implement the appropriate safety requirements as defined in 14 
CFR part 437. A permit would be valid for 1 year and would authorize an 
unlimited number of launches and reentries of a particular reusable 
suborbital rocket design from a specified site(s). A permittee could 
renew the permit by submitting a written application to the FAA for 
renewal at least 60 days before the permit expired.
    Based on the FAA's review of past activities and consultations with 
various organizations in the commercial space industry, the FAA 
projected that a maximum of 1,000 launch and reentry events could occur 
annually at any one location from 2009 to 2014. The FAA used this 
estimate to develop an upper bound to assess the potential impacts of 
the Experimental Permit Program. In some cases, the maximum number of 
events analyzed in the PEIS for specific sites are fewer than 1,000 if 
the site cannot support all of the flight profiles identified in the 
PEIS. The estimates used in the PEIS are extremely conservative and the 
actual number of launches per year would likely be lower.
    The PEIS considers activities associated with the launch and 
reentry of reusable suborbital rockets, including pre-flight 
activities, flight profile (takeoff, flight, and landing), and post-
flight activities (vehicle safing). The general suborbital rocket 
designs addressed in the PEIS include vehicles resembling conventional 
aircraft--30 to 140 feet long with unfueled weight of up to 9,921 
pounds; vehicles resembling conventional rockets--6 to 33 feet long 
with unfueled weight of up to 5,500 pounds; and vehicles that hover--up 
to 20 feet in length or diameter with unfueled weight of up to 4,400 
pounds. To assess potential impacts of the Experiment Permit Program, 
the PEIS also considers the approximate proportions of general reusable 
suborbital rocket flight profiles, as follows: (1) Horizontal takeoff 
(rocket or jet powered), flight, and horizontal landing (glide or jet 
powered); (2) vertical takeoff (rocket powered), flight, and vertical 
landing (rocket powered or parachute); and (3) rocket powered hovering 
flights (vertical takeoff and landing).
    The PEIS analyzes the potential environmental effects of permitted 
launches on the impact categories described in FAA Order 1050.1E, 
Change 1. The PEIS does not analyze environmental consequences specific 
to construction because the Proposed Action and No Action Alternative 
do not involve construction activities. The PEIS also addresses 
potential cumulative impacts of the Proposed Action.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Stacey M. Zee, FAA Environmental 
Specialist, FAA Experimental Permits PEIS, c/o ICF International, 9300 
Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA 22031; e-mail [email protected]; or fax (703) 934-3951.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 26, 2009.
Michael McElligott,
Manager, Space Systems Development Division.
[FR Doc. E9-7913 Filed 4-9-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P