[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 4 (Thursday, January 7, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 997-998]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-84]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2007-28460]


Record of Decision (ROD) on the U.S. Coast Guard Long Range Aids 
to Navigation (Loran-C) Program

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Coast 
Guard (USCG), announces the availability of the Record of Decision 
(ROD) to decommission the USCG Loran-C Program and terminate 
transmission of the North American Loran-C Radionavigation Signal. The 
ROD is supported by the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement (PEIS) addressing the future of the USCG Loran-C Program. The 
Final PEIS availability was announced by the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) on June 12, 2009 (74 FR 28046).

DATES: The Final PEIS and ROD are now available in the docket. The USCG 
intends to begin termination of the broadcast of the North American 
Loran-C Radionavigation Signal beginning on or about February 8, 2010. 
Loran stations are expected to cease transmitting the Loran-C 
radionavigation signal by October 1, 2010.

ADDRESSES: To view the ROD or the Final PEIS, go to http://www.regulations.gov, insert USCG-2007-28460 in the ``Keyword'' box, and 
then click ``Search.'' Project documents, including the Final PEIS, are 
also available on the ``USCG Long Range Aids to Navigation (Loran-C) 
Program'' Web site at http://loranpeis.uscg.e2m-inc.com/. If access to 
the Internet is not available, you may view the docket online by 
visiting the Docket Management Facility in Room W12-140 on the ground 
floor of the Department of Transportation West Building, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If there are questions on this notice, 
call LCDR Robert Manning, Electronic Navigation Division, USCG, 
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.

Background and Purpose

    Loran is a radionavigation system first developed during World War 
II and operated by the USCG. The current Loran-C system is a low 
frequency hyperbolic radionavigation system approved for use in the 
Coastal Confluence Zone and as a supplemental air navigation aid. The 
Loran-C radionavigation system provides navigation, location, and 
timing services for both civil and military air, land, and marine users 
in the continental United States (CONUS) and Alaska. The USCG operates 
18 CONUS Loran Stations, 6 Alaska Loran Stations, and 24 monitoring 
sites.
    On January 22, 2009 (74 FR 4047), the USCG made available the Draft 
PEIS. The USCG delivered the Final PEIS addressing the future of the 
USCG Loran-C Program to the EPA, and the EPA announced the availability 
of the Final PEIS on June 12, 2009 (74 FR 28046).
    By separate notice published today in the Federal Register, the 
USCG advised the public of the USCG's intention to begin planning for 
the termination of the broadcast of the North American Loran-C 
Radionavigation Signal beginning on or about February 8, 2010. The USCG 
advised that if plans were implemented, Loran stations would cease 
transmitting the Loran-C radionavigation signal by October 1, 2010.
    The Final PEIS on the future of the USCG Loran-C Program is a 
program-level document that provided the USCG with high-level analysis 
of the potential impacts on the human environment from the alternatives 
for the future of the USCG Loran-C Program. The Final PEIS evaluated 
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 Radionavigation 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.

[[Page 998]]

    (5) Automate, Secure, Unstaff, and Transfer Management of the 
Loran-C Program to Another Government Agency to Deploy an eLoran 
system.
    The environmentally preferable alternatives selected in the ROD are 
(1) no action alternative and (2) to decommission the USCG Loran-C 
Program and terminate the North American Loran-C Radionavigation 
Signal. It is important to note that the Final PEIS did not obligate 
the USCG, DHS, or any other entity to undertake any specific course of 
action with respect to Loran.
    This notice is issued under authority of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (Section 102 (2)(c)), as implemented by the Council 
on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), USCG 
Commandant Instruction M16475.1D., and ``Aids to Navigation 
Authorized,'' which appears at 14 U.S.C. 81.

    Dated: January 4, 2010.
Kevin S. Cook,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Prevention Policy.
[FR Doc. 2010-84 Filed 1-6-10; 8:45 am]
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