[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 218 (Wednesday, November 12, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67156-67157]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-26772]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

First Responder Network Authority

[Docket Number: 141104926-4926-01]
RIN 0660-XC014


Notice of Intent To Prepare Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statements and Conduct Scoping for the Nationwide Public Safety 
Broadband Network

AGENCY: First Responder Network Authority, National Telecommunications 
and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The First Responder Network Authority (``FirstNet'') announces 
its intent to prepare five regional

[[Page 67157]]

Programmatic Environmental Impact Statements (``PEISs'') and conduct 
public scoping meetings to evaluate the potential environmental impacts 
of the proposed nationwide public safety broadband network. The 
specific locations, dates, and times for the scoping meetings will be 
announced on the FirstNet Web site, no later than one week prior to 
each meeting.

DATES: The scoping period for this notice will begin on the date of 
publication of this notice and will end December 29, 2014. Comments to 
this notice must be submitted on or before December 29, 2014.

ADDRESSES: The public is invited to submit written comments to this 
Notice. Written comments may be submitted electronically via email to 
[email protected] or by mail (to the address listed in FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). Comments received will be made a part of 
the public record and may be posted to FirstNet's Web site 
(www.firstnet.gov) without change. Comments should be machine readable 
and should not be copy-protected. All personally identifiable 
information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily submitted by the 
commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential 
business information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amanda Pereira, NEPA Coordinator, 
First Responder Network Authority, National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 12201 Sunrise 
Valley Drive, M/S 243, Reston, VA 20192.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation 
Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-96, Title VI, 126 Stat. 256 (codified at 47 
U.S.C. 1401 et seq.)) (the ``Act'') created and authorized FirstNet to 
take all actions necessary to ensure the building, deployment, and 
operation of an interoperable, nationwide public safety broadband 
network (``NPSBN'') based on a single, national network architecture. 
The Act meets a long-standing and critical national infrastructure 
need, to create a single, nationwide network that will, for the first 
time, allow police officers, fire fighters, emergency medical service 
professionals, and other public safety entities to effectively 
communicate with each other across agencies and jurisdictions.
    The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321-4347) 
(``NEPA'') requires federal agencies to undertake an assessment of 
environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making a final 
decision and implementing the action. NEPA requirements apply to any 
federal project, decision, or action that may have a significant impact 
on the quality of the human environment. NEPA also establishes the 
Council on Environmental Quality (``CEQ''), which issued regulations 
implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (see 40 CFR parts 1500-
1508). Among other considerations, CEQ regulations at 40 CFR 1508.28 
recommend the use of tiering from a ``broader environmental impact 
statement (such as a national program or policy statements) with 
subsequent narrower statements or environmental analysis (such as 
regional or basin wide statements or ultimately site-specific 
statements) incorporating by reference the general discussions and 
concentrating solely on the issues specific to the statement 
subsequently prepared.''
    Due to the geographic scope of FirstNet (all 50 states, the 
District of Columbia, and five territories) and the diversity of 
ecosystems potentially traversed by the project, FirstNet has elected 
to prepare five regional PEISs. The five PEISs will be divided as 
follows:

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         East                 Central                  West                  South             Non-contiguous
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Delaware               Colorado               Arizona                Alabama                Alaska
District of Columbia   Illinois               California             Arkansas               American Samoa
Connecticut            Indiana                Idaho                  Florida                CNMI
Maine                  Iowa                   Nevada                 Georgia                Guam
Maryland               Kansas                 Oregon                 Kentucky               Hawaii
Massachusetts          Michigan               Washington             Louisiana              Puerto Rico
New Hampshire          Minnesota              .....................  Mississippi            U.S. Virgin Islands
New Jersey             Missouri               .....................  New Mexico             ....................
New York               Montana                .....................  North Carolina         ....................
Pennsylvania           Nebraska               .....................  Oklahoma               ....................
Rhode Island           North Dakota           .....................  South Carolina         ....................
Vermont                Ohio                   .....................  Tennessee              ....................
Virginia               South Dakota           .....................  Texas                  ....................
West Virginia          Utah                   .....................  .....................  ....................
                       Wisconsin
                       Wyoming
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    Once a PEIS is completed and a Record of Decision (ROD) is signed, 
the proposed FirstNet projects can begin to submit the site-specific 
environmental documentation to determine if the proposed project has 
been adequately evaluated in the PEIS or warrants a Categorical 
Exclusion, an Environmental Assessment, or an Environmental Impact 
Statement.

    Dated: November 6, 2014.
Genevieve Walker,
Director of Environmental Compliance, First Responder Network 
Authority.
[FR Doc. 2014-26772 Filed 11-10-14; 8:45 am]
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