[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 189 (Monday, October 2, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45806-45807]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20933]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

First Responder Network Authority

[Docket Number: 160929903-6903-02]
RIN 0660-XC025


Notice of Availability of a Final Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement for the South Region of the Nationwide Public Safety 
Broadband Network

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

ACTION: Notice of availability of a final programmatic environmental 
impact statement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The First Responder Network Authority (``FirstNet'') announces 
the availability of the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement for the South Region (``Final PEIS''). The Final PEIS 
evaluates the potential environmental impacts of the proposed 
nationwide public safety broadband network in the South Region 
(Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, 
New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and 
Texas).

ADDRESSES: The Final PEIS is available for download from 
www.regulations.gov FIRSTNET-2017-0006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information on the Final 
PEIS, contact Amanda Goebel Pereira, NEPA Coordinator, First Responder 
Network Authority, National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, (571) 665-6072, 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 longstanding 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 
NPSBN is intended to enhance the ability of the public safety community 
to perform more reliably, effectively, and safely; increase situational 
awareness during an emergency; and improve the ability of the public 
safety community to effectively engage in those critical activities.
    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 elected to 
prepare five regional PEISs. The five PEISs are divided into the East, 
Central, West, South, and Non-Contiguous Regions. The South Region 
consists of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, 
Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, 
Tennessee, and Texas. The Final PEIS analyzes potential impacts of the 
deployment and operation of the NPSBN on the natural and human 
environment in the South Region, in accordance with FirstNet's 
responsibilities under NEPA.
    Now that this PEIS has been completed and once a Record of Decision 
(ROD) has been 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 
whether it instead warrants a Categorical Exclusion, an Environmental

[[Page 45807]]

Assessment, or an Environmental Impact Statement.

    Dated: September 26, 2017.
Amanda Goebel Pereira,
NEPA Coordinator, First Responder Network Authority.
[FR Doc. 2017-20933 Filed 9-29-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-60-P