[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 27 (Thursday, February 8, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 5648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02488]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Notice of Availability and Notice of Public Meeting for the Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Sacramento Peak 
Observatory, Sunspot, New Mexico

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice of availability and notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) has made available for 
public review and comment the Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS) for Sacramento Peak Observatory. This DEIS has been prepared for 
the NSF to evaluate the potential environmental effects of proposed 
operational changes due to funding constraints for the Sacramento Peak 
Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico. The DEIS was prepared in compliance 
with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Consultation 
under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) is 
being conducted concurrent with the NEPA process.

DATES: NSF will accept comments on the DEIS for 45 days following 
publication of this Notice of Availability. Comments may be submitted 
verbally during the public meeting scheduled for February 28, 2018 (see 
details in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION) or in writing. Substantive 
comments will be considered in a Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(FEIS).

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by either of the following 
methods:
    Email to: [email protected], with subject line 
``Sacramento Peak Observatory.''
    Mail to: Elizabeth Pentecost, RE: Sacramento Peak Observatory, 
National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite W9152, 
Alexandria, VA 22314.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information regarding the 
EIS process or Section 106 consultation, contact: Elizabeth Pentecost, 
National Science Foundation, Division of Astronomical Sciences, 2415 
Eisenhower Avenue, Suite W9152, Alexandria, VA 22314; Telephone: (703) 
292-4907; email: [email protected].
    DEIS Information: The DEIS, as well as information about the public 
meeting, is posted at: www.nsf.gov/AST. A copy of the DEIS will be 
available for review at the following libraries: Michael Nivison Public 
Library, 90 Swallow Place, Cloudcroft, NM 88317, Alamogordo Public 
Library, 920 Oregon Avenue, Alamogordo, NM 88310.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Sacramento Peak Observatory is located in 
Sunspot, New Mexico, within the Lincoln National Forest in the 
Sacramento Mountains. Established by the U.S. Air Force via a 
memorandum of agreement with the U.S. Forest Service in 1950, the 
facility was transferred to NSF in 1976. NSF and the U.S. Forest 
Service executed a land use agreement (signed in 1980) to formalize 
this transition and the continued use of the land for the observatory. 
The primary research facility in operation at the Sacramento Peak site 
is the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope (DST), currently managed by the 
National Solar Observatory (NSO). The DST is a high-spatial resolution 
optical/infrared solar telescope. In addition to its own operations, 
the Sacramento Peak Observatory supplies water for the nearby Apache 
Point Observatory (APO).
    The NSF Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 
Division of Astronomical Sciences, through a series of academic 
community-based reviews, has identified the need to divest several 
facilities from its portfolio in order to deliver the best performance 
on the emerging and key science technologies of the present decade and 
beyond. In 2012, NSF's Division of Astronomical Sciences (AST's) 
portfolio review committee, under the category of solar facilities 
stated that, ``AST and NSO should plan for the continued use of the 
Dunn Solar Telescope (DST) as a world-class scientific observatory, 
supporting the solar physics community, to within two years of ATST 
[now the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, DKIST] first light.'' DKIST 
is being constructed in Hawai'i and is expected to begin operations in 
2020. In 2016, in response to this recommendation, NSF completed a 
feasibility study to inform and define options for the site's future 
disposition that would involve significantly decreasing or eliminating 
NSF funding of the Sacramento Peak Observatory. NSF issued a Notice of 
Intent to prepare an EIS on July 5, 2016, held scoping meetings on July 
21, 2016, and held a 30-day public comment period that closed on August 
5, 2016.
    Alternatives to be evaluated in the EIS which may be refined 
through public input, with preliminary proposed alternatives that 
include the following:
     Continued science- and education-focused operations by 
interested parties with reduced NSF-funding.
     Transition to partial operations by interested parties 
with reduced NSF funding.
     Mothballing of facilities (suspension of operations in a 
manner such that operations could resume efficiently at some future 
date).
     Demolition and site restoration.
     No-Action Alternative: continued NSF investment for 
science-focused operations.
    No final decisions will be made regarding the proposed changes to 
operations at Sacramento Peak Observatory prior to issuance of a Final 
Environmental Impact Statement, and, subsequently, a Record of Decision 
for the Proposed Action.
    Public Meeting: A public meeting to address the DEIS will take 
place in Alamogordo, New Mexico with notification of the time and 
location published in the local newspapers, as follows:
     Public Meeting: February 28, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 
p.m., New Mexico Museum of Space History, 3198 State Route 2001, 
Alamogordo, New Mexico 88310, Telephone: (575) 437-2840.
    The meeting will be transcribed by a court reporter. Please contact 
NSF at least one week in advance of the meeting if you would like to 
request special accommodations (i.e., sign language interpretation, 
etc.)

    Dated: February 2, 2018.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2018-02488 Filed 2-7-18; 8:45 am]
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