[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 36 (Friday, February 22, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5725-5726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-03017]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Green Bank 
Observatory, Green Bank, West Virginia

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) announces the 
availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for 
Green Bank Observatory, Green Bank, WV. This Final EIS identifies and 
analyzes the potential environmental consequences of the following 
alternatives: Alternative A, Collaboration with interested parties for 
continued science- and education-focused operations with reduced NSF 
funding (Agency-preferred Alternative);

[[Page 5726]]

Alternative B, Collaboration with interested parties for operation as a 
technology and education park; Alternative C, Mothballing of 
Facilities; Alternative D, Demolition and Site Restoration; and the No 
Action Alternative, Continued NSF Investment for Science[hyphen]focused 
Operations. It also proposes mitigation measures to minimize the 
adverse impacts from alternatives that include demolition where such 
impacts may occur.

DATES: The National Science Foundation will execute a Record of 
Decision no sooner than 30 days after the date of publication of the 
Notice of Availability published in the Federal Register by the 
Environmental Protection Agency.

ADDRESSES: The Final EIS is made available for public inspection on-
line at www.nsf.gov/AST. A copy of the FEIS will be available for 
review at the following libraries:
    Green Bank Public Library, 5683 Potomac Highlands Trail, Green 
Bank, WV 24944
    Durbin Community Library, 4361 Staunton Parkersburg Turnpike, 
Durbin, WV 26264

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Elizabeth Pentecost, Re: Green 
Bank Observatory, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Room W9152, Alexandria, VA 
22314, [email protected]; 703-292-4907.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Green Bank Observatory (GBO) is located in 
Pocahontas County, West Virginia, adjacent to the Monongahela National 
Forest. NSF owns the GBO land, which consists of numerous parcels 
acquired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s, when GBO was 
formed as the first (and then, only) site of the National Radio 
Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The GBO facilities include the Robert C. 
Byrd Green Bank Telescope, the largest fully steerable radio telescope 
in the world; the 43-meter Telescope; the Green Bank Solar Radio Burst 
Spectrometer; the 20-meter Geodetic Telescope; the 40-foot Telescope; 
the Interferometer Range; and previously operational telescopes.
    Through a series of academic community-based and portfolio reviews, 
NSF identified the need to divest several facilities from its portfolio 
in order to retain the balance of capabilities needed to deliver the 
best performance on the key science of the present decade and beyond. 
In 2016, 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 Green Bank Observatory. 
NSF issued a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS on October 19, 2016, 
held scoping meetings on November 9, 2016, and held a 30-day public 
comment period that closed on November 25, 2016.
    The Draft EIS was made available for public review and comment from 
November 8, 2017 through January 8, 2018. The full Draft EIS was also 
posted on the NSF, Division of Astronomical Sciences website 
(www.nsf.gov/AST) and hard copies were delivered to local libraries. A 
public meeting on the draft EIS was held in Green Bank, WV on November 
30, 2017. During the review period, the NSF received over 340 comments. 
After considering all comments received, the NSF prepared the Final 
EIS. There are no substantive changes to the range of alternatives 
considered. Alternative A, Collaboration with interested parties for 
continued science- and education-focused operations with reduced NSF 
funding, is identified as the ``Agency-preferred Alternative.''

    Dated: February 15, 2019.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2019-03017 Filed 2-21-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7555-01-P