[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 213 (Friday, November 4, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66751-66754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24065]


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[NOTICE: (22-083); Docket Number-NASA-2022-0002]


National Environmental Policy Act; Mars Sample Return Campaign

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign 
Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS); notice of 
public meetings; and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 
amended (NEPA), the Executive order regarding Environmental Effects 
Abroad of Major Federal Actions, the Council on Environmental Quality's 
NEPA implementing regulations, NASA's procedures for implementing NEPA, 
and Department of the Air Force (DAF) procedures for implementing NEPA, 
NASA announces the availability of the MSR Campaign Draft PEIS for 
public review and comment. The Draft PEIS provides information and 
analysis related to the potential environmental impacts associated with 
the proposed action to retrieve a scientifically

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selected set of samples from Mars and transport them to Earth for 
scientific analysis and research. Cooperating agencies for this effort 
include the DAF for Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and Cape Canaveral Space 
Force Station, Florida; the Department of the Army for Dugway Proving 
Ground; the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services--Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

DATES: The 45-day public comment period begins on November 4, 2022 and 
ends on December 19, 2022. NASA encourages all interested parties to 
provide comments concerning the content and analysis presented in the 
Draft PEIS. To be considered in the Final PEIS, all comments must be 
postmarked or received online by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) 
(9:59 p.m. Mountain Standard Time [MST]) on December 19, 2022. NASA 
will hold four public meetings to further inform the public on the 
proposed action and solicit comments on the Draft PEIS. Two of those 
meetings will be ``virtual'' public meetings that will be accessible 
without geographic limitation via a WebEx online link and audio-only 
call-in telephone number. NASA will also host two in-person meetings in 
Utah. The public meeting schedule is as follows:
     November 30, 2022, virtual meetings: 1-2:30 p.m. MST (3-
4:30 p.m. EST) and 6-7:30 p.m. MST (8-9:30 p.m. EST), meeting number/
access code: 901-525-785, online at https://jpl.webex.com/meet/msr and 
call-in for audio-only at +1-510-210-8882.
     December 6, 2022, in-person meeting: 6-8 p.m. MST (local 
time) at Wendover Community Center, 112 E Moriah Avenue, Wendover, UT 
84083.
     December 7, 2022, in-person meeting: 6-8 p.m. MST (local 
time) at Clark Planetarium, 110 S 400 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84101.
    To the maximum extent possible, in-person and virtual meetings will 
follow similar formats. At every meeting, NASA will describe the NEPA 
environmental review process, provide an overview of the proposed 
action and the environmental analysis presented in the Draft PEIS, and 
provide the public an opportunity to offer comments. At this time, NASA 
does not intend to provide English-language translation services, 
including American Sign Language interpretation, unless specifically 
requested at least one week prior to the meetings.
    Each virtual meeting will begin with a brief welcome message 
followed by a 15-minute NASA presentation describing the purpose of the 
public meetings, the MSR Campaign PEIS project schedule, opportunities 
for public involvement, the proposed action and alternatives summary, 
discussion of potential environmental impacts from the proposed action, 
and an overview of the programmatic approach to NEPA compliance in 
general and NASA's proposed action specifically. The presentation will 
be followed by the official public comment submittal portion of the 
meetings. The public comment portion of the meeting is scheduled to 
last one hour, during which members of the public may provide up to a 
three-minute comment.
    In-person meetings will begin with the same presentation as the 
virtual meetings, but with a 45-minute open house session before the 
official public comment portion of the meeting. The open house session 
will consist of subject matter experts available onsite to answer 
questions from the public on a one-on-one basis and to discuss posters 
and distribute other materials (e.g., fact sheets, comment forms) 
related to the Draft PEIS and MSR Campaign.
    The public meetings, both in-person and virtual, may end later than 
the stated time depending on the number of persons who wish to submit a 
comment. To allow everyone a chance to speak at the public meetings, 
NASA may extend the meeting hours. When providing a verbal comment, you 
must identify yourself, and any organization you represent, by name. 
Your remarks will be recorded and/or transcribed for inclusion in the 
public docket.
    We encourage you to visit the informational website at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nepa-mars-sample-return-campaign and attend one of 
the public meetings to learn about, and comment on, the content and 
analysis of the Draft PEIS. An electronic copy of the Draft PEIS will 
be made available at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nepa-mars-sample-return-campaign beginning on November 4, 2022. Fact sheets and other 
information to be used during the public meetings will be made 
available at this same website beginning on November 11, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Advance registration to attend or provide a comment at the 
in-person or virtual public meetings is not required. Public meeting 
attendees may submit comments during the public meeting or by other 
means described below throughout the 45-day comment period. NASA will 
accept comments on the Draft PEIS until the expiration of the comment 
period on December 19, 2022. All comments received by NASA will be 
considered and responded to in the Final PEIS. Comments must be 
identified with Docket No. NASA-2022-0002, and may be sent to NASA as 
follows:
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Please note 
that NASA will post all comments on the internet without changes, 
including any personal information provided.
     By mail to Steve Slaten, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 
4800 Oak Grove Drive, M/S: 180-801, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099.
    We encourage you to submit comments electronically through the 
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. If you 
submit your comments electronically, it is not necessary to also submit 
a hard copy. Regardless of the method used for submitting comments, all 
submissions will be posted without change to the Federal Docket 
Management System website (https://www.regulations.gov) and will 
include any personal information you provide. Before including your 
address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying 
information in your comment, be advised that your entire comment may be 
publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to 
withhold from public review your personal identifying information, we 
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. Therefore, submitting 
this information to the Docket makes it public. You may wish to read 
the Privacy and Use Notice available on the Federal Docket Management 
System website (https://www.regulations.gov/user-notice). You may view 
Docket submissions at the Federal Docket Management System or 
electronically on the Federal Docket Management System website.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Steve Slaten, NASA Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory, by electronic mail at [email protected] or by telephone at 202-358-0016. For questions 
regarding viewing the Docket, please call Docket Operations, telephone: 
202-366-9317 or 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A Notice of Intent to prepare the MSR PEIS 
was published in the Federal Register on April 15, 2022 (87 FR 22578). 
Two virtual public scoping meetings were held on May 4 and May 5, 2022.
    Under the proposed action, NASA, in coordination with the European 
Space Agency, proposes to conduct a campaign to retrieve samples from 
Mars and transport them to Earth. A

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scientifically selected set of samples (i.e., Martian rocks, regolith, 
and atmosphere), acquired and cached on the surface of Mars by the 
Perseverance rover, would be returned to Earth for scientific analysis 
and research.
    Overall, the proposed MSR Campaign spans five elements: three 
flight elements and two ground elements. The flight elements include: 
(1) the Perseverance rover (previously addressed in the Final 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Mars 2020 Mission); 
(2) a Sample Retrieval Lander and its subcomponents (the ``Lander''); 
and (3) an Earth Return Orbiter (the ``Orbiter''), with its 
subcomponents (which include the Earth Entry System [EES] and recovery 
of the EES). The two ground elements include: (1) EES transportation 
after landing; and (2) a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF). Per the 
mission goals stated in the Mars 2020 Final Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement, NASA's Mars 2020 mission launched the Perseverance 
rover in July 2020; the rover landed on Mars in February 2021 and has 
begun collecting and storing samples for potential return to Earth for 
study.
    The Lander launch would occur from either Kennedy Space Center or 
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and would consist of a 
routine payload, which has been addressed in previous NEPA analysis 
(NASA's Routine Payload Environmental Assessment). Launch of the 
Orbiter would be managed by the European Space Agency and occur from 
French Guiana. The launch of the Orbiter is addressed in the Draft PEIS 
pursuant to Executive Order 12114, Environmental Effects Abroad of 
Major Federal Actions.
    The proposed EES landing location is the DAF-managed Utah Test and 
Training Range (UTTR), located approximately 80 miles west of Salt Lake 
City. Additional proposed activities associated with recovery team and 
support equipment staging would be conducted on the Dugway Proving 
Ground. As noted earlier, additional Earth-based ground elements 
associated with sample transportation and sample management/research 
(otherwise referred to as ``curation'') involving the development and 
operation of an SRF are also part of the overall MSR Campaign 
architecture.
    The proposed action and a no action alternative were evaluated in 
the Draft PEIS. Under the no action alternative, the MSR Campaign would 
not be undertaken and investigation of Mars as a planetary system would 
be severely constrained due to the cost and complexity of sending into 
space (and operating) science instruments capable of conducting the 
appropriate level of sample analysis in space or on Mars where in situ 
analyses could be performed. The environmental resource areas analyzed 
in the Draft PEIS include health and safety, cultural resources, 
hazardous materials and waste, soils and geology, biological resources, 
water resources, air quality and climate, land use, socioeconomics, 
environmental justice/protection of children, noise, and 
infrastructure.
    NASA provided press releases to local newspapers and distributed 
letters to stakeholders, Native American tribes, and other interested 
parties. In addition to availability on the website (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nepa-mars-sample-return-campaign), hard copies of 
the Draft PEIS will be made available at the following public 
libraries.

 Cocoa Beach Public Library, 550 N Brevard Avenue, Cocoa Beach, 
FL 32931
 Central Brevard Library and Reference Center, 308 Forrest 
Avenue, Cocoa, FL 32922
 Cape Canaveral Public Library, 201 Polk Avenue, Cape 
Canaveral, FL 32920
 Titusville Public Library, 2121 S Hopkins Avenue, Titusville, 
FL 32780
 Melbourne Library, 540 E Fee Avenue, Melbourne, FL 32901
 Merritt Island Public Library, 1195 N Courtenay Parkway, 
Merritt Island, FL 32953
 NASA Headquarters Library, 300 E Street SW, #1120, Washington, 
DC 20024
 Tooele City Public Library, 128 West Vine Street, Tooele, UT 
84074
 Grantsville Library, 42 Bowery Street, Grantsville, UT 84029
 Brigham City Public Library, 26 E Forest Street, Brigham City, 
UT 84302
 Tremonton Municipal Library, 210 N Tremont Street, Tremont, UT 
84337
 West Wendover Branch Library, 590 Camper Drive, West Wendover, 
NV 89883
 Garland Public Library, 86 W Factory Street, Garland, UT 84312

    NASA is taking a programmatic approach to analyzing the potential 
environmental consequences of the MSR Campaign because of the 
campaign's large scope and uncertainty regarding future timing, 
locations, and environmental impacts associated with the two ground 
element actions (sample transportation and SRF). This programmatic 
approach allows for near-term focus on issues that are ripe for 
decision and establishes a foundation for follow-on tiering 
(sequencing) to future actions, thus minimizing detailed topics 
previously decided at the initial programmatic level. While certain 
actions related to site-specific analysis of the ground elements are 
considered programmatically in the Draft PEIS (i.e., likely methods of 
sample transportation and representative examples of an SRF), NASA's 
NEPA approach provides the public with information on the totality of 
the MSR Campaign, thereby avoiding possible confusion about potential 
future proposed actions, which may be analyzed further in a tiered NEPA 
document. To the extent it is required, future tiered NEPA analysis 
would address specific environmental impacts related to EES 
transportation (e.g., over-the-road or via aircraft) from the UTTR 
complex to an SRF. The type, location, construction (if any), and 
operation of an SRF would also be analyzed in specific detail after 
facility requirements are more robustly characterized.

Planetary Protection

    ``Planetary protection'' is the discipline/practice of protecting 
solar system bodies (e.g., a planet, planetary moon, or asteroid) from 
contamination by Earth life and, in the case of sample return missions, 
protecting Earth from potential hazards posed by extraterrestrial 
material.
    NASA's planetary protection policies address missions involving 
samples returned from various solar system bodies as detailed in NASA 
Policy Directive 8700.1F, NASA Policy for Safety and Mission Success. 
NASA's policies are guided by the planetary protection policies 
published by the international Committee on Space Research, which are 
informed by the United Nations Outer Space Treaty. NASA Procedural 
Requirement 8715.24, Planetary Protection Provisions for Robotic 
Extraterrestrial Missions, provides guidelines for categorizing 
missions according to their destination and proposed activities. NASA 
Procedural Requirement 8715.24 also provides specific procedural 
requirements for certain mission categories. All missions returning 
samples are designated as Category V. Under Category V, there are two 
subcategories: (1) Unrestricted Earth Return--sample return missions 
from solar system bodies deemed by scientific consensus to have no 
extraterrestrial life (e.g., Earth's Moon and Venus), and (2) 
Restricted Earth Return (RER)--sample return missions from solar system 
bodies deemed by scientific opinion to have a possibility of harboring 
indigenous life forms (e.g., Mars or Europa). RER missions have 
requirements to break the chain of physical contact with the target 
body as

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well as isolate and robustly contain restricted samples during all 
mission phases through safe receipt and transport to a containment 
facility on Earth. Due to the potential for ancient life forms on Mars, 
the sample return portion of the proposed MSR Campaign is expected to 
be classified as a Category V RER activity, which requires preparation 
of an Environmental Impact Statement.

Cheryl Parker,
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022-24065 Filed 11-3-22; 8:45 am]
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