National Environmental Policy Act; Constellation Program, 45073-45074 [E7-15679]

Agencies

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 154 (Friday, August 10, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45073-45074]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15679]


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice (07-057)]


National Environmental Policy Act; Constellation Program

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Draft Constellation Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 
amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental 
Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA 
(40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), NASA's NEPA policy and procedures (14 CFR 
Part 1216, Subpart 1216.3), and Executive Order 12114, NASA has 
prepared and issued a Draft PEIS for the proposed Constellation Program 
to assist in the NASA decision making process.
    The Proposed Action is to continue preparations for and to 
implement the Constellation Program. The focus of the Constellation 
Program is the development of the flight systems and Earth-based ground 
infrastructure required to enable the United States to have continued 
access to space and to enable future human missions to the 
International Space Station, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The 
Constellation Program also would be responsible for developing and 
testing flight hardware, and performing mission operations once the 
infrastructure is sufficiently developed. The only alternative to the 
Proposed Action discussed in detail is the No Action Alternative where 
NASA would not continue preparations for nor implement the 
Constellation Program and therefore, would forego the opportunity for 
human exploration of space using U.S. space vehicles.

DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit comments on 
environmental issues and concerns, preferably in writing, on or before 
September 30, 2007, or 45 days from the date of publication in the 
Federal Register of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's notice 
of availability of the Draft Constellation PEIS, whichever is later.

ADDRESSES: Comments submitted by mail should be addressed to ZA/
Environmental Manager, Constellation Program, NASA Lyndon B. Johnson 
Space Center, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, Texas 77058. Comments may be 
submitted via electronic mail to nasa-cxeis@mail.nasa.gov. Comments 
also may be submitted via telephone at (toll free) 1-866-662-7243.
    The Draft PEIS may be reviewed at the following locations:
    (a) NASA Headquarters, Library, Room 1J20, 300 E Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20546-0001 (202-358-0168).
    (b) NASA, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (650-604-
3273).
    (c) NASA, Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA 93523 (661-
276-2704).
    (d) NASA, George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 
35812 (256-544-1837).
    (e) NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (301-
286-4721).
    (f) NASA, John C. Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 (228-688-2118).
    (g) NASA, John F. Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899 (321-867-2745).
    (h) NASA, John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field, Cleveland, 
OH 44135 (866-404-3642).
    (i) NASA, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058 (281-
483-8612).
    (j) NASA, Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681 (757-864-
2497).
    (k) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109 (818-393-6779).
    The Draft Constellation PEIS, along with the Notice of Intent (NOI) 
to prepare the Draft Constellation PEIS that was issued on September 
26, 2006, are available on the Internet in Adobe[reg] portable document 
format at https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/
peis.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: ZA/Environmental Manager, 
Constellation Program, NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA 
Parkway, Houston, Texas 77058, telephone (toll free) 1-866-662-7243, or 
electronic mail at nasa-cxeis@mail.nasa.gov. Additional Constellation 
Program information may also be found on the Internet at https://
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/. Information 
specific to the Constellation Program NEPA process may be found at 
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/main/eis.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Draft Constellation PEIS addresses the 
environmental impacts associated with continuing preparations for and 
implementing the Constellation Program. The Constellation Program would 
build a new crew vehicle called the Orion and two new launch vehicles, 
Ares I to transport crew and Ares V to transport cargo (for lunar or 
Mars missions). The environmental impacts of principal concern are 
those that would result from fabrication, testing, and launching of the 
Orion spacecraft and the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles.
    The Constellation Program would be an extremely large and complex 
program spanning decades and requiring the efforts of a broad spectrum 
of talent located throughout NASA and many commercial entities. Under 
NASA's Proposed Action, Constellation Program activities would be 
expected to occur at the following NASA sites:

--John F. Kennedy Space Center, Brevard County, Florida
--John C. Stennis Space Center, Hancock County, Mississippi
--Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, Louisiana
--Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
--George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
--John H. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
--Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California

[[Page 45074]]

--Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
--Johnson Space Center White Sands Test Facility (and the U.S. Army's 
White Sands Missile Range), Las Cruces, New Mexico
--Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California
--Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
--Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

    Activities associated with the Constellation Program also would 
occur at two Alliant Techsystems-Launch Systems Group locations in 
Promontory and Clearfield, Utah and at various other commercial 
facilities throughout the United States.
    Organizationally, the Constellation Program would consist of a 
single Program Office at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center which 
would have overall responsibility for management of the Constellation 
Program, and multiple Project Offices including Project Orion, Project 
Ares, the Ground Operations Project, the Mission Operations Project, 
the Lunar Lander Project, and the Extravehicular Activities Systems 
Project. Each Project Office would focus on specific technology and 
systems development and operational capabilities for the Constellation 
Program. As additional mission requirements are developed, additional 
Project Offices would be established with the responsibility to develop 
the systems to meet such requirements (e.g., Lunar Surface Systems and 
Mars Surface Systems). Collectively, these Project Offices would 
develop the mission systems (i.e., crew vehicles, launch vehicles, and 
mission hardware) and the infrastructure needed to support crewed 
missions to the International Space Station and human exploration of 
the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
    Public comments on environmental issues and concerns associated 
with the Proposed Action are hereby requested.

Olga M. Dominguez,
Assistant Administrator for Infrastructure and Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-15679 Filed 8-9-07; 8:45 am]
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