National Environmental Policy Act; Sounding Rockets Program; Poker Flat Research Range, 20715-20717 [2011-8844]

Agencies

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20715-20717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-8844]


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice (11-034)]


National Environmental Policy Act; Sounding Rockets Program; 
Poker Flat Research Range

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) and to conduct scoping for continuing sounding rocket operations 
at Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR), Alaska.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, 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), and NASA's NEPA policy and procedures (14 CFR part 
1216, subpart 1216.3), NASA intends to prepare an EIS for its continued 
use of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (UAF) owned and managed PFRR, 
outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(USFWS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and UAF will serve as 
Cooperating Agencies as they possess both regulatory authority and 
specialized expertise regarding the Proposed Action that will be the 
subject of the EIS.
    The purpose of this notice is to apprise interested agencies, 
organizations, tribal governments, and individuals of NASA's intent to 
prepare the EIS and to request input regarding the definition of 
reasonable alternatives and significant environmental issues to be 
evaluated in the EIS.
    In cooperation with BLM, UAF, and USFWS, NASA will hold public 
scoping meetings as part of the NEPA process associated with the 
development of the EIS. The scoping meeting locations and dates 
identified at this time are provided under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
below.

DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit comments on 
environmental issues and concerns, preferably in writing, on or before 
June 1, 2011, to assure full consideration during the scoping process.

ADDRESSES: Comments submitted by mail should be addressed to Joshua 
Bundick, Manager, Poker Flat Research Range EIS, NASA Goddard Space 
Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia 
23337. Comments may be submitted via e-mail to 
Joshua.A.Bundick@nasa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joshua Bundick, Manager, Poker Flat 
Research Range EIS, NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, 
Virginia 23337; telephone (757) 824-2319; e-mail: 
Joshua.A.Bundick@nasa.gov. Additional information about NASA's Sounding 
Rocket Program (SRP) and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks' PFRR may 
be found on the internet at https://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code810 and 
https://www.pfrr.alaska.edu, respectively. Information regarding the 
NEPA process for this proposal and supporting documents (as available) 
are located at https://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code250/pfrr_eis.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Programmatic Background

    NASA's SRP, based at the Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops 
Flight Facility (WFF), supports the NASA Science Mission Directorate's 
strategic vision and goals for understanding the phenomena affecting 
the past, present, and future of Earth and the solar system and 
supports the Agency's educational mission. The suborbital missions 
enabled by the SRP provide researchers with opportunities to build, 
test, and fly new instrument concepts while simultaneously conducting 
world class scientific research. With its hands-on approach to mission 
formulation and execution, the SRP also helps ensure that the next 
generation of space scientists receives the training and experience 
necessary to move on to NASA's larger, more complex missions.

[[Page 20716]]

Launch Sites

    Sounding rockets can be launched from permanently established 
ranges or from temporary launch sites using NASA's mobile range assets. 
Permanent ranges include WFF in Wallops Island, Virginia; PFRR near 
Fairbanks, Alaska; White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in White Sands, New 
Mexico; Kwajalein Island, Marshall Islands Republic; Esrange, Kiruna, 
Sweden; and the Norwegian Rocket Range, And[oslash]ya, Norway. In the 
past, temporary launch sites have included Australia, Brazil, 
Greenland, and Puerto Rico. The majority of sounding rocket launches 
occur at WSMR, WFF, and PFRR.
    Where the SRP conducts its work is highly dependent on the 
scientific goals of each mission. For example, if equatorial phenomena 
must be observed, a site such as Brazil is used. For middle latitudes, 
Wallops Island, Virginia, or White Sands, New Mexico, are selected. If 
the aurora borealis must be observed, a northern latitude is required, 
such as at PFRR.

PFRR Background

    The PFRR, located northeast of the unincorporated village of 
Chatanika, Alaska, consists of approximately 2,100 hectares (5,200 
acres) of land that house rocket and payload support facilities, launch 
pads, and tracking infrastructure. Since the late 1960s, NASA, other 
government agencies, and educational institutions have supported 
suborbital rocket launches from the PFRR. While the PFRR is owned and 
managed by the Geophysical Institute of UAF, the NASA SRP has 
exclusively funded and managed the support contract with PFRR for more 
than 25 years.
    The northern location of the PFRR is strategic for launching 
sounding rockets for scientific research in auroral space physics and 
earth science. The PFRR is the only high-latitude, auroral-zone rocket 
launching facility in the United States where a sounding rocket can 
readily study the aurora borealis and the sun-Earth connection. Recent 
Earth science-based missions have furthered the understanding of ozone 
depleting substances in the upper atmosphere. Such studies are critical 
for the continual refinement of theories and research on the topics of 
ozone depletion, global warming, and climate change. Recent space 
physics-focused missions have measured the upper atmospheric winds and 
auroras in the ionosphere. The information collected further assists 
the nation's scientists in understanding the interactions between the 
sun and Earth as well as the origin and evolution of the solar system. 
Technology development and validation enabled by the SRP at the PFRR is 
critical in furthering the development of Earth and space science 
instruments at a fraction of the size and cost that would result from 
using other launch methods. The PFRR facility also supports educational 
outreach programs where students and scientists from various 
universities are able to conduct aeronautics and space research.
    Additionally, from an operational perspective, PFRR is an ideal 
location for sounding rocket missions. Directly north (downrange) from 
the launch site are vast areas of open, very sparsely populated lands 
of interior Alaska and the Arctic Ocean to the extreme north. Having 
the ability to launch rockets over such a vast area with very low 
population density is critical to ensuring public safety.

Existing SRP NEPA Documents and Context

    In 2000, NASA published a Final Supplemental EIS (FSEIS) for the 
SRP. The 2000 FSEIS considered SRP operations at a programmatic level 
and expanded upon the original SRP EIS prepared in 1973, to include 
multiple launch sites, new launch vehicles, and updated environmental 
conditions. In its Record of Decision for the 2000 FSEIS, NASA decided 
to continue SRP operations at its current level of effort at all launch 
sites, including PFRR. Since then, NASA has launched approximately four 
(4) sounding rockets annually from PFRR primarily during the winter 
months. It is expected that this launch rate at PFRR would continue to 
satisfy NASA's needs into the reasonably foreseeable future.
    NASA recently reviewed its 2000 SRP FSEIS and determined that the 
overall environmental analysis in the 2000 SRP FSEIS remains sufficient 
to support the Agency's broad programmatic decision to continue the 
SRP, however potential changes in both PFRR operations and the 
environmental context of the launch corridor north of PFRR warrant 
preparation of additional PFRR-specific environmental analysis to 
better inform Agency decisions regarding PFRR. For example, PFRR is now 
considering a more rigorous rocket and payload recovery process. 
Additionally, a large portion of downrange lands are undergoing 
wilderness review, which could ultimately affect how rocket and payload 
recoveries are handled.
    Accordingly, NASA began the preparation of an Environmental 
Assessment to determine if those changes presented potentially a 
significant impact necessitating an EIS. During the scoping process for 
the EA in the fall of 2010, NASA solicited input from over 75 
potentially interested agencies and organizations. A number of 
conservation organizations expressed concern regarding NASA's continued 
operations at PFRR and requested that a more detailed assessment be 
performed. As such, NASA decided that an EIS would be the most 
appropriate level of NEPA documentation for the proposal. The subject 
EIS will tier from the programmatic 2000 FSEIS and provide a focused 
analysis of SRP operations at PFRR.

Cooperating Agency Actions

    The PFRR EIS will serve as a decision-making tool not only for NASA 
but also for its two Federal Cooperating Agencies, BLM and USFWS. 
Directly north of the PFRR facility are its downrange flight zones, 
over which rockets are launched and within which spent stages and 
payloads impact the ground. Within these flight zones are landmasses 
owned or managed by several Federal, State and Native Alaskan 
organizations, including the USFWS, BLM, Alaska Department of Natural 
Resources, Doyon Regional Corporation, and the Native Village of 
Venetie Tribal Government. More specifically, the subject Federal lands 
within the PFRR flight corridor are BLM's North Steese Conservation 
Area and White Mountain National Recreational Area, and the UFWS-
managed Arctic and Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs). 
Historically, the managing entities have issued UAF annual or multi-
year special-use authorizations and agreements for impact of rockets 
and recovery operations on these lands. BLM and USFWS are currently 
considering if and how future authorizations for rocket landing and 
recovery would be issued for the properties under their management. 
Additionally, both agencies are currently preparing long-term 
management plans for their respective landholdings. BLM is currently 
drafting its Eastern Interior Resource Management Plan; Arctic NWR is 
currently updating its Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP); and the 
revision of the Yukon Flats NWR CCP is expected to begin within the 
next two years. The results of these planning processes will play a 
significant role in how future launches from PFRR would occur. As such, 
the PFRR EIS will consider the effects of each agency's respective 
permitting actions within the context of their long-term management 
objectives.

[[Page 20717]]

Alternatives

    The EIS will consider a range of alternatives that meet NASA's 
needs for obtaining the requisite earth and space science data afforded 
by high-latitude sounding rocket launches in support of both NASA's 
science and educational missions.
    Alternatives currently being considered for evaluation in the EIS 
include:
     Continuing the SRP in its present form and at the current 
level of effort;
     Continuing SRP launches from PFRR within the existing 
flight zones with differing requirements for identification and 
recovery of spent stages and payloads;
     Modifying the trajectories of the existing flight zones; 
and
     Conducting a subset of launches at other high-latitude 
launch sites, thereby avoiding the federally-managed lands.
    The No Action Alternative is to discontinue sounding rocket 
launches from PFRR. NASA anticipates that the areas of potential 
environmental impact from each alternative of most interest to the 
public will be: The effects of rocket and payload landing and recovery 
on special interest lands (including Wilderness Areas and Wild Rivers), 
considerations to ensure public safety during rocket flight, and 
potential effects on subsistence uses on lands within the flight zones.

Scoping Meetings

    NASA and its Cooperating Agencies plan to hold three public scoping 
meetings to provide information on the PFRR EIS and to solicit public 
comments regarding environmental concerns and alternatives to be 
considered in the EIS. The public scoping meetings are scheduled as 
follows:
--Friday, April 29, 2011, at the Tribal Hall, Third and Alder Streets, 
Fort Yukon, Alaska, 1 p.m.-4 p.m.
--Monday, May 2, 2011, at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, William 
R. Wood Student Center, 505 South Chandalar Drive, Fairbanks, Alaska, 2 
p.m.-4 p.m.
--Monday, May 2, 2011, at the Pioneer Park, Blue Room, 2300 Airport 
Way, Fairbanks, Alaska, 6 p.m.-8 p.m.
--Tuesday, May 3, 2011, at the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
Alaska Regional Office, Gordon Watson Conference Room, 1011 East Tudor 
Road, Anchorage, Alaska, 2 p.m.-4 p.m. and 6 p.m.-8 p.m.
    As the EIS is prepared, the public will be provided several 
opportunities for involvement, the first of which is during scoping. 
Even if an interested party does not have input at this time, other 
avenues, including reviews of the Draft and Final EIS, will be offered 
in the future. The availability of these documents will be published in 
the Federal Register and through local news media to ensure that all 
members of the public have the ability to actively participate in the 
NEPA process.
    In conclusion, written public input on alternatives and 
environmental issues and concerns associated with NASA's SRP launches 
at PFRR that should be addressed in the EIS are hereby requested.

Olga M. Dominguez,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Strategic Infrastructure.
[FR Doc. 2011-8844 Filed 4-12-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7510-13-P