National Environmental Policy Act; Wallops Flight Facility; Site-Wide, 40751-40752 [2011-17290]

Agencies

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 132 (Monday, July 11, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40751-40752]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-17290]


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice (11-062)]


National Environmental Policy Act; Wallops Flight Facility; Site-
Wide

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a Site-wide Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) and to conduct scoping for 
expanding operations at Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), in Virginia.

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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 a PEIS for the expansion 
of operations at WFF. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Office 
of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) and Air Traffic Organization 
(ATO) Office; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA), National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service 
(NESDIS); the Department of the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command 
(NAVSEA) and Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR); the Department of the 
Army, Corps of Engineers (USACE); the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG); and the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have accepted requests to 
participate as Cooperating Agencies as they either have permanent 
facilities or missions at WFF or possess regulatory authority or 
specialized expertise pertaining to the Proposed Action.
    The purpose of this notice is to apprise interested agencies, 
organizations, and individuals of NASA's intent to prepare the PEIS and 
to request input regarding the definition of reasonable alternatives 
and significant environmental issues to be evaluated in the PEIS.
    NASA will hold a public scoping meeting in cooperation with FAA-
AST, FAA-ATO, NOAA-NESDIS, NAVSEA, NAVAIR, USACE, USCG, and USFWS, as 
part of the NEPA process associated with the development of the PEIS. 
The scoping meeting location and date 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 
August 15, 2011, to assure full consideration during the scoping 
process.

ADDRESSES: Comments submitted by mail should be addressed to Shari 
Silbert, Manager, Site-wide PEIS, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's 
Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia 23337. Comments may 
be submitted via e-mail to Shari.A.Silbert@nasa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shari Silbert, Manager, Site-wide 
PEIS, NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia 23337; 
telephone (757) 824-2327; e-mail: Shari.A.Silbert@nasa.gov. Additional 
information about NASA's WFF may be found on the Internet at https://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/home/. Information regarding the 
NEPA process for this proposal and supporting documents (as available) 
are located at https://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code250/site-wide_eis.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    WFF is a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center field installation 
located in Accomack County on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The 
facility consists of three distinct landmasses--the Main Base, Wallops 
Mainland, and Wallops Island--totaling nearly 2,630 hectares (6,500 
acres). It is the oldest active launch range in the continental United 
States and the only range completely under NASA management. For over 65 
years, WFF has flown thousands of research vehicles in the quest for 
information on the characteristics of airplanes, rockets, and 
spacecraft, and to increase the knowledge of the Earth's upper 
atmosphere and the near space environment. The flight programs and 
projects currently supported by WFF include sounding rockets, 
scientific balloons, manned and unmanned experimental aircraft, space 
shuttle and orbital tracking, next-generation launch

[[Page 40752]]

vehicle development, expendable launch vehicles, and small and mid-size 
orbital spacecraft. To meet the safety and technical requirements of 
its various missions, many of WFF's primary launch support facilities 
reside on Wallops Island (island) which is located directly on the 
Atlantic Ocean.
    In keeping with the principles, goals, and guidelines of the 2010 
National Space Policy, WFF not only fulfills its own mission, but also 
provides unique services to NASA, commercial customers, defense, and 
academia. One guiding principle of the National Space Policy is for 
Federal agencies to facilitate the commercial space industry. The 
recent growth of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island 
is a real-world example of WFF's commitment to making commercial access 
to space a reality. Another goal of the 2010 National Space Policy is 
that Federal agencies will improve their partnerships through 
cooperation, collaboration, information sharing, and/or alignment of 
common pursuits with each other. WFF supports aeronautical research, 
science technology, and education by providing other NASA centers and 
government agencies access to resources such as special use (i.e., 
restricted) airspace, research runways, and launch pads. Additionally, 
WFF regularly enables a wide array of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) 
research and development and training missions, including target and 
missile launches, and aircraft development.

Existing NEPA Documents and Context

    In January 2005, NASA issued a Final Site-Wide Environmental 
Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact for WFF. However, 
since then substantial growth has occurred and NASA has prepared 
several supplemental NEPA documents including the 2008 EA for the 
Wallops Research Park, the 2009 EA for the Expansion of the Wallops 
Flight Facility Launch Range, the 2010 Shoreline Restoration and 
Infrastructure Protection Program PEIS, the 2011 Alternative Energy 
Program EA, and the 2011 Draft EA for the Main Entrance 
Reconfiguration. Additionally, WFF has recently updated its 20-year 
Master Plan, which proposed several new facilities and numerous 
infrastructure improvements. As such, NASA is initiating the 
preparation of one consolidated Site-wide PEIS for its current and 
future missions and operations.

Cooperating Agency Actions

    The Site-wide PEIS will serve as a decision-making tool not only 
for NASA but also for its Federal Cooperating Agencies, FAA-AST, FAA-
ATO, NOAA-NESDIS, NAVSEA, NAVAIR, USACE, USCG, and USFWS. Each of these 
agencies will be involved closely in NASA's NEPA process given the 
potential for their undertaking actions related to NASA's as summarized 
below:
     FAA-AST: Issuing licenses for operation of additional 
commercial launch pads or operation of new commercial launch vehicles;
     FAA-ATO: Granting a proposed increase in restricted 
airspace allocation;
     NOAA-NESDIS: Undertaking facility improvements at the 
Wallops Command and Data Acquisition Station;
     NAVSEA: Undertaking additional operations, improvements to 
infrastructure, and target launches at the Surface Command System 
Center, and providing oversight of the Virginia Capes Operating Area 
offshore of WFF;
     NAVAIR: Increasing existing research, development, test, 
and evaluation mission tempos and new missions including pilot 
proficiency training and unmanned aerial systems including the Broad 
Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS);
     USACE: Issuing permits for proposed work occurring within 
U.S. waters, including wetlands, design and oversight of WFF's 
Shoreline Restoration and Infrastructure Protection Program;
     USCG: Undertaking improvements to infrastructure at the 
Coast Guard residential housing, issuing a permit for proposed Wallops 
Island causeway bridge reconstruction, and assuming Captain of the Port 
Authority for clearing the launch range during operations; and
     USFWS: Issuing incidental take statements and providing 
management of special status species, partnering with NASA on mutually 
beneficial projects related to the Chincoteague National Wildlife 
Refuge, and participating in a land use exchange that would enable the 
operation of a low-impact, temporary launch pad on the northernmost 300 
meters (1,000 feet) of USWFS-owned Assawoman Island in exchange for the 
conservation of a NASA-owned wooded, upland parcel south of the Wallops 
Visitor Center adjacent to the Wallops Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Alternatives

    The PEIS will evaluate the potential environmental impacts from a 
range of reasonable alternatives that meet NASA's need to ensure 
continued growth at WFF while also preserving the ability to safely 
conduct its historical baseline of operations. Currently under 
consideration are two action alternatives and a No Action alternative. 
Alternative One would support a number of facility projects ranging 
from new construction, demolition, and renovation; enlargement of the 
restricted airspace; addition of two rocket launchers on Wallops 
Island; replacement of the Wallops causeway bridge; maintenance 
dredging between the boat docks at the Main Base and Wallops Island; 
and the introduction of new opportunities and expansion of existing 
NASA and DoD programs at WFF including Navy pilot proficiency training 
and BAMS. Alternative Two would include all activities described in 
Alternative One and also comprise additional construction projects and 
several new mission opportunities, including the introduction of 
commercial manned space flight from WFF and the abovementioned land use 
exchange with USFWS. Under the No Action Alternative, WFF and its 
partners would continue the existing operations and programs previously 
discussed in the 2005 Site-Wide EA. NASA anticipates that the public 
will be most interested in the potential environmental impacts of each 
alternative on protected and special status species, wetlands, noise, 
and socioeconomics.

Scoping Meeting

    NASA and its Cooperating Agencies plan to hold a public scoping 
meeting to provide information on the Site-wide PEIS and to solicit 
public comments regarding environmental concerns and alternatives to be 
considered in the PEIS. The public scoping meeting will be held 
Wednesday, August 3, 2011, at the WFF Visitor Center, Wallops Island, 
Virginia, 6 p.m.-8 p.m.
    As the PEIS 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 PEIS, 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.

Olga M. Dominguez,
Assistant Administrator for Strategic Infrastructure.
[FR Doc. 2011-17290 Filed 7-8-11; 8:45 am]
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