Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Streamlining the Processing of Experimental Permits
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Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Streamlining the Processing of Experimental Permit Applications September 2009 HQ-09938 Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Streamlining the Processing of Experimental Permit Applications EXECUTIVE SUMMARY September 2009 HQ-09938 _____________________________________________________________________________________________Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Streamlining the Processing of Experimental Permits CONTENTS Section Page Acronyms and Abbreviations......................................................................................................ES-ii ES.1 Introduction.........................................................................................................................ES-1 ES.2 Purpose and Need for the Action........................................................................................ES-2 ES.3 Proposed Action .................................................................................................................ES-2 ES.4 No Action Alternative ........................................................................................................ES-4 ES.5 Summary of Environmental Consequences........................................................................ES-4 Exhibit ES-1 Estimated Annual Proportion of Flight Profiles.................................................................ES-3 ES-2 Launch Sites and Associated Launch and Reentry Activities ...........................................ES-3 ES-3 Potential General Environmental Impacts under the Proposed Action ….........................ES-6 ES-4 Potential Site-Specific Environmental Impacts under the Proposed Action…..................ES-8 _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Executive Summary ES-i _____________________________________________________________________________________________Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Streamlining the Processing of Experimental Permits ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AST Office of Commercial Space Transportation CCAFS Cape Canaveral Air Force Station CFR Code of Federal Regulations Cl chlorine CO carbon monoxide CO2 carbon dioxide CSLAA Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004 dBA A-weighted decibels DNL day/night average sound level EA environmental assessment EIS environmental impact statement FAA Federal Aviation Administration H+ hydrogen ions H2O water HCl hydrogen chloride KLC Kodiak Launch Complex KSC John F. Kennedy Space Center LC Launch Complex MARS Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standards NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NOX nitrogen oxides PEIS Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement PM particulate matter PM10 particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 microns SOX sulfur oxides U.S. United States VOC volatile organic compound _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ES-ii Executive Summary _____________________________________________________________________________________________Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Streamlining the Processing of Experimental Permits EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ES.1 Introduction The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) regulates the commercial space transportation industry to ensure public safety for licensed U.S. launch activities and to support the continued growth and expansion of the U.S. space transportation industry. In fulfilling its mission and in accordance with the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004 (CSLAA), the FAA issues (1) licenses for commercial launches of expendable and reusable launch vehicles and reentry activities, (2) licenses for the operation of commercial launch and reentry sites, and (3) experimental permits for the launch and reentry of developmental reusable suborbital rockets. The CSLAA directs the FAA to promote the development of the emerging commercial space flight industry; makes the FAA responsible for regulating private human space flight under 49 United States Code Subtitle IX, Chapter 701, Commercial Space Launch Activities (formerly the Commercial Space Launch Act); and establishes the Experimental Permit Program for launching developmental reusable suborbital rockets on suborbital trajectories. Under 49 U.S.C 70105a, an applicant must propose to operate a reusable suborbital rocket for one of the following purposes: • Research and development to test new design concepts, new equipment, or new operating techniques; • A showing of compliance with requirements for obtaining a license; or • Crew training before obtaining a license for a launch or reentry using the design of the rocket for which the permit would be issued. The FAA prepared this Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) with cooperation from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Air Force to examine the environmental impacts of an alternative approach for complying with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when reviewing applications for reusable suborbital rockets operating under experimental permits. The intent of this PEIS is to facilitate the preparation of environmental documents for the issuance of experimental permits to individual launch operators. By providing information and analyses common to all reusable suborbital rockets, the FAA may choose to tier future environmental documents, either an environmental assessment (EA) or an environmental impact statement (EIS), as appropriate, from this PEIS to focus on environmental impacts specific to an applicant’s proposed operations under an experimental permit. Tiering from this PEIS would eliminate repetitive discussions of recurring issues and focus on the actual issues that are ready for decision. In addition, by providing information and analyses common to all reusable suborbital rockets and analyzing the environmental impacts of the use of such rockets at specified facilities, this PEIS could also provide the streamlining benefit of avoiding a duplicate NEPA analysis because some experimental permit applications would not require further NEPA analysis (an EA or EIS) for a decision about whether to grant an applicant an experimental permit. Rather, this PEIS would serve as the NEPA document for that decision, but only after the FAA/AST documented that the impacts of the pending permit decision have been analyzed or addressed in this PEIS. This PEIS will not authorize the launch or reentry of reusable suborbital rockets from launch sites. Individual launch operators would be required to coordinate with site operators to gain access to a site. In addition, the launch operators would be required to apply to the FAA for an experimental permit, which would require an individual safety and environmental review. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Executive Summary ES-1 _____________________________________________________________________________________________Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Streamlining the Processing of Experimental Permits ES.2 Purpose and Need for the Action The purpose of the FAA Proposed Action is to facilitate the issuance of experimental permits for the launch and/or reentry of reusable suborbital rockets by streamlining the environmental review portion of the application. Environmental documents tiering from this PEIS would eliminate repetitive discussions of recurring issues and when necessary focus those environmental documents on any unaddressed impacts or issues ready for decision. In addition, the Proposed Action would further the mission of the FAA to promote the growth of the U.S. space transportation industry while protecting public health and safety, the safety of property, and U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. The need for the FAA Proposed Action results from the statutory direction from Congress to facilitate commercial rocket developers’ research and development associated with testing new design concepts, new equipment, or new operating techniques; compliance with requirements; and training of flight crews. Facilitating the issuance of experimental permits implements the direction and intent Congress provided to the FAA in the CSLAA. In addition, the need for the Proposed Action is to aid the permitting process to meet the 120-day deadline Congress imposed under the CSLAA. ES.3 Proposed Action Under the Proposed Action, which is the FAA’s preferred alternative, the FAA would issue experimental permits for the launch and reentry of reusable suborbital rockets from both FAA-licensed and non- licensed launch sites using this PEIS as the basis for determining the environmental consequences of issuing the permits. The information and analyses provided in this PEIS would be used to facilitate the preparation of environmental documents for the issuance of experimental permits to individual rocket operators. Because this PEIS presents information and analyses common to all reusable suborbital rockets, the FAA could choose to tier future environmental documents from the PEIS to focus on environmental impacts specific to an applicant’s proposed operations under an experimental permit. Tiering from this PEIS would eliminate repetitive discussions of recurring issues and focus on the issues that are ready for decision. So long as the activities analyzed in