December 15, 2020 Via Electronic Mail and Regular U.S. Mail Gen. Wayne Monteith Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20591
[email protected] RE: FAA Review of Proposed Spaceport Camden, Camden County, GA Gen. Monteith: On behalf of One Hundred Miles, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Satilla Riverkeeper, and Wild Cumberland, the Southern Environmental Law Center submits the following comments regarding the Federal Aviation Administration’s (“FAA”) review of the Revised Launch Site Operator License Application (“LSOL Application”)1 for the proposed Spaceport Camden submitted by Camden County, Georgia. This letter incorporates by reference all comments submitted in prior correspondence to the FAA, including comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (“DEIS”) and SELC’s February 2, 2020 letter. On September 11, 2020, the FAA released an open letter (the “September 11th Letter”) stating its intention to curtail the environmental review of Spaceport Camden. This decision reversed the process set forth in an earlier statement by the FAA.2 Specifically, the FAA stated its plan to finalize the DEIS for this project despite that fact that the Spaceport Camden proposal had been revised in the interim. Further, the FAA indicated that it will not conduct any additional public engagement or solicit public comment on the revised proposal. 1 Launch Site Operator License Application for Spaceport Camden, Camden County Board of Commissioners (January 14, 2020). 2 May 26, 2020 Email from S. Zee re Update on Spaceport Camden EIS – Schedule. All exhibits referenced in this letter that are not already in the FAA’s possession are available for electronic document transfer through the following link: https://southernenvironment.sharefile.com/d-sfff950c529504754bc594233d18d54ab The FAA attempts to justify this reversal on two grounds.