Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 174 / Thursday, September 10, 2009 / Notices 46641 

top of this document. Written comments 

may be submitted to the Docket Clerk, 

U.S. DOT Dockets, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. Comments also 

may be submitted by electronic means 

via the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov/search/index.jsp. 

Specifically address whether this 

information collection is necessary for 

proper performance of the functions of 

the agency and will have practical 

utility, accuracy of the burden 

estimates, ways to minimize this 

burden, and ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected. All 

comments received will be available for 

examination at the above address 

between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. EDT (or 

EST), Monday through Friday, except 

Federal Holidays. An electronic version 

of this document is available on the 

World Wide Web at http:// 

www.regulations.gov/search/index.jsp. 

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search 

the electronic form of all comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the comment, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 

65, Number 70; Pages 19477–78) or you 

may visit http://www.regulations.gov/ 

search/index.jsp. 

Authority: 49 CFR 1.66. 

Dated: September 1, 2009. 

By Order of the Maritime Administrator. 

Christine Gurland, 

Acting Secretary, Maritime Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–21817 Filed 9–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–81–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Notice of Approval of the Record of 

Decision for Proposed Development at 

the Port Columbus International 

Airport, Columbus, OH 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of Approval of the 

Record of Decision (ROD). 

SUMMARY: The FAA is announcing 

approval of the Record of Decision on 

the Final Environmental Impact 

Statement, Section 303c Evaluation, and 

Section 106 Evaluation for proposed 

development at the Port Columbus 

International Airport, Columbus, Ohio. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Katherine S. Delaney, FAA, Airports 

District Office, 11677 South Wayne 

Road, Suite 107, Romulus, MI 48174, 

telephone (734) 229–2900; fax: (734) 

229–2950. 

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: The ROD 

approves the proposed development at 

Port Columbus International Airport 

including: construction of a replacement 

runway 10,113 feet long, located 702 

feet south of the existing Runway 10R/ 

28L; development of new terminal 

facilities, including a new terminal 

apron in the midfield area, with access 

from the south airfield; construction of 

additional taxiways to support the 

replacement runway; necessary 

NAVAIDs; proposed aviation-related 

development (noise berm); associated 

roadway relocations and construction 

(internal loop roadway modifications, 

relocated airport perimeter road); 

parking improvements (including both 

surface lots and parking garage); 

property acquisition and relocation of 

residences and businesses; construction 

and implementation of ancillary 

facilities to support the proposed 

development (expansion of the central 

utility plant, aircraft fueling system, 

airside/landside drainage 

improvements, expansion of the glycol 

collection and treatment system, and 

relocation of the utility corridors); 

development of air traffic operational 

procedures for the replacement runway; 

and implementation of the proposed 

Part 150 noise abatement actions. 

The ROD indicates the project is 

consistent with existing environmental 

policies and objectives as set forth in the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) of 1969, as amended, and will 

not significantly affect the quality of the 

environment. 

In reaching this decision, the FAA has 

given careful consideration to: (a) The 

role of CMH in the national air 

transportation system, (b) aviation 

safety, (c) preferences of the airport 

owner, and (d) anticipated 

environmental impact. 

Discussions of these factors are 

documented in the Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement, the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), 

Section 303c Evaluation, and the 

Section 106 Evaluation for the project. 

The notice of availability of the FEIS 

appeared in the Federal Register on 

March 20, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 53 

Pages 11986–11987), and the comment 

period ran through April 20, 2009. The 

FAA’s determinations on the project are 

outlined in the ROD, which was 

approved on August 19, 2009. 

Issued in Romulus, Michigan, on August 

24, 2009. 

Matthew J. Thys, 

Manager, Detroit Airports District Office, 

FAA, Great Lakes Region. 

[FR Doc. E9–21897 Filed 9–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Office of Commercial Space 

Transportation; Notice of Availability 

of the Final Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

Streamlining the Processing of 

Experimental Permit Applications 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969, as amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 

4321 et seq.), Council on Environmental 

Quality NEPA implementing regulations 

(40 CFR Parts 1500–1508), and FAA 

Order 1050.1E, Change 1, the FAA is 

announcing the availability of the Final 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement for Streamlining the 

Processing of Experimental Permit 

Applications (PEIS). The FAA Office of 

Commercial Space Transportation is the 

lead Federal agency for the development 

of the PEIS. The National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration and the U.S. 

Air Force are cooperating agencies. 

Under the Proposed Action evaluated 

in the PEIS, the FAA would issue 

experimental permits for the launch and 

reentry of reusable suborbital rockets 

from both FAA-licensed and nonlicensed launch sites using the PEIS as 

the basis for determining the potential 

environmental consequences of issuing 

experimental permits. Under the No 

Action Alternative, the FAA would 

continue issuing experimental permits 

for the launch and reentry of reusable 

suborbital rockets using its present 

method of analyzing environmental 

consequences case by case, without 

tiering from a programmatic document. 

The PEIS examines the potential 

environmental impacts of issuing an 

experimental permit for the operation of 

reusable suborbital rockets anywhere in 

the U.S. and abroad, and the potential 

site-specific impacts of permitted 

launches from seven FAA-licensed 

commercial launch sites: California 

Spaceport, California; Mojave Air and 

Space Port, California; Kodiak Launch 

Complex, Alaska; Mid-Atlantic Regional 

Spaceport, Virginia; Space Florida 


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46642 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 174 / Thursday, September 10, 2009 / Notices 

Launch Complex-46 at Cape Canaveral 

Air Force Station, Florida; Oklahoma 

Spaceport, Oklahoma; Spaceport 

America, New Mexico; and one Federal 

range, the Shuttle Landing Facility at 

John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida. 

Subsequent environmental analyses 

that fall under the scope of the PEIS 

could tier from this document and 

incorporate the findings of the PEIS by 

reference, allowing an applicant and the 

FAA to focus on the relevant and 

unique impacts of an experimental 

permit application. Tiering and 

incorporation by reference would 

streamline the development of 

subsequent environmental analyses in 

accordance with NEPA and FAA Order 

1050.1E. 

The 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. 

The FAA submitted the Final PEIS to 

the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA), and the EPA will post a 

separate notification in the Federal 

Register announcing the availability of 

the Final PEIS. The FAA will issue a 

Record of Decision no sooner than 30 

days following the EPA notice in the 

Federal Register. The Record of 

Decision will also be published in the 

Federal Register. 

The FAA has posted the Final PEIS on 

the FAA Web site at http://ast.faa.gov. 

A paper copy and a CD version of the 

Final PEIS may be viewed at the 

following locations: 

Alaska 

Chiniak Public Library, Mile 41, 

Chiniak, AK 99615. 

Kodiak Library, 319 Lower Mill Bay 

Road, Kodiak, AK 99615. 

California 

Kern County Library, 9507 California 

City Blvd., California City, CA 93505. 

Lompoc Library, 3755 Constellation 

Rd., Lompoc, CA 93436. 

Lompoc Public Library, 501 E. North 

Ave., Lompoc, CA 93436. 

Mojave Public Library, 16916–1⁄2

Highway 14, Mojave, CA 93501. 

Florida 

Merritt Island Public Library, 1195 

North Courtenay Parkway, Merritt 

Island, FL 32953. 

Titusville Public Library, 2121 S. 

Hopkins Ave., Titusville, FL 32780. 

New Mexico 

Truth or Consequences Library, 325 

Library Lane, Truth or Consequences, 

NM 87901. 

Hatch Public Library, 503 E. Hall St., 

Hatch, NM 87937. 

Oklahoma 

Clinton Public Library, 721 Frisco 

Ave., Clinton, OK 73601. 

Elk City Carnegie Library, 221 West 

Broadway, Elk City, OK 73644. 

Virginia 

Island Library, 4077 Main St., 

Chincoteague, VA 23336. 

Eastern Shore Public Library, 23610 

Front St., Accomac, VA 23301. 

Additional Information: Under the 

Proposed Action, the FAA would issue 

experimental permits for the launch and 

reentry of reusable suborbital rockets 

from both FAA-licensed and nonlicensed launch sites using the PEIS as 

the basis for determining the potential 

environmental consequences of issuing 

experimental permits. An experimental 

permit would implement the 

appropriate safety requirements as 

defined in 14 CFR Part 437. A permit 

would be valid for 1 year and would 

authorize an unlimited number of 

launches and reentries of a particular 

reusable suborbital rocket design from a 

specified site(s). A permittee could 

renew the permit by submitting a 

written application to the FAA for 

renewal at least 60 days before the 

permit expired. 

Based on the FAA’s review of past 

activities and consultations with various 

organizations in the commercial space 

industry, the FAA projected that a 

maximum of 1,000 launch and reentry 

events could occur annually at any one 

location from 2009 to 2014. The FAA 

used this estimate to develop an upper 

bound to assess the potential impacts of 

the Experimental Permit Program. In 

some cases, the maximum number of 

events analyzed in the PEIS for specific 

sites are fewer than 1,000 if the site 

cannot support all of the flight profiles 

identified in the PEIS. The estimates 

used in the PEIS are extremely 

conservative and the actual number of 

launches per year would likely be 

lower. 

The PEIS considers activities 

associated with the launch and reentry 

of reusable suborbital rockets, including 

pre-flight activities, flight profile 

(takeoff, flight, and landing), and postflight activities (vehicle safing). The 

general suborbital rocket designs 

addressed in the PEIS include vehicles 

resembling conventional aircraft—30 to 

140 feet long with unfueled weight of 

up to 9,921 pounds; vehicles resembling 

conventional rockets—6 to 33 feet long 

with unfueled weight of up to 5,500 

pounds; and vehicles that hover—up to 

20 feet in length or diameter with 

unfueled weight of up to 4,400 pounds. 

To assess potential impacts of the 

Experimental Permit Program, the PEIS 

also considers the approximate 

proportions of general reusable 

suborbital rocket flight profiles, as 

follows: (1) Horizontal takeoff (rocket or 

jet powered), flight, and horizontal 

landing (glide or jet powered); (2) 

vertical takeoff (rocket powered), flight, 

and vertical landing (rocket powered or 

parachute); and (3) rocket powered 

hovering flights (vertical takeoff and 

landing). 

The PEIS analyzes the potential 

environmental effects of permitted 

launches on the impact categories 

described in FAA Order 1050.1E, 

Change 1. The PEIS does not analyze 

environmental consequences specific to 

construction because the Proposed 

Action and No Action Alternative do 

not involve construction activities. The 

PEIS also addresses potential 

cumulative impacts of the Proposed 

Action. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Daniel Czelusniak, FAA Environmental 

Specialist, FAA Experimental Permits 

PEIS, c/o ICF International, 9300 Lee 

Highway, Fairfax, VA 22031; e-mail 

PEIS-Experimental-Permits@icfi.com; or 

fax (703) 934–3951. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 1, 

2009. 

Michael McElligott, 

Manager, Space Systems Development 

Division. 

[FR Doc. E9–21765 Filed 9–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Maritime Administration 

[Docket Number: MARAD–2008–0060] 

Environmental Impact Statements; 

Availability 

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, U.S. 

Department of Transportation. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Final 

Programmatic Environmental 

Assessment and Finding of No 

Significant Impact. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the Maritime Administration, of the U.S. 

Department of Transportation (U.S. 

DOT) has made available to interested 

parties the Final Programmatic 

Environmental Assessment (PEA) and 


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