55064 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 178 / Monday, September 15, 2014 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Office of Commercial Space 

Transportation; Notice of Availability 

of the Final Environmental 

Assessment (EA) for the Midland 

International Air and Space Port, City 

of Midland, Midland County, Texas, 

and Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI) 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

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 EA for the 

Midland International Air and Space 

Port, City of Midland, Midland County, 

Texas, and FONSI. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Daniel Czelusniak, Federal Aviation 

Administration, 800 Independence 

Avenue SW., Suite 325, Washington, DC 

20591; email Daniel.Czelusniak@

faa.gov; or phone (202) 267–5924. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Final 

EA was prepared to analyze the 

potential environmental impacts of the 

City of Midland’s proposal to operate a 

commercial space launch site at the 

Midland International Airport (MAF) in 

Midland County, Texas and offer the 

site to XCOR Aerospace, Inc. (XCOR) for 

the operation of the Lynx horizontal 

take-off and horizontal landing reusable 

launch vehicle (RLV) and engine testing. 

To operate a commercial space launch 

site, the City of Midland must obtain a 

commercial space launch site operator 

license from the FAA. Under the 

Proposed Action addressed in the EA, 

the FAA would: (1) Issue a launch site 

operator license to the City of Midland 

for the operation of a commercial space 

launch site at MAF, (2) issue 

experimental permits and/or launch 

licenses to XCOR that would allow 

XCOR to conduct launches of the Lynx 

RLV from MAF, and (3) provide 

approval to modify the existing Airport 

Layout Plan (ALP) to reflect the 

designation of a launch site boundary, 

installation of aboveground propellant 

storage tanks, and construction of a 

concrete pad for engine testing. 

Proposed launch operations would 

begin in 2014 and continue through 

2018. The frequency of launch 

operations would initially be one 

launch per week, eventually increasing 

to two launches per day, five days a 

week. Fifty-two annual launch 

operations are proposed in 2014. The 

total number of annual launch 

operations would increase each year 

until 2018 when 520 annual launch 

operations are proposed. 

The Final EA addresses the potential 

environmental impacts of implementing 

the Proposed Action and the No Action 

Alternative. Under the No Action 

Alternative, the FAA would not issue a 

launch site operator license to the City 

of Midland and thus would not issue 

experimental permits and/or launch 

licenses to XCOR for operation of the 

Lynx RLV at MAF. Also, there would be 

no need to update the ALP for MAF, 

and thus there would be no approval of 

a revised ALP. Existing commercial 

aviation and military operations would 

continue at MAF. 

The impact categories considered in 

the Final EA include air quality; 

compatible land use; Department of 

Transportation Act: Section 4(f); fish, 

wildlife, and plants; floodplains; 

hazardous materials, pollution 

prevention, and solid waste; historical, 

architectural, archaeological, and 

cultural resources; natural resources and 

energy supply; noise; socioeconomic 

impacts, environmental justice, and 

children’s environmental health and 

safety risks; water quality; and 

wetlands. The Final EA also considers 

the potential cumulative environmental 

impacts. 

The FAA has posted the Final EA and 

FONSI on the FAA Web site at http:// 

www.faa.gov/about/office_org/

headquarters_offices/ast/

environmental/nepa_docs/review/

operator/. 

The FAA published a Notice of 

Availability of the Draft EA in the 

Federal Register on March 24, 2014. A 

Notice of Availability of the Draft EA 

was also published in the Midland 

Reporter-Telegram, Odessa American, 

and Big Spring Herald on March 30, 

2014 and in the Big Lake Wildcat on 

April 3, 2014. The FAA mailed copies 

of the Draft EA to the following 

agencies: Texas Historical Commission 

(State Historic Preservation Officer), 

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 

and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. An 

electronic version of the Draft EA was 

also made available on the FAA Web 

site. In addition, the FAA printed and 

mailed a copy of the Draft EA to the 

following libraries: Midland County 

Library, Ector County Library, and 

Reagan County Library. The FAA held 

an open house public meeting on April 

8, 2014 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at 

the University of Texas of the Permian 

Basin, Center for Energy and Economic 

Diversification. The public comment 

period ended on April 24, 2014. The 

FAA received two public comments on 

the Draft EA, both in support of the 

Proposed Action. No substantive 

changes were made to this Final EA. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 9, 

2014. 

Daniel Murray, 

Manager, Space Transportation Development 

Division. 

[FR Doc. 2014–21905 Filed 9–12–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

[Summary Notice No. PE–2014–71] 

Petition for Exemption; Summary of 

Petition Received 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of petition for exemption 

received. 

SUMMARY: This notice contains a 

summary of a petition seeking relief 

from specified requirements of 14 CFR. 

The purpose of this notice is to improve 

the public’s awareness of, and 

participation in, this aspect of FAA’s 

regulatory activities. Neither publication 

of this notice nor the inclusion or 

omission of information in the summary 

is intended to affect the legal status of 

the petition or its final disposition. 

DATES: Comments on this petition must 

identify the petition docket number and 

must be received on or before October 

6, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments 

identified by Docket Number FAA– 

2014–0331 using any of the following 

methods: 

• Government-wide rulemaking Web 

site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov 

and follow the instructions for sending 

your comments electronically. 

• Mail: Send comments to the Docket 

Management Facility; U.S. Department 

of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., West Building Ground 

Floor, Room W12–140, Washington, DC 

20590. 

• Fax: Fax comments to the Docket 

Management Facility at 202–493–2251. 

• Hand Delivery: Bring comments to 

the Docket Management Facility in 

Room W12–140 of the West Building 

Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 


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