Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 89 / Tuesday, May 8, 2012 / Notices 27111 

review the progress of the Committee’s 

five subcommittees. The meeting is 

open to public participation through 

live stream at http://www.state.gov/s/ 

sacsed/c47725.htm. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on May 

16, 2012, from 12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the U.S. Department of State, 2201 C 

Street NW., Washington, DC. 

Written comments may be submitted 

to Madeleine Ioannou via email to 

civilsociety@state.gov or facsimile to 

(202) 736–7880. All comments, 

including names and addresses when 

provided, are placed in the record and 

are available for inspection and copying. 

The public may inspect comments 

received at the U.S. Department of State, 

2201 C Street, NW., Room 1317, 

Washington, DC 20520. Please call 

ahead to (202) 736–7824 to facilitate 

entry into the building. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Madeleine Ioannou, Committee 

Executive Secretary, U.S. Department of 

State, 2201 C Street NW., Room 1317, 

Washington, DC 20520; (202) 736–7308; 

civilsociety@state.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

meeting is open to the public and will 

be streamed live at: http:// 

www.state.gov/s/sacsed/c47725.htm. 

Agenda items to be covered include: (1) 

Introductions, (2) Presentations by the 

Chairs of the Subcommittees, (3) 

Discussion of any Public Submissions, 

(4) General Discussion, (5) 

Adjournment. Anyone who would like 

to bring related matters to the attention 

of the Committee may file written 

statements with the Committee staff by 

sending an email to 

civilsociety@state.gov. 

Dated: April 25, 2012. 

Madeleine Ioannou, 

Office of the Senior Advisor for Civil Society 

and Emerging Democracies, U.S. Department 

of State. 

[FR Doc. 2012–11095 Filed 5–7–12; 8:45 am] 

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Office of Commercial Space 

Transportation (AST); Notice of 

Availability of the Final Environmental 

Assessment (EA) and Finding of No 

Significant Impact (FONSI) for the 

Launch and Reentry of SpaceShipTwo 

Reusable Suborbital Rockets at the 

Mojave Air and Space Port 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), lead Federal 

agency and United States Air Force and 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration, cooperating agencies, 

DOT. 

ACTIONS: Notice of Availability of Final 

EA and FONSI. 

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 Code of Federal Regulations parts 

1500 to 1508), and FAA Order 1050.1E, 

Change 1, the FAA is announcing the 

availability of the Final EA and FONSI 

for the Launch and Reentry of 

SpaceShipTwo Reusable Suborbital 

Rockets at the Mojave Air and Space 

Port. 

The Final EA was prepared to analyze 

the potential environmental impacts of 

issuing experimental permits and/or 

launch licenses to operate 

SpaceShipTwo reusable suborbital 

rockets and WhiteKnightTwo carrier 

aircraft at the Mojave Air and Space Port 

in Mojave, California. Under the 

Proposed Action, the FAA would issue 

experimental permits and/or launch 

licenses to multiple operators for the 

operation of SpaceShipTwo and 

WhiteKnightTwo at the Mojave Air and 

Space Port. Both WhiteKnightTwo and 

SpaceShipTwo would be piloted during 

operations. The Mojave Air and Space 

Port comprises an area of approximately 

3,000 acres in Kern County, California, 

and is east of the unincorporated town 

of Mojave. The Final EA addresses the 

potential environmental impacts of 

implementing the Proposed Action and 

the No Action Alternative of not issuing 

an experimental permit and/or launch 

license for the operation of 

SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo at 

the Mojave Air and Space Port. 

The FAA has posted the Final EA and 

FONSI on the FAA/AST Web site: 

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/ 

headquarters_offices/ast/ 

environmental/review/permits/. A paper 

copy of the Final EA and FONSI may be 

reviewed during regular business hours 

at the following locations: 

Edwards AFB Base Library, 95 SPTG/ 

SVMG, 5 West Yeager Blvd., Building 

2665, Edwards AFB, CA 93524–1295. 

Kern County Library, Boron Branch, 

26967 20 Mule Team Road, Boron, CA 

93516. 

Kern County Library, California City 

Branch, 9507 California City Boulevard, 

California City, CA 93505. 

Kern County Library, Kernville 

Branch, 48 Tobias Street, Kernville, CA 

93238. 

Kern County Library, Mojave Branch, 

16916–1/2 Highway 14, Mojave, CA 

93501. 

Kern County Library, Ridgecrest 

Branch, 131 East Las Flores Avenue, 

Ridgecrest, CA 93555. 

Kern County Library, Tehachapi 

Branch, 450 West F Street, Tehachapi, 

CA 93561. 

Kern County Library, Wofford Heights 

Branch, 6400–B Wofford Boulevard, 

Wofford Heights, CA 93285. 

Kern River Valley Library, 7054 Lake 

Isabella Boulevard, Lake Isabella, CA 

93240. 

Kern River Valley Library, Wanda 

Kirk Branch (Rosamond), 3611 

Rosamond Boulevard, Rosamond, CA 

93560. 

Additional Information: Under the 

Proposed Action, the FAA would issue 

experimental permits and/or launch 

licenses for the operation of 

SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo at 

the Mojave Air and Space Port in 

Mojave, CA. The Proposed Action does 

not include any construction activities. 

The Mojave Air and Space Port’s 

existing infrastructure would be used 

for takeoff and landing activities. 

Experimental permits would be valid for 

one year. Launch licenses would be 

valid for two years. The FAA could 

renew experimental permits and launch 

licenses if requested, in writing, by the 

permitees at least 60 days before the 

permit expires, and/or by the licensees 

at least 90 days before the license 

expires. The Final EA assumes that the 

FAA could issue either new or renewed 

experimental permits and/or launch 

licenses. For purposes of analyzing 

environmental impacts in the Final EA, 

the FAA developed a conservative set of 

assumptions regarding the possible 

number of launches and reentries that 

could be conducted under any one 

experimental permit and/or launch 

license for the SpaceShipTwo at the 

Mojave Air and Space Port. The FAA 

has assumed a maximum of up to 30 

total launches and reentries per year of 

SpaceShipTwo for a total of up to 150 

launches and reentries of 

SpaceShipTwo between 2012 and 2016. 

This estimation is a conservative 

number and considers potential 

multiple launches per day and potential 

launch aborts. 

The only alternative to the Proposed 

Action analyzed in the Final EA is the 

No Action Alternative. Under the No 

Action Alternative, the FAA would not 

issue experimental permits and/or 

launch licenses for the operation of 

SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo 

from the Mojave Air and Space Port. 

Existing operations at Mojave Air and 

Space Port would continue. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
27112 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 89 / Tuesday, May 8, 2012 / Notices 

The resource areas considered in the 

Final EA include air quality; biological 

resources (including fish, wildlife, and 

plants); historical, architectural, 

archaeological, and cultural resources; 

hazardous materials, pollution 

prevention, and solid waste; health and 

safety; land use (including Department 

of Transportation Section 4(f) 

properties); light emissions and visual 

resources; noise and compatible land 

use; socioeconomic resources, 

environmental justice, and children’s 

environmental health and safety; and 

cumulative impacts. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mr. Daniel Czelusniak, Environmental 

Program Lead, Office of Commercial 

Space Transportation, Federal Aviation 

Administration, 800 Independence 

Avenue SW., Room 325, Washington, 

DC 20591; email 

Daniel.Czelusniak@faa.gov; or phone 

(202) 267–5924;. 

Issued in Washington, DC on: May 1, 2012. 

Michael McElligott, 

Manager, Space Transportation Development 

Division. 

[FR Doc. 2012–11018 Filed 5–7–12; 8:45 am] 

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srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES