Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 223 / Friday, November 18, 2011 / Notices 71619 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Availability of the Final Environmental 

Assessment (EA) and Finding of No 

Significant Impact (FONSI) for Issuing 

an Experimental Permit to SpaceX for 

Operation of the Grasshopper Vehicle 

at the McGregor Test Site, Texas 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation. 

ACTIONS: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) of 1969, 42 United States Code 

§ 4321–4347 (as amended), Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA 

implementing regulations (40 Code of 

Federal Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500– 

1508), and FAA Order 1050.1E, Change 

1, the FAA is announcing the 

availability of the Final EA and FONSI 

for Issuing an Experimental Permit to 

SpaceX for Operation of the 

Grasshopper Vehicle at the McGregor 

Test Site, Texas. 

The Final EA was prepared in 

response to an application for an 

experimental permit from Space 

Exploration Technologies Corporation 

(SpaceX). Under the Proposed Action, 

the FAA would issue an experimental 

permit to SpaceX to conduct suborbital 

launches and landings of the 

Grasshopper Reusable Launch Vehicle 

(RLV) from the McGregor test site in 

McGregor, Texas. The Grasshopper RLV 

is a vertical takeoff and vertical landing 

vehicle. The McGregor test site is 

located within the city limits of the City 

of McGregor, Texas in Coryell and 

McLennan Counties, approximately 20 

miles southwest of Waco, Texas. The 

Final EA addresses the potential 

environmental impacts of implementing 

the Proposed Action and the No Action 

Alternative of not issuing an 

experimental permit to SpaceX. 

The FAA has posted the Final EA and 

FONSI on the FAA/AST Web site at 

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

headquarters_offices/ast/. In addition, 

copies of the Final EA and FONSI were 

sent to persons and institutions on the 

distribution list (see Chapter 8 of the 

Final EA). A paper copy of the Final EA 

and FONSI may be reviewed during 

regular business hours at the following 

location: McGinley Memorial Library, 

317 Main Street, McGregor, Texas 

76657. 

Additional Information: Under the 

Proposed Action, the FAA would issue 

an experimental permit to SpaceX, 

which would authorize SpaceX to 

conduct suborbital launches and 

landings of the Grasshopper RLV from 

the McGregor test site in McGregor, 

Texas. SpaceX has determined that to 

support the Grasshopper RLV activities 

under the experimental permit, it would 

be necessary to construct a launch pad 

and additional support infrastructure 

(water lines). Therefore, the Proposed 

Action analyzed in the Final EA 

includes the activities that would be 

authorized by the experimental permit 

(i.e., the operation of the launch vehicle) 

as well as the construction of the launch 

pad and installation of water lines. The 

experimental permit would be valid for 

one year and would authorize an 

unlimited number of launches. The 

FAA could renew the experimental 

permit if requested, in writing, by 

SpaceX at least 60 days before the 

permit expires. SpaceX anticipates that 

the Grasshopper RLV program would 

require up to 3 years to complete. 

Therefore, the Proposed Action 

considers one new permit and two 

potential permit renewals. 

Although an experimental permit 

would authorize an unlimited number 

of launches, the FAA, in conjunction 

with SpaceX, developed a conservative 

set of assumptions regarding the 

possible number of launches that could 

be conducted under any one 

experimental permit for the 

Grasshopper RLV at the McGregor test 

site. The FAA has assumed that SpaceX 

would conduct up to 70 annual 

suborbital launches of the Grasshopper 

RLV under an experimental permit at 

the McGregor test site. This estimation 

is a conservative number and considers 

potential multiple launches per day and 

potential launch failures. 

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 an experimental permit to SpaceX 

for operation of the Grasshopper RLV at 

the McGregor test site. Existing SpaceX 

activities would continue at the 

McGregor test site. Please refer to 

Section 2.2 of the Final EA for a brief 

discussion of existing SpaceX activities. 

The resource areas considered in the 

Final EA include air quality; noise and 

compatible land use; land use 

(including U.S. Department of 

Transportation Section 4(f) Properties); 

biological resources (fish, wildlife, and 

plants); historical, architectural, 

archaeological, and cultural resources; 

hazardous materials, pollution 

prevention, and solid waste; light 

emissions and visual resources; natural 

resources and energy supply; water 

resources (surface waters and wetlands, 

groundwater, floodplains, and water 

quality); socioeconomics, environmental 

justice, and children’s environmental 

health and safety; and secondary 

(induced) impacts. Potential cumulative 

impacts of the Proposed Action were 

also addressed in the Final EA. 

An analysis of the Proposed Action 

has concluded that there would be no 

significant short-term, long-term, or 

cumulative effects to the environment or 

surrounding populations. Therefore, an 

Environmental Impact Statement for the 

Proposed Action is not required. After 

careful and thorough consideration of 

the facts contained herein, the FAA 

finds that the proposed Federal action is 

consistent with existing national 

environmental policies and objectives as 

set forth in Section 101 of NEPA and 

other applicable environmental 

requirements and will not significantly 

affect the quality of the human 

environment or otherwise include any 

condition requiring consultation 

pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of NEPA. 

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; telephone (202) 267–5924; 

email: Daniel.Czelusniak@faa.gov. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on November 

11, 2011. 

Glenn H. Rizner, 

Deputy Manager, Space Transportation 

Development Division. 

[FR Doc. 2011–29892 Filed 11–17–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2010–0166] 

Parts and Accessories Necessary for 

Safe Operation; Grant of Temporary 

Exemption for Con-way Freight, TK 

Holdings, Inc., and Iteris, Inc. 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of final disposition. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Motor Carrier 

Safety Administration (FMCSA) 

announces its decision to grant an 

exemption to enable Con-way Freight 

(Con-way), TK Holdings, Inc. (Takata), 

and Iteris, Inc. (Iteris) to mount lane 

departure warning system sensors lower 

in the windshield of a commercial 

motor vehicle (CMV) than is currently 

permitted by the Agency’s regulations. 

The lane departure warning system 

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