Document ID: FAA-2013-0259-3044
Agency: faa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Environmental Assessments; Availability, etc.: Shuttle Landing Facility Reentry Site Operator License
Posted Date: 2021-01-26T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 26, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7166-7167]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01575]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

Office of Commercial Space Transportation: Notice of Availability 
for the Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact for the Shuttle Landing Facility Reentry Site 
Operator License

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA), Council on Environmental Quality NEPA 
implementing regulations, and FAA Order 1050.1F, Environmental Impacts: 
Policies and Procedures, the FAA is announcing the availability of the 
Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact for the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) Reentry Site 
Operator License (Final PEA and FONSI).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stacey Zee, Environmental Protection 
Specialist, Federal Aviation

[[Page 7167]]

Administration, 800 Independence Avenue SW, Suite 325, Washington, DC 
20591; phone (202) 267-9305; email Stacey.Zee@faa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA is the lead agency. The National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Space Force, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service are cooperating 
agencies for the PEA due to their special expertise and jurisdictions.
    The FAA has prepared the Final PEA to evaluate the potential 
environmental impacts of the FAA issuing a Reentry Site Operator 
License to Space Florida for the operation of a commercial space 
reentry site at the SLF located at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, which 
includes the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Space Force 
Station (formerly called the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station). Under 
the Proposed Action, the FAA would issue a Reentry Site Operator 
License to Space Florida, which would authorize Space Florida to offer 
the SLF as a horizontal reentry and landing site to prospective 
commercial space reentry vehicle operators.
    A programmatic document is a type of general, broad environmental 
review from which subsequent NEPA documents can be tiered, focusing on 
the issues specific to the subsequent action (40 CFR 1502.20). If a 
commercial space operator applies to the FAA for a reentry license to 
conduct reentry operations at the SLF, that operator would develop a 
separate environmental document, tiering off the PEA, to support their 
application. The tiered environmental document would be a more detailed 
analysis based on vehicle specific operations.
    The Final PEA evaluated the potential environmental impacts of the 
Proposed Action and the No Action Alternative. Under the No Action 
Alternative, the FAA would not issue a Reentry Site Operator License to 
Space Florida for operating a commercial space reentry site at the SLF.
    The FAA published a Draft PEA for public comment on October 30, 
2020 and held a virtual public meeting on December 2, 2020. The public 
comment period closed on December 7, 2020. The FAA received 3 public 
comments. The FAA considered all public comments when preparing the 
Final PEA.
    The FAA has posted the Final PEA and FONSI on the FAA Office of 
Commercial Space Transportation website: https://www.faa.gov/space/environmental/nepa_docs.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Daniel P. Murray,
Manager, Safety Authorization Division.
[FR Doc. 2021-01575 Filed 1-25-21; 8:45 am]
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