Office of Commercial Space Transportation; Notice of Approval on a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Spaceport America Commercial Launch Site, Sierra County, NM

Resumen

In accordance with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations and FAA Order 1050.1E, Change 1, the FAA is announcing the availability of the ROD for the Spaceport America Commercial Launch Site, Sierra County, New Mexico. The ROD provides the FAA's final environmental determination and approval to support the issuance of a Launch Site Operator License to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) to operate Spaceport America, as proposed in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) published in November 2008. The ROD provides a description of the applicant's Proposed Action and reasonable alternatives, and identifies the FAA's preferred and the environmentally preferred alternative. It includes a discussion of environmental impacts associated with the Proposed Action in each resource area, as analyzed in the Final EIS. The ROD summarizes the mitigation and enforcement actions that would be made the subject of the terms and conditions of the Launch Site Operator License issued to NMSA, as well as other conservation and enhancement measures described in the Final EIS and presented for consideration. The Final EIS, prepared by the FAA for the Spaceport America Commercial