Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST); Notice of Availability of the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)/AST To Issue, Renew, or Modify Launch Operator Licenses for Atlas V Launch Vehicles Covered Under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Program From Space Launch Complex-3 East (SLC-3E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), California

요약

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 a FONSI for the FAA/AST action to issue, renew, or modify Launch Operator Licenses for Atlas V launch operations from SLC-3E at VAFB. The FONSI is based on the analysis and findings of the 2003 United States Air Force (USAF) Final Environmental Assessment for the Atlas V System at SLC-3E (2003 EA). In 1998, the USAF issued the 1998 Final Environmental Impact Statement for the EELV Program (1998 EIS) to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of the development, deployment, and operation of EELV systems (later known as the Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicle families). In 2000, the USAF prepared the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the EELV Program (2000 SEIS) to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of adding up to five solid-propellant strap-on rocket motors to the Atlas V launch vehicle and larger solid- propellant strap-on rocket motors on