Office of Commercial Space Transportation; Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for Pegasus Launches at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida

Resumo

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347 (as amended), Council on Environmental Quality NEPA implementing regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] parts 1500 to 1508), and FAA Order 1050.1E, Change 1, the FAA is announcing the availability of the Final Environmental Assessment (Final EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for Pegasus Launches at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Final EA was prepared to address the potential environmental impacts of the FAA's Proposed Action for issuing or renewing Launch Operator Licenses to operate Pegasus launch vehicles at CCAFS. Activities addressed in the Final EA include carrier aircraft takeoff and landing from a CCAFS runway and launch of Pegasus vehicle at an altitude of 40,000 feet and approximately 90 nautical miles offshore over the Atlantic Ocean. The Final EA tiers from the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for Licensing Launches (2001 PEIS) and focuses on localized and site-specific effects of FAA issuing or renewing Launch Operator Licenses to operate Pegasus expendable launch vehicles at CCAFS. The 2001 PEIS, evaluated the launch impa