[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 52 (Friday, March 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11810-11811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05322]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Office of Commercial Space Transportation: Notice of Availability 
and Request for Comment on the Spaceport Camden Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS), Camden County, GA

AGENCY:  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT) is the lead agency. The National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration and National Park Service are cooperating 
agencies.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment; Notice of 
public hearings.

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SUMMARY:  The FAA is announcing the availability of and requesting 
comments on the Spaceport Camden Draft EIS, which is available for 
public review. The Draft EIS evaluates the potential environmental 
impacts that may result from the FAA's Proposed Action of issuing a 
Launch Site Operator License to the Camden County Board of 
Commissioners (County) to operate a proposed commercial space launch 
site, called Spaceport Camden. The license would allow the County to 
offer Spaceport Camden to commercial launch operators to conduct 
vertical launches.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 16, 2018.
    The FAA will hold two public hearings to solicit comments from the 
public concerning the content of the Draft EIS. The dates of the 
hearings are Wednesday, April 11, and Thursday, April 12, 2018, from 
5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES:  The FAA will hold the two public hearings at the following 
location: Camden County Public Service Authority Recreation Center 
Community Room, 1050 Wildcat Drive, Kingsland, GA 31548 (912-729-5600).
    A paper copy of the Draft EIS is available for review during 
regular business hours at the following libraries:

 Camden County Public Library, 1410 Georgia Highway 40, 
Kingsland, GA 31548
 St. Marys Public Library, 100 Herb Bauer Drive, St. Marys, GA 
31558
 Brunswick-Glynn County Library, 208 Gloucester Street, 
Brunswick, GA 31520
 St. Simons Island Public Library, 530A Beachview Drive, St. 
Simons Island, GA, 31522

    Comments regarding the Draft EIS should be mailed to Ms. Stacey M. 
Zee, Environmental Specialist, Federal Aviation Administration, c/o 
Leidos, 2109 Air Park Road SE, Suite 200, Albuquerque, NM 87106. 
Comments may also be submitted by email to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Ms. Stacey M. Zee, Environmental 
Specialist, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Ave. SW, 
Suite 325, Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202) 267-9305; email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  The FAA is announcing the availability of 
and requesting comments on the Spaceport Camden Draft EIS, in 
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 as 
amended (42 United States Code [U.S.C.] Sec. Sec.  4321 et seq.), 
Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 Code of Federal 
Regulations Parts 1500-1508), and FAA Order 1050.1F, Environmental 
Impacts: Policies and Procedures. This Draft EIS is also submitted for 
review pursuant to the following public law requirements: Section 4(f) 
of the DOT Act (49 U.S.C. 303); Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.); Executive Order (E.O.) 
11988, Floodplain Management; DOT Order 5650.2, Floodplain Management 
and Protection; E.O. 11990, Protection of Wetlands; and DOT Order 
5660.1A, Preservation of the Nation's Wetlands. Pursuant to the Coastal 
Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, this project is being 
evaluated for consistency with the Georgia Coastal Management Program. 
Section 306(d)(14) of the Act requires public participation in the 
Federal consistency

[[Page 11811]]

review process. The FAA encourages the public to submit comments on the 
compatibility of the Proposed Action and alternatives with these 
special purpose laws.
    An electronic version of the Draft EIS is available on the FAA 
Office of Commercial Space Transportation website at: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/environmental/nepa_docs/review/documents_progress/camden_spaceport/.
    The FAA encourages all interested agencies, organizations, Native 
American tribes, and members of the public to submit comments 
concerning the analysis presented in the Draft EIS by May 16, 2018. 
Comments should be as specific as possible and address the analysis of 
potential environmental impacts and the adequacy of the proposed action 
or merits of alternatives and any mitigations being considered. 
Reviewers should organize their participation so that it is meaningful 
and makes the agency aware of the viewer's interests and concerns using 
quotations and other specific references to the text of the Draft EIS 
and related documents. Matters that could have been raised with 
specificity during the comment period on the Draft EIS may not be 
considered if they are raised for the first time later in the decision 
process. This commenting procedure is intended to ensure that 
substantive comments and concerns are made available to the FAA in a 
timely manner so that the FAA has an opportunity to address them.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, be advised that 
your entire comment--including your personal identifying information--
may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in 
your comment to withhold from public review your personal identifying 
information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    Due to the large turnout during the public scoping meetings, the 
FAA will hold two public hearings to solicit comments from the public 
concerning the content of the Draft EIS on Wednesday, April 11 and 
Thursday, April 12, 2018, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the following 
location: Camden County Public Service Authority Recreation Center 
Community Room, 1050 Wildcat Drive, Kingsland, GA 31548 (912-729-5600).
    At the public hearings, the FAA will present information about the 
Draft EIS and the environmental review process. Please note the FAA 
will present identical information at each public hearing. If you are 
planning to provide oral comments during the hearing, we ask that you 
speak at only one of the hearings, so that everyone wanting to present 
comments has the opportunity to do so, as time is limited. The purpose 
of the public hearings is to afford the public and other interested 
parties the opportunity to comment on the analysis of the Proposed 
Action and alternatives presented in the Draft EIS. Members of the 
public and other interested parties will be provided the opportunity to 
submit both written and oral comments. The hearings will include a 
poster information session and an FAA presentation, followed by a 
public statement period in which members of the public can present up 
to a three-minute statement. The FAA will transcribe oral comments. All 
comments received during the comment period will be given equal weight 
and taken into consideration during preparation of the Final EIS.
    Under the Proposed Action, the FAA would issue a Launch Site 
Operator License to the County. The license would allow the County to 
offer Spaceport Camden to commercial launch operators to conduct 
launches of liquid-fueled, small to medium-large lift-class, orbital 
and suborbital vertical launch vehicles. The license would allow up to 
12 vertical launches and up to 12 associated launch vehicle first-stage 
landings per year. In support of the launches, there would be up to 12 
wet dress rehearsals and up to 12 static fire engine tests per year. 
All vehicles would launch to the east, from between 83 degrees 
(slightly north of due east) and 115 degrees (approximately east 
southeast), over the Intracoastal Waterway, Cumberland Island National 
Seashore and/or Little Cumberland Island, and the Atlantic Ocean. The 
Proposed Action includes possible recovery of the first stage by either 
landing the stage at Spaceport Camden or landing the stage on a barge 
approximately 200 to 300 miles off shore in the Atlantic Ocean and 
returning it to Spaceport Camden.
    Alternatives under consideration in the Draft EIS include the 
Proposed Action, an Ocean-Landing Only Alternative (similar to the 
Proposed Action except first-stage landings would only occur on a barge 
approximately 200 to 300 miles off shore in the Atlantic Ocean), and 
the No Action Alternative.
    The Draft EIS evaluates the potential direct, indirect, and 
cumulative environmental impacts that may result from the Proposed 
Action, Ocean-Landing Only Alternative, and the No Action Alternative. 
The FAA assessed impact categories to provide a context for 
understanding and assessing the potential environmental impacts of the 
construction and operation, as well as secondary (induced) impacts 
associated with the Proposed Action and alternatives. The Draft EIS 
focuses on the following impact categories: Air quality; biological 
resources (including fish, wildlife, and plants); climate; coastal 
resources; Department of Transportation Act, Section 4(f) (including 
park and recreational lands, wildlife and waterfowl refuges, and 
historic sites in transportation project development); farmlands; 
hazardous materials, solid waste, and pollution prevention; historical, 
architectural, archeological, and cultural resources; land use; natural 
resources and energy supply; noise and compatible land use; 
socioeconomics, environmental justice, and children's environmental 
health and safety risks; visual effects (including light emissions), 
and water resources (including wetlands, floodplains, surface waters, 
groundwater, and wild and scenic rivers). The following topics were 
also analyzed and are appended to the Draft EIS: Health and safety, 
soils and geology, transportation, and airspace.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 9, 2018.
Daniel Murray,
Manager, Space Transportation Development Division.
[FR Doc. 2018-05322 Filed 3-15-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-13-P


