Res Communis

Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and to conduct scoping for the Wallops Flight Facility Shoreline Restoration and Infrastructure Protection Program (SRIPP)

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

NASA published a Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and to conduct scoping for the Wallops Flight Facility Shoreline Restoration and Infrastructure Protection Program (SRIPP) in today’s Federal Register (74 Fed. Reg. 12387-12389):

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, as amended, (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), and NASA’s NEPA policy and procedures (14 CFR Part 1216, subpart 1216.3), NASA intends to prepare an EIS for the implementation of a long-term SRIPP at Wallops Flight Facility (WFF). The U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the U.S. Army Corps of engineers, Norfolk District, have been asked to participate as Cooperating Agencies as they possess both regulatory authority and specialized expertise pertaining to the Proposed Action. MMS has recently accepted NASA’s request and will serve as a Cooperating Agency in the preparation of this EIS.

In May 2007, NASA released for public comment a Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment for Goddard Space Flight Center’s Wallops Flight Facility, Shoreline Restoration and Infrastructure Protection Program. Since that time, NASA’s Proposed Action has changed and NASA will now prepare an EIS for the Proposed Action currently under consideration.

The SRIPP would be implemented to restore the Wallops Island shoreline and to protect the over $800 million in Federal and state assets on Wallops Island that are increasingly at risk from larger than normal storm events, storm waves, and flooding damage. The design and implementation of a solution to provide Wallops Island infrastructure with the necessary protection from both storm energy and flooding form the basis of the Proposed Action and alternatives to be analyzed in the WFF SRIPP EIS. The project’s design lifespan would be fifty (50) ears. The No Action Alternative is to not implement the WFF SRIPP, but to continue making emergency repairs to the Wallops Island shoreline as necessary.

NASA will hold a public scoping meeting as part of the NEPA process associated with the development of the EIS. The public meeting location and date identified at this time are provided under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.