Res Communis

Draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment to the September 2008 Environmental Assessment for Space Florida Launch Site Operator License, March 2010

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The FAA/AST has released the Draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment to the September 2008 Environmental Assessment for Space Florida Launch Site Operator License on its website. The introduction and background section of the document states:

In May 1997, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a Launch Site Operator License (LSO-02-006) to Space Florida to operate a commercial launch site at Launch Complex 46 (LC-46) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Brevard County, Florida. The license was renewed in 2002 and expired on May 22, 2007. Space Florida submitted a new application to the FAA for a Launch Site Operator License to include the operation of a commercial space launch site at Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) at CCAFS in addition to LC-46. This Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) supports the FAA’s decision to issue a Launch Site Operator License to Space Florida to operate LC-36 and LC-46 as a commercial space launch site at CCAFS.

Licensing the operation of a launch site is a major Federal action subject to environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA; 42 United States Code (U.S.C.) 4231, et seq.). The FAA prepared this SEA, in accordance with NEPA, Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA implementing regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR Parts 1500 to 1508], and FAA Order 1050.1E, Change 1, Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures, dated March 20, 2006, to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of activities associated with issuing Space Florida a Launch Site Operator License.

As part of the environmental review for the initial license application in 1997, the FAA issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) that adopted the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) October 1994 Finding of No Significant Impact and Environmental Assessment of the Proposed Space Florida Authority Commercial Launch Program at Launch Complex-46 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. In July 2007, Space Florida re-applied for a Launch Site Operator License to operate LC-46. In September 2008, the FAA issued a Finding of No Significant Impact and Environmental Assessment for Space Florida Launch Site Operator License at Launch Complex-46 (2008 EA) to support the environmental review of the application. In July 2009, Space Florida updated their application to include the operation of LC-36 in the Launch Site Operator License.

The 2008 EA analyzed the potential environmental impacts of operating LC-46 as a commercial space launch site for solid and liquid propellant vertical launch vehicles. The FAA determined that issuing a Launch Site Operator License to Space Florida for the operation of LC-46 would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment pursuant to Section 102 (2)(c) of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.). This SEA expands on the analysis provided in the 2008 EA to include an analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the construction and operation activities associated with the redevelopment of LC-36 into a commercial space launch site. Many of the conclusions in this SEA are supported by the April 2009 U.S. Air Force Categorical Exclusion (Catex) Space Florida Complex 36, CCAFS (2009 USAF Catex) and the July 2009 Environmental Baseline Survey (EBS) – Entry Proposed Space Florida License for Commercial Redevelopment of LC-36 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida (2009 EBS). The USAF developed the 2009 USAF Catex to analyze the potential environmental impacts associated with the redevelopment of LC-36 into a commercial space launch site. The USAF determined that the proposed action of redeveloping LC-36 into a commercial space launch site qualified for a Catex pursuant to A2.3.11 defined in 32 CFR Part 989, Environmental Impact Analysis Process, Appendix B as “actions similar to other actions which have been determined to have an insignificant impact in a similar setting as established in an environmental impact statement (EIS) or an environmental assessment (EA) resulting in a FONSI.”1 The 2009 EBS was prepared in support of the proposed licensing and leasing agreement of CCAFS LC-36 between the USAF and Space Florida.