Streamlining NEPA for Reusable Launch Vehicles Federal Aviation Administration Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation October 2004

What Is NEPA? The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is the basic national charter for protection of the environment Two basic objectives –Ensure that decision-makers consider the environment in planning projects –Prevent/minimize damage to the environment

How Does NEPA Apply to AST? Licensing launches and reentries and the operation of launch and reentry sites is a major Federal action All major Federal actions are subject to NEPA Environmental determination MUST be complete before license is issued In addition to NEPA, other Federal, state, and local environmental requirements may apply

What is AST Doing to Ease the Burden? AST is developing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to –Address horizontal launches and reentries of all reentry vehicles –Serve as a tiering document for subsequent site- and vehicle-specific analyses AST is studying the feasibility of developing a CATEX for launches

Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

AST’s PEIS Proposed Action –License launch of horizontally launched vehicles –License reentry of reentry vehicles Alternatives to the Proposed Action –Licensing subsets of launches or reentries –No Action

PEIS Vehicle Concepts Concept 1 - jet powered take off with rocket engine ignition and powered landing Concept 2 - rocket powered take off/flight and non-powered landing Concept 3 – take off via assist aircraft, rocket engine ignition, and non-powered landing

PEIS Milestones Developed Description of Proposed Action and Alternatives (DOPAA) and Affected Environment Estimates (10 years) of numbers of vehicle concept launches Analyzing impacts based on Concepts 1, 2, and 3

Next Steps DatesSteps 4 th Quarter 2004Submit Draft PEIS for FAA General Council review 1 st Quarter 2005Release Draft PEIS for public review 2 nd Quarter 2005Update Draft PEIS based on comments received 2 nd Quarter 2005Release Final PEIS 3 rd Quarter 2005Release Record of Decision

How Can You Get Involved? Provide data or descriptions of proposed launch and reentry vehicles Provide comments on the Draft PEIS, when available Visit AST’s PEIS web site

Categorical Exclusion Study

CATEX Developed for –Activities where previous analyses and subsequent monitoring has shown no potential for impact –Categories of actions that do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the environment Extraordinary circumstances (defined in Agency regulations) can preclude use of a CATEX for a normally excluded action

CATEX Development Process 1.Identify supporting documentation 2.Initiate review with relevant Federal agencies 3.Present to CEQ for review and approval 4.Publish in Federal Register for public review 5.Incorporate into FAA’s environmental order (FAA Order E)

CATEX Study Milestones Performed legal review of proposed revisions to Commercial Space Launch Act (CSLA) to identify NEPA streamlining opportunities Reviewed previous impact analyses and monitoring data to find activities with no potential for impact

Next Steps DatesSteps 4 th Quarter 2004Develop report based on CSLA legal review 1 st Quarter 2005Complete review of analyses and monitoring data 2 nd Quarter 2005Identify activities for which CATEX would be appropriate

Backup Slides

Perception of Environmental Review Process Resource intensive Not the primary mission of launch operators Inconvenient at best, burdensome at worst…however it is the law

What are Programmatic Analyses? Analyze the adoption of official policy (rules or regulations) or programs (implementation of statutory program) Analyze programs of broad scope, implemented in phases or at many locations worldwide

Why are Programmatic Analyses Useful? Address program-wide impacts and provide a roadmap for future analyses Provide tiering for subsequent specific analyses, focusing on unique impacts of a specific activity at a specific location

AST’s Programmatic Analyses February Programmatic Environmental Assessment of Commercial Expendable Launch Vehicles May PEIS for Commercial Reentry Vehicles May PEIS for Licensing Launches Under development - PEIS for Licensing Horizontal Launches and Reentries

DOT and FAA CATEXs DOT Order C –Contains 6 CATEXs FAA Order D –Contains 10 CATEXs covering general actions and 53 CATEXs covering specific actions Currently there are no CATEXs that cover launch activities