Coast Guard
[Docket No. USCG-2007-28460]
Long Range Aids to Navigation (Loran-C) Program; Draft
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the availability of a Draft
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on the Future of the
Long Range Aids to Navigation (Loran-C) Program. We request your
comments on the Draft PEIS.
DATES: Two public meetings concerning the Draft PEIS are planned. The
public meetings will be held on February 18, 2009, in Washington, DC
and on March 3, 2009, in New Orleans, LA. Comments and related material
must reach the Docket Management Facility on or before March 9, 2009.
ADDRESSES: The Washington, DC meeting will be held at the Ronald Reagan
Building and International Trade Center, Oceanic Rooms A & B, 1300
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20004, telephone 202-312-1326.
The New Orleans, LA meeting will be held at the Hilton New Orleans
Riverside, Rosedown Room, 2 Poydras Street, New Orleans, LA 70140,
telephone 504-556-3739. Each meeting will consist of an informational
open house from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and a public scoping meeting from 6
p.m. to 8 p.m. The public meetings may end later than the stated time,
depending on the number of persons wishing to speak.
Send written material or comments you wish to have as part of the
meeting record to Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard,
(CG-54132) Electronic Navigation Branch, 2100 Second Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20593-0001, Attn: LCDR Robert Manning no later than
February 9, 2009.
USCG-2007-28460 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S.
Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one
of the following methods:
(1) Online: http://www.regulations.gov
(2) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(3) Hand delivery: Room W12-140 on the Ground Floor of the DOT West
Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The
telephone number is 202-366-9329.
(4) Fax: 202-493-2251.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
call LCDR Robert Manning, (CG-54132) Electronic Navigation Division,
U.S. Coast Guard, telephone 202-372-1560, or e-mail
robert.j.manning@uscg.mil. If you have questions on viewing or
submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation and Request for Comments
We encourage you to submit comments and related material on the
Draft PEIS on the Future of the Loran-C Program. All comments received
will be posted, without change, to http://www.regulations.gov
include any personal information you have provided. We have an
agreement with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to use the Docket
Management Facility. Please see DOT’s “Privacy Act” paragraph below.
Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include the
docket number for this notice (USCG-2007-28460), and give the reason
for each comment. You may submit your comments and material by
electronic means, mail, fax, or delivery to Docket Management Facility
at the address under ADDRESSES; but please submit your comments and
material by only one means. We recommend that you include your name and
a mailing address, an e-mail address, or a telephone number in the body
of your document so that we can contact you if we have questions
regarding your submission. For example, we may ask you to resubmit your
comment if we are not able to read your original submission. If you
submit them by mail or delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no
larger than 81/2 by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic
filing. If you submit them by mail and would like to know that they
reached the Docket Management Facility, please enclose a stamped, self-
addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all comments and
material received during the comment period.
Draft PEIS, go to http://www.regulations.gov
Docket Search option on the right side of the screen, insert USCG-2007-
28460 in the Docket ID box, press Enter, and then click on the item in
the Docket ID column. If you do not have access to the Internet, you
may view the docket online by visiting the Docket Management Facility
in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the DOT West Building, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE.,Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays. The Draft PEIS is also available at the
project Web site, http://www.uscg-e2m.com/LoranPEIS/
Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review a
Privacy Act, system of records notice regarding our public dockets in
the January 17, 2008, issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 3316).
Background and Purpose
Loran is a radionavigation system first developed during World War
II and operated by the USCG. The current system (Loran-C) is a low
frequency hyperbolic radionavigation system approved for use in the
Coastal Confluence Zone (CCZ) and as a supplemental air navigation aid.
Loran-C provides navigation, location, and timing services for both
civil and military air, land, and marine users in the continental U.S.
(CONUS) and Alaska. The USCG operates 18 CONUS Loran Stations, 6 Alaska
Loran Stations, and 24 monitoring sites.
level document designed to provide the USCG with high-level analysis of
the potential impacts on the human environment from the alternatives
for the future of the Loran-C Program. The Draft PEIS evaluates the
following five alternatives on the future of the USCG Loran-C Program:
(1) No Action Alternative. The No Action Alternative refers to the
current, existing conditions without implementation of the Proposed
Action.
(2) Decommission the USCG Loran-C Program and Terminate the North
American Loran-C Signal.
(3) Automate, Secure, and Unstaff Loran-C Stations.
(4) Automate, Secure, Unstaff, and Transfer Management of the
Loran-C Program to Another Government Agency.
(5) Automate, Secure, Unstaff, and Transfer Management of the
Loran-C Program to Another Government Agency to Deploy an eLoran
system.
Transfer Management of the Loran-C Program to Another Government
Agency; or Automate, Secure, Unstaff, and Transfer Management of the
Loran-C Program to Another Government Agency to Deploy an eLoran
system. It is important to note that this draft PEIS does not obligate
the Coast Guard, DHS, or any other entity to undertake any specific
course of action with respect to Loran.
you may have related to the Draft PEIS. This includes suggested
analyses and methodologies for use in the Draft PEIS or possible
sources of data for information not included in the Draft PEIS. Your
comments will be considered in preparing the final PEIS.
Dated: December 30, 2008.
James A. Watson,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Director of Prevention Policy.
[FR Doc. E9-1171 Filed 1-21-09; 8:45 am]
