{"id":2615,"date":"2020-02-29T07:57:22","date_gmt":"2020-02-29T12:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/?p=2615"},"modified":"2020-02-29T07:57:22","modified_gmt":"2020-02-29T12:57:22","slug":"spacex-environmental-review-and-the-faas-climate-evaluation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/29\/spacex-environmental-review-and-the-faas-climate-evaluation\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX Environmental Review and the FAA’s Climate Evaluation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Because the FAA treats its licensing of launch, reentry, and the operation of spaceports as major federal actions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), it must also perform NEPA reviews when a launch licensee such as SpaceX asks for modifications to its license.\u00a0 The FAA issued a notice<\/a> to this effect in the Federal Register today, and requested comment on a draft Environmental Assessment<\/a> for SpaceX Falcon Launches at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (draft EA).\u00a0 Comments are due March 20.<\/p>\n

The FAA explains in its notice:<\/p>\n

Due to SpaceX\u2019s ability to launch more frequently at KSC and CCAFS, SpaceX\u2019s launch manifest includes more annual Falcon launches and Dragon reentries than were considered in previous NEPA analyses. Also, SpaceX is proposing to add a new Falcon 9 southern launch trajectory from Florida for payloads requiring polar orbits. SpaceX is also proposing to construct a mobile service tower (MST) at LC\u201339A to support commercial launches and the U.S. Air Force\u2019s National Security Space Launch program. NASA is responsible for approving the construction of the MST at LC\u201339A. The FAA has no federal action related to the construction of the MST.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The FAA’s draft EA evaluates potential impacts on, among other things, climate. \u00a0In a new development from the FAA’s previous discussion<\/a>, the FAA’s draft EA\u00a0 discloses the withdrawal of previous CEQ guidance on evaluating environmental effects on climate:<\/p>\n

The FAA has not established a significance threshold or factors to consider for climate. <\/span>The CEQ-issued NEPA guidance for considering the effects of climate change and GHG emissions was withdrawn on <\/span>March 28, 2017. CEQ subsequently issued draft guidance on this topic in 2019. There are currently no accepted methods of determining significance applicable to aviation or commercial space launch projects given the small percentage of emissions they contribute. There is a considerable amount of ongoing scientific research to improve understanding of global climate change and FAA guidance will <\/span>evolve as the science matures or if new federal requirements are established.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nonetheless, the FAA evaluates the possible effects and anticipates no significant climate-related impacts.<\/p>\n

Comments due<\/strong>:\u00a0 March 20, 2020<\/p>\n

Lastly, don’t forget to comment on the CEQ ‘s notice of proposed rulemaking<\/a> if you want to preserve the FAA’s ability to reduce the burdens of a NEPA review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Because the FAA treats its licensing of launch, reentry, and the operation of spaceports as major federal actions under the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpaceX Environmental Review and the FAA's Climate Evaluation - 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