Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures; Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
[Docket No. 29797; FAA Order 1050.1E]
Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes to revise
its procedures for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act,
Order 1050.1D, Policies and Procedures for Considering Environmental
Impacts, with proposed Order 1050.1E Environmental Impact: Policies and
Procedures. The revisions in proposed Order 1050.1E include:
consolidating the FAA categorical exclusions in the appendixes to Order
1050.1D into the body of the order; proposing new and modified
categorical exclusions; incorporating new procedures for preparing
environmental documents; consolidating Order 1050.1D appendixes, which
describe procedures for each program office, into the body of the
order; and proposing new appendixes, such as on third-party
contracting. This notice provides the public opportunity to comment on
the proposed changes. All comments on the proposed changes will be
considered in preparing the final version of Order 1050.1E.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 11, 2000.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed, in triplicate, to the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), Office of the Chief Counsel, Attn: Rules
Docket (AGC-200), Docket No. 29797, 800 Independence Avenue, S.W., Room
915G, Washington, DC 20591. Comments may be inspected in Room 915G
between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., weekdays, except Federal holidays.
Commenters who wish the FAA to acknowledge the receipt of their
comments must submit with their comments a self-addressed, stamped
postcard on which the following statement is made: ``Comments to Docket
No. 29797.'' The postcard will be date-stamped by the FAA and returned
to the commenter.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Ann M. Hooker, Environment,
Energy, and Employee Safety Division (AEE-200), Office of Environment
and Energy, FAA, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591;
telephone (202) 267-3554.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
and implementing regulations promulgated by the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) establish a broad
national policy to protect the quality of the human environment and
provide policies and goals to ensure that environmental considerations
and associated public concerns are given careful attention and
appropriate weight in all decisions of the Federal Government. Section
102(2) of NEPA and 40 CFR 1505.1 require Federal agencies to develop
and, as needed, revise implementing procedures consistent with the CEQ
regulations.
The FAA's current Order 1050.1D, Policies and Procedures for
Considering Environmental Impacts, provides FAA's policy and procedures
for complying with the requirements of: (a) The CEQ regulations for
implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA; (b) Department of
Transportation (DOT) Order DOT 5610.1C, Procedures for Considering
Environmental Impacts, and (c) other applicable environmental laws,
regulations, and executive orders and policies. The FAA is proposing to
replace Order 1050.1D with Order 1050.1E.
Request for Comment
As part of revising its environmental order, the FAA is seeking
comment regarding sixteen proposed changes as described in the
following synopsis of changes. FAA is also seeking comment on the
feasibility of requiring that NEPA documents be submitted in electronic
form suitable for access via the Internet.
Synopsis of Proposed Changes
The proposed FAA Order 1050.1E, Environmental Impacts: Policies and
Procedures, includes additions or changes to the current version of FAA
Order 1050.1D which may be of interest to the public and other
government agencies and organizations. Additional information on the
proposed changes may be found in paragraph 5 (Chapter 1) of the draft
order.
The revised Order 1050.1E would:
Change 1. Be reorganized to place the categorical exclusions for
all FAA programs, including new and modified categorical exclusions, in
chapter 3, eliminating the separate appendixes for each program (see
Figure 3-2, Categorical Exclusions List). For reference, offices that
originated and would normally use a categorical exclusion are listed in
parentheses following each categorical exclusion. Additions and
modifications to categorical exclusions are identified in italic print
in figure 3-2.
Change 2. Be reorganized to place the types of actions that
normally require preparation of EAs and EISs for all programs into
Chapters 4 and 5, respectively. Appendix 6, Airports, of Order 1050.1D
(which references FAA Order 5050.4A, Airport Environmental Handbook,
October 8, 1985) is continued as appendix 3 of this order. Order
5050.4A will be updated to ensure consistency with this order.
Change 3. Add a new appendix 1, Analyses of Environmental Impact
Areas. Appendix 1 would contain an overview of procedures for
implementing other applicable environmental laws, regulations, and
executive orders in the course of NEPA compliance. Appendix 1
incorporates and updates Attachment 2 of Change 4 to Order 1050.1D, and
amends each impact area to include a significant threshold paragraph
where thresholds have been established.
Change 4. Provide guidance whereby the Air Traffic Service could
accept the U.S. Department of Defense's (DOD) use of a categorical
exclusion for actions relating to a request for designation of special
use airspace when that request is subject to a categorical exclusion
under the regulations of the requesting military department, except
when FAA actions are subject to an EA, in accordance with a Memorandum
of Understanding, dated January 26, 1998 (see paragraph 303c).
Change 5. Add a reference to Tribes in defining extraordinary
circumstances when actions are likely to be highly controversial on
environmental grounds based on concerns raised by a Federal, State,
Tribal, or local government agency or by a substantial number of the
persons affected by the action (see paragraph 304i); likely to violate
Tribal water quality standards under the Clean Water Act and Safe
Drinking Water Act (see paragraph 304h), or air quality standards
established under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (see paragraph
304g); or likely to be inconsistent with any Tribal law relating to
environmental aspects of the proposed action. Includes new guidance on
government-to-government consultation with Tribes (see paragraph 212).
Incorporates references to tribal consultation into appendix 1, section
11 on cultural resources.
Change 6. Provide guidance on intergovernmental review of agency
actions that may affect State and local governments. (see paragraph
212).
Change 7. Provide procedures for adopting EAs prepared by other
agencies (see paragraph 404d).
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Change 8. Provide a new optional procedure for preparing scoping
documents. The purpose of scoping is to identify the potential effects
on the environment of the proposed action and set the temporal and
geographic boundaries of the study. Depending on the nature and
complexity of the action, some or all of the information needed during
the scoping process may be obtained by letter, telephone, or other
means. A scoping document would be extremely useful if the scoping is
done by mail or telephone, or the project's location or locations are
so remote, scattered, or widespread that affected agencies and other
interested persons are unable to visit the site or sites. (see
paragraph 505).
Change 9. Add a new procedure to paragraph 516, Revised or
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The FAA is proposing
to add paragraph (d) that would include a procedure for circulating
status sheets or supplemental environmental information, such as
reports, on long-term or complex EISs to provide information that does
not require preparation of a supplemental EIS. The responsible FAA
official would notify EPA to ensure that the official log is accurate
and to include this information as a separate section within the Notice
of Availability (see EPA Filing system for Implementing the CEQ
Regulations, 54 FR 9593, March 7, 1989).
Change 10. Provide a new procedure for integrating Clean Water Act
section 404 permitting requirements and NEPA (see section 18, Appendix
1, Analysis of Environmental Impact Areas).
Change 11. Add new or amend existing categorical exclusions to the
Categorical Exclusion List (Figure 3-2). Categorical exclusions are
those types of Federal actions that meet the criteria contained in 40
CFR 1508.4 of the NEPA regulations promulgated by the Council on
Environmental Quality. Categorical exclusions represent actions that,
based on the FAA's past experience with similar actions, do not
normally require an EA or EIS because they do not individually or
cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment, with
the exception of extraordinary circumstances as set forth in paragraph
304. The proposed additions and changes represent the FAA's accumulated
experience with assessment of the environmental consequences of the
indicated action. Several of the proposed amendments to existing
categorical exclusions are intended to add applicable actions of the
Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation.
The proposed new or amended categorical exclusions are as follows
(the proposed new categorical exclusions and the proposed amendment of
existing categorical exclusions are shown in italics):
(1) Administrative/General Actions:
(a) Issuance of Notices to Airmen (NOTAMS), which notify pilots and
other interested parties of interim or temporary conditions. (AFS, AVN)
(b) FAA actions related to conveyance of land for airport purposes,
surplus property, and joint use arrangements that do not substantially
change the operating environment of the airport. (APP, AND, ANI, and
ASU)
(c) Mandatory actions required under any treaty or international
agreement to which the United States is a party, or required by the
decisions of international organizations or authorities in which the
United States is a member or participant except when the United States
has substantial discretion over implementation of such requirements.
(d) Agreements with foreign governments, foreign civil aviation
authorities, international organizations, or U.S. Government
departments calling for cooperative activities or the provision of
technical assistance, advice, equipment, or services to those parties,
and the implementation of such agreements; negotiations and agreements
to establish and define bilateral aviation safety relationships with
foreign governments, and the implementation of such agreements;
attendance at international conferences and the meetings of
international organizations, including participation in votes and other
similar actions.
(2) Certification Actions:
(a) Approvals of aircraft or launch vehicles and engine repairs,
parts, and alterations not affecting noise, emissions, or wastes. (All)
(3) Equipment and Instrumentation Actions:
(a) Construction of Remote Communications Outlet (RCO), or
replacement with essentially similar facilities or equipment, to
provide air-to-ground communication between pilots of general aviation
aircraft and personnel in Flight Service Stations (FSS). (AAF, AND)
(b) Establishment, installation, upgrade, or relocation within the
perimeter of an airport: airfield or approach lighting systems, such as
Runway End Identifier Lights (REIL), Omnidirectional Airport Lighting
Systems (ODALS), High Intensity Approach Lighting System With Flashers
(ALSF-2); Medium Approach Lighting System with a REIL (MALSR/SALSR);
visual approach aids, beacons, and electrical distribution systems,
such as Visual Approach Slope Indicators (VASIs) and Precision Approach
Path Indicators (PAPIs). (AAF, AND, APP, ANI)
(c) Federal financial assistance or ALP approval or FAA
installation of facilities and equipment, other than radars, within a
facility or within the perimeter of an airport or launch facility (e.g.
weather systems, navigational aids, and hygrothermometers). Weather
systems include Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS), Automatic
Surface Observation System (ASOS), Runway Visual Range (RVR), Low Level
Wind Shear Alert System (LLWAS), other essentially similar facilities
and equipment that provides for modernization or enhancement of the
service provided by these facilities. Navigational aids include
Instrument Landing System (ILS) equipment or components of ILS
equipment, other essentially similar facilities and equipment, and
equipment that provides for modernization or enhancement of the service
provided by that facility. (AAF, AUA, AND, APP)
(d) Federal financial assistance or ALP approval or FAA
installation of radar facilities and equipment, within a facility or
within the perimeter of an airport or launch facility, that conform to
the current American National Standards Institute/Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers (ANSI/IEEE) guidelines for maximum
permissible exposure to electromagnetic fields. Radar facilities and
equipment include Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR), Next
Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD), Precision Runway Monitor (PRM),
Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE), Air Route Surveillance
Radar (ARSR), Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR), Air Traffic Control
Beacon (ATCB), and other essentially similar facilities and equipment.
In addition, this includes equipment that provides for modernization or
enhancement of the service provided by these facilities, such as Radar
Bright Display Equipment (RBDE) with Plan View Displays (PVD), Direct
Access Radar Channel (DARC), and a beacon system on an existing radar.
(AAF, AUA, AND, APP)
(e) Replacement of power and control cables for facilities and
equipment, such as airport lighting systems (ALS), launch facility
lighting systems, airport surveillance radar (ASR), launch facility
surveillance radar, Instrument Landing System (ILS), and Runway Visual
Range (RVR). (AAF, AND)
(f) Acquisition of security equipment required by rule or
regulation for the
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safety or security of personnel and property on the airport or launch
facility (14 CFR part 107, Airport Security), safety equipment required
by rule or regulation for certification of an airport (14 CFR part 139,
Certification and Operation: Land Airports Serving Certain Air
Carriers) or licensing of a launch facility, or snow removal equipment.
(APP, AST)
(3) Facility Siting and Maintenance Actions:
(a) Federal financial assistance, Airport Layout Plan (ALP)
approval, or FAA installation of de-icing/anti-icing facilities that
comply with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
permits or other permits protecting the quality of receiving waters,
and for which related water detention or retention facilities are
designed not to attract hazardous wildlife, as defined in FAA Advisory
Circular 150-5200-33. (AAF, APP)
(b) Federal financial assistance, licensing, or Airport Layout Plan
(ALP) approval