Notice of Availability Navy Flight Experiment-2 (FE-2) Final Environmental Assessment/Overseas Environmental Assessment (EA/OEA); and Final EA/OEA with Finding of No Significant Impacts (FONSI)

The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Department of the Navy (U.S. Navy) Strategic Systems Programs (SSP), with assistance from the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC), has completed a Final Environmental Assessment / Overseas Environmental Assessment (EA/OEA), prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The Final EA/OEA analyzes the impacts of the continuing collection of data on a developmental payload by testing one such flight experiment concept. Specifically, the FE-2 would continue to develop, integrate, and flight test a payload system to demonstrate the maturity of key technologies. The U.S. Navy considered eight alternate launch and impact locations and determined that the launch from Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at the Sandia National Laboratories/Kauai Test Facility (SNL/KTF) with impact near the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS) and the launch from NASA Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) with impact in the Atlantic Broad Ocean Area (BOA) both meet the test requirements for vehicle performance and data collection. Alternative 1, the Preferred Alternative, includes PMRF, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawai`i; the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA); RTS, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI); and the Pacific BOA. Alternative 2 includes WFF, Virginia; and the Atlantic BOA. The U.S. Navy’s preferred alternative is a launch from PMRF with an impact at Illeginni Islet because it best meets the screening criteria / evaluation factors and the requirements of the Purpose of and Need for the Proposed Action. The U.S. Navy also considered the No Action Alternative, as required by the CEQ regulations. Based on the analysis, the SSP has determined in the Final EA/OEA that the activities associated with the Proposed Action are not expected to result in significant impacts to the environment. Based on these findings the SSP has prepared a Finding of No Significant Impact/Finding of No Significant Harm (FONSI/FONSH).

The Final EA/OEA and FONSI/FONSH are available at www.FE-2-EAOEA.com and at the following locations:

(1) Office lobby of the Republic of the Marshall Islands Environmental Protection Authority, Majuro, Marshall Islands

(2) Office lobby of the Republic of the Marshall Islands Environmental Protection Authority, Ebeye, Marshall Islands

(3) Grace Sherwood Library, Kwajalein, Marshall Islands

(4) Roi-Namur Library Roi-Namur, Marshall Islands