No. 110-00
(703)695-0192(media)
March 6, 2000
(703)697-5737(public/industry)

NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY PUBLISHED

The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), a joint Service agency within the Department of Defense, has published a notice of availability (NOA) for a supplement to the National Missile Defense (NMD) deployment draft environmental impact statement (EIS). This supplement addresses the potential environmental impacts of proposed replacement of interior electronic hardware and computer software at existing early warning radar (EWR) facilities at Clear Air Force Station, Alaska; Beale Air Force Base, Calif.; and Cape Cod Air Force Station, Mass. as part of the proposed NMD system now in development and testing. The modifications would not result in any change to peak or average power levels at these facilities, and power density levels would remain well-within current safety standards. The radars would operate as part of a NMD system only during an actual attack on the U.S., and for several hours each year for training and calibration. No decision has been made to deploy any type of NMD system.

The document examined the range of potential impacts, and found that the proposed modifications would have no impact on the following resource areas identified in the main volume of the NMD Deployment Draft EIS completed in late 1999: air quality, airspace, biological resources, environmental justice, geology and soils, hazardous materials and hazardous waste, land use and aesthetics, noise, socioeconomics, transportation, utilities, water resources, and subsistence.

Public comments on this supplement will be accepted until April 17, 2000. The supplement will then be incorporated into the NMD Deployment Final EIS scheduled for completion and public release this May.

The document can be accessed at http://www://acq.osd.mil/bmdo/bmdolink/html/nmd.html, as well as selected public libraries in the communities surrounding the radar sites. For additional information or copies of the document, contact:
Julia Hudson,
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command,
at (256) 955-4822.

Public comments on the supplement may be sent to:
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command,
ATTN: SMDC-EN-V, P.O. Box 1500, Huntsville, Ala. 35807-3801.