National Environmental Policy Act; Mars Surveyor 2001 Mission

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), and NASA policy and procedures (14 CFR Part 1216, Subpart 1216.3), NASA is providing notice that although a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Mars Surveyor 2001 Mission was prepared and public comments were elicited and received, a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) will not be prepared. Instead, NASA has made a finding of no significant impact (FONSI). The Mars Surveyor 2001 (MS 01) mission as proposed in the DEIS originally consisted of the launch and operation of two separate spacecraft--the MS 01 orbiter and the MS 01 lander/rover. The DEIS addressed the potential environmental impacts associated with implementation of this mission configuration (the Proposed Action) and included a risk assessment for potential launch accidents involving the release of radioactive material from the MS 01 lander/rover spacecraft. The MS 01 orbiter spacecraft would carry no radioactive material or other extremely hazardous materials or equipment and, hence, would involve a conventional launch entailing no significant effects to the quality of the human environment. The DEIS also addressed the potential environmental impacts of alternatives to this Proposed Action as well as the No Action alternative. Events that occurred during the intervening months since publication of the DEIS, including loss of the Mars Polar Lander mission on December 3, 1999, early in the public review period for the DEIS, have resulted in a reevaluation by NASA of the Mars Surveyor 2001 mission. As a result of that reevaluation, NASA has proposed to reconfigure the Mars Surveyor 2001 mission to launch only the MS 01 orbiter spacecraft in 2001. Thus the FONSI issued today covers the proposed reconfigured Mars Surveyor 2001 mission, specifically launch of the MS 01 orbiter only. Should NASA decide at some future date to launch the MS 01 lander/rover spacecraft, a separate NEPA document will be prepared in accordance with applicable policy and procedures. The MS 01 orbiter would be launched in April 2001 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), Florida, onboard a Delta II 7925 expendable launch vehicle.