FINAL Environmental Assessment for Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Testing at Multiple Sites

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) proposes to test C-UAS capabilities to detect, track, identify, and mitigate (DTI-M) small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS). Five geographical testing areas are being considered in this Environmental Assessment (EA): Niagara Falls and Buffalo, New York; the greater Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area; Northeastern West Virginia; National Capital Region (NCR), Washington, D.C.; and Richmond, Virginia.

DHS has prepared this Final EA in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 United States Code [USC] §§ 4321 et seq. (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500-1508), other relevant federal and state laws and regulations, DHS Directive 023-01, Revision 01, and DHS Instruction Manual 023-01-001-01, Revision 01, Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act to evaluate the potential impacts resulting from the Proposed Action. The Draft EA was made available for a 30-day public comment period and all comments received were taken into consideration for the preparation of this Final EA and FONSI.