Comments

On Feb. 25, 2005, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's notice of availability for the New Horizons Draft Environmental Impact Statement was published in the Federal Register. Interested parties had 45 days to submit written or electronic comments on environmental concerns on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement; these comments had to be postmarked on or before April 11, 2005.

The Final Environmental Impact Statement was released to the public in August 2005; an appendix in the Final EIS includes public comments on the Draft EIS and NASA's responses. NASA issued its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) record of decision for New Horizons on Sept. 7, 2005 — deciding to complete preparations for launch in January-February 2006, and to operate the mission. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy approved the launch in January 2006.

For more information, contact NASA at (202) 358-1588 or osspluto@hq.nasa.gov.

Public Meetings

On March 29-30, 2005, NASA hosted meetings during which the public was invited to participate in an open exchange of information and to submit comments on the New Horizons Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Each public meeting began with an opportunity for informal discussions with project personnel, followed by a brief NASA presentation on the New Horizons mission, and concluded with an invitation to attendees to ask questions or submit formal comments.

Kurt Lindstrom, program executive, NASA Headquarters: mission overview Hal Weaver, project scientist, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory: mission science Glen Fountain, project manager, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory: mission design Kurt Lindstrom, program executive: Draft EIS overview Kenneth Kumor, NASA Headquarters: National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process

NASA included comments received during the meeting - and during the public comment period - in the Final Environmental Impact Statement.