Air Force Announces the Availability of a Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment for Testing and Training with Defensive Countermeasures

The Department of the Air Force invites members of the public to review the draft and submit comments through May 3, 2023

LACKLAND, TX / ACCESSWIRE / March 20, 2023 / The United States Department of the Air Force (DAF) is inviting state and federal agencies, state and local governments, Indigenous tribes, industries, organizations, and all other members of the public to review and submit comments on a Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for Testing and Training with Defensive Countermeasures, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Comments on the Draft PEA are requested by May 3, 2023.

The DAF is preparing the Draft PEA to assess the Proposed Action to continue use of legacy defensive countermeasures, their replacements, and the use of new defensive countermeasures in DAF testing and military training programs within the continental United States where their use is approved. Chaff and flares are the principal defensive countermeasures dispensed by military aircraft to avoid detection or counter targeting by enemy air defense systems or enemy aircraft. The DAF and other components of the Department of Defense have deployed defensive countermeasures since as early as the 1950s as part of their training for combat readiness and to improve the survivability of aircrafts and pilots.

What is a Programmatic Environmental Assessment?

A PEA studies the impact of broad-scale program proposals and planning-level decisions on the environment. Programmatic NEPA analyses provide the basis for broad, high-level or sequenced decisions and allows the DAF to subsequently tier in order to analyze narrower, site- or proposal-specific issues.

Pursuant to provisions of the NEPA, 42 United States Code 4321-4370h; Council on Environmental Quality Regulations, 40 Code of Federal Regulations 1500-1508 (2022); and the DAF Environmental Impact Analysis Process (32 CFR 989), the DAF prepared the Draft PEA to assess the potential consequences to the human and natural environment associated with the implementation of testing and training with defensive countermeasures at Air Force test and training airspace within the continental United States.

The Proposed Action

The Proposed Action is a plan to use legacy defensive countermeasures and to implement the use of direct replacements and new defensive countermeasures for the next ten years. The proposed quantities of chaff and flares are specified in Table 2.3-6, Section 2.3.1 of the Draft PEA. The purpose of the Proposed Action is to provide for realistic testing and training with legacy and new defensive countermeasures to increase pilots' and aircrews' ability to succeed in actual combat situations. The defensive countermeasures included in the Proposed Action are grouped into five categories: 1) chaff; 2) standard Magnesium, Teflon, and Viton (MTV) flares; 3) standard spectral flares; 4) thrusted flares; and 5) spectral decoys.

The No Action Alternative

The Draft PEA also evaluates the potential effects of a No Action Alternative, representing the baseline conditions that would continue if the testing and training use of new defensive countermeasures did not occur. Under No Action, the DAF would continue testing and routine training with legacy chaff and flare units at existing levels in approved airspace and under current management strategies.

The Draft PEA evaluates the potential environmental impacts associated with the Proposed Action and the No Action Alternative to the following resource areas: safety, air quality, cultural resources, biological resources, soil and water resources, land use and visual resources, and socioeconomics.

What are Countermeasures?

The following provides definitions of key concepts regarding countermeasures that are explored in the Draft PEA.

• Chaff- aluminum-coated silica fibers dispersed from an aircraft that form an electronic cloud temporarily obscuring an aircraft from radar detection
• Flare- a pellet cartridge ejected from an aircraft that ignites and burns, producing a high-temperature heat source that heat-seeking targeting systems
• Legacy Items- chaff and flare units deployed during the past 40 years that have been evaluated in previous technical studies and environmental analyses
• New Items- includes 1) replacements for legacy countermeasure items that do not introduce any meaningful difference in the potential for environmental impacts, and 2) advanced types of units for aircraft systems, which could introduce differences in the potential for environmental impacts

How to Review and Comment on the Draft PEA

A copy of the Draft PEA and Finding of No Significant Impact for download or review can be found on the project website: https://www.AirForceChaffandFlareProgrammaticEA.com. Comment forms may also be found on the website. Comments on the Draft PEA can be submitted in three ways:

• By U.S. Mail for standard envelopes
• By FedEx or UPS for oversized envelopes
• On the project website listed above

The DAF will consider all comments received or postmarked by the deadline. Additionally, they will consider comments received after the deadline, but only to a reasonable extent. These comments will be evaluated and used in preparing the final PEA. If you wish to submit written comments by U.S. Mail, please send them to:

Daniel Fisher
Chaff and Flare PEA Project Manager, AFCEC/CZN
3515 S General McMullen Drive, Ste 155
San Antonio, TX 78226-2018

Written comments on the Draft PEA that would not fit in a standard letter envelope should be sent by FedEx or UPS to:

Daniel Fisher
Chaff and Flare PEA Project Manager, AFCEC/CZN
3515 S General McMullen Drive, Ste 155
San Antonio, TX 78226-2018

Please note that your entire comment, including any personally identifiable information, may be made available to the public, such as name and address. If you do not wish for this information to be available, you must say so prominently at the beginning of your comments.

For further information about this release, please contact: Daniel Fisher, Chaff and Flare PEA Project Manager, AFCEC/CZN, 2261 Hughes Ave, Ste 155, JBSA Lackland, TX 78236-9853.

SOURCE: United States Department of the Air Force