Image: Loran Station Attu w/ WWII remnants – NARA & DVIDS Public Domain
What’s New: The U.S. government is clearing the way to dispose of approximately 25 former Loran transmission sites.
Why It’s Important: It may or may not be important.
- On the one hand, there has been a lot of buzz recently about eLoran. We reported about an Air Force demo last week, the UK is including more eLoran in its PNT resilience efforts, Europe is building a miniature and integrated eLoran/GNSS receiver, and, of course, versions of Loran systems are being operated by the UK, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and probably Iran. So it could seem strange that the U.S. government is poised to dispose of these sites.
- On the other hand, the DOT announcement below says the responses they received included “…no identification of a need for the USCG Loran properties” to establish a commercial eLoran system. We understand that this was because the sites don’t have a lot of value for a future system, other than being plots of land that are in roughly the right geometric layout. We understand this is because:
- Most of the sites are derelict and without antennas. And the few antennas that remain are not in great shape. We understand the sites are so old that even the ground-planes at the base of the antennas need replacement.
- Most of the sites have some sort of pollution that must be remediated. While the government would likely retain that responsibility, it would still be a hassle a new owner would have to deal with.
- So… if a commercial eLoran service were to be established in the U.S. it could be easier and cost less to start from scratch rather than re-use the old locations.
What Else to Know:
- Probably the most important element in all of this is that no anchor customer for an eLoran service in the U.S. has been identified.
- Formal government documents to date have said that if a service is established, there is no guarantee the government will subscribe.
- If there was an anchor customer or investor willing to underwrite a U.S. eLoran service, providers might have been more interested in the old transmission sites as a way to begin service more quickly.
- The U.S. Coast Guard has hung on to these sites for 14 years after the funding to support them was taken away in 2010.
- Demolition of buildings and equipment was begun, but in December 2014 Congress halted demolition and disposal until the U.S. government decided on a backup for GPS.
- In 2008, prior to it being defunded, the Department of Homeland Security had announced eLoran would be implemented as a backup to GPS.
- In 2015 the deputy secretaries of Defense and Transportation wrote to Congress promising to establish an eLoran system as a backup for GPS.
- In 2018 Congress passed the National Timing and Resilience Act mandating a terrestrial timing backup for GPS.
- In 2022, after years of inaction by the executive branch, Congress included a provision in the 2023 NDAA allowing the Coast Guard to dispose of the old Loran transmission sites if they were not needed by the Departments of Transportation or Defense.
Comments on this document are being accepted at Regulations.gov.
AGENCY:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST–R), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION:
Notification.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is issuing this Notification to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) that neither DOT, nor the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), are seeking transfer of the Loran properties from the USCG. This notification is being given based on the fact there was no identification of a need for the USCG Loran properties in response to the DOT Request for Information (RFI) on a Commercial enhanced Long Range Navigation (eLoran) Capability, DOT–OST–2023–0118.
DATES:
Responses should be filed by May 21, 2024. All questions concerning this Notification shall be emailed to [email protected]. When submitting questions and comments, please refer to the specific relevant text of this Notification. Each question submitted to DOT should be stated in such a way that there would be no objection to DOT’s publishing that precise question (and its answer) in a formal Amendment to the Notification. That is, each question should be worded in such a way that the publication of that question (and its answer) would not divulge any information that would be considered proprietary or confidential. Further, any questions concerning any apparent error, omission, or ambiguity in this Notification shall include the questioner’s supporting rationale as well as a description of the remedies that the questioner is asking DOT to consider. All questions that DOT decides to answer will be collectively answered in writing.
ADDRESSES:
You may file responses identified by the docket number DOT–OST–2024–0010 by any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Portal: go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, Washington, DC 20590–0001.
• Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
• Fax: (202) 493–2251.
Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number DOT–OST–2024–0010 at the beginning of your submission. All submissions received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, unless proprietary and other sensitive information is so marked with requested disposition instructions. Any submissions with Confidential/Propriety information should be labeled as such in the title of the submission.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all submissions received in any of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the document (or signing the submission, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT’s complete Privacy Act statement in the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477–78), or you may visit https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/privacy/dot-privacy-policy.
Docket: For access to the docket and comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or to the street address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the docket.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Overview
On October 3, 2023, DOT issued a Commercial eLoran Capability RFI, DOT–OST–2023–0118 (88 FR 68283), to determine:
(1) If there is interest from private entities in offering a U.S. commercial eLoran service to the general public in the United States on a fee-for-service basis without any Federal investment, subsidy, procurement commitment or other commitment of credit or budgetary resources.
(2) If respondent has an interest in offering a U.S.-based commercial eLoran service on a fee-for-service basis, identify what impediments stand in the way of respondent offering a U.S. commercial eLoran service. If lack of access to any federally-controlled assets and non-budgetary assistance related to utilizing such federally-controlled assets are identified as impediments to offering such a service, a subsequent Request for Information may be issued to obtain additional data.
This RFI was issued specifically to inform USCG divestiture of their legacy Loran sites, as required by section 11211 of the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA; 14 U.S.C. 914). Per the FY 2023 NDAA, if DOT or DoD expresses interest in obtaining any of the Loran-C properties, the properties will be transferred from USCG to DOT. No respondents to the RFI identified a need for the USCG Loran properties to provide a commercial eLoran capability in the United States. Therefore, neither DOT, nor DoD, are seeking transfer of the Loran properties from the USCG.
Issued this day of February 15, 2024, in Washington, DC.
Robert C. Hampshire,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, U.S. Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2024–03495 Filed 2–20–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P
LINK TO FEDERAL REGISTER ANNOUNCEMENT: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/02/21/2024-03495/us-coast-guard-loran-sites