Appendix A to Subpart 1216.3 of Part 1216 - —Acronyms

Appendix A to Subpart 1216.3 of Part 1216—Acronyms and Definitions

CatEx Categorical Exclusion

CEQ Council on Environmental Quality

CFR Code of Federal Regulations

CWA Clean Water Act

CZMA Coastal Zone Management Act

DoI (U.S.) Department of the Interior

EA Environmental Assessment

EMD Environmental Management Division

EIS Environmental Impact Statement

FONSI Finding of No Significant Impact

FR Federal Register

GSA General Services Administration

HQ Headquarters

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NEPA National Environmental Policy Act

NHPA National Historic Preservation Act

REC Record of Environmental Consideration

RHU Radioisotope Heater Unit

RPS Radioisotope Power Systems

SAO Senior Agency Official

SEO Senior Environmental Official

OGC Office of the General Counsel

PPO Planetary Protection Office

REC Record of Environmental Consideration

ROD Record of Decision

U.S.C. United States Code

Definitions

1. A2 Mission Multiple—The A2 Mission Multiple is a calculated value based on the total amount of radioactive material being launched. This value is used in defining the level of review and approval required for launch.

2. Earth Return Mission (also known as a Sample Return)—A subcategory of missions that would collect extraterrestrial materials from solar system bodies and return them to Earth.

3. NASA Senior Environmental Official—The Senior NASA Headquarters Official responsible for providing executive and functional leadership for environmental compliance. As of January 1, 2011, the SEO is the Assistant Administrator for Strategic Infrastructure.

4. Record of Environmental Consideration—A brief document that is used to describe a proposed action, identify the applicable categorical exclusion, and explain why further environmental analysis is not required.

5. Restricted Earth Return—A subcategory of Earth Return Missions which requires additional measures to ensure that any potential indigenous life form would be contained so that it could not impact humans or Earth's environment.

6. Space Flight Projects/Programs—Those NASA actions that develop products intended for use in space and/or that support ground and space operations for products in space.

7. Unrestricted Earth Return—NASA Procedural Requirements define this as a subcategory of Earth Return Missions that would collect extraterrestrial materials from solar system bodies (deemed by scientific opinion to have no indigenous life forms) and return those samples to Earth. No planetary protection measures are required for the inbound (return to Earth) phase of the mission.

[89 FR 25503, Apr. 11, 2024]