A trio of in-person meetings will occur this week to collect comments on environmental issues that should be studied related to a proposed boost in SpaceX launches at Vandenberg Space Force Base. 

The Department of the Air Force and a contractor recently launched the public scoping process to gather comments about areas to evaluate during the environmental impact statement preparation.

The meetings are scheduled from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.: 

  • Tuesday: Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1679, 3801 Market St., Ventura
  • Wednesday: Westside Neighborhood Center, 423 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara
  • Thursday: Dick DeWees Community Center, 1120 W. Ocean Ave., Lompoc

Under the Proposed Action, the Air Force would authorize Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch and landing operations at Space Launch Complex-6, including modifications to SLC-6 required to support those operations and construction of landing zones. 

Under Alternative 1, instead of modifying the existing horizontal integration facility (HIF), the military would authorize SpaceX to construct a new hangar south of the HIF and north of the launch pad at SLC-6. 

For the No Action Alternative, the Air Force would not authorize any Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy activity at SLC-6, or additional Falcon 9 launches from SLC-4. 

A virtual public scoping meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Jan. 23 with the link available here: VSFBFalconLaunchEIS.com.

The schedule calls for the release of a draft environmental impact statement this spring followed by another 45-day public comment period. A final EIS will be released in the fall and it will also identify the preferred alternative.

Comments must be submitted by Jan. 27. Public scoping comments can be submitted in English or Spanish at the three in-person meetings. 

Other ways to comment are through the form on the project website at VSFBFalconLaunchEIS.com or by email to info@VSFBFalconLaunchEIS.com with the subject line “Falcon EIS.”

Comments also may be mailed to: ATTN: VSFB Falcon Launch EIS c/o ManTech International Corp., 420 Stevens Ave., Suite 100, Solana Beach, CA 92075.

— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.