Continental United States Interceptor Site (CIS)

As required by the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) selected possible additional locations in the United States that would be best suited for future deployment of an interceptor capable of protecting the homeland against threats from states, such as North Korea and Iran. The existing Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) provides protection of the United States from a limited ballistic missile attack, and the Department of Defense has not made a decision to deploy or construct the CIS.

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced July 10, 2014 its intention to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA. The MDA prepared this EIS to evaluate the potential environmental impacts that could result from the future deployment of the Continental United States Interceptor Site (CIS).

The MDA invited public comments on the scope of the CIS EIS during a 60-day public scoping period beginning with publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Comments would be accepted on or before September 15, 2014. In accordance with 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1501.6, an invitation for cooperating agency status was extended to the U.S. Department of the Army and Navy and National Guard for consultation, review, and comment on the EIS.

If deployed, the CIS would be an extension of the existing Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the BMDS. Under the proposed action, the deployment of the CIS would be as a contiguous Missile Defense Complex, similar to that found at Fort Greely, Alaska and would consist of an initial deployment of 20 Ground-based Interceptors (GBIs) with the ability to expand upward to 60 GBIs. The GBIs would not be fired from their deployment site except in the country’s defense and no test firing would be conducted at the CIS.

The overall system architecture and baseline requirements for a notional CIS include, but are not limited to, the GBI fields, Command Launch Equipment, In-Flight Interceptor Communication System Data Terminals, GMD Communication Network, supporting facilities, such as lodging and dining, recreation, warehouse and bulk storage, vehicle storage and maintenance, fire station, hazardous materials/waste storage, and roads and parking where necessary.

Alternatives to be analyzed include the No-Action Alternative and sites at the Combined Training Center Fort Custer—Michigan Army National Guard, Augusta, MI; Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center—Ohio Army National Guard, Portage and Trumbull Counties, OH; Fort Drum Army Base, Fort Drum, NY; and the Center for Security Forces Detachment Kittery Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Facility (SERE East), Redington Township, ME.

At each site, impacts will be assessed for the following resource categories—air quality, air space, biological, cultural, geology and soils, hazardous materials and hazardous waste management, health and safety, land use, noise, socioeconomics, transportation, utilities, water quality, wetlands, visual and aesthetic, environmental justice, and subsistence.

The US government has suspended from consideration as a ballistic missile interceptor base a site in Maine by designating it as an "alternative not carried forward," the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said in a statement 15 January 2016. "[The MDA] has designated the Center for Security Forces Detachment Kittery Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Facility (SERE East), Redington Township, Maine as an Alternative… Not Carried Forward for a potential additional missile interceptor site," the statement said.

The SERE site in Maine presented "irreversible environmental impacts, significant constructability concerns, and extensive costs" associated with developing infrastructure in a remote area, the MDA explained. "Due to these factors, and in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act process, the SERE East site will not be carried forward for further consideration," the statement noted.

Previously announced sites in the US states of New York, Ohio and Michigan would continue to be considered, according to the MDA. The US government currently operated anti-ballistic missile sites in Alaska and California to protect the continental homeland from ballistic missile attack by countries such as North Korea and Iran.