Construction of a Nationwide Differential Global Positioning System (NDGPS)

completed

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard was authorized to select, install, and operate an NDGPS for public and private applications. The NDGPS will supplement the existing Standard Positioning Service GPS range information with differential correction broadcast from a network of reference stations, enabling a user receiving both the Standard Positioning Service and the NDGPS signal to determine geographic location more precisely. To implement the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act for this NDGPS project, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will serve as the environmental lead agency while the Federal Railroad Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard will serve as cooperating agencies. All three agencies have previously signed a Memorandum of Agreement to implement the National Environmental Policy Act and a Programmatic Environmental Assessment was prepared in 1998, which was followed by the issuance of a Finding of No Significant Impact for the Construction of an NDGPS.