Coast Guard announces decision to end LORAN-C - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Coast Guard announces decision to end LORAN-C

The Coast Guard officially published its decision Thursday to discontinue its radio navigation tool, known as LORAN, after 66 years of operation.

The decision to decommission the Long Range Aids to Navigation program was published in the Federal Register. The Coast Guard will begin shutting off the North American signal Feb. 8 and finish the process by Oct. 1. The Coast Guard operates 24 LORAN-C stations.

The 2010 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, signed into law Oct. 28, directed the Coast Guard to discontinue the latest iteration of the program, LORAN-C, as long as certain conditions were met: Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen had to certify that the loss of the signal would not impact the safety of maritime navigation, and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano had to certify that the system is not needed as a backup to the satellite-based GPS system, which has made LORAN-C obsolete.

Both certifications were made.

On June 12, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on the future of the LORAN-C program. The impact statement identified two environmentally preferable alternatives — to take no action or to end or reduce Coast Guard management of the LORAN-C program by decommissioning it and terminating the North American signal. The impact statement was required under the National Environmental Policy Act.

“As supported by the analysis in the [impact statement], this record of decision supports and confirms the government decision to end or reduce the Coast Guard’s management of the LORAN-C program,” according to a Coast Guard statement released Thursday. The decision “is consistent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s determination that continued public investment in the LORAN-C program is not in the national best interest.”

Allen testified before Congress in 2009 that the signal was never intended to be a backup for GPS. Some lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to reinstate funding, citing a Government Accountability Office report that said delays in launching new satellites could cause GPS service interruptions as early as 2010.

Shutting down LORAN-C will save $36 million in fiscal 2010 and $190 million over five years, according to the Office of Management and Budget.