A 2010 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security, which requires only the signatures of U.S. Coastguard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, would discontinue the Loran-C navigation system. Loran-C was the underpinning of Enhanced Loran, or e-Loran, which some had envisioned as a backup system to satellite-based GPS.
From insidegnss.com:
A House-Senate conference committee version of the fiscal year 2010 (FY10) appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) approved October 7 allows for termination of the Loran-C signal on January 4, 2010. The program would shut down if the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard (Adm. Thad Allen) certified that it is not needed for navigation and the secretary of DHS (Janet Napolitano) affirms that the system is not needed as a backup for GPS.
The Coast Guard has previously declared that Loran is not needed for navigation and Napolitano, appointed by President Obama, would seem an unlikely advocate for a program that the president has singled out for elimination.
