Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage, Management Plan Update
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: January 31, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 21)]
[Notices]
[Page 4734]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31ja02-97]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage, Management Plan Update
AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
for the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Management Plan
Update.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969, the National Park Service is preparing an environmental impact
statement (EIS) for the Management Plan for the Schuylkill River Valley
National Heritage Area. The Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage
Act of 2000 requires the Schuylkill River Greenway Association, with
guidance from the National Park Service, to prepare an update of their
1995 Schuylkill Heritage Corridor Management Action Plan. The
Management Plan Update is expected to include: (A) actions to be
undertaken by units of government and private organizations to protect
the resources of the Heritage Area; (B) an inventory of the resources
contained in the Heritage Area, including an list of any property in
the Heritage Area that is related to the themes of the Heritage Area
and that should be preserved, restored, managed, developed, or
maintained because of its natural, cultural, historical, recreational,
or scenic significance; (C) a recommendation of policies for resource
management that considers and details application of appropriate land
and water management techniques, including the development of
intergovernmental cooperative agreements to protect the historical,
cultural, recreational, and natural resources of the Heritage Area in a
manner consistent with supporting appropriate and compatible economic
viability; (D) a program for implementation of the management plan by
the management entity; (E) an analysis of ways in which local, State,
and Federal programs may best be coordinated to promote the purposes of
this title; and (F) an interpretation plan for the Heritage Area.
The study area, designated as the Schuylkill River Valley National
Heritage, includes parts of the counties of: Schuykill, Berks, Chester,
Montgomery and Philadelphia in southeastern Pennsylvania as associated
with the Schuylkill River corridor.
The National Park Service (NPS) maintains two parks sites within
the region: Valley Forge National Historical Park and the Hopewell
Furnace National Historic Site. Otherwise the majority of land is non-
federal and the NPS assumes a management role only within their park
units. Instead, conservation, interpretation and other activities are
managed by partnerships among federal, state, and local governments and
private nonprofit organizations. The Schuylkill River Greenway
Association manages the national heritage area. The National Park
Service has been authorized by Congress to provide technical and
financial assistance for a limited period (up to 10 years from the time
of the designation in 2000).
The EIS will address a range of alternatives--they include a no-
action alternative and other action alternatives. The impacts of the
alternatives will be assessed through the EIS process.
A scoping meeting will be scheduled and notice will be made of the
meeting through a broad public mailing and publication in the local
newspapers.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Samuel, Project Leader,
Philadelphia Support Office, National Park Service, US Custom House,
200 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, peter_samuel@nps.gov, 215-
597-1848.
If you correspond using the internet, please include your name and
return address in your e-mail message. Our practice is to make
comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available
for public review. Individual respondents may request that we withhold
their home address from the record, which we will honor or the extent
allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in which we would
withhold from the record a respondent's identify, as allowable by law.
If you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state
this prominently at the beginning of your comment. However, we will not
consider anonymous comments. We will make all submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials or organizations or
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.
Dated: December 18, 2001.
Dale Ditmanson,
Associate Regional Director, Park Operations and Education, Northeast
Region.
[FR Doc. 02-2306 Filed 1-30-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M
![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif)