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Notice of Availability of a General Management Plan
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: March 14, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 50)]
[Notices]
[Page 12368]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14mr03-60]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Notice of Availability of a General Management Plan
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of a General Management Plan, Draft
Environmental Impact Statement for Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, the National Park Service announces the
availability of a draft Environmental Impact Statement and General
Management Plan (DEIS/GMP) for Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C. The
DEIS/GMP evaluates four alternatives for the park. The document
describes and analyzes the environmental impacts of three action
alternatives and a no-action alternative. When approved, the plan will
guide management actions during the next 15-20 years.
Alternatives: Alternative A would improve visitor safety, better
control traffic volumes and speeds through the park, enhance
interpretation and educational opportunities, and improve the use of
park resources, especially cultural resources. It generally would
retain the current scope of visitor uses. In Alternative B, the no
action alternative, Rock Creek Park and the Rock Creek and Potomac
Parkway would be maintained as they have evolved thus far. There would
not be any major changes in resources management, visitor programs, or
facilities beyond regular maintenance. The current park road system
would be retained and existing traffic management would continue.
Developed in response to comments by members of the public who want to
promote non-motorized recreation, Alternative C would eliminate traffic
in much of the northern part of the park by closing three sections of
Beach Drive to automobiles at all times. These would be the same three
segments that currently are closed on weekends. It also would implement
traffic-reducing and traffic-calming measures on roads in the southern
portion of the park and on the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway. Under
Alternative C management of resources other than traffic would be the
same as those listed above for Alternative A. Alternative D was
developed in response to a letter sent to the National Park Service by
the Mayor of Washington, DC. Alternative D, the National Park Service's
preferred alternative, would close three segments of Beach Drive in the
northern portion of the park to motorized vehicles for a 6-hour period,
from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays. These would be the same
segments that currently are closed on weekends. For the other 18 hours
of each weekday, including both rush-hour periods, traffic management
would be similar to Alternative B, although traffic-calming measures
like those in Alternative A would be used to reduce speeds. Under
Alternative D management of resources other than traffic would be in
the same manner as presented above for Alternative A.
Public Review: A 90-day public review period for comment on the
draft document will begin after publication of this notice. In order to
facilitate the review process, public reading copies of the DEIS/GMP
will be available for review at the following locations:
Rock Creek Park, 3545 Williamsburg Lane,Washington, DC 20008.
National Capital Region, National Park Service, Lobby,1100 Ohio Drive,
NW., Washington, DC 20242.
In addition, the document will be posted on the National Park
Service Planning site under: http://www.nps.gov/rocr/. 
Comments on the draft DEIS/GMP should be received (or transmitted by
e-mail) no later than 60 days after publication of this Federal Register
notice. Written comments may be submitted to: Craig Cellar, National
Park Service, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225-0287 or e-mailed to:
rocr_gmp@nps.gov.
All comments received will be available for public review at Rock
Creek Park headquarters. If individuals submitting comments request
that their name and/or address be withheld from public disclosure, it
will be honored to the extent allowable by law. Such requests must be
stated prominently in the beginning of the comments. There also may be
circumstances wherein the National Park Service will withhold a
respondent's identity as allowable by law. As always, the National Park
Service will make available for public inspection all submissions from
organizations or businesses and from persons identifying themselves as
representatives or officials of organizations and businesses. Anonymous
comments may not be considered.
There will also be a public meeting with a date and location to be
determined. The meeting will take place no later than two weeks prior
to the closing of the public comment period. The date, time and
location of the meeting will be identified in local newspapers as well as
on the Internet at http://www.nps.gov/rocr.
Decision Process: Notice of the availability of the final document
will be published in the Federal Register. Subsequently, notice of an
approved Record of Decision will be published in the Federal Register
not sooner than 30 days after the final document is distributed. The
official responsible for the decision is the Regional Director,
National Capital Region, National Park Service; the official
responsible for implementation is the Superintendent of Rock Creek
Park.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Superintendent Adrienne Applewhaite-
Coleman, Rock Creek Park, 3545 Williamsburg Lane, Washington, DC 20008,
phone 202-895-6000, fax 202-895-6015, e-mail: rocr_superintendent@nps.gov.
Terry R. Carlstrom,
Regional Director, National Capital Region.
[FR Doc. 03-6200 Filed 3-13-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M