[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 164 (Friday, August 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 40595]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-18009]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-NER-ASIS-22489; PPNEASISS0, PPMPSPD1Z.YM0000]
Abbreviated Final Environmental Impact Statement for the
Assateague Island National Seashore General Management Plan
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability of
the Abbreviated Final General Management Plan/Environmental Impact
Statement (GMP/EIS) for Assateague Island National Seashore (seashore),
Maryland and Virginia. The purpose of the plan is to provide a
framework for management decision making that is consistent with the
purposes for which the seashore was established by Congress as a unit
of the national park system and that protects the seashore's
fundamental and other important resources and values.
DATES: The NPS will issue a final decision on the Abbreviated Final
GMP/EIS no earlier than 30 days from the date the Environmental
Protection Agency publishes its Notice of Availability of the
Abbreviated Final GMP/EIS in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: The Abbreviated Final GMP/EIS is available electronically at
http://www.parkplanning.nps.gov/asis. A limited number of printed
copies will be available upon request by contacting the Superintendent,
Assateague Island National Seashore, 7206 National Seashore Lane,
Berlin, MD 21811, 410-629-6080.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deborah Darden, Assateague Island
National Seashore, 410-629-6080, [email protected]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The seashore was established in 1965 and is
composed of more than 41,320 acres including 37-mile Assateague Island
in Maryland and Virginia and the surrounding marine and estuarine
waters up to one-half mile from the island's shore. Within the seashore
boundary are Assateague State Park (owned by the state of Maryland and
managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources) and
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (managed by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service). The NPS owns 8,983 acres within the seashore
boundary, including land on Assateague Island in Maryland, the
Assateague Beach U.S. Coast Guard Station in Virginia, and its mainland
Maryland headquarters complex and visitor center. The states of
Maryland and Virginia own the submerged lands within the seashore
boundary, with ownership extending to mean high water in Maryland and
mean low water in Virginia.
Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the NPS released a Draft GMP/EIS on January 29,
2016 for a 90-day public review period. The Draft GMP/EIS evaluated
four alternatives for future seashore management.
Comments received on the Draft GMP/EIS resulted in minor changes to
the text but did not significantly alter the alternatives or the impact
analysis; thus, the NPS has prepared an Abbreviated Final GMP/EIS. The
Abbreviated Final GMP/EIS discusses the public and agency comments
received on the Draft GMP/EIS and provides NPS responses. The
Abbreviated Final GMP/EIS contains errata sheets that show factual
corrections to the text of the Draft GMP/EIS or where the text has been
revised to reflect minor additions or changes suggested by commenters.
As in the Draft GMP/EIS, the Abbreviated Final GMP/EIS identifies
the NPS preferred alternative as alternative 3--sustainable recreation
and climate change adaptation.
NPS decision makers considered the information collected during
scoping, the results of the impact analysis, and the seashore's purpose
and significance. Findings supported selection of alternative 3 as the
NPS preferred alternative because it would provide the highest degree
of enhanced public use and enjoyment of the seashore, would provide the
highest degree of protection to the seashore's fundamental and other
important resources and values, would offer the greatest potential for
enhanced coastal resiliency, and would support the most effective
organizational management for the seashore.
Dated: May 3, 2017.
Joshua Laird,
Acting Regional Director, Northeast Region, National Park Service.
Editorial Note: This document was received by the Office of the
Federal Register on August 21, 2017.
[FR Doc. 2017-18009 Filed 8-24-17; 8:45 am]
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