[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 117 (Monday, June 20, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-14965]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: June 20, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Part Service

 

Amendment to the General Management Plan, Environmental 
Assessment for Power Line Relocation, Manassas National Battlefield 
Park, VA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of the environmental 
assessment (EA) for relocating a 500 kilovolt (kV) power line on one 
set of towers, and 230 kilovolt (kV) and 115 kilovolt (kV) power lines 
on another set of towers, within Manassas National Battlefield Park.

DATES: The EA will be on review for 60 days. Comments should be 
received no later than August 19, 1994. A public Open House was held on 
March 23, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the EA should be submitted to the 
Superintendent, Manassas National Battlefield Park, 12521 Lee Highway, 
Manassas Virginia 22110, phone (703) 754-1861.
    A copy of the document is available on request from: Kenneth E. 
Apschnikat, Superintendent, Manassas Battlefield Park, 12521 Lee 
Highway, Manassas, Virginia 22110, phone (703) 754-1861.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The focus of the environmental assessment 
(EA) is for the orderly termination and relocation of the Virginia 
Power transmission corridor, which runs through the Brawner farm and 
Stuart's Hill tracts. These tracts are where the Second Battle of 
Manassas erupted on August 28, 1862. Brawner farm and Stuart's Hill 
were incorporated into the park through legislated boundary adjustments 
in 1980 and 1988, respectively. These two areas on the western edge of 
the park encompass 870 acres and are bordered on the south by 
Interstate 66, on the west by Pageland Lane, and on the east by 
Groveton Road. U.S. Route 29 runs between the tracts.
    The Manassas National Battlefield Park Amendments Act of 1988 (the 
Act), title X of P.L. 100-647 (16 U.S.C. 429b(b)) legislatively took 
possession of Virginia Power's easements, powerlines, and towers on the 
Stuart's Hill tract at the park. The National Park Service has sought 
to define and analyze alternative alignments and has selected a 
preferred alternative that relocates the facilities to the western most 
edge of the park. Relocation would stand as the method and extent of 
compensation required by the Act.
    The EA analyzes three alternatives for moving the power lines. It 
identifies the location and type of equipment needed and assesses the 
impacts that power line relocation alternatives would have on the 
environment. This EA presents the preferred alternative (alternative 
B), which proposes relocating the existing power line right-of-way 
within the park boundary, and a no-action alternative that implements 
legislation to move the power lines completely outside the park 
boundary (alternative C). This EA also includes an alternative that 
analyses conditions under which the power lines might remain in their 
present alignment (alternative A).
    The preferred alternative would enhance interpretive experiences of 
the second battle by relocating the power lines away from the historic 
core of the Brawner farm and Stuart's Hill tracts to a corridor just 
inside the western boundary of the park.
    The responsible official for a decision on the preferred 
alternative is Robert G. Stanton, Regional Director, National Capital 
Region, National Park Service.
Terry R. Carlstrom,
Acting Regional Director, National Capital Region.
[FR Doc. 94-14965 Filed 6-17-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M