[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 13, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-22546]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: September 13, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

 

Draft Environmental Impact Statement; Office Complex at 
Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Prince George's County, MD

    Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA) has prepared a Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) for construction of a 350,000 square foot, low-
rise office complex plus associated parking on federal land within the 
Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Prince George's County, 
Maryland. The project provides for consolidation of USDA functions 
currently located in leased facilities in Maryland and the District of 
Columbia, and in the USDA Headquarters South Building, which will be 
renovated. Since initiating the EIS process with a public scoping 
meeting in January, 1994, the size of the proposed office complex has 
been decreased by USDA from 700,000 s.f. to 350,000 s.f.
    The Draft EIS considers environmental impacts from project 
implementation on each of three (3) possible government-owned sites: 
Site A, 100 acres north of the Capital Beltway, southeast 
of the Rhode Island Avenue/Sunnyside Avenue intersection; Site B, 
120 acres east of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, 
southeast of the Powdermill Road/Soil Conservation Service Road 
intersection; and Site D, 94 acres southeast of the 
Edmonston Road/Beaverdam Road intersection. A ``No Action'' alternative 
is also considered. Potential environmental impacts include short-term 
construction-related impacts, and long-term changes in traffic, socio-
economic and physical conditions. The Draft EIS is available for 
inspection at the Beltsville, Greenbelt, and College Park Public 
Libraries, and upon request from the USDA Headquarters at the address 
given below.
    A Public Hearing on the Draft EIS will be held on October 27, 1994, 
at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium of the Beltsville Agricultural Research 
Center, Building 003, 10300 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, Maryland 
20705. A short presentation by USDA summarizing the Draft EIS will 
precede a period for public comments. Oral comments should be limited 
to ten (10) minutes each. Agencies and the public are invited to 
provide written comments on the Draft EIS, in addition to, or in lieu 
of, oral comments at the Public Hearing. All written comments must be 
mailed, no later than October 27, 1994 to: Mr. Michael V. Sazonov, 
Contracting Office Technical Representative, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Office of Operations, Washington Area Service Center, 
South Building, Room S-313, 14th and Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, D.C. 20250; Telephone (202) 720-2804.
Wardell C. Townsend, Jr.,
Assistant Secretary for Administration.
[FR Doc. 94-22546 Filed 9-12-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-98-M