[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 141 (Friday, July 23, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40034-40037]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-18894]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Record of Decision Final Environmental Impact Statement; General 
Management Plan; New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, LA

Introduction

    The National Park Service (NPS) has written a Final General 
Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for New Orleans 
Jazz National Historical Park, New Orleans, Louisiana. The FEIS is 
presented in an abbreviated format. The document must be integrated 
with the Draft General Management Plan, Environmental Impact Statement, 
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, printed in

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October, 1998, to be considered a complete document reflecting the full 
proposal, its alternatives, and all significant environmental impacts. 
The two documents together compose the complete Final Environmental 
Impact Statement. The FEIS presents alternatives and environmental 
consequences for resource management and protection, visitor use and 
interpretation, and facilities development at the national historical 
park.
    The purpose of the Record of Decision (ROD) is to document the NPS 
selection of the proposed action for the general management plan for 
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park from among the alternatives 
presented in the FEIS. The ROD highlights information contained in the 
FEIS. The reader should refer to the FEIS for more details relating to 
the topics presented below.

Purpose

    The purpose of this general management plan is to provide a 
comprehensive plan for the future management and protection of jazz 
resources, the improved interpretation of jazz and the overall visitor 
experience, and the provision of necessary and appropriate visitor use 
facilities.

Decision (Selected Action)

    The National Park Service will implement alternative C, the propose 
action described in the final environmental impact statement. Under the 
proposed action, the National Park Service will provide funding for 
basic park operations and will work intensely with others to develop 
partnerships and alternative funding sources for interpretation, 
visitor use,and experiences, and other activities focusing on 
preserving the jazz tradition. The proposed action recognizes that a 
wide variety of personal and nonpersonal interpretive services will be 
required to fulfill park purposes. In addition, the proposed action 
will require a strong partnership between the National Park Service and 
other entities involved in preserving the New Orleans jazz tradition. 
The extent and success of this alternative will depend on substantial 
support from partners, especially from the private sector. The role of 
the National Park Service will be to assist in coordinating efforts to 
preserve and interpret jazz and to help visitors understand how the 
diverse environments of jazz influenced its early development.
    Interpretation media will be extensively used, and the size and 
scope of park and educational and preservation programs will be guided 
by the development of partnerships. Under this alternative, the visitor 
center will be located at a complex in Louis Armstrong Park. The 
visitor center will provide a variety of media (with significant 
audiovisual, experiential, and interactive elements) that would 
interpret New Orleans jazz and its progression. It will be a major 
component of visitors' experiences. Resources and activities around the 
city will also be very important. Personal services will be an 
important component of the park program as well as orientation and 
information. This complex will have a small curatorial storage capacity 
for items used in displays and educational activities. The visitor 
center will be developed in Armstrong Park on lands provided to the 
National Park Service under a long-term lease by the city of New 
Orleans. Facility development will be phased along with interpretive 
media development.
    Education will be a major priority and will be emphasized in both 
phases of development. Onsite programming will be a principal emphasis, 
in order to give students access to the multimedia resources at the 
visitor center. Offsite programming will provide decentralized services 
close to home and school; programs will be designed to relate not only 
to park themes and school curricula, but also to explore the local 
history and personalities of specific neighborhoods. NPS personnel will 
be involved in all stages of programming, from planning through 
presentation and evaluation. In addition, the National Park Service 
will prepare materials relating to the origins and history of jazz that 
would be distributed on a nationwide basis. Important partners will 
include the New Orleans Jazz Commission, local musicians, educators, 
volunteers, and other agencies and organizations.
    Preserving historical and cultural resources such as the South 
Rampart Street properties, will be a high priority. Historic sites 
could be adaptively used for activities such as music education, 
seminars, and performances. Historic jazz sites and cultural activities 
will receive enhanced public interest and involvement as they better 
appreciate the significance of these resources and activities. The New 
Orleans Jazz Commission will assist the National Park Service and 
others in preservation efforts.
    Perseverance Hall No. 4 and the Caretaker's House will be 
rehabilitated. The rehabilitated hall will be expanded to construct a 
visitor center complex suitable to meet interpretive and educational 
needs. The Reimann and Rabassa houses will be considered for 
rehabilitating based on costs; should rehabilitation costs prove 
excessive, other options will be considered. Offices for NPS staff will 
also be located in this complex.

Other Alternatives Considered

    Two other alternatives are presented in the alternatives in the 
abbreviated FEIS. The emphasis of alternative A is on continuing 
current conditions at New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park. This 
alternative would provide a minimal necessary orientation to jazz in 
New Orleans, as well as information on jazz history and personalities. 
This concept recognizes the many venues in New Orleans that feature 
jazz and emphasizes enjoyment through listening more than through 
interpretation or education. Orientation and information would occur 
mostly through personal services and partnerships. Visitor experiences 
would occur mostly at non-Park Service sites.
    Alternative B would emphasize conveying the park's interpretive 
story through such personal programs as interpretive talks and 
demonstrations, interpreted performances. seminars, and performances. 
Educational activities would be given maximum emphasis in this 
alternative. It would allow the park to assist in the adaptive use of 
structures related to jazz. Interpretive programming would heavily 
depend on the involvement of local musicians and educators, thus 
supporting cultural preservation. Under this alternative, the visitor 
center would be located at the Old U.S. Mint.

Basis for Decision

    Alternative C is the selected action because it most fully meets 
the park's purpose and management objectives relating to preserving 
resources and information associated with the origins and early 
development of jazz in New Orleans. It provides an enhanced opportunity 
for visitors to experience and appreciate early jazz and its origins, 
history and progression. Further, this alternative would promote and 
assist the education of students in various forms of jazz in order to 
perpetuate its continued evolution as a true American art form. This 
alternative more than alternatives A and B will allow the National Park 
Service to actively seek out partners and maximize federal expenditures 
in providing preservation and interpretation of jazz resources.
    During the public response period for the DEIS, there was 
considerable support for alternative C, the proposed action, both 
locally and statewide.

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There were a few comments that supported the various proposed programs, 
but supported the location of the park at the old U.S. Mint. Other 
concerns expressed by agencies and the general public are addressed in 
the ``Responses'' section of the abbreviated FEIS.

Environmentally Preferable Alternative

    The environmentally preferable alternative is alternative C, the 
selected action. This alternative best protects, preserves, and 
enhances the historic, cultural, and natural resources relative to the 
other alternatives analyzed. The emphasis on partnerships in this 
alternative, which is greater than in alternatives A and B, will result 
in greater preservation of jazz resources. The area subject to 
development will not result in any further loss of natural habitat.

Measures To Minimize Environmental Harm

    All practicable means to avoid or minimize environmental harm from 
implementation of the selected action have been adopted and will be 
enacted. The mitigating measures are presented in detail in the FEIS 
and are summarized below.
    Cultural Resources: A professional archaeologist will determine the 
need for archaeological inventory or testing prior to any ground-
disturbing activities. Any such studies will meet the needs of the 
state historic preservation offices and the National Park Service. Any 
large-scale archeological investigations will be undertaken in 
consultation with the Louisiana Historic Preservation Office. Decisions 
on the identification and appropriate treatment of historic properties 
will follow NPS management policies for cultural resources. The 
planning and implementation of preservation treatments, such as 
rehabilitation for adaptive use, will be undertaken in accordance with 
section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as 
amended, and as set forth in the Advisory Council on Historic 
Preservation guidelines in 30 CFR 800 and the servicewide programmatic 
agreement among the National Park Service, the Advisory Council on 
Historic Preservation, and the National Conference of State Historic 
Preservation Officers. All preservation treatment to historic 
properties will follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and 
Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation.
    In response to the enabling legislation, a National Historic 
Landmark theme study was undertaken and sites relating to early jazz 
were identified and measures for their preservation were addressed in 
the planning process. However, the National Historic Landmark theme 
study process has been delayed because required authorization from some 
landowners to evaluate their properties for integrity has not yet been 
obtained despite attempts by the National Park Service to gain this 
permission. If owner concurrence is received in the future the National 
Historic Landmark evaluation process will proceed.
    The park will undertake a historic resource study that will provide 
a comprehensive context on the evolution of New Orleans Jazz. The 
historic resource study, prepared in accordance with provisions 
contained in NPS-28: Cultural Resource Management Guidelines, will not 
only provide important data to define and identify jazz-related 
resources and guide interpretation and resource protection, but will 
also afford management more complete knowledge and direction in its 
decision-making responsibility. During the implementation phase of the 
proposed action, archaeological surveys may be required as well as 
historic structure reports and ethnographic use studies. This will be 
determined on a case-by-case basis when advance planning is funded and 
undertaken.
    Plan implementation actions that require further review by the 
Louisiana State Historic Preservation office and the Advisory Council 
on Historic Preservation to determine the effect on archaeological 
resources, historic resources, and/or cultural landscapes, are listed 
in the abbreviated FEIS. The National Park Service will complete an 
``Assessment of Actions Having an Effect on Cultural Resources'' form 
before implementing any proposed action. This will document project 
impacts, and outline actions that will mitigate impacts.
    National Resources: In general, natural resources will not be 
impacted by National Park Service activities. Because of NPS 
construction activities, there is a potential for short-term impacts on 
water quality. Strict erosion and sediment controls will be instituted 
as part of any NPS construction activity in accordance with federal and 
state laws. The state of Louisiana will be consulted, and the state's 
nonpoint source pollution coordinator will be contacted to determine 
whether a sediment or erosion control plan will be required. In 
addition, any such construction will conform with the NPS Floodplain 
Management Guidelines, which were issued as NPS Special Directive 93-4 
in 1993. Appropriate permits will be obtained prior to beginning work, 
and all water quality standards will be met.
    Impacts on rare, threatened, or endangered species due to 
construction will be minimal if at all, because the proposed NPS 
development will be in previously disturbed areas. Potential impacts on 
soils as a result of NPS construction will be minimal, especially in 
relation to existing disturbance. Site preparation will result in 
either removal or addition of earth, altering soil structure. 
Rehabilitation of severely impacted areas will be attempted wherever 
possible. Revegetation will be enhanced by conserving and using 
existing topsoil.
    NPS development activities will result in temporary elevated levels 
of particulate matter and other air pollutants. Appropriate control 
measures will be used to ensure minimal impacts from air pollution. All 
federal, state, and local air quality standards will be met.
    Socioeconomic Environment: The park's development is expected to 
have minimal effect upon city utilities, such as power lines and 
sanitary sewer systems. The National Park Service will consult with 
appropriate city, park, state, and federal offices to minimize impacts.
    During the next planning and design phase for the park, the 
National Park Service will consult with local planning and traffic/
transportation management agencies to ensure that minimal impact 
occurs. In conjunction with local agencies, the National Park Service 
will ensure adequate directional signs and informational brochures. 
Local traffic is not expected to be significantly affected by the 
anticipated increase in visitation. Some congestion could occur during 
peak use periods. The park will work with local planning and traffic/
transportation management agencies and neighborhood groups to develop 
mitigating measures, if necessary.

Public and Interagency Involvement

    During the process of creating the general management plan for New 
Orleans Jazz National Historic Park, newsletters were distributed, 
public meetings held, press releases were issued, radio interviews 
given. The draft document was placed on the internet, and the park 
staff and planning team met with local agencies and on a regular basis 
with the New Orleans Jazz Commission and other individuals and groups 
to exchange information and to solicit input and responses from the 
public.
    The Draft New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, General 
Management

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Plan, Environmental Impact Statement was released on November 21, 1998. 
More than 800 copies were distributed to local, state, and federal 
government agencies and to organizations and individuals on the plan's 
mailing list. Following this, a newsletter was released and six public 
meetings were held to present the plan and record public comments. 
Written comments on the document were requested to be received by 
January 25, 1999. However, some comments were received after that date 
and were also considered.
    Forty-two letters and comment forms were received from government 
agencies, organizations, and individuals. These letters were reproduced 
in the ``Comments and Responses'' section of the abbreviated FEIS, and 
are on file at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park 
headquarters in New Orleans, Louisiana. All comments were considered by 
the National Park Service in the preparation of the abbreviated FEIS.
    A notice of availability for the abbreviated FEIS was published in 
the Federal Register on May 5, 1999. The 30-day no-action period ended 
on July 6, 1999.

Conclusion

    After careful evaluation of each alternative and its environmental 
impacts, and consideration of public response, park mission, and park 
goals, the National Park Service believes that the selected action, 
alternative C, represents the best course of action in the future 
preservation of jazz resources and interpretation of the story of New 
Orleans jazz and its progression.

    Approved: July 9, 1999.
W. Thomas Brown,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Regional Office, National Park 
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-18894 Filed 7-22-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M