[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
[[Page 40035]]
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.
[[Page 40036]]
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
[[Page 40037]]
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]
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