[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 127 (Friday, June 30, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40707-40708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-16715]


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PRESIDIO TRUST


The Presidio of San Francisco, California; Notice of Intent To 
Prepare an Amendment to the July 1994 Final General Management Plan 
Amendment and an Associated Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: The Presidio Trust.

ACTION: Notice of intent to conduct public scoping and to prepare a 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Presidio Trust (Trust) announces its intention to prepare 
an amendment for Area B of The Presidio of San Francisco (Area B) to 
the July 1994 Final General Management Plan Amendment (GMPA) and an 
associated Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) that will 
be tiered off the GMPA Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) pursuant to 
40 CFR 1508.28. The Trust will hold two public scoping meetings to 
determine the scope of impact topics and alternatives to be addressed 
in the SEIS.

DATES: The first of two scoping meetings will be held on July 12, 2000, 
from 6 to 9 p.m., at the Log Cabin (Presidio Building 1299), The 
Presidio of San Francisco.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    After Congress designated The Presidio of San Francisco (Presidio) 
for closure as a military base in 1989, the Presidio's long-time 
occupant, the U.S. Army, transferred jurisdiction of the parcel to the 
National Park Service (NPS) in 1994. As part of the transition, the NPS 
in July 1994 completed and issued the final GMPA for the Presidio 
laying out a vision for its future use and management.
    In 1996, Congress established the Trust pursuant to the Presidio 
Trust Act (16 U.S.C. 460bb appendix) (Trust Act). The Trust is a 
wholly-owned government corporation whose purposes are to preserve and 
enhance the Presidio as a national park, and to ensure that the 
Presidio becomes financially self-sufficient by 2013 (i.e., generate 
sufficient revenue without any federal appropriation to fund long-term 
operating and maintenance costs and to fund capital reserves for 
ongoing capital expenditure needs).
    The Trust assumed administrative jurisdiction over Area B 
(approximately 80 percent of the Presidio) on July 1, 1998, and NPS 
retains jurisdiction of the coastal areas (Area A). The Trust Act 
directs the Trust to manage the property under its administrative 
jurisdiction in accordance with both the purposes of the Act 
establishing the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and with the 
``general objectives'' of the GMPA. Since assuming administrative 
jurisdiction over Area B, the Trust has begun to implement specific 
elements of the GMPA, despite the fact that changed conditions at times 
require the Trust to reassess certain of the GMPA's site-specific plans 
and programs. Both NPS and the public have expressed desire for the 
Trust to better explain how it intends to implement the GMPA Presidio-
wide in view of the need under some circumstances to depart from the 
site-specific proposals of the GMPA. The Trust believes that the best 
means to understand proposed departures from the GMPA is to undertake 
additional comprehensive programmatic planning that updates the GMPA. 
In announcing this undertaking, the Trust acknowledges and wishes to 
respond to the strong sentiment of the public asking for clarification 
of the Trust's Presidio-wide approach to circumstances that have 
changed since NPS finalized the GMPA, before the Trust was created.
    By this notice, the Trust is announcing its intent to begin a 
planning effort for Area B that will be conducted pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (Pub. L. 91-90 as amended) 
and its procedural requirements. The planning will start with the GMPA 
as a baseline and take into account intervening events that have 
altered the GMPA's site-specific assumptions, changed circumstances and 
new opportunities that have arisen since the GMPA was finalized, and 
the new Trust mandates. The proposed amendment is expected to identify 
an updated vision for Area B, and the SEIS, which will tier from the 
GMPA EIS, will evaluate a range of development alternatives for Area B.

Proposed Scoping Process and Schedule

    This notice of intent initiates the scoping process for the 
proposed action. Beginning July 12, 2000, the Trust will provide 
opportunities to explain the proposed GMPA amendment and to solicit 
suggestions, recommendations and comments to help refine the issues and 
alternatives to be addressed in the SEIS. Meetings with interested 
persons and organizations will be held during the scoping period. In 
addition, the Trust will consult local, state and federal agencies with 
interest in or expertise with the area of investigation.
    The first scoping meeting to discuss and take scoping comments will 
be conducted in a workshop format and will be held on Wednesday, July 
12, 2000, from 6 to 9 p.m., at the Log Cabin in the Presidio. Using the 
GMPA and projects currently underway or completed as a baseline, the 
workshop will focus on areas of opportunity for change. The Trust will 
make available information summarized from past planning workshops and 
other public outreach sessions and seek the public's input on topics 
including planning principles, Presidio programs, transportation, 
housing, visitor services and land use for purposes of both developing 
a reasonable range of alternatives and identifying specific impacts to 
be evaluated in the SEIS. At a second scoping meeting the Trust will, 
using the information from the July meeting and other public input, 
offer a range of conceptual programmatic alternatives for public 
comment. The date, time and location of the second meeting will be 
announced in a variety of media including publication in the Trust's 
monthly newsletter, the Presidio Post, posting on the Trust's web-site 
(www.presidiotrust.gov) and notification to those persons and entities 
that may call or write requesting notice of subsequent events 
concerning the planning process.
    To ensure that the full range of issues and alternatives related to 
this proposed action are identified and addressed, all persons affected 
by or otherwise interested in the updated plan for the Presidio are 
invited to participate in determining the scope and significance of 
issues to be analyzed in the SEIS by submitting written comments or by 
attending one of the scoping meetings.

ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning the content of the plan and the 
scope of the SEIS should be sent to John Pelka, NEPA Compliance 
Coordinator, the Presidio Trust, 34 Graham Street, P.O. Box 29052, San 
Francisco, CA 94129-0052. Fax: 415-561-5315. E-mail: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact John Pelka, NEPA Compliance 
Coordinator, the Presidio Trust, 34 Graham Street, P.O. Box 29052, San 
Francisco, CA 94129-0052. Telephone: 415-561-5300.


[[Page 40708]]


    Dated: June 27, 2000.
Karen A. Cook,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 00-16715 Filed 6-29-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-4R-U