[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 21, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58547-58548]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-29081]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

[USCG-2001-10998]


National Coast Guard Museum; Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the availability of a draft 
Environmental Assessment on its proposal to accept a gift of land for 
purposes of relocating the Coast Guard Museum to a site near the U.S. 
Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. We request your 
comments on this draft assessment.

DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management 
Facility on or before January 7, 2002.

ADDRESSES: To make sure that your comments and related material are not 
entered more than once in the docket, please submit them by only one of 
the following means:
    (1) By mail to the Docket Management Facility, (USCG-2001-10998), 
U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (2) By delivery to room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    (3) By fax to the Docket Management Facility at 202-493-2251.
    (4) Electronically through the web site for the Docket Management 
System at http://dms.dot.gov.

[[Page 58548]]

    The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this 
notice. Comments and material received from the public, as well as the 
draft Environmental Assessment (EA), will become part of this docket 
and will be available for inspection or copying at room PL-401 on the 
Plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, 
DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays. You may also find this docket, including the draft EA, on the 
Internet at http://dms.dot.gov. (Once you enter the web site, click on 
``Search,'' enter the last five digits of the docket number (``10998'') 
in the search box, and press the Enter key.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
the proposed project, or the associated draft EA, call Frank Esposito, 
Coast Guard Headquarters, at 202-267-0053. If you have questions on 
viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Dorothy Beard, 
Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, at 202-366-5149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments and related material on the 
draft Environmental Assessment (EA). If you do so, please include your 
name and address, identify the docket number for this notice (USCG-
2001-10998) and give the reasons for each comment. You may submit your 
comments and material by mail, hand delivery, fax, or electronic means 
to the Docket Management Facility at the address under ADDRESSES; but 
please submit your comments and material by only one means. If you 
submit them by mail or hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, 
no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic 
filing. If you submit them by mail and would like to know they reached 
the Facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or 
envelope. We will consider all comments and material received during 
the comment period.

Proposed Action

    The Coast Guard seeks to obtain and operate a new national museum 
to record and display its rich history and artifacts which document the 
development of America's oldest continuous sea-going service. A 
feasibility study has been performed. The study found that many large 
artifacts, such as historic lifesaving watercraft and helicopters, as 
well as the vast number of artifacts, cannot be displayed at the 
current site, Waesche Hall on the grounds of the U.S. Coast Guard 
Academy in New London, Connecticut, because of a lack of space. The new 
museum, located in proximity to the Academy, would permit the Coast 
Guard to bring its large collection of artifacts together for 
exhibition in a single museum that would serve as an institution of 
enduring value providing professional growth and development for 
current and future leaders of the Coast Guard.
    The existing 5,000-square-foot museum serves some 20,000 visitors 
annually. The proposed 40,000-square-foot museum would offer a 
potential tenfold increase in visitation--up to 200,000 visitors per 
year.

Draft Environmental Assessment

    The Environmental Impact Analysis Process (EIAP) is the process 
federal agencies use to facilitate compliance with relevant 
environmental requirements relating to their actions. The primary 
environmental legislation affecting the agency decision-making process 
is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This Environmental 
Assessment (EA) considers the potential environmental impacts of a 
decision by the Coast Guard, subject to site requirement criteria, 
whether or not to accept land on which to construct a new National 
Coast Guard Museum to replace its existing museum.
    We are requesting your comments on environmental concerns you may 
have related to the draft EA. This includes suggesting analyses and 
methodologies for use in the EA or possible sources of data or 
information not included in the draft EA. Your comments will be 
considered in preparing the final EA.

    Dated: November 15, 2001.
G.P. Fleming,
Acting Assistant Commandant for Governmental and Public Affairs.
[FR Doc. 01-29081 Filed 11-20-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-U