[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 20, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12956-12958]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-6706]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 54 / Wednesday, March 20, 2002 / 
Notices  

[[Page 12956]]



ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION


Draft Program Comment Regarding the Management of Wherry and 
Capehart Era Army Family Housing

AGENCY: Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

ACTION: Notice of intent to issue program comment on Capehart and 
Wherry Era army family housing.

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SUMMARY: The Army is formulating its plan on how to manage its 
inventory of Capehart and Wherry Era housing. In order to better meet 
its Federal historic preservation responsibilities in managing these 
properties, the Army has requested the Advisory Council on Historic 
Preservation to comment on the overall management of such properties, 
as opposed to submitting each individual undertaking under such 
management to a separate review. The Council has drafted such a 
comment. It now seeks public input on that draft.

DATES: Submit comments on or before April 19, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this proposed program 
comment to Dave Berwick, Army Affairs Coordinator, Office of Federal 
Agency Programs, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, 1100 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Suite 809, Washington, DC 20004. Fax (202) 
606-8672. You may submit electronic comments to: dberwick@achp. gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dave Berwick, (202) 606-8505.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act requires Federal agencies to consider the effects of 
their undertakings on historic properties and provide the Advisory 
Council on Historic Preservation (``Council'') a reasonable opportunity 
to comment with regard to such undertakings. The Council has issued the 
regulations that set forth the process through which Federal Agencies 
comply with these duties. Those regulations are codified under 36 CFR 
part 800 (``Section 106 regulations'').
    Under Sec. 800.14(e) of those regulations, agencies can request the 
Council to provide a ``Program Comment'' on a particular category of 
undertakings in lieu of conducting individual reviews of each 
individual undertaking under such category, as set forth in 36 CFR 
800.4 through 800.6. An agency can then meet its Section 106 
responsibilities for those undertakings by taking into account the 
Council's Program Comment and by following the steps set forth in those 
comments.
    The Army has requested such a Program Comment to cover management 
of its Capehart and Wherry Era housing. A copy of the draft Program 
Comment can be found at the end of this notice. Once the public input 
resulting from this notice is considered, the Council will decide 
whether to issue a final Program Comment to the Army.

Background on the Capehart and Wherry Army Family Housing Program

    Military housing constructed during the 1949-1962 period is 
commonly called Capehart and Wherry Era housing after the two United 
States Senators who sponsored national military housing construction 
programs to address inadequate and substandard military family housing 
at military installations across the nation. Senator Wherry's program, 
implemented 1949-1955, allowed developers to construct, own, and 
maintain military housing on Department of Defense (``DoD'') (in this 
case Army) lands with FHA-insured mortgages. DoD guaranteed occupancy, 
agreed to long-term leases, and discounted utility rates in exchange 
for the developer's agreement to established set rental rates and 
preferential leases for military families. Senator Capehart's program, 
implemented 1955-1962, called for DoD to purchase the new housing 
constructed by developers, and to purchase the developer-owned housing 
previously constructed under the Wherry housing program. DoD remained 
responsible for operation, maintenance and repair of this housing. 
Approximately 19,036 buildings constructed during the Capehart-Wherry 
Era remain in the Army's inventory of family housing.
    Approximately 52% of the Army's entire military family housing 
stock remain from those built during the Capehart and Wherry military 
family housing construction program between 1949 and 1962. Structures 
associated with this family housing include detached garages, carports 
and storage buildings, and the landscape features (including but not 
limited to the overall design and layout of the Capehart and Wherry Era 
communities, including road patterns, plantings and landscaping, open 
spaces, playgrounds, parking areas, signage, site furnishings, views 
into and out of the community, lighting, sidewalks, setbacks and all 
other associated cultural landscape features). A small percentage of 
buildings and structures constructed during this time period were not 
constructed with funds provided through the Capehart and Wherry funding 
programs, but are similar in all other respects, and are therefore 
included as part of this action.
    Capehart and Wherry Era buildings were largely constructed from 
off-the-shelf commercially available plans and specifications and range 
from single-family detached houses, to multi-unit row houses, duplexes, 
four-plexes, and multi-story apartment buildings. Brick, frame, cement 
block, and stucco were typical building materials. While architectural 
styles were largely consistent, there was some variation including 
elements of International style and Colonial Revival style. Developers, 
consistent with principles guiding civilian neighborhood design at the 
onset of the ``baby boom,'' paid attention to comprehensive 
neighborhood planning and design. Overall, the Army's Capehart and 
Wherry Era housing, associated structures, and landscape features 
reflect the ubiquitous, nation-wide suburban subdivision construction 
trends of this period.
    The Army anticipates that all of it's Capehart-Wherry Era family 
housing, associated structures and landscape features will be subject 
to the following categories of undertakings: Maintenance and repair, 
rehabilitation, renovation, layaway and mothballing, demolition and 
replacement, and transfer, sale or lease out of government control. The 
Army is requesting that the Council provide a Program Comment on these 
categories of undertakings for Army

[[Page 12957]]

Capehart Wherry Era family housing, associated structures and landscape 
features.
    The Army is requesting a Program Comment as an Army-wide Section 
106 compliance action related to management of Capehart and Wherry era 
housing, associated structures and landscape features. This 
programmatic approach will facilitate management actions for 
privatization and transfer out of federal agency ownership, substantial 
alteration through renovation, and demolition and replacement of 
Capehart and Wherry Era housing, associated structures and landscape 
features that are listed or eligible for listing on the National 
Register of Historic Places. Therefore, there is the potential for 
adverse effects to historic properties.
    The following is the full text of the draft Program Comment:

Program Comment for Capehart and Wherry Era Army Family Housing

I. Introduction

    This Program Comment provides the Department of the Army (Army) 
with an alternate way to comply with its responsibilities under Section 
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act with regard to the 
following actions in the management of the Capehart and Wherry Era Army 
family housing: privatization and transfer out of federal agency 
ownership, substantial alteration through renovation, and demolition 
and replacement of Capehart and Wherry Era housing, associated 
structures and landscape features that may be eligible for listing on 
the National Register of Historic Places.

II. Treatment of Capehart and Wherry Properties

a. Eligibility
    The Army has conducted a historic context of its Capehart and 
Wherry properties. It is documented in a report entitled For Want of a 
Home: A Historic Context for Wherry and Capehart Military Family 
Housing. On May 22, 2001, the Army sponsored a symposium on Capehart 
and Wherry Era housing management as it relates to historic 
preservation. The symposium was attended by preservation experts, 
including the National Trust for Historic Preservation (Trust), the 
National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO), 
the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and nationally 
recognized experts in the field of historic preservation from academia 
and industry. Symposium participants recommended a programmatic 
approach to complying with Section 106, which is presented in the 
treatment section outlined below. The Army considers its inventory of 
Capehart and Wherry properties, including any associated structures and 
landscape features, to be eligible for the National Register of 
Historic Places for the purposes of Section 106 compliance.
b. Treatment
    The Army has requested a Program Comment as an Army-wide Section 
106 compliance action related to management of Capehart and Wherry Era 
housing, associated structures and landscape features. This 
programmatic approach will facilitate management actions for 
privatization and transfer out of Federal agency ownership, substantial 
alteration through renovation, and demolition and replacement of 
Capehart and Wherry Era housing, associated structures and landscape 
features. Such actions present a potential for adverse effects to 
historic properties.
    Based on recommendations coming out of the symposium and follow-up 
meetings between the Council, the Trust and NCSHPO, the Army has 
proposed the following three step approach to the treatment of its 
Capehart and Wherry properties:
    (i) The Army will expand and revise the existing historic context, 
For Want of a Home: A Historic Context for Wherry and Capehart Military 
Family Housing. Consistent with issues identified during the symposium 
on Capehart and Wherry Housing held by the Army in May 2001, and public 
review, the historic context will be expanded to address a number of 
important issues. It will explore changing Army family demographics 
following the end of the World War II and their impact on housing needs 
and responsive programs. The context will also focus on post-World War 
II suburbanization, housing trends and affordable housing programs in 
the civilian sector. In addition, the context will be expanded to 
consider the importance of historically important builders, developers 
and architects that may have been associated with design and 
construction of Capehart and Wherry Era housing developments at 
specific Army installations. In addition to addressing the housing 
units, the context will discuss associated structures, and landscape 
features. Finally, the context will describe the inventory of Capehart 
and Wherry Era Housing, providing information on the various types of 
buildings and architectural styles and the quantity of each.
    (ii) The Army will develop Capehart and Wherry Era Neighborhood 
Design Guidelines. The scoping process identified landscape features as 
an important attribute of Capehart and Wherry Era land-use planning and 
development. Neighborhood Design Guidelines would address this issue 
and be distributed Army-wide. In this manner, Capehart and Wherry Era 
landscape features would be considered as the Army manages military 
family housing.
    (iii) The Army will document Capehart and Wherry Era housing, 
associated structures and landscape features through preparation of a 
video. The video will document representative structural types and 
landscape features at three installations, and explain the relationship 
of this housing construction program to topics researched for the 
expanded historic context. The video will be distributed for 
educational purposes, and archived by the Army.
    The Council believes that this three step approach will ensure that 
the Army takes into account the effects of management of its Capehart 
and Wherry Era housing.

III. Applicability

    This Program Comment does not apply to the following properties 
that are listed, or eligible for listing, on the National Register of 
Historic Places: (a) Archeological sites, (b) properties of traditional 
religious and cultural significance to federally recognized Indian 
tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, or (c) historic properties 
other than Army Capehart and Wherry Era housing, associated structures 
and landscape features.

IV. Effect of Program Comment

    By following this comment and outlined three step approach, the 
Army will have met its responsibilities for compliance under Section 
106 regarding management of its Capehart and Wherry Era housing. 
Accordingly, installations will not have to follow the case-by-case 
Section 106 review process for each individual management action.
    The Army may carry out management actions prior to the completion 
of all of the three treatment steps outlined above, so long as such 
management actions do not preclude the eventual successful completion 
of those three steps.
    If the Council determines that the consideration of Capehart and 
Wherry properties is not being carried out in a manner consistent with 
this Program Comment, the Council may withdraw this comment. Following 
such

[[Page 12958]]

withdrawal, the Army would comply with the requirements of 36 CFR 
Secs. 800.3 through 800.7 for each individual management action.

    Authority: 36 CFR 800.14(e).

    Dated: March 15, 2002.
John M. Fowler,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 02-6706 Filed 3-19-02; 8:45 am]
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