[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 16, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 46690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-17801]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage, Management Plan Update

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Management Plan 
Update.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969, the National Park Service is preparing an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) for the Management Plan Update for the Schuylkill River 
Valley National Heritage Area. The Schuylkill River Valley National 
Heritage Act of 2000 requires the Schuylkill River Greenway 
Association, with guidance from the National Park Service, to prepare 
an update of their 1995 Schuylkill Heritage Corridor Management Action 
Plan. The Management Plan Update is expected to include: (A) Actions to 
be undertaken by units of government and private organizations to 
protect the resources of the Heritage Area; (B) an inventory of the 
resources contained in the Heritage Area, including a list of any 
property in the Heritage Area that is related to the themes of the 
Heritage Area and that should be preserved, restored, managed, 
developed, or maintained because of its natural, cultural, historical, 
recreational, or scenic significance; (C) a recommendation of policies 
for resource management that considers and details application of 
appropriate land and water management techniques, including the 
development of intergovernmental cooperative agreements to protect the 
historical, cultural, recreational, and natural resources of the 
Heritage Area in a manner consistent with supporting appropriate and 
compatible economic viability; (D) a program for implementation of the 
management plan by the management entity; (E) an analysis of ways in 
which local, State, and Federal programs may best be coordinated to 
promote the purposes of this title; and (F) an interpretation plan for 
the Heritage Area.
    The study area, designated as the Schuylkill River Valley National 
Heritage, includes parts of the counties of: Schuylkill, Berks, 
Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia in southeastern Pennsylvania as 
associated with the Schuylkill River corridor.
    The National Park Service (NPS) maintains two park sites within the 
region: Valley Forge National Historical Park and the Hopewell Furnace 
National Historic Site. Otherwise the majority of land is non-federal 
and the NPS assumes a management role only within their park units. 
Instead, conservation, interpretation and other activities are managed 
by partnerships among federal, state, and local governments and private 
nonprofit organizations. The Schuylkill River Greenway Association 
manages the national heritage area. The National Park Service has been 
authorized by Congress to provide technical and financial assistance 
for a limited period (up to 10 years from the time of the designation 
in 2000).
    The EIS will address a range of alternatives--they include a no-
action alternative and other action alternatives. The impacts of the 
alternatives will be assessed through the EIS process.
    A scoping meeting will be scheduled and notice will be made of the 
meeting through a broad public mailing and publication in the local 
newspapers.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Peter Samuel, Project Leader, 
Philadelphia Support Office, National Park Service, U.S. Custom House, 
200 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, [email protected], 
215-597-1848.

    If you correspond using the Internet, please include your name 
and return address in your e-mail message. Our practice is to make 
comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, 
available for public review. Individual respondents may request that 
we withhold their home address from the record, which we will honor 
to the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in 
which we would withhold from the record a respondent's identity, as 
allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or 
address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your 
comment. However, we will not consider anonymous comments. We will 
make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials 
of organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in 
their entirety.

    Dated: December 18, 2002.
Dale Ditmanson,
Associate Regional Director, Park Operations and Education, Northeast 
Region.

    Editorial Note: This document was received at the Office of the 
Federal Register on July 11, 2002.

[FR Doc. 02-17801 Filed 7-15-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M