[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 175 (Friday, September 10, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54763-54765]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-20542]


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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. 69, No. 175 / Friday, September 10, 2004 / 
Notices  

[[Page 54763]]



ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION


Draft Program Comment Regarding the Management of Wherry and 
Capehart Era Family Housing at Air Force and Navy Bases

AGENCY: Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

ACTION: Notice of intent to issue Program Comment on Wherry and 
Capehart Era Family Housing at Air Force and Navy bases.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Air Force (Air Force) and the Department 
of the Navy (Navy) are formulating their plan on how to manage their 
inventory of Wherry and Capehart era housing. In order to better meet 
their Federal historic preservation responsibilities in managing these 
properties, the Air Force and the Navy have requested the Advisory 
Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) to comment on the overall 
management of such properties, as opposed to submitting each individual 
undertaking under such management to a separate review. The Air Force 
and Navy plan is based in large part on the plan submitted by the Army 
in 2002, for which the ACHP subsequently approved a Program Comment (67 
FR 39332; June 7, 2002). The Air Force and Navy plan uses some 
components developed in the Army plan, builds on others, and includes 
new components that were not previously a part of the Army plan. In 
whole, however, the Army, Air Force, and Navy plans should now provide 
a more complete program for Department of Defense (DoD) Wherry and 
Capehart Family Housing. The ACHP has drafted such a comment, for which 
it now seeks public input.

DATES: Submit comments on or before October 12, 2004.

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: [email protected].

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 (``ACHP'') a reasonable opportunity to 
comment with regard to such undertakings. The ACHP 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 Section 800.14(e) of those regulations, agencies can request 
the ACHP 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 
ACHP's Program Comment and by following the steps set forth in those 
comments.
    The Air Force and Navy have requested such a Program Comment to 
cover management of their Wherry and Capehart 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 ACHP 
will decide whether to issue a final Program Comment to the Air Force 
and Navy.

Background on the Wherry and Capehart Family Housing Program

    Military housing constructed during the 1949-1962 period is 
commonly called Wherry and Capehart 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 Air Force and Navy) 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 establish 
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 37,913 units constructed during the 
Capehart-Wherry Era remain in the Air Force's inventory of family 
housing, and 24,064 units remain in the Navy's inventory (17,122 are 
Navy's units and 6,942 are Marines units).
    Approximately 39% of the Air Force's entire military family housing 
stock consists of those units built during the Wherry and Capehart 
military family housing construction program between 1949 and 1962. For 
the Navy, 34.5% of its housing stock is Wherry and Capehart housing 
(35% for the Navy and 32% for the Marines). 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 Wherry and Capehart 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 Wherry and Capehart funding 
programs, but are similar in all other respects, and are therefore 
included as part of this action.
    Wherry and Capehart 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

[[Page 54764]]

consistent, there was some variation across the United States, but 
these tend to be differences in regional styles. 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 Air Force's and Navy's Wherry and 
Capehart Era housing, associated structures, and landscape features 
reflect the ubiquitous, nation-wide suburban subdivision construction 
trends of this period.
    The Air Force and Navy anticipate that all of their 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, demolition and replacement, and transfer, sale or lease out 
of government control. These undertakings are a necessary part of DoD's 
efforts to modernize housing for military families. Currently, much of 
the Air Force's and the Navy's housing does not meet today's military 
housing standards. The Air Force and Navy are requesting that the ACHP 
provide a Program Comment on these categories of undertakings for their 
Capehart-Wherry Era family housing, associated structures and landscape 
features.
    The Air Force and Navy are requesting a Program Comment as a 
service-wide Section 106 compliance action related to management of 
Wherry and Capehart 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 Wherry and Capehart 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 Wherry and Capehart Era Family Housing at Air Force 
and Navy Bases

I. Introduction

    This Program Comment provides the Department of the Air Force (Air 
Force) and the Department of the Navy (Navy) 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 Wherry and Capehart Era family housing: Privatization 
and transfer out of federal agency ownership, substantial alteration 
through renovation, and demolition and replacement of Wherry and 
Capehart Era housing, associated structures and landscape features that 
may be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic 
Places.

II. Treatment of Wherry and Capehart Properties

a. Eligibility

    The Army conducted a historic context of its Wherry and Capehart 
properties and documented these 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 Wherry and 
Capehart 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 ACHP, 
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, and these 
approaches were part of the Program Comment which was approved by the 
ACHP in 2002 (67 FR 39332; June 7, 2002). The Air Force and the Navy 
have gathered data on their inventory of Wherry and Capehart properties 
which will be appended to the Army's context study, as outlined below, 
to provide a comprehensive understanding of the Department of Defense 
(DoD) inventory for this property type. As with the Army, the Air Force 
and the Navy consider their inventory of Wherry and Capehart 
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 Air Force and the Navy have requested a Program Comment as a 
service-wide Section 106 compliance action related to management of 
Wherry and Capehart 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 Wherry and Capehart Era housing, associated structures 
and landscape features. Such actions present a potential for adverse 
effects to historic properties.
    Based on the Program Comment previously approved for the Army for 
this property type, and following meetings with the ACHP, the Trust and 
NCSHPO, the Air Force and the Navy agree to the following five-step 
approach to the treatment of its Wherry and Capehart properties:
    (i) The Air Force and the Navy will revise the Army's historic 
context, The Wherry and Capehart Era Solutions to the Postwar Family 
Housing Shortage (1949-1962): A Historic Context, to include 
information pertinent to Air Force and Navy bases where this 
information differs from that provided in the Army's context study (for 
example, numbers and types of units at Air Force and Navy bases, 
historically important builders, developers and architects associated 
with design and construction on Air Force and Navy bases, Properties of 
Particular Importance in the Air Force and Navy inventories, etc.) The 
intent of these revisions is to provide a more complete picture of 
Wherry and Capehart Era family housing across DoD. Upon completion of 
the revised context study, the Air Force and the Navy will use it and 
the oral histories recorded in accordance with section (v), below, to 
prepare a report suitable for release to the general public. The report 
to the public will extract that information which may be deemed 
sensitive or inappropriate for release to the public. Copies of the 
report will be provided to all the SHPOs, NCSHPO, the Trust and the 
ACHP.
    (ii) The Air Force and Navy will use, or modify for their own use, 
the Army's design guidelines: Neighborhood Design Guidelines for Army 
Wherry and Capehart Housing. These Neighborhood Design Guidelines will 
be distributed Air Force and Navy-wide to those offices that manage and 
maintain this housing type and they will consider the design guidelines 
in planning actions that affect their Wherry and Capehart Era housing, 
associated structures and landscape features. Copies of the Air Force 
and Navy guidelines will be provided to the NCSHPO, the Trust and the 
ACHP.
    (iii) For Wherry and Capehart properties that have been determined 
to be of particular importance, as defined in the revised context 
study, the Air Force and the Navy will, within funding and mission 
constraints, consider the preservation of these properties through 
continued use as military housing.
    (iv) The Air Force and the Navy will advise developers involved in 
housing privatization initiatives that Wherry and

[[Page 54765]]

Capehart properties may be eligible for historic preservation tax 
credits.
    (v) The Air Force and the Navy will attempt to locate and conduct 
oral interviews of military families (which may include Army families) 
that had previously lived in Wherry and Capehart housing. Prior to 
conducting any interviews, the Air Force and the Navy will work with 
the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project to develop a set of 
appropriate interview questions and proper formats in which interviews 
will be recorded. Upon completion of the oral histories, the Air Force 
and the Navy will provide a copy of all written and recorded 
documentation to the Library of Congress.
    The ACHP believes that this five-step approach will ensure that the 
Air Force and the Navy take into account the effects of management of 
their Wherry and Capehart 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 Air Force and Navy Wherry and Capehart Era housing, 
associated structures and landscape features.

IV. Effect of Program Comment

    By following this comment and outlined five-step approach, the Air 
Force and the Navy will have met their responsibilities for compliance 
under Section 106 regarding management of their Wherry and Capehart era 
housing. Accordingly, Air Force and Navy bases will not have to follow 
the case-by-case Section 106 review process for each individual 
management action.
    The Air Force and the Navy may carry out management actions prior 
to the completion of all of the five treatment steps outlined above, so 
long as such management actions do not preclude the eventual successful 
completion of those five steps.
    If the ACHP determines that the consideration of Wherry and 
Capehart properties is not being carried out in a manner consistent 
with this Program Comment, the ACHP may withdraw this comment. 
Following such withdrawal, the Air Force and the Navy would comply with 
the requirements of 36 CFR 800.3 through 800.7 for each individual 
management action.

    Authority: 36 CFR 800.14(e).

    Dated: September 7, 2004.
Ronald D. Anzalone,
Acting Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 04-20542 Filed 9-9-04; 8:45 am]
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