[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 14, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13158-13160]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-2407]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Special Resource Study on the Preservation and Interpretation of 
Historic Sites Associated With the Manhattan Project, New Mexico, Ohio, 
Tennessee and Washington; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that in accord with the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and pursuant to the Council of 
Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-08), the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, in consultation

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with the Department of Energy, is initiating the conservation planning 
and environmental impact analysis process for a Special Resource Study 
concerning the preservation and interpretation of historic sites 
associated with the Manhattan Project. The scope of the study includes 
the Los Alamos National Laboratory and townsite, New Mexico; the 
Hanford Site in Washington; the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee; and 
Dayton-area sites in Ohio. Following completion of the scoping phase an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is to be prepared. The authority 
for publishing this notice is contained in 40 CFR 1506.6.
    The Special Resource Study will assess the national significance, 
suitability, and feasibility of designating one or more of these sites 
as a unit of the National Park System according to the standards and 
criteria for such determinations established in the National Park 
Service (NPS) Management Policies. In addition, management alternatives 
for the protection and interpretation for each of the sites will be 
evaluated according to NPS standards and criteria, and the potential 
environmental impacts (and appropriate mitigation strategies) of each 
alternative will be analyzed in the Draft EIS. Through the preliminary 
scoping process, the NPS welcomes suggestions from the public regarding 
preservation, interpretation, and management of the sites.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Manhattan Project was a top-secret U.S. 
Government program implemented during World War II that was designed to 
beat Germany to the construction of the first nuclear bomb. The results 
of the Manhattan Project transformed the world of science and 
technology and ushered in the modern atomic and nuclear age.
    Operating from December 1942 until September 1945, the Manhattan 
Project was a $2.2 billion effort that employed some 130,000 persons at 
its peak, but was kept largely out of public view. The Manhattan 
Project was conducted in four principal locations including Oak Ridge, 
Tennessee, where the first uranium enrichment facilities and pilot 
scale nuclear reactor were built; Hanford, Washington, the location of 
the first large-scale reactor for producing plutonium; Los Alamos, New 
Mexico, where the first atomic bombs were designed and assembled; and 
the Trinity Site, New Mexico, where the first nuclear device was 
detonated.
    Three of these sites have been designated as National Historic 
Landmarks and all are listed in the National Register of Historic 
Places. A panel of experts convened by the Advisory Council on Historic 
Preservation reported in 2001 that the development and use of the 
atomic bomb during World War II has been called ``the single most 
significant event of the 20th century.'' The Advisory Council 
recommended that the sites of the Manhattan Project be formally 
established as a collective unit and be administered for preservation, 
commemoration, and public interpretation in cooperation with the NPS.
    On October 18, 2004 President George W. Bush approved Public Law 
108-340 ``The Manhattan Project National Historical Park Study Act''. 
This legislation directed the Secretary of the Interior, in 
consultation with the Department of Energy, to conduct a special 
resource study to assess the national significance, suitability, and 
feasibility of designating one or more of three sites named in the 
study as a unit of the National Park System. The three sites include 
the Los Alamos National Laboratory and townsite in New Mexico; the 
Hanford Site in Washington; and the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee. 
The Secretary of the Interior, in conducing the study, was directed: to 
one or more of these sites as a unit of the National Park System with 
maintaining certain goals of the Department of Energy; and to consider 
previous research done by the Department of Energy on these sites. 
Consistent with Public Law 108-340, Eayton, Ohio, area sites where 
polonium-based triggers were designed and produced for the first atomic 
bombs will also be included in the study.
    Public Scoping: Public scoping meetings will be an important 
foundation for this study. At this time its anticipated that during 
March-April 2006 a meeting will be held in each of the areas where 
sites are located. Representatives of the NPS will be available at each 
of the meetings to discuss issues, resource concerns, and the 
conservation planning and environmental impact analysis process. When 
confirmed, full details about the meetings will be widely announced via 
local and regional media and direct mailings. In addition, project 
newsletters will be peridocially prepared and distributed to all 
interested parties.
    Responses to this Notice (and various media releases) will serve as 
the basis for developing a project mailing list. Persons who may be 
interested in or affected by any possible site designations are invited 
to participate in the scoping process by responding to this Notice with 
written comments. The scoping process for the EIS will help define 
issues or problems facing the Special Resource Study. All interested 
individuals and organizations are encouraged to provide any concerns, 
suggestions, or relevant information which should be considered in 
undertaking the Manhattan Project Sites Special Resource Study. 
Respondents may also address evaluation of significance, suitability, 
and feasibility, development of management alternatives, identification 
and analysis of environmental issues, and related matters.
    All written comments should be directed to Carla McConnell, Project 
Manager and NPS Community Planner, Denver Service Center, PO Box 25287, 
12795 West Alameda Parkway, Denver, Colorado 80225-0287, (303) 969-
2287. All written comments must be postmarked not later than June 30, 
2006. All respondents are advised that individual names and addresses 
may be included as part of the public record, and will be available for 
public review during regular business hours. There may be circumstances 
in which a person prefers to have his/her name and other information 
withheld from the public record. Any person wishing to do this must 
state this prominently at the beginning of any comment or 
correspondence, and the request will be honored to the extent allowable 
by law. As always, all submissions from organizations or businesses, 
and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or 
officials of organizations or businesses, will be included in the 
public record and are open to public inspection in their entirety; and, 
anonymous comments may not be considered.
    Decision Process: The officials responsible for the preparation of 
the Draft and Final EIS and completion of the Special Resource Study 
process are as follows:
    Patricia A. Hooks, Regional Director, Southeast Region, National 
Park Service, 1924 Building, 100 Alabama Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 
30303-8701;
    Ernest Quintana, Regional Director, Midwest Region, National Park 
Service, 1709 Jackson Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68102;
    Michael D. Snyder, Regional Director, Intermountain Region, 
National Park Service, P.O. Box 25287, 12795 West Alameda Parkway, 
Denver, Colorado 80225-0287;
    Jonathan B. Jarvis, Regional Director, Pacific West Region, 
National Park Service, 1111 Jackson Street, Suite 700, Oakland, 
California 94607.

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    Subsequently the Director, National Park Service will be 
responsible for amending or ratifying the recommendations and 
transmitting the completed Special Resource Study to the Secretary of 
the Interior. The Secretary determines the final recommended actions to 
be submitted for Congress' consideration.

    Dated: January 13, 2006.
George J. Turnbull,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 06-2407 Filed 3-13-06; 8:45 am]
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