[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 172 (Thursday, September 6, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51252-51253]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-17594]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the General Management 
Plan, Monocacy National Battlefield, Maryland

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the General Management Plan, Monocacy National 
Battlefield, Maryland.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 
U.S.C. 4332(C), the National Park Service (NPS) announces the 
availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the 
General Management Plan, Monocacy National Battlefield, Maryland. The 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the General Management Plan 
analyzes the impacts of a no-action and three action alternatives. 
Alternative 4 is the NPS' preferred alternative. The official 
responsible for this decision is the Regional Director, National 
Capital Region, National Park Service.

DATES: The NPS will undertake a 60-day public review of the Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement for the General Management Plan 
following publication by the Environmental Protection Agency of the 
Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

ADDRESSES: Information will be available for public review in the 
Office of the Superintendent, Monocacy National Battlefield, at 4801 
Urbana Pike, Frederick, Maryland 21701, by telephone at (301) 662-6980 
and at the following locations: Chief of Planning, National Capital 
Region, National Park Service, 1100 Ohio Drive, SW., Washington, DC 
20242, (202) 619-7277; Office of Public Affairs, National Park Service, 
Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240, 
(202) 208-6843; Urbana Regional Library, 9020 Amelung Street, 
Frederick, Maryland 21704; and the C. Burr Artz Public Library, 110 
East Patrick Street, Frederick, Maryland 21701. Copies of the document 
may also be accessed via Internet at http://www.nps.gov/mono or through 
the NPS PEPC (Planning, Environment and Public Comment) Web site at: 
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/parkHome.cfm?parkId=192.
    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Trail, Superintendent, Monocacy 
National Battlefield at 4801 Urbana Pike, Frederick, Maryland 21701, 
and by telephone at (301) 662-6980.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The no-action alternative describes the 
existing conditions and trends of park management and serves as a basis 
for comparison in evaluating the other alternatives.
    Alternative 2 focuses narrowly on the story of the Battle of 
Monocacy, explaining troop movements, how the landscape affected the 
battle, and conveying an understanding of the participants. It is 
highly dependent upon the visitors getting out into the landscape with 
restored historic structures providing reference points but not being 
the interpretive focal point. It includes an alternative transportation 
system operated by a commercial entity if market conditions allow. 
Visitor services would be provided at the visitor center, at the 
Gambrill Mill, and within a rehabilitated stone house on the Thomas 
Farm. An existing trail from the Gambrill Mill would be extended to the 
site of Wallace's headquarters, a major feature of the battlefield 
currently not open to visitors. A small parking area and restrooms 
would be provided at the latter site. Administration and maintenance 
facilities for Monocacy National Battlefield would move into rented 
space outside the boundary. The Thomas House would be rehabilitated 
under the Historic Leasing Program. Safer access to the 14th New Jersey 
Monument and a designated commemorative zone for possible new monuments 
would be created. A deck would be constructed over Interstate Highway 
270 (I-270) to connect the Thomas and Worthington farms visually and 
physically with continuous landscape. The deck, featuring automobile 
access, would only be constructed if wholly or partly covered as 
mitigation for impacts resulting from the widening of I-270 currently 
being proposed under a Draft Environmental Impact Statement prepared by 
Maryland State Highway Administration and the Federal Highway 
Administration.
    Alternative 3 would expand the story of the battle, not only 
explaining the troop movements but describing the impact of the battle 
and the Civil War on Frederick and the surrounding countryside. It 
would focus more on the human story than Alternative 2 with exhibits in 
the restored Best and Worthington houses as well as the stone house on 
the Thomas Farm. Parking at each site would be developed. No 
alternative transportation system would be available in Alternative 3. 
Visitors would access the site via personal automobile. Visitor 
services would be provided at the visitor center, at the Gambrill Mill, 
and within a rehabilitated stone house on the Thomas Farm. The 
maintenance facility would remain in the current structure while 
administration offices would be in a rehabilitated Thomas House. A new, 
safer entrance to the 14th New Jersey Monument would be created across 
Maryland Highway 355 with access under the existing bridge. The Lewis 
farmstead would be accessed by trail from the Worthington parking area 
along Baker Road. No deck would be constructed over I-270. Monocacy 
National Battlefield would institute a policy of no new monuments.

[[Page 51253]]

    Alternative 4, the NPS preferred alternative, was developed with 
the aid of a process called ``Choosing By Advantages'' in which the 
planning team identifies and compares the relative advantages of each 
alternative according to a set of factors. This process also 
establishes the relationship between the advantages and costs of each 
alternative. This information is used to combine the best attributes of 
the preliminary alternatives into the preferred alternative giving the 
NPS the greatest overall benefit for the most reasonable cost.
    Alternative 4 would provide visitor services at the visitor center, 
the Gambrill Mill, and the stone house on the Thomas Farm. In addition, 
exhibits would be provided at the secondary house on the Best Farm and 
at the Worthington House. Parking at each location would be developed. 
There would be no alternative transportation system. Visitors would 
access the site via personal automobile. The maintenance facility would 
remain in its current structure. An existing trail from the Gambrill 
Mill would be extended to the site of Wallace's headquarters, a major 
feature of the battlefield currently not open to visitors. 
Administration offices would be in the rehabilitated Thomas House. 
Safer access to the 14th New Jersey Monument and a designated 
commemorative zone for possible new monuments would be developed. 
Instead of a deck across I-270 connecting the Worthington and Thomas 
farmsteads, a small pedestrian deck would be created to allow visitors 
to cross between the two sites.

    Dated: August 13, 2007.
Joseph M. Lawler,
Regional Director, National Capital Region.
 [FR Doc. E7-17594 Filed 9-5-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-57-P