[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 74 (Wednesday, April 16, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20712-20713]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-8136]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Final Management Action Plan/Environmental Impact Statement; 
Record of Decision; National Coal Heritage Area, West Virginia

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Final 
Management Action Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, National Coal 
Heritage Area.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, Pub. L. 91-190, 83 Stat. 852, 853, codified as 
amended at 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), the National Park Service announces 
the availability of the Record of Decision for the Final Management 
Action Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (Final MAP/EIS) for the 
National Coal Heritage Area in West Virginia. The Regional Director, 
Northeast Region, approved the Record of Decision for the project, 
selecting Alternative C-Focal Point with Corridor Development, which 
was described on pages II-1 to II-11 of the Final MAP/EIS and announced 
to the public in a Notice of Availability published in the Federal 
Register on September 23, 2002.
    The selected alternative, and three additional alternatives 
including Alternative D, the No-Action Alternative, were analyzed in 
the Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statements. Each alternative 
was evaluated as to how it would guide the priorities, projects, and 
management of the national heritage area over the following ten years. 
Management approach, funding sources, and education, preservation, 
conservation and interpretation opportunities and priorities were all 
considered during the analysis, as were marketing and tourism 
opportunities and priorities and the development of physical components 
including visitor centers, destination centers, a museum, and access 
corridors. The full range of foreseeable environmental consequences was 
assessed and disclosed in relation to impacts on historic, cultural, 
natural and recreational resources, the environment, and the quality of 
the visitor experience.
    The NPS will implement Alternative C, the preferred alternative 
(the selected action), as described in the National Coal Heritage Area 
Management Action Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for the National 
Coal Heritage Area because it best reflects and fulfills the goals of 
the National Coal Heritage Area's mission, as well as the purpose and 
intent of the National Coal Heritage Area's enabling legislation. The 
selected alternative is based on a combined focal point/corridor 
development approach and is a hybrid of Alternatives A and B, which 
were also evaluated in the National Coal Heritage Area Management 
Action Plan/Environmental Impact Statement. The selected alterantive 
includes the nine Destination Centers and Experience Zones proposed in 
Alternative A and the development of a large-scale, state-of-the-art 
interpretive and educational museum/visitor center complex near Beckley 
proposed in Alternative B. The selected alternative is estimated to 
cost approximately $78 million over a 10-year period.
    The NPS has selected Alternative C for implementation because it 
best meets the legislative intent of the National Coal Heritage Area 
Act to ``develop and implement integrated cultural, historical, and 
land resource management policies and programs to retain, enhance, and 
interpret significant values of the lands, water, and structures of the 
Area.'' The Selected Alternative captures a broad range of visitors and 
encourages local capacity building simultaneously. It gives visitors 
several options for exploring the 11-county heritage area with a large 
interpretive center, several Visitor Centers and nine Destination 
Centers. The Selected Alternative provides for strong central 
leadership that would take an active role in the development of a 
broad-based preservation and conservation effort that

[[Page 20713]]

is likely to result in increased investment in the NCHA and increased 
business and employment opportunities.
    The Record of Decision includes a background of the project, 
statement of the decision made, synopses of alternatives considered, 
the basis for the decision, a finding of no impairment of resources and 
values, and an overview of public and agency involvement in the 
decision-making process. This decision is the result of a public 
planning process that began with public outreach meetings in February 
and March 2000, and the publication of a Notice of Intent to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement for the National Coal Heritage Area 
Management Action Plan in the Federal Register on July 17, 2001. The 
official responsible for this decision is the NPS Regional Director, 
Northeast Region.

ADDRESSES: The Record of Decision for the Final MAP/EIS for the 
National Coal Heritage Area is available online at http://www.coalheritage.org or http://www.planning.nps.gov/plans.cfm. Copies 
may be obtained by contacting the Executive Director, National Coal 
Heritage Area, P.O. Box 5176, Beckley, WV 25801.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christy Bailey, Executive Director, 
National Coal Heritage Area, P.O. Box 5176, Beckley, WV 25801, phone 
(304) 256-6941, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Coal Heritage Area Act (Pub. L. 
104-333; 110 Stat. 4243), enacted on November 12, 1996, authorized the 
National Coal Heritage Area ``for the purpose of preserving and 
interpreting for the educational and inspirational benefit of present 
and future generations certain lands and structures with unique and 
significant historic and cultural value associated with the coal mining 
heritage of the State of West Virginia and the Nation.'' This 
legislation charged the Governor of the State of West Virginia with 
developing and implementing a management plan to ``set forth the 
integrated cultural, historical, and land resource management policies 
and programs * * * describe the guidelines and standard for projects * 
* * and set forth the responsibilities o the State of West Virginia, 
units of local government, nonprofit entities, or Secretary to 
administer any properties acquired'' for the purposes of implementing 
the act. In 2006, Pub. L. 109-338 recognized the National Coal Heritage 
Area Authority as the new management entity and expanded the Heritage 
Area's boundaries.
    The National Coal Heritage Area Authority has put forward a 
management plan and EIS after many years of public meetings and 
partnership-building activities with state and local governments, 
nonprofit organizations and corporations, and residents to develop an 
implementation and action plan outlining the priority activities and 
actions, estimated costs, and intended goals of the National Coal 
Heritage Area management entity and its partners. Proposed projects are 
organized into four distinct phases, which build upon the approach 
described in the selected alternative. The activities and actions 
described demonstrate a commitment by Heritage Area partners to 
collaborate on initiatives that use culture and heritage to integrate 
the region and foster economic development.

    Dated: February 22, 2008.
Dennis R. Reidenbach,
Regional Director, Northeast Region, National Park Service.
 [FR Doc. E8-8136 Filed 4-15-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P