[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 113 (Wednesday, June 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33113-33114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-12837]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement; 
Poplar Point Redevelopment Project and Proposed National Park Service 
and U.S. Park Police Facilities Relocation

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
and for scoping on the redevelopment of Poplar Point and proposed 
relocation of certain National Park Service and U.S. Park Police 
facilities in Washington, D.C.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., the National Park Service (NPS) with 
the District of Columbia government (District), acting as joint lead 
agencies, will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to aid 
their decision-making under Title III of the Federal and District of 
Columbia Government Real Property Act of 2006, Pub. L. 109-396, 120 
Stat. 2711 (2006) (D.C. Lands Act). During this NEPA process, the NPS 
and the District will be complying with applicable laws and 
regulations, including Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act, and those pertaining to activities within 
floodplains. Other Federal and District agencies may serve as 
cooperating agencies and they are invited to contact the NPS and the 
District. Scoping commences with this notice. Written comments on the 
scope of issues to be addressed in the EIS are requested, and a public 
meeting has been scheduled.

DATES: A public meeting to obtain input on the scope of issues to be 
addressed in the EIS is scheduled for June 24, 2008, at 7 p.m. at 
Matthews Memorial Baptist Church, 2616 Martin Luther King Avenue, SE., 
Washington, DC.
    Written comments from the public and others are sought. Comments 
will be considered by both NPS and the District. For these comments to 
be most helpful to the scoping process, they must be received within 45 
days from the date of publication of this notice. Before including your 
address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying 
information in your comment, be advised 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 
from public review your personal identifying information, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    Government agencies who will be or seek to be cooperating agencies 
are requested to get in touch with NPS, the District, or both as early 
in the process as possible.

ADDRESSES: The scoping meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at Matthews 
Memorial Baptist Church, 2616 Martin Luther King Avenue, SE., 
Washington, DC. Potential cooperating agencies should contact Peter 
May, Associate Regional Director for Lands, Resources and Planning, 
1100 Ohio Drive SW., Washington, DC 20242, and/or the Office of the 
Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, Attention: Poplar 
Point Project Manager, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Suite 317, 
Washington, DC 20004, or http://www.poplarpointeis.com. Comments may be 
submitted electronically through the NPS Planning, Environment and 
Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/NACE; or 
by mail to: Superintendent, National Capital Parks--East, RE: Poplar 
Point Redevelopment, 1900 Anacostia Drive, SE., Washington, DC 20020. 
To be added to a mailing list about this project: contact 
Superintendent, National Capital Parks--East, RE: Poplar Point 
Redevelopment, 1900 Anacostia Drive, SE., Washington, DC 20020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The NPS and the District may both be 
contacted. For the NPS: Superintendent, National Capital Parks--East, 
RE: Poplar Point Redevelopment, 1900 Anacostia Drive, SE., Washington, 
DC 20020. For the District: Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and 
Economic Development, Attention: Poplar Point Project Manager, 1350 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Suite 317, Washington, DC 20004 or http://www.poplarpointeis.com.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The D.C. Lands Act calls for the 
redevelopment of Poplar Point (the Site), by the District and, should 
the NPS and the District jointly determine that it is no longer 
appropriate for the NPS and U.S. Park Police (USPP), which is part of 
the NPS, to remain in their current Poplar Point facilities, new 
permanent replacement facilities will be provided by the District. The 
EIS will analyze alternatives for the District's redevelopment of the 
Site and for NPS and USPP replacement facilities which may be located 
elsewhere in Washington, D.C., and a no-action alternative. This EIS 
will be used in the decision-making processes for this relocation and 
redevelopment which are pursuant to the D.C. Lands Act. Much of the 
Site is within National Capital Parks--East of the National Park System 
and, by law, as the NPS and USPP facilities situation is resolved, 
these lands will go to the District, possibly through a sequence of 
multiple conveyances of title.
    Poplar Point occupies a prime and highly visible parcel along the 
eastern bank of the Anacostia River, directly across from the 
Washington Navy Yard. The Site includes, but is not limited, to 
``Poplar Point'' as defined in Section 304 of the D.C. Lands Act, and 
is generally bounded by the Anacostia River to the north, the Frederick 
Douglass Bridge to the west, the 11th Street Bridge to the east, and 
the Anacostia Freeway (Interstate 295) and Suitland Parkway to the 
south. It is approximately 130 acres, mostly under NPS jurisdiction, 
containing the NPS and USPP facilities and 60 acres of managed meadows. 
The Site will increase to approximately 150 acres when the Frederick 
Douglass Bridge is realigned further to the South; the District already 
has jurisdiction of the land underneath the freeway infrastructure 
leading to that bridge. The Site also contains the Anacostia Metro 
Station and a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) 
parking garage.
    The NPS and USPP presently operate in approximately 100,000 square 
feet of facilities at the Site. The NPS and USPP relocation involves 
the NPS and District agreeing on a new location and on facilities 
design, followed by the District providing such facilities to the NPS 
at no cost to the NPS. Options for relocation include moving to other 
land in the District, or relocation at the Site. A determination could 
also be made for

[[Page 33114]]

the NPS and USPP to remain in their current facilities.
    Pursuant to the D.C. Lands Act, the redevelopment of Poplar Point 
will include approximately 70 acres of parkland in perpetuity that may 
include wetlands, landscaped areas, pedestrian walkways, bicycle 
trails, seating, opensided shelters, natural areas, recreational use 
areas and memorial sites. For the remaining acreage of the Site, the 
District is considering proposals for a cultural institution or museum, 
transit, a sports complex or stadium, and residential and commercial 
uses.

    Dated: May 19, 2008.
Lisa A. Mendelson-Ielmini,
Deputy Regional Director, National Capital Region.
 [FR Doc. E8-12837 Filed 6-10-08; 8:45 am]
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