[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 180 (Friday, September 18, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 47956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-22528]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Environmental Assessment for the Establishment of the Martin 
Luther King Jr. Memorial; Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Council of Environmental Quality regulations 
and National Park Service policy, this notice announces the 
availability of a revised Environmental Assessment (EA) for the 
establishment and operation of a national memorial to Dr. Martin Luther 
King, Jr., to be located on parkland in Washington, DC. The EA was 
first released in 2005. The proposed Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial 
(Memorial) is conceived as a space that is quiet and contemplative; but 
also uses powerful and evocative symbolism to convey Dr. King's message 
of justice, democracy, and hope. The approved site for the Martin 
Luther King, Jr. Memorial is a four-acre parcel of land located on the 
northwestern side of the Tidal Basin within West Potomac Park (the 
project area). The triangular-shaped site is located across the Tidal 
Basin from the Jefferson Memorial and approximately 750 feet north of 
the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. The site is generally bounded 
by Independence Avenue on the north, the pedestrian walkway of the 
Tidal Basin on the east, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial on the 
south, and recreational open space on the west. The site also includes 
a portion of West Basin Drive. This EA has been revised to incorporate 
and address changes that were made in the proposal after the 2005 EA 
was issued, and to otherwise update the EA.

DATES: There will be a 30-day public review period for comment on this 
document. Comments on this EA should be received no later than October 
19, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted either via the National Park 
Service Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site 
(http://parkplanning.nps.gov/NAMA) or in writing to Mr. Doug Jacobs, 
Deputy Associate Regional Director for Lands, Resources and Planning, 
National Capital Region, National Park Service, 1100 Ohio Drive, SW., 
Washington, DC 20242. Copies of the EA can be downloaded from PEPC and 
will also be available for review at the National Capital Region 
Headquarters, 1100 Ohio Drive, SW., Washington, DC 20242
    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 our 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: Mr. Doug Jacobs, Deputy Associate 
Regional Director for Lands, Resources, and Planning at (202) 619-7025.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2005 the NPS and the Martin Luther King, 
Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation Inc. released an EA. 
Subsequently, after the 2005 EA went through the public comment 
process, revisions were made to the Memorial, including the addition of 
a visitor services facility, security features, and the realignment of 
West Basin Drive. Consistent with Council on Environmental Quality 
policy, the NPS requires that the EA be rewritten to incorporate and 
consider new issues rather than supplemented. This revised EA, 
therefore, adds to, and expands upon, the information and impact 
analysis presented in the original 2005 Martin Luther King, Jr. 
National Memorial EA. The NPS will issue a decision on this revised EA.

     September 10, 2009.
 Margaret O'Dell,
Regional Director, National Capital Region.
[FR Doc. E9-22528 Filed 9-17-09; 8:45 am]
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