02-2306. Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage, Management Plan Update

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Management Plan Update.

SUMMARY:

Under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the National Park Service is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Management Plan for the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Area. The Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Act of 2000 requires the Schuylkill River Greenway Association, with guidance from the National Park Service, to prepare an update of their 1995 Schuylkill Heritage Corridor Management Action Plan. The Management Plan Update is expected to include: (A) actions to be undertaken by units of government and private organizations to protect the resources of the Heritage Area; (B) an inventory of the resources contained in the Heritage Area, including an list of any property in the Heritage Area that is related to the themes of the Heritage Area and that should be preserved, restored, managed, developed, or maintained because of its natural, cultural, historical, recreational, or scenic significance; (C) a recommendation of policies for resource management that considers and details application of appropriate land and water management techniques, including the development of intergovernmental cooperative agreements to protect the historical, cultural, recreational, and natural resources of the Heritage Area in a manner consistent with supporting appropriate and compatible economic viability; (D) a program for implementation of the management plan by the management entity; (E) an analysis of ways in which local, State, and Federal programs may best be coordinated to promote the purposes of this title; and (F) an interpretation plan for the Heritage Area.

The study area, designated as the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage, includes parts of the counties of: Schuykill, Berks, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia in southeastern Pennsylvania as associated with the Schuylkill River corridor.

The National Park Service (NPS) maintains two parks sites within the region: Valley Forge National Historical Park and the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. Otherwise the majority of land is non-federal and the NPS assumes a management role only within their park units. Instead, conservation, interpretation and other activities are managed by partnerships among federal, state, and local governments and private nonprofit organizations. The Schuylkill River Greenway Association manages the national heritage area. The National Park Service has been authorized by Congress to provide technical and financial assistance for a limited period (up to 10 years from the time of the designation in 2000).

The EIS will address a range of alternatives—they include a no-action alternative and other action alternatives. The impacts of the alternatives will be assessed through the EIS process.

A scoping meeting will be scheduled and notice will be made of the meeting through a broad public mailing and publication in the local newspapers.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Peter Samuel, Project Leader, Philadelphia Support Office, National Park Service, US Custom House, 200 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, [e-mail], 215-597-1848.

If you correspond using the internet, please include your name and return address in your e-mail message. Our practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available for public review. Individual respondents may request that we withhold their home address from the record, which we will honor or the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the record a respondent's identify, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. However, we will not consider anonymous comments. We will make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials or organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.

Dated: December 18, 2001.

Dale Ditmanson,

Associate Regional Director, Park Operations and Education, Northeast Region.