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# 

# FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

> May 17, 2002
>
> **VA Proposes Sites for Future Cemeteries**
>
> WASHINGTON \-- Three communities \-- Sarasota County, Fla.,
> Birmingham, Ala., and Greenville/Columbia, S.C. \-- have the greatest
> need for burial space for veterans, according to a study conducted for
> the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
>
> \"We must ensure that VA continues to meet its obligation to provide
> America's veterans with a dignified and respectful final resting
> place," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi. "Now
> and in the future, this study will serve as a valuable planning tool
> for decisions on where and when to build new cemeteries.\"
>
> Principi sent a report on the study, *Future Burial Needs*, to members
> of Congress. In response to the report, VA will plan to develop new
> national cemeteries in the Sarasota, Birmingham and
> Greenville/Columbia areas. New national cemeteries already are planned
> and expected to open by 2005 in Atlanta, West Palm Beach, Fla.,
> Pittsburgh, Detroit and Sacramento, Calif.
>
> During the next two decades, VA faces the challenge of providing
> burial space for a rapidly aging veteran population. Veteran deaths,
> estimated this year at 674,000, are expected to peak at about 687,000
> in 2006 and then decrease slightly each year to about 545,000 in 2020.
> The study was done to assess how VA can meet demands for veterans
> cemetery burial options up to 2020.
>
> The report pinpoints those areas of the country with the largest
> number of veterans without access to either a national or state
> veterans cemetery within 75 miles of their homes.
>
> A future cemetery in Sarasota County would ensure continued burials
> when VA\'s Bay Pines National Cemetery \-- which has no room to expand
> \-- closes in about
>
> **- More -**
>
> **Future VA cemeteries 2/2/2**
>
> 2016\. Veterans residing in the Birmingham and Greenville/Columbia
> areas currently do not have access to a nearby veterans cemetery. All
> three areas have veteran populations exceeding 170,000, which is the
> threshold VA has established for planning future national cemeteries.
>
> Principi said VA will address the needs of other locations identified
> in the report by expanding current cemeteries and working with states
> to develop state veterans cemeteries through the State Cemetery Grants
> Program. Through the grant program, VA may fund 100 percent of the
> construction and initial equipment costs for a new cemetery to be
> operated and maintained by the state. VA has provided grant funding to
> 48 operational state veterans cemeteries.
>
> VA currently manages 120 national cemeteries in the United States and
> Puerto Rico, half of which date to the Civil War. Fort Sill, Okla.,
> National Cemetery, newest in the system, began providing burials for
> veterans and their eligible family members in November 2001.
>
> The report is the second in a series on improving VA's national
> cemeteries required by Public Law 106-117, Section 613, passed by
> Congress in 1999. The first report, *Cemetery Standards of
> Appearance*, was released in March 2002 and the last one, *National
> Shrine Commitment\--Facility Condition Assessment*, is slated for
> release later this year. VA contracted with the firm Logistics
> Management Institute, of McLean, Va., to conduct the studies.
>
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