[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 164 (Friday, August 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 40595]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-18009]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-NER-ASIS-22489; PPNEASISS0, PPMPSPD1Z.YM0000]


Abbreviated Final Environmental Impact Statement for the 
Assateague Island National Seashore General Management Plan

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability of 
the Abbreviated Final General Management Plan/Environmental Impact 
Statement (GMP/EIS) for Assateague Island National Seashore (seashore), 
Maryland and Virginia. The purpose of the plan is to provide a 
framework for management decision making that is consistent with the 
purposes for which the seashore was established by Congress as a unit 
of the national park system and that protects the seashore's 
fundamental and other important resources and values.

DATES: The NPS will issue a final decision on the Abbreviated Final 
GMP/EIS no earlier than 30 days from the date the Environmental 
Protection Agency publishes its Notice of Availability of the 
Abbreviated Final GMP/EIS in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: The Abbreviated Final GMP/EIS is available electronically at 
http://www.parkplanning.nps.gov/asis. A limited number of printed 
copies will be available upon request by contacting the Superintendent, 
Assateague Island National Seashore, 7206 National Seashore Lane, 
Berlin, MD 21811, 410-629-6080.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deborah Darden, Assateague Island 
National Seashore, 410-629-6080, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#81e5e4e3eef3e0e9dee5e0f3e5e4efc1eff1f2afe6eef7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="523637303d20333a0d36332036373c123c22217c353d24">[email protected]</span></a>

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The seashore was established in 1965 and is 
composed of more than 41,320 acres including 37-mile Assateague Island 
in Maryland and Virginia and the surrounding marine and estuarine 
waters up to one-half mile from the island's shore. Within the seashore 
boundary are Assateague State Park (owned by the state of Maryland and 
managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources) and 
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (managed by the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service). The NPS owns 8,983 acres within the seashore 
boundary, including land on Assateague Island in Maryland, the 
Assateague Beach U.S. Coast Guard Station in Virginia, and its mainland 
Maryland headquarters complex and visitor center. The states of 
Maryland and Virginia own the submerged lands within the seashore 
boundary, with ownership extending to mean high water in Maryland and 
mean low water in Virginia.
    Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the NPS released a Draft GMP/EIS on January 29, 
2016 for a 90-day public review period. The Draft GMP/EIS evaluated 
four alternatives for future seashore management.
    Comments received on the Draft GMP/EIS resulted in minor changes to 
the text but did not significantly alter the alternatives or the impact 
analysis; thus, the NPS has prepared an Abbreviated Final GMP/EIS. The 
Abbreviated Final GMP/EIS discusses the public and agency comments 
received on the Draft GMP/EIS and provides NPS responses. The 
Abbreviated Final GMP/EIS contains errata sheets that show factual 
corrections to the text of the Draft GMP/EIS or where the text has been 
revised to reflect minor additions or changes suggested by commenters.
    As in the Draft GMP/EIS, the Abbreviated Final GMP/EIS identifies 
the NPS preferred alternative as alternative 3--sustainable recreation 
and climate change adaptation.
    NPS decision makers considered the information collected during 
scoping, the results of the impact analysis, and the seashore's purpose 
and significance. Findings supported selection of alternative 3 as the 
NPS preferred alternative because it would provide the highest degree 
of enhanced public use and enjoyment of the seashore, would provide the 
highest degree of protection to the seashore's fundamental and other 
important resources and values, would offer the greatest potential for 
enhanced coastal resiliency, and would support the most effective 
organizational management for the seashore.

    Dated: May 3, 2017.
Joshua Laird,
Acting Regional Director, Northeast Region, National Park Service.

    Editorial Note: This document was received by the Office of the 
Federal Register on August 21, 2017.
[FR Doc. 2017-18009 Filed 8-24-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P


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