Notice of Availability: Draft Comprehensive Design Plan for the White House and President's Park and Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Notice of Availability: Draft Comprehensive Design Plan for the

White House and President's Park and Draft Environmental Impact

Statement.

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Draft Comprehensive Design Plan for

the White House and President's Park and Draft Environmental Impact

Statement

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental

Policy

[[Page 67701]]

Act of 1969, the National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability

of a draft Comprehensive Design Plan for the White House and

President's Park and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (CDP-DEIS).

This notice also announces the availability of a 24-page summary of the

draft plan; the dates and location of public forums for the purpose of

answering questions about the proposed plan; and the address to which

comments are to be submitted.

DATES: There will be a 90-day public review period for the document.

Comments on the CDP-DEIS should be received no later than March 11,

1999. An exhibit on the proposed plan will be available at the White

House Visitor Center from December 2, 1998, until March 11, 1999.

There will be two public forums held on January 27 and 28, 1999, at

the White House Visitor Center, 1450 Pennsylvania Avenue South, NW.,

Washington, DC. In addition to the exhibit, members of the planning

team and staff will be available to answer questions about the proposed

plan and the alternatives considered.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the CDP-DEIS should be sent to: Office of White

House Liaison, National Park Service, 1100 Ohio Drive, SW., Washington,

DC 20242. For those who prefer e-mail, comments should be sent to:

[email protected]. A copy of the summary can be obtained

from: http://www.nps.gov/planning, or by writing: Summary, Office of

White House Liaison, National Park Service, 1100 Ohio Drive, SW.,

Washington, DC 20242.

Single copies of the 400-page CDP-DEIS can be obtained by writing:

Draft Plan/DEIS, Office of White House Liaison, National Park Service,

1100 Ohio Drive, SW., Washington, DC 20242.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CDP-DEIS addresses the future management

and use of the buildings, grounds and cultural resources of the White

House and President's Park. The goal is to better serve the presidency

and the people, while protecting the historic character of this

national treasure. The CDP-DEIS proposes actions to meet needs in the

areas of: support services for the home and office of the president,

visitor use and services, cultural and natural resource protection,

transportation, site character, official functions and special events.

The CDP-DEIS contains the description and assessment of the proposed

plan and four other alternatives considered, including the required no-

change alternative.

Impacts are analyzed on the following topics: cultural resources,

natural resources, home and office of the president, the visitor

experience, special events, transportation, the socioeconomic

environment, and site management and operations.

The NPS is the lead-planning agency and has responsibility for

developing the plan in conjunction with other agencies. Congressionally

chartered agencies with stewardship or oversight responsibilities at

the site serve on an NPS-led Executive Committee. Serving on the

committee are: Executive Office of the President, Executive Residence,

White House Military Office, U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S.

Secret Service, General Services Administration, District of Columbia,

Commission of Fine Arts, National Capital Planning Commission, Advisory

Council on Historic Preservation and until 1995 the Pennsylvania Avenue

Development Corporation.

The planning process to develop the Draft Comprehensive Design Plan

for the White House and President's Park began in 1992 with data

collection. Issue identification took place in 1993 through 27

workshops involving some 70 agencies and organizations. Visitor

opinions were obtained through surveys and through a 4-day public

involvement exhibit held on the Ellipse in the spring of 1993. Desired

futures were developed in workshops during the fall of 1993.

Interpretative themes were developed in March 1994. Working group

meetings on the news media space occurred between March 1995 and

January 1996. Alternatives were released for public review in the

spring of 1995.

All review comments received on the CDP-DEIS will become part of

the public record.

Terry R. Carlstrom,

Regional Director, National Capital Region, National Park Service.

[FR Doc. 98-32512 Filed 12-7-98; 8:45 am]

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