Record of Decision Final Environmental Impact Statement; General Management Plan; New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, LA

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Record of Decision Final Environmental Impact Statement; General

Management Plan; New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, LA

Introduction

The National Park Service (NPS) has written a Final General

Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for New Orleans

Jazz National Historical Park, New Orleans, Louisiana. The FEIS is

presented in an abbreviated format. The document must be integrated

with the Draft General Management Plan, Environmental Impact Statement,

New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, printed in

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October, 1998, to be considered a complete document reflecting the full

proposal, its alternatives, and all significant environmental impacts.

The two documents together compose the complete Final Environmental

Impact Statement. The FEIS presents alternatives and environmental

consequences for resource management and protection, visitor use and

interpretation, and facilities development at the national historical

park.

The purpose of the Record of Decision (ROD) is to document the NPS

selection of the proposed action for the general management plan for

New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park from among the alternatives

presented in the FEIS. The ROD highlights information contained in the

FEIS. The reader should refer to the FEIS for more details relating to

the topics presented below.

Purpose

The purpose of this general management plan is to provide a

comprehensive plan for the future management and protection of jazz

resources, the improved interpretation of jazz and the overall visitor

experience, and the provision of necessary and appropriate visitor use

facilities.

Decision (Selected Action)

The National Park Service will implement alternative C, the propose

action described in the final environmental impact statement. Under the

proposed action, the National Park Service will provide funding for

basic park operations and will work intensely with others to develop

partnerships and alternative funding sources for interpretation,

visitor use,and experiences, and other activities focusing on

preserving the jazz tradition. The proposed action recognizes that a

wide variety of personal and nonpersonal interpretive services will be

required to fulfill park purposes. In addition, the proposed action

will require a strong partnership between the National Park Service and

other entities involved in preserving the New Orleans jazz tradition.

The extent and success of this alternative will depend on substantial

support from partners, especially from the private sector. The role of

the National Park Service will be to assist in coordinating efforts to

preserve and interpret jazz and to help visitors understand how the

diverse environments of jazz influenced its early development.

Interpretation media will be extensively used, and the size and

scope of park and educational and preservation programs will be guided

by the development of partnerships. Under this alternative, the visitor

center will be located at a complex in Louis Armstrong Park. The

visitor center will provide a variety of media (with significant

audiovisual, experiential, and interactive elements) that would

interpret New Orleans jazz and its progression. It will be a major

component of visitors' experiences. Resources and activities around the

city will also be very important. Personal services will be an

important component of the park program as well as orientation and

information. This complex will have a small curatorial storage capacity

for items used in displays and educational activities. The visitor

center will be developed in Armstrong Park on lands provided to the

National Park Service under a long-term lease by the city of New

Orleans. Facility development will be phased along with interpretive

media development.

Education will be a major priority and will be emphasized in both

phases of development. Onsite programming will be a principal emphasis,

in order to give students access to the multimedia resources at the

visitor center. Offsite programming will provide decentralized services

close to home and school; programs will be designed to relate not only

to park themes and school curricula, but also to explore the local

history and personalities of specific neighborhoods. NPS personnel will

be involved in all stages of programming, from planning through

presentation and evaluation. In addition, the National Park Service

will prepare materials relating to the origins and history of jazz that

would be distributed on a nationwide basis. Important partners will

include the New Orleans Jazz Commission, local musicians, educators,

volunteers, and other agencies and organizations.

Preserving historical and cultural resources such as the South

Rampart Street properties, will be a high priority. Historic sites

could be adaptively used for activities such as music education,

seminars, and performances. Historic jazz sites and cultural activities

will receive enhanced public interest and involvement as they better

appreciate the significance of these resources and activities. The New

Orleans Jazz Commission will assist the National Park Service and

others in preservation efforts.

Perseverance Hall No. 4 and the Caretaker's House will be

rehabilitated. The rehabilitated hall will be expanded to construct a

visitor center complex suitable to meet interpretive and educational

needs. The Reimann and Rabassa houses will be considered for

rehabilitating based on costs; should rehabilitation costs prove

excessive, other options will be considered. Offices for NPS staff will

also be located in this complex.

Other Alternatives Considered

Two other alternatives are presented in the alternatives in the

abbreviated FEIS. The emphasis of alternative A is on continuing

current conditions at New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park. This

alternative would provide a minimal necessary orientation to jazz in

New Orleans, as well as information on jazz history and personalities.

This concept recognizes the many venues in New Orleans that feature

jazz and emphasizes enjoyment through listening more than through

interpretation or education. Orientation and information would occur

mostly through personal services and partnerships. Visitor experiences

would occur mostly at non-Park Service sites.

Alternative B would emphasize conveying the park's interpretive

story through such personal programs as interpretive talks and

demonstrations, interpreted performances. seminars, and performances.

Educational activities would be given maximum emphasis in this

alternative. It would allow the park to assist in the adaptive use of

structures related to jazz. Interpretive programming would heavily

depend on the involvement of local musicians and educators, thus

supporting cultural preservation. Under this alternative, the visitor

center would be located at the Old U.S. Mint.

Basis for Decision

Alternative C is the selected action because it most fully meets

the park's purpose and management objectives relating to preserving

resources and information associated with the origins and early

development of jazz in New Orleans. It provides an enhanced opportunity

for visitors to experience and appreciate early jazz and its origins,

history and progression. Further, this alternative would promote and

assist the education of students in various forms of jazz in order to

perpetuate its continued evolution as a true American art form. This

alternative more than alternatives A and B will allow the National Park

Service to actively seek out partners and maximize federal expenditures

in providing preservation and interpretation of jazz resources.

During the public response period for the DEIS, there was

considerable support for alternative C, the proposed action, both

locally and statewide.

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There were a few comments that supported the various proposed programs,

but supported the location of the park at the old U.S. Mint. Other

concerns expressed by agencies and the general public are addressed in

the ``Responses'' section of the abbreviated FEIS.

Environmentally Preferable Alternative

The environmentally preferable alternative is alternative C, the

selected action. This alternative best protects, preserves, and

enhances the historic, cultural, and natural resources relative to the

other alternatives analyzed. The emphasis on partnerships in this

alternative, which is greater than in alternatives A and B, will result

in greater preservation of jazz resources. The area subject to

development will not result in any further loss of natural habitat.

Measures To Minimize Environmental Harm

All practicable means to avoid or minimize environmental harm from

implementation of the selected action have been adopted and will be

enacted. The mitigating measures are presented in detail in the FEIS

and are summarized below.

Cultural Resources: A professional archaeologist will determine the

need for archaeological inventory or testing prior to any ground-

disturbing activities. Any such studies will meet the needs of the

state historic preservation offices and the National Park Service. Any

large-scale archeological investigations will be undertaken in

consultation with the Louisiana Historic Preservation Office. Decisions

on the identification and appropriate treatment of historic properties

will follow NPS management policies for cultural resources. The

planning and implementation of preservation treatments, such as

rehabilitation for adaptive use, will be undertaken in accordance with

section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as

amended, and as set forth in the Advisory Council on Historic

Preservation guidelines in 30 CFR 800 and the servicewide programmatic

agreement among the National Park Service, the Advisory Council on

Historic Preservation, and the National Conference of State Historic

Preservation Officers. All preservation treatment to historic

properties will follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and

Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation.

In response to the enabling legislation, a National Historic

Landmark theme study was undertaken and sites relating to early jazz

were identified and measures for their preservation were addressed in

the planning process. However, the National Historic Landmark theme

study process has been delayed because required authorization from some

landowners to evaluate their properties for integrity has not yet been

obtained despite attempts by the National Park Service to gain this

permission. If owner concurrence is received in the future the National

Historic Landmark evaluation process will proceed.

The park will undertake a historic resource study that will provide

a comprehensive context on the evolution of New Orleans Jazz. The

historic resource study, prepared in accordance with provisions

contained in NPS-28: Cultural Resource Management Guidelines, will not

only provide important data to define and identify jazz-related

resources and guide interpretation and resource protection, but will

also afford management more complete knowledge and direction in its

decision-making responsibility. During the implementation phase of the

proposed action, archaeological surveys may be required as well as

historic structure reports and ethnographic use studies. This will be

determined on a case-by-case basis when advance planning is funded and

undertaken.

Plan implementation actions that require further review by the

Louisiana State Historic Preservation office and the Advisory Council

on Historic Preservation to determine the effect on archaeological

resources, historic resources, and/or cultural landscapes, are listed

in the abbreviated FEIS. The National Park Service will complete an

``Assessment of Actions Having an Effect on Cultural Resources'' form

before implementing any proposed action. This will document project

impacts, and outline actions that will mitigate impacts.

National Resources: In general, natural resources will not be

impacted by National Park Service activities. Because of NPS

construction activities, there is a potential for short-term impacts on

water quality. Strict erosion and sediment controls will be instituted

as part of any NPS construction activity in accordance with federal and

state laws. The state of Louisiana will be consulted, and the state's

nonpoint source pollution coordinator will be contacted to determine

whether a sediment or erosion control plan will be required. In

addition, any such construction will conform with the NPS Floodplain

Management Guidelines, which were issued as NPS Special Directive 93-4

in 1993. Appropriate permits will be obtained prior to beginning work,

and all water quality standards will be met.

Impacts on rare, threatened, or endangered species due to

construction will be minimal if at all, because the proposed NPS

development will be in previously disturbed areas. Potential impacts on

soils as a result of NPS construction will be minimal, especially in

relation to existing disturbance. Site preparation will result in

either removal or addition of earth, altering soil structure.

Rehabilitation of severely impacted areas will be attempted wherever

possible. Revegetation will be enhanced by conserving and using

existing topsoil.

NPS development activities will result in temporary elevated levels

of particulate matter and other air pollutants. Appropriate control

measures will be used to ensure minimal impacts from air pollution. All

federal, state, and local air quality standards will be met.

Socioeconomic Environment: The park's development is expected to

have minimal effect upon city utilities, such as power lines and

sanitary sewer systems. The National Park Service will consult with

appropriate city, park, state, and federal offices to minimize impacts.

During the next planning and design phase for the park, the

National Park Service will consult with local planning and traffic/

transportation management agencies to ensure that minimal impact

occurs. In conjunction with local agencies, the National Park Service

will ensure adequate directional signs and informational brochures.

Local traffic is not expected to be significantly affected by the

anticipated increase in visitation. Some congestion could occur during

peak use periods. The park will work with local planning and traffic/

transportation management agencies and neighborhood groups to develop

mitigating measures, if necessary.

Public and Interagency Involvement

During the process of creating the general management plan for New

Orleans Jazz National Historic Park, newsletters were distributed,

public meetings held, press releases were issued, radio interviews

given. The draft document was placed on the internet, and the park

staff and planning team met with local agencies and on a regular basis

with the New Orleans Jazz Commission and other individuals and groups

to exchange information and to solicit input and responses from the

public.

The Draft New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, General

Management

[[Page 40037]]

Plan, Environmental Impact Statement was released on November 21, 1998.

More than 800 copies were distributed to local, state, and federal

government agencies and to organizations and individuals on the plan's

mailing list. Following this, a newsletter was released and six public

meetings were held to present the plan and record public comments.

Written comments on the document were requested to be received by

January 25, 1999. However, some comments were received after that date

and were also considered.

Forty-two letters and comment forms were received from government

agencies, organizations, and individuals. These letters were reproduced

in the ``Comments and Responses'' section of the abbreviated FEIS, and

are on file at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park

headquarters in New Orleans, Louisiana. All comments were considered by

the National Park Service in the preparation of the abbreviated FEIS.

A notice of availability for the abbreviated FEIS was published in

the Federal Register on May 5, 1999. The 30-day no-action period ended

on July 6, 1999.

Conclusion

After careful evaluation of each alternative and its environmental

impacts, and consideration of public response, park mission, and park

goals, the National Park Service believes that the selected action,

alternative C, represents the best course of action in the future

preservation of jazz resources and interpretation of the story of New

Orleans jazz and its progression.

Approved: July 9, 1999.

W. Thomas Brown,

Acting Regional Director, Southeast Regional Office, National Park

Service.

[FR Doc. 99-18894 Filed 7-22-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-70-M