Arlington National Cemetery Real Property Master Plan
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PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY REAL PROPERTY MASTER PLAN FINAL DECEMBER 2014 PREPARED BY: HNTB - ENGINEERS ARCHITECTS PLANNERS UNDER CONTRACT TO: U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS NORFOLK DISTRICT [This page is left intentionally blank] ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ANC Arlington National Cemetery FCD Federal Consistency Determination ANMC Army National Military Cemeteries FCIP Federal Capital Improvement APA Abbreviated Preliminary Assessment Program APE Area of Potential Effect FEMA Federal Emergency Management AR Army Regulation Agency Army Department of the Army FHWA Federal Highway Administration FIRM Flood Insurance Rate Map BMP Best Management Practice FNSI Finding of No Significant Impact BRAC Base Realignment and Closure FOB2 Federal Office Building 2 BRT Bus Rapid Transit GBCI Green Building Certification Institute CAA Clean Air Act GLUP General Land Use Plan CBPA Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act CDG Cemetery Design Guide HVAC Heating, Ventilation, and Air CEQ Council on Environmental Quality Conditioning CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental HWA Hemlock Wooly Adelgid Response, Compensation, and Liability Act I Interstate CESQG Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity ICRMP Integrated Cultural Resources Generator Management Plan CFA U.S. Commission of Fine Arts IPaC Information, Planning and CFR Code of Federal Regulations Conservation CO Carbon Monoxide IPM Integrated Pest Management CT Census Tract ISWMP Integrated Solid Waste Management CWA Clean Water Act Plan CZMA Coastal Zone Management Act CZMP Coastal Zone Management Program JBM-HH Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall dBa A-weighted decibel LEED Leadership in Energy and D.C. District of Columbia Environmental Design DHR Department of Historic Resources LOS Level of Service DoD Department of Defense LUPZ Land use planning zones DOT Department of Transportation MDW Military Districts of Washington EA Environmental Assessment MOA Memorandum of Agreement EAB Emerald Ash Borer MOU Memorandum of Understanding EISA Energy Independence and Security mph miles per hour Act MWAQC Metropolitan Washington Air Quality EO Executive Order Committee EPA U.S. Environmental Protection MWCOG Metropolitan Washington Council of Agency Governments EPAct 2005 Energy Policy Act of 2005 NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality RPMP Real Property Master Plan Standards Rt. Route NACP Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain NAGPRA Native American Graves Protection SAHNC Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home and Repatriation Act National Cemetery NCR National Capital Region SHPO State Historic Preservation Officer NCPC National Capital Planning SIP State Implementation Plan Commission SO2 Sulfur Dioxide NDAA National Defense Authorization Act SQG Small Quantity Generator NEPA National Environmental Policy Act SR State Route NHL National Historic Landmark SWW Sarix wood wasp NHPA National Historic Preservation Act NO2 Nitrogen Dioxide The Comp Plan Comprehensive Plan for the NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric National Capital Administration THPO Tribal Historic Preservation Officer NOx Nitrogen Oxides TIP Transportation Improvement Plan NPDES National Pollutant Discharge TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load Elimination System tpy Tons per year NPS National Park Service NRCS National Resource Conservation USACE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Service USC U.S. Code NRHP National Register of Historic Places USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture USFWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service O3 Ozone USGS U.S. Geological Survey The Old Guard 3rd U.S. Infantry USMC U.S. Marine Corps Regiment OWA Old Warehouse Area VDCR Virginia Department of Conservation Pb Lead & Recreation PCB Polychlorinated Biphenyl VDEQ Virginia Department of PEA Programmatic Environmental Environmental Quality Assessment VDH Virginia Department of Health PK 15(met) Peak sound pressure level VDOT Virginia Department of PM2.5 Particulate Matter with a diameter of Transportation 2.5 microns or less VOC Volatile Organic Compound PM10 Particulate Matter with a diameter of WHS Washington Headquarters Services 10 microns or less WIP Watershed Implementation Plan PSA Public Safety Associates QA Quality Assurance QC Quality Control RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act RMA Resource Management Area ROI Region of Influence RPA Resource Protection Area Arlington National Cemetery Real Property Master Plan Programmatic Environmental Assessment EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ES.1 Introduction ES.2 ANC Real Property Master Plan This Programmatic Environmental The RPMP establishes the foundation for Assessment (EA) is being prepared to future development. It reflects ANC’s evaluate recommended actions in the primary goal of extending the cemetery’s Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) Real burial capacity in a manner that respects its Property Master Plan (RPMP). The unique heritage, identity and mission. Thus, Programmatic EA evaluates and considers the RPMP will guide ANC in executing the environmental impacts associated with strategic decisions. The RPMP will also the proposed federal actions, as required by enable the cemetery to better communicate Army regulations and the National and coordinate across internal directorates, Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). partner organizations and other stakeholders. Army regulations require the preparation of The RPMP includes a Cemetery Design NEPA documentation in conjunction with Guide (CDG). The CDG presents general the preparation of a RPMP. ANC elected to policies and design standards for the prepare a Programmatic EA because the implementation of the future development RPMP includes phased and conceptual recommended in the RPMP. development. For these types of development projects, information needed ES.3 Background to determine specific impacts may not be available at the time the NEPA document is ANC is an open military cemetery located in being prepared. In this case, the Arlington, Virginia and is one of the most development is evaluated to the fullest visited tourist sites in the Washington, D.C. extent possible in the Programmatic EA. area. Over 400,000 people have been laid When more information about these to rest at ANC to date, with an average of projects becomes available, site-specific 27-30 veterans and their family members NEPA documentation will be prepared and being laid to rest daily. Additionally, over tiered from this Programmatic EA, as three million people visit the cemetery applicable, to avoid redundant or duplicate annually to honor, remember and explore. analysis. In the event that a future site- The memorials and the impressive specific NEPA analysis for a project reveals landscape provide a sense of peace and direct or indirect impacts, the overall beauty for families and visitors. cemetery cumulative effects analysis will be re-assessed as appropriate, taking into The cemetery consists of 624 acres of account those impacts. mostly developed area with 70 “sections”. Features include memorials and monuments as well as an ordered grid of simple white headstones set amidst grassy fields and a rolling terrain of pastoral tree groves. The cemetery is bordered by two Executive Summary ES-1 Arlington National Cemetery Real Property Master Plan Programmatic Environmental Assessment future expansion areas: the Millennium Site and providing accommodations and and the Southern Expansion Site (formerly services to the next of kin and the public known as the Navy Annex Site). The that befit a national shrine. Millennium Project was the subject of a separate design effort and EA. The need for the Proposed Action has several components: Public Law 106-65, the National Defense Add Burial Capacity Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2000, passed on October 5, 1999, required the Secretary Facilitate Future Cemetery of Defense to transfer the Navy Annex Operations property to the Secretary of the Army for Enhance Family Experiences During incorporation into ANC. The Navy Annex Committal Services property was transferred to the Department Enhance Visitor Experiences of the Army on January 1, 2012 and all Promote Sustainability improvements were removed to prepare the property for cemetery use. ES.5 Proposed Action The NDAA also allowed for a transfer of up The Proposed Action, which could be any of to 4.5 acres of the Navy Annex Site to the four Action Alternative discussed in Arlington County in exchange for the Section ES.6, is based on the RPMP Southgate right-of-way between ANC and including the CDG. The development in the the Navy Annex property. However, Proposed Action is grouped by area within following the transfer of the Navy Annex the cemetery and includes the following: Site to the Department of the Army, the DoD Arrival Area – Transportation Center, terminated the exchange agreement with Reconfigured Administrative Building and Arlington County. New Queuing Area. The Department of the Army and Arlington Southern Expansion Site Area – divided into County signed a non-binding Memorandum parcels: (Parcel A) Interments (B) of Understanding (MOU) in January of 2013 Landscaping and memorial markers; (C) establishing a framework for collaboration Building and parking; and (D) Maintenance on a land exchange agreement. The MOU and operations. includes a potentially mutually beneficial Cemetery Wide – Visitor amenities and exchange alternative that would give ANC sustainability. the Southgate Road right-of-way in exchange for land given to the County. ES.6 Alternatives Obtaining the Southgate Road right-of-way would link ANC and the Southern Various potential alternatives were identified Expansion