[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 110 (Friday, June 7, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39332-39335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-14389]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 110 / Friday, June 7, 2002 /
Notices
[[Page 39332]]
ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Program Comment for Capehart and Wherry Era Army Family Housing
and Associated Structures and Landscape Features (1949-1962)
AGENCY: Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
ACTION: Notice of approval of Program Comment on Army Capehart and
Wherry Era Housing.
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SUMMARY: On May 31, 2002, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
approved a Program Comment that facilitates the Army's compliance with
the National Historic Preservation Act with regard to its management of
its inventory of Capehart and Wherry Era family housing and associated
structures and landscape features.
DATES: The Program Comment goes into effect on June 7, 2002.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Address all comments concerning this
Program Comment to David Berwick, Army Affairs Coordinator, Advisory
Council on Historic Preservation, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Suite
809, Washington, DC 20004. Fax (202) 606-8672. [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act, 16 U.S.C. 470f, requires Federal agencies to consider
the effects of this undertakings on historic properties and provide the
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (``Council'') a reasonable
opportunity to comment with regard to such undertakings. The Council
has issued the regulations that set forth the process through which
Federal agencies comply with these duties. Those regulations are
codified under 36 CFR part 800 (``Section 106 regulations'').
The section 106 regulations, under 36 CFR 800.14(e), provide that
an agency may request the Council for a ``Program Comment'' allowing it
to comply with section 106 for a category of undertakings in lieu of
conducting a separate review for each individual undertaking under the
regular process.
I. Background
According to the requirements for obtaining a Program Comment, the
Army formally requested the Council comment on Capehart and Wherry Era
Army family housing and associated structures and landscape features in
lieu of requiring separate reviews under sections 800.4 through 800.6
of the section 106 regulations for each individual undertaking. The
Army identified the category of undertakings as maintenance and repair;
rehabilitation; layaway and mothballing; renovation; demolition;
demolition and replacement; and transfer, sale or lease out of Federal
control, affecting Army family housing built between 1949 and 1962 and
termed ``Capehart and Wherry.'' The Army also specified the likely
effects that these management actions would have on historic properties
and the steps the Army would take to ensure that the effects are taken
into account. The Army included in their request to the Council the
public comments that it received from a 30-day public comment
opportunity provided through an earlier notice (67 FR 2644, January 18,
2002).
The Council subsequently published a notice of intent to issue the
Program Comment (67 FR 12966, March 20, 2002) and notified State
Historic Preservation Officers (``SHPOs''), the National Conference of
State Historic Preservation Officers (``NCSHPO''), Tribal Historic
Preservation Officers (``THPOs''), and the National Association of
Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, and requested their views on the
Army's proposed Program Comment.
During its May 31, 2002 business meeting, the Council membership
(with the Department of Defense recusing itself) voted unanimously to
approve and issue the Program Comment found at the end of this notice.
The vote was 19 in favor of approving and issuing the Program Comment
and no votes against, with the Department of Defense abstaining.
Neither the Council nor the Army have engaged in the particularized
consultation with Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations,
pursuant to 36 CFR 800.14(e)(4), since such consultation does not seem
to be warranted. All Army actions considered under this Program Comment
will be undertaken on Army property. The Program Comment will not have
consequences for historic properties of religious and cultural
significance, regardless of location, to any Indian tribe or Native
Hawaiian organization since any Capehart and Wherry actions which would
affect these types of properties are specifically excluded under the
Program Comment.
II. Response to Public Comments
At the end of the 30-day comment period, only four comments had
been filed: NCSHPO, the New Jersey SHPO, the National Trust for
Historic Preservation (``Trust''), and the Department of Housing and
Urban Development. The following Council responses reflect significant
comments and the manner in which the Council has modified the Program
Comment to respond to these public comments. The public comments are
printed in bold typeface, while the Council response follows
immediately in normal typeface:
The Army's proposal will, in effect, exempt one property type from
any and all future compliance with section 106. The Program Comment
process is not an exemption. The Program Comment reflects what the Army
must follow to be in compliance with section 106.
The period of significance for Capehart and Wherry Housing is less
than fifty years old. For most properties the passage of time is
considered to be essential in order to gain scholarly perspective.
While the National Register criteria allow for properties of
exceptional significance to be eligible for the Register prior to this
50-year benchmark, the Council believes that Capehart Wherry properties
would never meet the significance test for this category of exceptional
significance. Since these properties are now on the cusp of meeting the
50-year benchmark, we believe it is appropriate for the Army to take
management action, which would reduce their administrative cost of
managing these resources, to comply with Section 106 in advance of
meeting the 50-year threshold. The Council supports proactive agency
planning in order to reduce administrative costs and burdens.
[[Page 39333]]
Conclusions reached about the non-significance of properties that
are less than fifty years old are inherently suspect. The Council's
notice of intent states that ``The Army considers its inventory of
Capehart and Wherry properties, including any associated structures and
landscape features, to be eligible for the National Register of
Historic Places for the purposes of section 106 compliance.''
The Army's plans should receive detailed consideration, possibly by
the Council as a whole. The Council's Federal Agency Program Committee
reviewed the Program Comment and provided recommendations to the
Council membership for its deliberation and vote at the May 31, 2002,
business meeting. As stated above, at that meeting, the Council
membership discussed the Program Comment and unanimously voted to
approve and issue it.
SHPOs from states with significant inventories of Capehart Wherry
era housing should be invited to participate in the development of
treatment plans. The Council and the Army provided all SHPOs and NCSHPO
ample opportunity to comment on the proposed treatment plans detailed
in the Program Comment. That resulted in the receipt of comments from
only one SHPO (New Jersey) and NCSHPO. Both comments were closely
considered in the final drafting of the Program Comment. The
consultation met the requirements of the section 106 regulations for
the issuance of a Program Comment.
While documentation of the affected resources may be one effective
treatment, preservation of significant examples needs to be considered
also. The Program Comment has been modified to allow for identification
and preservation of properties of particular importance for continued
use as military housing within the funding and mission constraints of
the Army.
The Advisory Council needs more information on the resource type
affected, such as information about representative individual examples
or types and information about groups of resources as they exist today
on military installations. The revised and expanded context study will
provide more detailed information on individual examples of the types
of Capehart and Wherry housing which exist at each installation. This
information will be used by the Army to prepare the design guidelines
that will be used by installations in future planning efforts that
affect Capehart and Wherry communities.
The Council should insure that Capehart Wherry communities are
evaluated within a comprehensive context, including evaluating
significance within the context of local and state significance,
Criteria for Evaluation B (related to individuals of historic
importance) and C (work of a master). Because the housing program was
not uniform across all installations, a post-by-post evaluation needs
to be made for groups of resources in order to evaluate their
significance. The revised and expanded context study will specifically
address the importance of historically important builders, developers
and architects that may have been associated with design and
construction of Capehart and Wherry Era housing developments at
specific Army installations.
The potential for secondary effects on National Register listed or
eligible property that may be adjacent to Capehart Wherry era housing
is not consider in this proposal, and archaeology is not considered
either. Ground disturbing activities on Army installations should be
evaluated on an individual basis. The Program Comment specifically
states that it does not apply to the following properties historic
properties: (a) Archaeological sites; (b) properties of traditional
religious and cultural significance to federally recognized Indian
tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations; and/or (c) historic properties
other than Army Capehart and Wherry Era housing, associated structures
and landscape features. This is found in section III, Applicability.
The Council's regulations emphasize public participation. We do not
believe the spirit of the Council's regulations have been addressed by
one Federal Register notice. We disagree. The Council's regulations
allow agencies to use their own public review processes, including
NEPA, in complying with the public involvement requirements under the
Council's regulations. The general public had an opportunity to respond
to comments under the Army's NEPA document and again through the
Council's notice of intent process. There were no general public
comments received by either the Army or the Council during these public
review processes. We believe that the non-response by the general
public reflects its lack of interest in these types of properties,
especially as they relate to military installations.
Would the program comment affect the Army's responsibilities under
section 110 of the National Historic preservation Act? Section
110(a)(2)(E) requires agency's procedures for compliance with Section
106 to be consistent with the Council's regulations and provide a
process for identification, evaluation, and consultation regarding the
means by which adverse effects are considered. This Program Comment was
issued and approved by the Council pursuant to the Council's section
106 regulations.
The Army's proposal includes no commitment that any of these useful
documents (i.e., context study, design guidelines) will actually be
used or applied by the Army. The intent of the Program Comment is that
the Army apply these guidelines consistently across installations where
Capehart and Wherry units will be retained by the Army. If the Council
believes that the Army is not using the guidelines as intended, the
Council may withdraw the Program Comment in its entirety.
There (is no) proposal by the Army to commit to the preservation of
Capehart Wherry properties. The Program Comment has been modified to
allow for identification and preservation of properties of particular
importance for continued use as military housing within the funding and
mission constraints of the Army.
The Army should not be allowed to proceed under the program
comments demolition prior to the completion of the mitigation actions.
While the Army is allowed to proceed with action which affect Capehart
and Wherry properties prior to completion of mitigation, the Program
Comment prevents them from completing management action which may
preclude the eventual successful completion of the steps outlined in
the Program Comment.
Rather than leaving to chance the question of which of these
properties may survive, if any, the Army should identify a limited
selection of these resources in advance, based on criteria of
significance, and should place an explicit priority on actually
preserving them. The Program Comment has been modified to establish a
process for the identification of Capehart and Wherry Era properties of
particular importance and to allow the preservation of such properties
for continued use as military housing within the funding and mission
constraints of the Army.
The Army's proposal does not contemplate any distinction whatsoever
in the treatment of properties that have special architectural or other
significance. The revised and expanded context study will include
identification of significant architects, builders/contractors/
developers and subcontractors. Upon completion, the context study will
be reviewed for Capehart and Wherry Era properties of particular
importance. Properties identified in this review process may
[[Page 39334]]
have additional historical documentation completed for them, as needed,
they will be taken into consideration in producing the video
documentation and they will be considered for preservation through
continued use as Army family housing.
III. Text of the Program Comment
The full text of the Program Comment is produced below:
Program Comment for Capehart and Wherry Era Army Family Housing and
Associated Structures and Landscape Features (1949-1962)
I. Introduction
This Program Comment, adopted pursuant to 36 CFR 800.14(e),
demonstrates Department of the Army (Army) compliance with its
responsibilities under section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act with regard to the following management actions for
Capehart and Wherry Era Army family housing, associated structures and
landscape features: maintenance and repair; rehabilitation; layaway and
mothballing; renovation; demolition; demolition and replacement; and
transfer, sale of lease out of Federal control.
Structures associated with this family housing include detached
garages, carports and storage buildings, and the landscape features
(including but not limited to the overall design and layout of the
Capeharts and Wherry Era communities, including road patterns,
plantings and landscaping, open spaces, playgrounds, parking areas,
signage, site furnishings, views into and out of the community,
lighting, sidewalks, setbacks and all other associated cultural
landscape features). A small percentage of buildings and structures
constructed during this period were not constructed with funds provided
through the Capehart and Wherry funding programs, but are similar in
all other respects, and are therefore included in this Program Comment.
II. Treatment of Capehart and Wherry Properties
a. Consideration of Eligibility
The Army conducted a historic context of its Capehart and Wherry
properties in a report entitled For Want of a Home: A Historic Context
for Wherry and Capehart Military Family Housing. On May 22, 2001, the
Army sponsored a symposium on Capehart and Wherry Era housing
management as it relates to historic preservation. The symposium was
attended by preservation experts, including the National Trust for
Historic Preservation (Trust), the National Conference of State
Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO), the Advisory Council on
Historic Preservation (Council), and nationally recognized experts in
the field of historic preservation from academia and industry. As
recommended by the symposium participants, the treatment section,
below, presents the programmatic approach for complying with section
106. The Army considers its inventory of Capehart and Wherry Era
properties, including any associated structures and landscape features,
to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places for the
purposes of section 106 compliance.
b. Treatment
The Army requested a Program Comment as an Army-wide section 106
compliance action related to management of Capehart and Wherry Era
housing, associated structures and landscape features. This
programmatic approach will facilitate management actions for
maintenance and repair; rehabilitation; layaway and mothballing;
renovation; demolition; demolition and replacement; and transfer, sale
or lease of Capehart and Wherry Era housing, associated structures and
landscape features out of Federal control. Such actions present a
potential for adverse effects to these historic properties.
The following treatment is based on the measures proposed by the
Army in their request for Program Comment, the comments received from
the Council's ``notice of intent to issue program comments'' as
published in the Federal Register (67 FR 12956; March 20, 2002) and
follow up discussions between the Council, the Army, NCSHPO. and the
Trust.
(1) Context Study: The Army will expand and revise the existing
historic context, For Want of a Home: A Historic Context for Wherry and
Capehart Military Family Housing. Consistent with issues identified
during the symposium on Capehart and Wherry Era Housing held by the
Army in May 2001, and subsequent public review, the Army will expand
the historic context to address the following important issues:
(1) Explore changing Army family demographics following the end of
the World War II and their impact on housing needs and responsive
programs;
(ii) Focus on post-World War II suburbanization, housing trends and
affordable housing programs in the civilian sector;
(iii) Identify those Capehart and Wherry properties that may be of
particular importance due to their association with historically
important builders, developers and architects;
(iv) Discuss associated structures, and landscape features, in
addition to addressing the housing units; and
(v) Describe the inventory of Capehart and Wherry Era housing,
providing information on the various types of buildings and
architectural styles and the quantity of each.
(2) Context Study Review: The Army review the results of the
expanded and revised context study and determine whether any of those
properties identified under section II(b)(1)(iii) are of particular
importance. The Army will notify the Council of the results of this
review, and the Council will forward the results to the NCSHPO, and the
Trust.
(3) Design Guidelines: The Army's scoping process identified
landscape features as an important attribute of Capehart and Wherry Era
land-use planning and development. Using information developed in the
expanded and revised context study, the Army will develop Capehart and
Wherry Era Neighborhood Design Guidelines that consider the importance
of Capehart and Wherry Era family housing, associated structures and
landscape features. The Army will:
(i) Provide the design guidelines to the Council for review;
(ii) Distribute the design guidelines to those facilities and
installations that have been identified in the expanded and revised
context study as having Capehart and Wherry Era properties; and
(iii) Consider the design guidelines in planning actions that
affect the Army's Capehart and Wherry Era housing, associated
structures and landscape features.
(4) Properties of Particular Importance: For Capehart and Wherry
properties that have been determined to have particular importance
under section II(b)(2), above, the Army will:
(i) Consider the need to conduct additional historical
documentation for these properties;
(ii) Focus video documentation efforts on such properties; and
(iii) Within funding and mission constraints, consider the
preservation of these properties through continued use as military
housing.
(5) Tax Credits: The Army will advise developers involved in the
Army's privatization initiatives that Capehart and Wherry Era
properties may be eligible for historic preservation tax credits.
(6) Video Documentation: The Army will document and record Capehart
and Wherry Era housing, associated structures and landscape features
[[Page 39335]]
through preparation of a video. The video will:
(i) Document and record representative structural types and
landscape features at three installations, including appropriate
examples of properties of particular importance;
(ii) Explain the relationship of this housing construction program
to significant issues and topics researched for the expanded and
revised context study;
(iii) Be distributed for educational purposes, and archived by the
Army; and
(iv) Be provided, in digital format, to the Council, the Trust, and
the NCSHPO.
(7) Schedule for Completion:
(i) Within 12 months from Council approval of the Program Comment,
the Army shall complete:
(A) The expanded and revised context study for Capehart and Wherry
Era housing as described in section II(b)(1), above;
(B) Review of the context study for properties of particular
importance as described in II(b)(2), above; and
(c) The design guidelines as described in section II(b)(3), above;
exclusive of section II(b)(3)(iii).
(ii) Within 24 months from Council approval of the Program Comment,
the Army shall complete:
(A) Its consideration of properties of particular importance as
described in section II(b)(4), above; and
(B) The video documentation of Capehart and Wherry Era housing as
described in Section II(b)(6), above.
(8) Availability: Upon their completion, the Army will make final
products available to installation commanders.
III. Applicability
This Program Comment does not apply to the following properties
that are listed, or eligible for listing, on the National Register of
Historic Places:
(a) Archeological sites;
(b) Properties of traditional religious and cultural significance
to federally recognized Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations;
and/or
(c) Historic properties other than Army Capehart and Wherry Era
housing, associated structures and landscape features.
IV. Effect of Program Comment
By the following this Program Comment, the Army meets its
responsibilities for compliance under section 106 regarding management
of its entire inventory of Capehart and Wherry Era housing (1949-1962),
associated structures and landscape features. Accordingly,
installations are no longer required to follow the case-by-case section
106 review process for each individual management action affecting
Capehart and Wherry Era housing, associated structures and landscape
features.
The Army may carry out management actions prior to the completion
of the treatment steps outlined above, so long as such management
actions do not preclude the eventual successful completion of these
steps.
This Program Comment will remain in effect until such time as the
Department of the Army determines that such comments are no longer
needed, and notifies the Council, in writing, or the Council withdraws
the Program Comment in accordance with 36 CFR 800.14(e)(6). Following
such withdrawal, the Army would be required to comply with the
requirements of 36 CFR 800.3 through 800.7 for each individual
management action.
The Council approved this Program Comment on May 31, 2002.
[Signed by Chairman John L. Nau, III on May 31, 2002]
Authority: 36 CFR 800.14(e).
Dated: June 4, 2002.
John M. Fowler,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 02-14389 Filed 6-6-02; 8:45 am]
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