Arlington National Cemetery Millennium Project EA June 2013

Arlington National CemeteryMillennium Project EAJune 2013EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThis Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared to assess the potential impacts of theexpansion of Arlington National Cemetery (ANC), known as the Millennium Project. TheMillennium Site will be developed to increase burial space at ANC. Building and site elementconstruction shall be suitable for the environment and complementary to the architectural themeand historical considerations of ANC. ANC is the lead agency for this National EnvironmentalPolicy Act (NEPA) document and the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) is a cooperating agency.US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Norfolk District prepared this EnvironmentalAssessment.The proposed action includes construction of casket burial sections, in-ground sites for ashes,and both columbarium niche courts and niche walls. The site would include two assembly areasfor service participants including Committal Service Shelters.Supporting facilities wouldinclude restrooms, storage areas, water features, waterlines, sanitary sewer, storm drainage,underground electrical and communications/information systems, landscaping, retaining walls,perimeter fencing, vehicle and pedestrian access roads and walks, and security systems. Streamrestoration will occur within the existing stream channel to restore the stream to its originalfloodplain.In addition, stormwater management improvements to include undergroundstormwater storage and a modified stormwater conveyance system, primarily on NPS property,would be implemented at the Chaffee Place parking lot (adjacent to the NPS AdministrationBuilding).NPS is a cooperating agency for this NEPA document due to portions of thestormwater management and stream restoration measures occurring on NPS-administeredproperty.This led to a high level of coordination with NPS, especially on those actionsoccurring on or near NPS lands.Benefits of the project, in addition to the primary goal of extending the longevity of ANC,include: Restoration of a currently severely degraded stream Conversion of the maintenance yard, which is currently extremely disturbed with opendirt roads and no vegetation to vegetated green space and primarily forested area1

Arlington National Cemetery Millennium Project EAJune 2013Stormwater management improvements to the area coming off of the Chaffee Placeparking lot to ensure improved conditions within the channel flowing into the NPSadministered Arlington Woods Preservation of the entire project site as a “green space”, serving as one of the few areasin Arlington County that will remain indefinitely vegetated with a mix of natural areasand open green areas A multi-year invasive species control plan on the entire portion of the Millennium siteowned by ANC, improving the existing conditions of the highly infested (up to 95%invasive cover in some areas) propertyShort-term impacts associated with the proposed action include land use, topography, drainageand surface water impacts, disturbance of soil and removal of vegetation, air and noiseemissions, increased construction traffic, temporary closures or interruptions in the jogging pathon Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall near the construction site, and altered aesthetics from thepresence of a construction site. Short-term impacts to utilities such as water and electric servicemay also be encountered during construction.completion of construction.Short-term impacts would cease with theLong-term impacts to land use, soils, topography and drainage,surface water, vegetation, wildlife, cultural resources and aesthetics would be expected as aresult of the Proposed Action. The project would result in both positive and negative impacts;however the negative impacts have been avoided and minimized to the maximum extentpracticable. No significant impacts are anticipated.This EA was prepared in compliance with NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508) and all applicableimplementing regulations. A Proposed Alternative and a No-Action Alternative were fullyevaluated in this EA.Five additional Action Alternatives were eliminated from detailedevaluation, as they did not meet the operational intent of the Cemetery and/or resulted inunacceptable levels of impact based on regulatory requirements. The direct and indirect impactsof the Proposed Action Alternative and No-Action Alternative were evaluated for temporary,permanent, and cumulative impacts. As discussed in Section 5, no significant impacts wouldoccur as a result of this project.2

Arlington National CemeteryMillennium Project EAJune 2013An initial draft EA was prepared and released for public and agency review on 6 December2012. The 45-day public comment period ended on 21 January 2013. Approximately 30individuals and organizations submitted comments on that EA. The primary concern raised wasthe impacts to the forested area on the Millennium Site. Approximately 20.7 acres of forest areincluded in the historic property boundary on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)nomination for Arlington House.This entire forested area was historically considered“Arlington Woods.” Of this, approximately 12.1 acres are currently under NPS jurisdiction, and8.6 acres are under ANC jurisdiction. As shown in the figure below, the NPS administeredproperty, described in this document as “Arlington Woods” and the oldest part of the NRHPcontributing forest, is adjacent to the Millennium Project Footprint. NPS-administered ArlingtonWoods contains trees estimated to be 235 years old; however, those trees will not be removed asa result of this project. Only one non-native invasive tree will be removed from NPS property.The trees that would be removed on ANC property are all in areas that were clear cut during theCivil War. The impacted trees are a maximum of 145 years old, but the majority are less than105 years old and do not contribute to the Arlington House NRHP listing (and are not in theNRHP boundary). About half of the acreage of the five acre 145 year old tree stand, which isNRHP contributing, would be impacted. None of the NRHP contributing 165 year old tree standon ANC property would be impacted. Figure A below displays the ages of the contiguous treestands. There are other trees on the site that are more highly disturbed and are described inSection 4.6.A revised EA was released on 12 March 2013 for a 30-day public review. That public commentperiod ended on 12 April 2013 and resulted in approximately 19 letters from organizations, 98“form letter” (duplicate) comments and 79 unique comments from private citizens.comments were considered and are found in Appendix J of this Final EA.3All

Arlington National CemeteryMillennium Project EAJune 2013Figure A - Millennium Project with Tree Ages and NPS PropertyAs is discussed in Section 4.6, additional surveys were executed to verify the tree ages, develop acomplete survey of all trees within the project footprint, and also identify the smaller vegetation(understory) in the project area. Trees that will be removed are all in areas that were clear-cutduring the Civil War. These trees are a maximum of 145 years old. As a result of commentsreceived, the team has implemented additional measures to minimize the number of trees that4

Arlington National CemeteryMillennium Project EAJune 2013would be impacted by the project. Analysis of the current project design (as of April 2013)indicates that of the 1804 trees (6” diameter and greater) on site, approximately 905 trees wouldbe removed to facilitate construction of the cemetery expansion. Of those 905 trees, 57 are dead,77 are invasive species and 771 are healthy native trees. Approximately 491 trees would beremoved from the northern portion of the project site which includes trees as old as 105 years.Approximately 211 trees would be removed from the portion of the woodland that includes treesas old as 145 years. Approximately 203 trees would be removed from the former Ft. Myerpicnic area which is currently a park-like area with a range of tree ages to include most trees inthe 50-100 year old range and a maximum of 145 years old.The number of trees beingreplanted has increased to nearly 800 trees (1 1/2” to 5” caliper), plus more than 1600 treeseedlings, and 14,000 shrubs. ANC is committed to further minimize removal of trees.As aresult of comments received, the team will continue to consider additional measures to save asmany trees as possible. For example, several adjustments to the road alignment have beenincorporated which preserve healthy older groves of trees. Efforts to minimize the number oftrees impacted will continue to be a priority for the project as it moves forward.The planning and design of this project have been coordinated with multiple organizationsincluding but not limited to the NPS, National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), U.S.Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall (JBM-HH), VirginiaDepartment of Historic Resources (VDHR), Virginia Department of Environmental Quality(VDEQ), Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (VDCR), and Arlington County.5

Arlington National CemeteryMillennium Project EAJune 2013TABLE OF CONTENTS123INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT LOCATION . 161.1MILLENNIUM LAND TRANSFERS . 181.2PURPOSE AND NEED . 181.2.1Purpose of ANC Expansion . 191.2.2Purpose - Stream Restoration. 191.2.3Purpose - Stormwater Management Improvements . 191.3SCOPE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT . 191.4PUBLIC AND AGENCY INVOLVEMENT . 20PROPOSED ACTION . 242.1LANDSCAPE DESIGN . 262.2PERIMETER COLUMBARIUM WALL . 272.3COLUMBARIA . 282.4COMMITTAL SERVICE SHELTER . 292.5STREAM RESTORATION . 302.6STORMWATER MANAGEMENT . 30ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSED ACTION. 333.1ALTERNATE LOCATIONS . 343.2EARLY CONCEPTUAL ALTERNATIVES . 343.2.1Alternate Configurations for Loop Road . 353.3THE NO-ACTION ALTERNATIVE . 363.4PRIMARY ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED . 363.4.1Alternative A . 363.4.2Alternative B . 376

Arlington National CemeteryJune 20133.4.3Alternative C . 383.4.4Alternative D . 393.4.5Alternative E . 403.4.6Alternative F . 413.5SUB-ALTERNATIVES: STORMWATER MANAGEMENT . 423.5.1Impervious Area Reduction . 423.5.2Underground Stormwater Storage . 423.5.3Bio-filtration . 433.5.4Slope Management. 443.6PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE – ALTERNATIVE E . 453.6.13.74Millennium Project EAStormwater Management . 46AVOID, MINIMIZE AND MITIGATE . 473.7.1Measures to Avoid Impacts . 473.7.2Measures to Minimize Impacts . 473.7.3Measures to Mitigate and Offset Impacts . 473.8UPDATED INFORMATION BASED ON COMMENTS . 483.9ALTERNATIVES ELIMINATED FROM DETAILED EVALUATION . 493.9.1Alternative A . 503.9.2Alternative B . 523.9.3Alternative C . 533.9.4Alternative D . 553.9.5Alternative F . 553.9.6Sub-alternatives for Stormwater Management . 57AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT . 584.1SOILS . 597

Arlington National CemeteryMillennium Project EAJune 20134.2TOPOGRAPHY AND FLOODPLAINS . 604.3HYDROLOGY AND WATER QUALITY . 614.4GROUNDWATER. 654.5WETLANDS . 664.6VEGETATION . 674.6.1Mature Hardwood Forest . 684.6.2Medium-Aged Disturbed Forest . 694.6.3Disturbed Field/Old Field Area . 704.6.4Maintained Parkland Area . 714.6.5Age of Forested Areas . 724.6.6Tree Survey . 744.7WILDLIFE RESOURCES INCLUDING RARE, THREATENED ANDENDANGERED SPECIES . 754.8CULTURAL RESOURCES . 774.8.1Archaeological Resources . 774.8.2Buildings and Structures . 804.8.3Cultural Landscape . 804.8.4Additional Cultural Resource Considerations . 834.9HAZARDOUS, TOXIC AND RADIOACTIVE WASTE . 834.9.1Investigation Findings . 854.9.2Soil Quality . 854.10 TRANSPORTATION . 884.11 STORMWATER SYSTEMS . 884.12 UTILITIES (WATER, SEWER, ELECTRIC, GAS) . 894.13 NOISE . 928