Record of Determination Extended Closure of Beach Drive

Signed Official Copy

For a signed, official copy of this document, please contact Rock Creek Park headquarters.

 

United States Department of the Interior
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
National Capital Area – Region 1
Rock Creek Park
3545 Williamsburg Lane, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008-1207

10-D

Record of Determination for the Continuation of Temporary Closure of Beach Drive, NW and Associated Roadways

Pursuant to 36 CFR 1.5(a), Rock Creek Park, a unit of the National Park Service is continuing the temporary closure to motor vehicles of Beach Drive, NW, from Broad Branch Road NW to Joyce Road NW, from Grove 10 to Wise Road NW, and from West Beach Drive NW to the Maryland boundary. The National Park Service initially enacted these restrictions on March 20, 2020, in response to guidance and advisories from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) relating to the COVID-19 public health emergency. A Record of Determination (ROD) was extended several times as the National Park Service moved towards a post-emergency resumption of normal operations in Rock Creek Park.

In June of 2021, the NPS undertook an Environmental Assessment of a comprehensive management approach to upper Beach Drive NW to better accommodate the needs of motorized and non-motorized visitors while minimizing impacts to park resources. As the park finalizes this plan, upper Beach Drive, NW and associated roadways (Sherrill Drive NW, Ross Drive NW and Bingham Drive NW), in Rock Creek Park, will remain closed to through motor vehicle traffic until October 31, 2022. This temporary closure is not of a nature, magnitude and duration that will result in a "significant alteration in the public use pattern.” The closure will not adversely affect the park's natural, aesthetic or cultural values; nor require significant modification to the resource management objections; nor is it of a highly controversial nature. Accordingly, the National Park Service determines that publication as rulemaking in the Federal Register, is unwarranted per 36 C.F.R. § l.5(c). This is consistent with hundreds of earlier partial and temporary park closures, the legal opinion of the Office of the Solicitor, and judicial adjudications.

Picciotto v. United States. No. 99-2113 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. United States, No. 94-1935 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. Lulan, No. 90-1261 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. Hodel, No. 87-3290 (D.D.C.); Spiegel v. Babbitt, 855 F.Supp. 402 (D.D.C. 1994), affld in part w/o op. 56 F.3d 1531 (D.C. Cir. 1995).

Notice: This administrative order applies to all individuals subject to the regulatory authority of the National Park Service (NPS) within the boundaries of Rock Creek Park, including park visitors, government employees, concession employees, park residents, and stakeholders, except as follows: Rock Creek Park and National Capital Area staff, United States Park Police, authorized Special Use Permit holders, and authorized park contractors.