Cape Hatteras National Seashore staff have completed all tasks Congress assigned to it a year ago with passage of the National Defense Authorization Act/NPS

Staff at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina have completed all work assigned them through the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 that President Obama signed into law two years ago.

The NDAA required that Cape Hatteras National Seashore modify wildlife protection buffers, accelerate the construction of vehicle access points and roads, report back to Congress within one year of the date of the NDAA, and undertake a public process to consider changes to the seashore's Final Rule on off-road vehicle management. Specifically, the NDAA required the seashore to consider three specific changes to the its 2012 Final Rule regarding: (1) morning opening of beaches that are closed to ORV use at night; (2) the dates for seasonal ORV routes, and; (3) the size and location of Vehicle Free Areas. Wildlife protection buffers were modified in June 2015, all vehicle access points were constructed, and a report to Congress was finalized before the end of 2015.

This year, on December 19, the seashore published a Finding of No Significant Impact, and on December 21, the park completed the final task related to the Fiscal Year 2015 NDAA by amending its existing Final Rule for ORV use in the Federal Register. The amendments (1) allow for earlier morning openings of certain beaches open to ORV use; (2) extend the dates for ORV seasonal routes by two weeks in the spring and fall, and; (3) modify the size and location of a few VFAs.

The park also amended the Final Rule to allow ORV permits that will be valid for different lengths of time than previously existed, revise an ORV route designation to allow pedestrian use of a sound-side area on Ocracoke Island without requirement for an ORV permit, and extend an existing bypass route at Cape Point.

For full details on the Final Rule, go to the Federal Register at this page.