National Cemetery Administration
NCA Releases Environmental Assessment for Future St. Albans National Cemetery
January 15, 2021
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration (NCA) today announced the completion of the formal environmental assessment for the future St. Albans National Cemetery in Queens, N.Y.
"Today we are one step closer to delivering a more convenient VA burial option to the Veterans of our nation’s largest city," said Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Randy Reeves. "Once constructed, St. Albans National Cemetery will be a national shrine honoring the service and sacrifice of this city's Veterans, and a focal point for community patriotic and memorial celebrations."
Plans call for the five-acre cemetery to be a columbarium-only facility capable, once fully developed, of interring 34,000 Veterans and their eligible family members.
The cemetery will provide more than 650,000 Veterans and eligible family members with a more convenient VA burial option. Currently, the closest open VA cemeteries are Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale and Calverton National Cemetery in Riverhead. Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn has been closed to interments since 2003. New York does not have any State Veterans cemeteries.
The completion of the final supplemental environmental assessment for St. Albans concludes with a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). A FONSI is a document that presents the reasons why the agency has concluded that there are no significant environmental impacts projected to occur upon implementation of the proposed action. This completes the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process that all federal agencies follow. A solicitation for bids to build the cemetery will occur later this year and barring significant delays, the cemetery should be completed in Fall of 2022.
The NCA oversees 153 national cemeteries and provides funding to an additional 118 state, territorial and tribal cemeteries across the nation. More than 93% of Veterans living in the U.S. have access to a free Veterans burial option within 75 miles of where they live.
For more information, contact Les' Melnyk of National Cemetery Administration Public Affairs at Les.Melnyk@VA.gov .
