Florida Veteran Burial Needs

On May 15, 2002, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs transmitted a report, Vol. 1: Future Burial Needs, to Congress. This report is one of three volumes that meet the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reporting requirements under Section 613 of the Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-117).

The Future Burial Needs report identifies those areas in the United States with the greatest concentration of veterans whose burial needs will not be served by a national or state cemetery beginning in the year 2005 and projecting out to 2020. The report lists the areas, the estimated veteran population, and the year a cemetery to serve veterans is needed. Overall, the report provides an assessment of the number of additional cemeteries that will be required to ensure that 90 percent of veterans in the United States live within 75 miles of a national cemetery using the 2005 start date and projecting to 2020. The report does not provide for any authorization or spending authority.

The State of Florida has six locations listed in the Future Burial Needs

report: Crestview, Jacksonville, Melbourne, Sarasota County, Sumter, and Tallahassee.

Currently, Florida has four VA national cemeteries, Barrancas, Bay Pines, Florida, and St. Augustine National Cemeteries, with a new national cemetery in the process of being established in the South Florida area. These national cemeteries provide service to Florida�s veterans, except for St. Augustine National Cemetery, which is closed for interment.

It requires 5 to 7 years to dedicate a new national cemetery, as a number of steps from environmental assessment, site acquisition, design, and construction are needed. VA has established a veteran population threshold of at least 170,000 for a national cemetery to be built in a location identified in the report. For veteran populations below that figure, VA�s State Cemetery Grants Program is the most expeditious way for states to ensure veterans will have sufficient burial space.

Veterans may be served by national cemeteries or by cemeteries funded under the State Cemetery Grants Program whereby the Federal Government provides up to 100 percent of the costs to build veterans cemeteries owned and operated by the states. Initial equipment costs are also federally funded.

As identified in the Future Burial Needs report, VA plans to meet the burial needs of Florida�s veterans as follows:

• Sarasota County, Florida (veteran population 373,600; need year 2020): Currently served by Bay Pines National Cemetery, open for the burial of cremated remains. Sarasota County is a future national cemetery location when available gravesites are depleted at Bay Pines National Cemetery.
• Sumter, Florida (veteran population 163,600; need year 2020): Currently served by Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Sumter County, Florida. Through the acquisition of additional land, Florida National Cemetery will provide full-service (casketed and cremated remains burial) beyond the year 2020 for the veterans of Sumter.
• Jacksonville, Florida (veteran population 160,000; need year 2005): The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) has met with officials from Jacksonville. A NCA official wilt visit the area soon to discuss a potential state veterans cemetery established with Federal funds under the SCGP.
• Crestview, Florida (veteran population 104,000; need year 2010): A land acquisition will increase the service life of Barrancas National Cemetery to serve Crestview-area veterans into the foreseeable future. An additional cemetery is not required.
• Melbourne, Florida (veteran population 96,000; need year 2005) and Tallahassee, Florida (veteran population 80,500; need year 2005) could best be served by state veterans cemeteries.

The director of VA�s State Cemetery Grant Service, Mr. Bill Jayne, will be contacting Florida�s Veterans� Affairs Department to discuss the State Cemetery Grants Program

Prepared by the National Cemetery Administration June 2002"