[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 222 (Tuesday, November 18, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61568-61570]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-30162]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Secretary
[Public Notice No. 2628]
New International Bridge, Brownsville, Texas: Finding of No
Significant Impact and Summary Environmental Assessment
SUMMARY: On October 9, 1997 the Department of State made a finding that
two new international bridges sponsored by the Brownsville Navigation
District (hereafter, BND), Brownsville, Texas, would have no
significant impact on the environment. Accordingly, the Department of
State is announcing issuance of a finding of no significant impact. A
draft environmental assessment of the proposed Port of Brownsville
International Crossings was prepared for the BND, under the guidance
and supervision of the State Department, by Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade
& Douglas, Inc., of Austin, Texas; St. John-Villarreal Associates of
Fairfax, Virginia; Mariah Associates of Austin, Texas; Gonzalez
Engineers and Surveyors of Brownsville, Texas; and Dr. Michael Tewes of
Kingsville, Texas. The Department of State placed a notice in the
Federal Register (56 FR 223 November 19, 1991) regarding the
availability for inspection of the Brownsville Navigation District's
[[Page 61569]]
Permit application and the draft environmental assessment; one public
comment was received, from the Texas Center for Policy Studies. In
August 1995, Hicks & Company, of Austin, Texas and Brown & Root, Inc.
of Houston, Texas, submitted an addendum to the environmental
assessment. In March 1997, Hicks & Company submitted a document
summarizing mitigation efforts associated with the permit application.
Eighteen Federal and state agencies reviewed the draft
environmental assessment. They were: the Immigration and Naturalization
Service, the United States Customs Service, the Food and Drug
Administration, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (of the
Department of Agriculture), the General Services Administration, the
International Boundary and Water Commission-United States Section, the
Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation (Federal
Highway Administration and the United States Coast Guard), the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, the Department of the Interior (United
States Fish and Wildlife Service), the Department of Commerce, the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission
(now part of the Department of Transportation), the Department of
State, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas Department of
Transportation, the Texas Historical Commission, and the Texas Natural
Resource Conservation Commission (formerly the Texas Water Commission).
All comments received from these agencies were either responded to
directly or resulted in further analysis being conducted and
incorporated into this assessment, including consideration of
mitigation measures. Additionally, the BND met and corresponded with
agencies to discuss ways of meeting their particular concerns and,
where appropriate, to discuss mitigation measures; these contacts were
most frequent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
The results of the BND's meetings and other contacts with agencies
involved in the application review were recorded in correspondence and
in the August, 1995 and March, 1997 addenda to the 1991 BND
application. This summary environmental assessment, the comments
submitted by the agencies, the responses to these comments, and all
correspondence between the agencies and the Permit applicant addressing
the agencies' concerns, together constitute the final environmental
assessment.
Based on the final environmental assessment, including mitigation
measures, and information developed during the review of the BND's
application, the Department of State has concluded that issuance of the
Presidential Permit authorizing construction of the Port of Brownsville
International Crossings will not have a significant impact on the
quality of the human environment within the United States. In
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C.
Sec. 4321 et seq., Council on Environmental Quality Regulations, 40 CFR
1501.4 and 1508.13, and with Department of State Regulations, 22 CFR
161.8(c), an environmental impact statement, therefore, will not be
prepared.
A finding of no significant impact was made on October 9, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Finding of No Significant Impact may be
obtained from M. Elizabeth Swope, Coordinator, U.S.-Mexico Border
Affairs, Office of Mexican Affairs, Room 4258, Department of State,
Washington, D.C. 20520 (202-647-8529).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of State (the Department) is
charged with issuance of Presidential Permits for the construction of
international bridges between the United States and Mexico under the
International Bridge Act of 1972, 86 Stat. 731; 33 U.S.C. Sec. 535 et
seq., and Executive Order 11423, 33 FR 11741 (1968), as amended by
Executive Order 12847 of May 17, 1993, 58 FR 96 (1993).
The Brownsville Navigation District, Texas, has applied to the
Department for a Presidential Permit to build two bridges, one for
commercial-cargo vehicular traffic and the other for commercial-cargo
rail traffic, across the Rio Grande River from River Mile 24, eight
miles east of downtown Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas, and three
miles south of the Brownsville Ship Channel, to Matamoros, Tamaulipas,
Mexico. The site is 13.5 miles west of the mouth of the Rio Grande,
which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. There are no bridges between the
site and the Gulf of Mexico.
The two bridges will be built adjacent to each other at the
terminus of an undeveloped 1,000-foot wide, BND-owned corridor
extending three miles northward from the site to the Brownsville Ship
Channel. The bridges will be connected to the Ship Channel by a roadway
and a railway built through the center of the corridor. Texas State
Highway 4 (SH 4) bisects the corridor approximately 3,600 feet north of
the bridge site. The General Services Administration (GSA) inspection
facility and BND toll-installation will be located on 40 acres of land
immediately south of SH 4.
The new bridges will:
Provide the Port of Brownsville with additional direct
rail and road links with Mexico, thereby enhancing its competitiveness;
Create an alternative route for commercial traffic
destined for the Port, most of which is obliged to use bridges located
in downtown Brownsville (the Los Tomates bridge, scheduled to open in
March, 1999, is also located in the metropolitan Brownsville area).
Divert traffic away from downtown Brownsville bridges and
thereby reduce noise, vehicle congestion, air pollution, and
deterioration of roadways in the downtown area caused by commercial
traffic.
Reduce the traffic of hazardous materials carriers through
populated areas in Brownsville; and
Accommodate anticipated economic growth in the Brownsville
area.
Summary Environmental Assessment
The Department evaluated possible environmental impacts of the
project. The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas is the primary zone of
occupation within the United States for two species of Federally-
protected cat, the ocelot and the jaguarundi. The project area
constitutes a potential travel corridor for the cats. Additionally,
there is potential that a Federally-protected bird, the northern
aplomado falcon, may nest in or near the area. The project corridor
contains 93 acres of wetlands, 12.77 acres of which would be lost, and
lies entirely within the 100-year floodplain.
The BND worked closely with all agencies involved in the review
process, especially the USFWS, to address their concerns about the
possible environmental impacts of this project. The project has been
extensively redesigned to avoid and mitigate potential impacts.
Specifically, the BND has agreed, inter alia, to elevate the bridges
inland 430 feet and revegetate the area underneath the bridge
structures to reestablish a wildlife travel corridor; construct a
minimum of ten culverts in the elevated approach structure leading to
the bridges that will allow wildlife to pass through; conduct a
breeding-season nest survey to gather information about the northern
aplomado falcon, conduct a three-year public education and information
campaign focusing on three Federally-protected species; and enhance or
create 60.6 acres of wetlands adjacent to Little San Martin Lake,
located north of the
[[Page 61570]]
Ship Channel, about five miles from the impact site.
The Department considered cumulative environmental impacts
resulting from the project. Mitigation of wetlands impacts,
preservation of the riparian vegetation corridor, and establishment of
travel corridors for endangered cats will minimize the project's
contribution to potential environmental impacts caused by existing and
reasonably foreseeable international crossings in the Lower Rio Grande
Valley. The reduction in vehicle waiting times and the deviation of a
significant portion of commercial traffic from downtown Brownsville
bridges will positively impact air quality for the population of the
region. The removal of hazardous cargoes from downtown Brownsville will
have a positive impact on public safety. The commercial-cargo-only
nature of the bridges and constraints to secondary development in the
project area will limit urban and commercial sprawl.
On April 30, 1992, a programmatic agreement was executed among the
Department of State, the Texas State Historic Preservation Officer
(SHPO), the Texas Department of Transportation, the Advisory Council on
Historic Preservation, and the Brownsville Navigation District, in
which the BND agreed, inter alia, to:
Conduct a cultural resources survey within the Area of
Potential Effect prior to initiating construction;
Consult with the SHPO to avoid, minimize, or mitigate
adverse effects on any standing structures or archaeological properties
within the Area of Potential Effect eligible for inclusion in the
National Register of Historic Places; and
Consult with the SHPO to develop a plan for recovery of
any archaeological data within the Area of Potential Effect that cannot
be avoided or preserved in place.
Dated: November 4, 1997.
M. Elizabeth Swope,
Coordinator, U.S.-Mexico Border Affairs.
[FR Doc. 97-30162 Filed 11-17-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-45-M
