[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