[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 162 (Monday, August 23, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45951-45952]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21774]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Proposed MFS
Globenet, Inc. Monterey Bay Fiber Optic Cable Installation Project
Within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS)
AGENCY: Marine Sanctuaries Division (MSD), Office of Ocean and Coastal
Resource Management (OCRM), National Ocean Service (NOS), National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce
(DOC).
ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NOAA announces its intention to prepare an EIS in accordance
with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for the
authorization of the proposed installation of a fiber optic cable
through Monterey Bay, California within the MBNMS. The action to be
evaluated by this EIS is the proposal to install a submarine fiber
optic telecommunications cable from New Zealand to Hawaii to
California, with a focus on that part of the ocean route within the
boundaries of the MBNMS and the terrestrial route within Santa Cruz and
Monterey counties.
The EIS will be prepared in cooperation with the County of Santa
Cruz, which issued a Notice of Preparation on March 29, 1999, regarding
its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) pursuant to
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The EIS prepared under
this notice will be combined with the EIR and a joint EIR/EIS will be
published.
DATES: Written comments on the intent to prepare an EIS and the scope
of the EIS will be accepted on or before September 22, 1999. A public
scoping meeting to inform interested parties of the proposed action and
to receive public comments on the scope of the EIS is scheduled as
follows:
September 1, 1999, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Moss Landing Chamber of Commerce, 8045 Moss Landing Road, Moss
Landing, California
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS, suggested
alternatives and potential impacts should be sent to William Douros,
Responsible Program Manager, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary,
299 Foam Street, Monterey, California 93940. Comments may be submitted
by FAX at (831) 647-4250. Comments received will be available for
public inspection at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Douros, Responsible Program
Manager, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, 299 Foam Street,
Monterey, California 93940.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Proposed Action
The proposed action would involve the authorization of installation
of approximately 58.5 miles of submarine cable within the boundaries of
the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary as part of a larger project
for a cable that would link New Zealand to Hawaii and the continental
United States. Sanctuary regulations at 15 CFR Part 922, Subpart M,
require authorization by the Sanctuary for installation and continued
operation of the proposed cable within the MBNMS. The applicant (MFS
Globenet, Inc. and Worldcom Network Services, Inc.) anticipates the
cable would operate for a minimum of 25 years. The scope of the EIS
will address the offshore area from shore to the seaward boundary of
the MBNMS.
The seaward component of the project includes the seaward portions
of two directionally bored conduits (approximately 950 meters out to
sea to a water depth of 15 meters) and one two-inch wide submarine
cable extending westward from one of the conduits to deep ocean. The
offshore cable would extend along the submarine ridge (``Smooth
Ridge'') to the western boundary of the MBNMS (and then onward to New
Zealand via Hawaii).
The applicant proposes to bury the cable to a depth of one meter
out to a water depth of 2,000 meters, where feasible and where
sensitive areas are not prohibitive. In general, the cable would be
laid directly onto the ocean floor at ocean depths greater than 2,000
meters, where the potential for conflict with other marine uses is
likely to be minimal.
Two cable burial methods are proposed. Where feasible, an
underwater plow deployed from the cable ship would cut a narrow trench
[[Page 45952]]
for the cable and bury the cable. In sensitive areas or areas where the
plow cannot operate safely, the cable would be laid directly on the sea
floor and buried using a post lay jetting system in which a remotely
operated vehicle with high-volume, low-pressure water jets would jet
the cable into the sediment. This system would liquefy the substrate
directly beneath the cable, causing the cable to sink into the
substrate.
The applicant proposes to land the cable onshore in Santa Cruz
County at the Monterey Bay Academy approximately two miles south of La
Selva Beach. A cable landing facility would be located at the Monterey
Bay Academy and the cable would continue onshore buried for 8.7 miles
to a cable equipment building to be located within the unincorporated
community of Pajaro. The cable would be connected to the existing
network facilities at the cable termination station.
II. Alternatives
Pursuant to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements,
the EIR/EIS will evaluate the No Action Alternative and alternative
routes for placement and landing of the fiber optic cable. Six
preliminary alternatives to the proposed action have been developed
based on initial discussions with state and local agencies, as well as
the local commercial fishing industry.
Additional alternatives to the proposed action may be developed as
part of the public scoping phase for inclusion in the Draft EIR/EIS.
The possible alternatives include:
No Action Alternative--Under the No Action Alternative, MFS
Globenet would not construct the proposed fiber optic cable.
Alternative 1 Route--This alternative route follows along the
northern edge of Soquel and Cabrillo canyons to minimize potential
conflicts with commercial fishing. A re-route of the transition between
inner shelf and smooth ridge between 120-400 meter depth contours also
minimizes impacts to hard-bottom benthic habitat. The route would
traverse approximately 62.4 miles of the MBNMS. The onshore landing
area would be the same as the proposed action.
Alternative 2 Route--The cable would be routed up the length of
Monterey Canyon and through Soquel Canyon for a distance of 75.5 miles
across the MBNMS. This alternative is intended to reduce potential
impacts to commercial trawl fishing. The onshore landing area would be
the same as the proposed action.
Alternative 3 Route--This alternative considers a combined landing
at a beach proposed by another cable project proponent. Fiber optic
cables would generally follow the proposed action route, but would land
at La Selva Beach instead of Monterey Bay Academy.
Alternative 4 Route--The cable would generally follow the ridge of
Ano Nuevo Canyon and would traverse approximately 47.3 miles of the
MBNMS. The landing site would be located at Davenport Beach, just south
of El Jarro Point. This alternative reduces linear encroachment into
MBNMS and reduces encroachment onto the continental shelf.
Alternative 5 Route--The offshore segment of the cable would be
routed across a narrower section of the MBNMS (compared to the proposed
action) and along the northern rim of Ascension Canyon to Davenport
Beach, just south of El Jarro Point (same landing as Alternative 4).
The route would traverse approximately 35.8 miles of the MBNMS. This
alternative would reduce linear encroachment into the Sanctuary.
Alternative 6 Route--The cable would be constructed outside the
boundaries of the MBNMS to avoid impacts to Sanctuary resources. The
nearshore cable route and landing site would be consolidated with the
applicant's other proposed cable landings in Morro Bay, California.
III. Summary of Environmental Issues
The installation, maintenance, and eventual decommissioning and
removal of the cable pose potentially significant impacts upon
Sanctuary resources and qualities. The EIR/EIS will address onshore and
offshore environmental effects of cable construction, operation,
maintenance and repair, and removal. Potential onshore impacts have
been identified in the separate Notice of Preparation, issued by the
County of Santa Cruz, as the EIR lead agency. Specific offshore
environmental issues that have been identified for analysis in the EIR/
EIS include:
Effects on commercial and recreational fisheries and
fisheries operations, including construction interference with fishing
activities, potential loss of catch, and potential accidents (e.g.,
fishing net entanglement);
Trenching effects (e.g., sediment plume, benthic
disruption, and siltation) on the water column, marine water quality,
and flora and fauna;
Effects on kelp beds, benthic communities, rocky hard-
bottom communities, plankton, fish, marine birds, marine mammals, and
marine turtles from construction disturbances and/or release of
contaminants, including boats anchoring, increased turbidity, sediment
contamination, boat and construction-related noise, and introduction of
exotic species from foreign vessels;
Potential for bentonite spills and spill effects on water
quality and aquatic habitats and species;
Potential entanglements by cetaceans (whales) including
sperm whales where the cable is exposed and gray whales that feed on
the ocean bottom;
``Strumming'' (lateral movement of the cable along the
seafloor due to ocean currents) impacts on the marine environment;
Geologic hazards and physical effects on the cable (e.g.,
submarine landslides and erosion);
Electromagnetic field effects on marine species;
Impacts on submerged cultural resources;
Direct or indirect effects on sensitive species and
habitats;
Cable installation vessel interference with commercial and
recreational vessel navigation; and
Short-term air quality effects from construction
equipment, vehicle, and vessel emissions.
IV. Future Public Involvement
Additional opportunities for public review will be provided when
the Draft EIR/EIS is completed. A notice of availability of the Draft
EIR/EIS will be published in the Federal Register. In addition, release
of the Draft EIR/EIS for public comment and public meetings on the
Draft EIR/EIS will be announced in the local news media, as the dates
are established. According to the current schedule, which is subject to
change, the Draft EIR/EIS is expected to be released in December 1999.
V. Special Accommodations
The public scoping meeting is physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to Scott Kathey at the Monterey Bay
National Marine Sanctuary, (831) 647-4251, at least five days prior to
the meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. Section 1431 et seq.
(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog Number 11.429 Marine Sanctuary
Program)
Dated: August 17, 1999.
Ted Lillestolen,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Ocean Services and Coastal Zone
Management.
[FR Doc. 99-21774 Filed 8-20-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-D8-M