[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 182 (Tuesday, September 21, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51175-51178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-24579]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE


Office of Mexican Affairs; Notice of Issuance of a Finding of No 
Significant Impact With Regard to the Issuance of a Presidential Permit 
for the Cox Communications Underground Fiber-Optic Link, San Diego, 
California

[Public Notice No. 3124]
AGENCY: Department of State.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Department of State has issued 
a Finding of No Significant Impact on the human environment within the 
United States for the underground fiber-optic link project sponsored by 
Cox Communications, Inc. of San Diego, California. A draft 
Environmental Assessment of the proposed underground fiber-optic link 
was prepared by Tetra Tech, Inc. for the sponsor, Cox Communications, 
Inc. of San Diego, California.
    The draft Final Environmental Assessment was then reviewed by 
numerous federal and state agencies. Each such ``cooperating agency'' 
has approved or accepted the draft Final Environmental Assessment.
    Based upon the Department's independent review of the draft Final 
Environmental Assessment, comments received during its preparation and 
comments received by the Department from federal and state agencies 
including measures which are proposed to be taken to prevent and/or 
mitigate

[[Page 51176]]

potentially adverse environmental impacts which the Sponsors intend to 
take, the Department has concluded that issuance of a Presidential 
Permit authorizing construction of the proposed Cox Communications 
underground fiber-optic link would not have a significant impact on the 
quality of the human environment within the United States. Accordingly, 
a finding of no significant impact is adopted and an EIS will not be 
prepared.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Presidential Permit may be obtained from Mr. 
David E. Randolph, Coordinator, U.S.-Mexico Border Affairs, Office of 
Mexican Affairs, Room 4258, Department of State, Washington, D.C. 
20520, telephone (202) 647-8529. A copy of the Department's Final 
Environmental Assessment is available for inspection in Room 4258 of 
the Department of State during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed action is to grant a 
Presidential Permit to Cox Communications of San Diego, California 
(hereinafter referred to as ``permittee''), for the construction of an 
underground fiber-optic link from San Diego, California, to Tijuana, 
Baja California, Mexico. A draft Environmental Assessment of the 
proposed fiber-optic tunnel which permits the cable to run beneath the 
U.S.-Mexico boundary was prepared by Tetra Tech, Inc. of San Diego, 
California, on behalf of the permittee, under the guidance and 
supervision of the Department of State. The Department of State placed 
a notice in the Federal Register (November 13, 1998, 63 FR 63520) 
regarding the availability for inspection of Cox's Permit application 
and the draft Environmental Assessment. No public comments were 
received.
    Seventeen federal and state agencies independently 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 Federal Highway Administration 
and the United States Coast Guard (of the Department of 
Transportation), the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the 
Department of the Interior, the Department of Commerce, the 
Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice, the Council 
on Environmental Quality, the Department of State and the California 
Department of Transportation. Because the land where construction is 
proposed to take place is owned by a federal government agency (the 
United States Section of the International Boundary and Water 
Commission), the draft Environmental Assessment was not subject to 
review under the California Environmental Quality Act. All comments 
received from these agencies were responded to directly or by expanding 
the analysis contained in this assessment.
    This draft Final Environmental Assessment, the comments submitted 
by the agencies, the responses to these comments, and all 
correspondence between the agencies and the permittee addressing the 
agencies' concerns, together constitute the Final Environmental 
Assessment of the proposed action by the Department of State.
    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 Fed. Reg. 11741 (1968), as amended by Executive Order 12847 
of May 17, 1993, 58 Fed. Reg. 29511 (1993). On January 22, 1998, the 
Undersecretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs 
determined that international fiber-optic links, the construction of 
which involve tunnels under the United States-Mexico border, require 
Presidential Permits. Based on the Final Environmental Assessment, 
including measures which are proposed to be taken to prevent or 
mitigate potentially adverse environmental impacts and which the 
permittee intends to take, and information developed during the review 
of the permittee's application, the Department of State has concluded 
that issuance of the Presidential Permit authorizing construction of 
the fiber-optic link will not have a significant impact on the quality 
of the human environment within the United States.

Summary of The Environmental Assessment

    Cox Communications of San Diego, California, has applied to the 
Department for a Presidential Permit to build an underground tunnel 
carrying fiber optic cables in the San Ysidro-Tijuana area, just north 
of the U.S.-Mexico International Border Fence and just south of a 
secondary concrete pillar fence. The boundary crossing site is located 
in an area that is not open to the public and is used by the United 
States Border Patrol, owned by the United States Section of the 
International Boundary and Water Commission and located within the 
corporate boundaries of the City of San Diego.
    The fiber optic line will extend a cable overhead to the U.S.-
Mexican border by placing the cable on the existing utility poles owned 
by San Diego Gas and Electric. Cox will place an additional 45-foot 
long pole at a point 12 feet north of the border wall and at a depth in 
the ground of 10 feet. Cox will place an anchor rod six feet south of 
the new pole; at the new pole, Cox will use a backhoe to dig a trench 
32 feet east with the dimensions of one foot wide by five feet deep. At 
the end of the trench, Cox will shoot an eight-inch diameter 
directional bore south under the border wall at a depth of ten feet for 
a distance of 130 feet to the pole on the Mexican side at Martinez 
Street. Conduit will be placed in the trench. The cable will be pulled 
through the conduit to the Mexican side.
    The fiber optic line, the first of its kind in a tunnel across the 
U.S.-Mexican border, will provide a communication link between San 
Diego and Tijuana. Initially, the connection will allow an interactive/
broadcast quality/live, video connection to be activated between San 
Diego State University and a university in Tijuana.
    Other uses for the connection could include: Video connectivity 
between the offices of the Mayors of San Diego and Tijuana; 
Transporting network television programming between cable systems; 
Linking together television stations to provide connections for late-
breaking news stories such as storms, traffic congestion, etc.; 
Transporting high speed Internet access across the border; Providing 
telephony traffic back and forth across the border; Linking ``sister'' 
factories on both sides of the border with data connections.

The Alternatives

    The Department considered four alternatives:
    1. The ``No Action'' alternative;
    2. Constructing the fiber optic cable line underground along the 
entire alignment;
    3. Constructing the fiber optic cable line above-ground along the 
entire alignment;
    4. Constructing the fiber optic cable line both aboveground and 
underground using primarily existing facilities.
    The First Alternative, the ``No Action'' alternative, would 
eliminate any potential adverse environmental impacts associated with 
the proposed construction, but would not achieve the objective of 
providing a high-tech fiber

[[Page 51177]]

optic link between San Diego and Tijuana.
    The Second Alternative, constructing the fiber optic cable line 
underground along the entire alignment, would involve constructing 
underground facilities where no facilities currently exist.
    The Third Alternative, constructing the fiber optic cable line 
above-ground along the entire alignment, would involve constructing 
aboveground facilities where no facilities currently exist.
    The Fourth Alternative, constructing the fiber optic cable line 
both aboveground and underground using primarily existing facilities, 
is the permittee's preferred alternative. Temporarily, potentially 
significant noise impacts, minor, temporary impacts to air quality and 
temporary, local impacts on recreation (temporary disruption of use of 
a bike lane), and traffic and socioeconomic effects (temporary partial 
disruption of access to businesses) have been identified for the 
Second, Third and Fourth Alternatives. Because the Fourth Alternative 
would use the greatest amount of existing infrastructure to contain the 
new cable line, resulting in less construction time than the other two 
alternatives, environmental impacts would likely be less under the 
Fourth Alternative than under the Second and Third Alternatives.
    The draft Environmental Assessment submitted by the permittee in 
support of its application provides information on the environmental 
effects of the construction of the underground tunnel. On the basis of 
the Environmental Assessment and information developed by the 
Department and other federal and state agencies in the process of 
reviewing the draft Environmental Assessment, the Department arrived at 
the following conclusions on the likely impact of construction at the 
proposed location:

Wetlands

    The permittee apprised the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) of 
the proposed project in a letter dated February 10, 1997. This letter 
contained a project description and project map. The Corps responded on 
May 7, 1997, setting forth its determination that the proposed project 
would not discharge dredged or fill material into waters of the United 
States or an adjacent wetland. The Corps further indicated that the 
proposed project is not subject to Corps jurisdiction under Section 404 
of the Clear Water Act, and a Section 404 permit would not be required. 
The Corps response letter is included in the Environmental Assessment.

Threatened and Endangered Species

    The Department considered possible impacts of the project on 
federally protected species. Cox accessed the California Natural 
Diversity Data Base (CNDDB) for the Imperial Beach USGS 7.5 minute quad 
mapping area. The CNDDB contains historic records of occurrence of 
sensitive biological resources. These computer records, dated December 
12, 1997, revealed a number of sensitive species that could be present 
in the Tijuana River Valley area. A biological field survey was 
conducted at the project site on June 9, 1998 to characterize the 
habitat present and evaluate the potential occurrence of sensitive 
species and sensitive habitat types. An additional survey was conducted 
on July 4, 1998. Based on the lack of habitat, the sensitive species 
identified during the CNDDB search are not expected to be present at 
the project site.
    Examples of sensitive species known to occur in the region, but not 
expected to occur at the site due to a lack of appropriate habitat, 
include the Least Bell's Vireo and Arroyo Toad (on the federal 
endangered species list); the Coastal California Gnatcatcher (on the 
federal threatened species list); and the Western Spadefoot, San Diego 
Horned Lizard, Orange-Throated Whiptail, Coastal Cactus Wren, San Diego 
Desert Woodrat and Many-Stemmed Dudleya (on the federal species of 
concern list).

Land Use

    The proposed site is located in an area that is not open to the 
public, and which is used by the United States Border Patrol. Border 
Patrol agents typically patrol the area between the two fences using 
sport utility vehicles, and often park their vehicles along the access 
road located just north of the border crossing site in order to 
discourage illegal border crossing attempts. The land at the border 
crossing site is owned by the United States Section of the 
International Boundary and Water Commission. The proposed fiber optic 
cable line alignment would be constructed along existing overhead 
transmission lines or existing underground transmission facilities that 
traverse existing residential and commercial land uses. There are an 
estimated 18 businesses and 586 residences located along the proposed 
fiber optic alignment, on both sides of the streets. Most residences 
are multi-family attached units and mobile homes. An elementary school 
that serves about 700 students is located in the area.
    The border crossing site is an area of disturbed land that is 
maintained in a cleared and graded condition, and sustains heavy off-
road vehicle use. It is devoid of structures and vegetation. The 
project would add only one new utility pole. All other facilities would 
be placed in an underground trench or would be accommodated on an 
existing SDG&E utility pole. Construction duration is expected to be 
relatively short-term--less than one week. As such, no significant 
impacts to aesthetic resources at the border crossing site are 
anticipated.

River Channel and Floodplains

    The Tijuana River is located approximately 100 meters to the north 
of the project area. Variable rainfall produces variable flow 
characteristics, and the river does shift widely across the valley 
floor. However, a high levee located south of the river overlooks the 
border crossing site and provides protection from flooding.

Air Quality

    The San Diego Air Basin is designated as a non-attainment area with 
respect to ozone standards (a level of non-attainment is classified as 
being ``serious''), carbon monoxide standards (west San Diego County 
only) and the California state suspended particulate matter standard. 
Land uses considered to be sensitive receptors relative to air 
pollutant emissions typically include health-related facilities, child-
care facilities and facilities where occupants may have limited 
mobility and/or long-term exposure to emissions. Such uses typically 
include long-term health-care facilities, rehabilitation centers, 
convalescent centers, retirement homes, residences, schools and 
playgrounds. No sensitive receptors are located at the border crossing 
site.
    The nearest sensitive receptors relative to air pollutant emissions 
include Willow School located at 226 Willow Road, the South Bay Head 
Start facility located at 253 Willow Road, numerous residences along 
streets traversed by the existing overhead transmission lines and 
underground transmission facilities, and the Cesar Chavez Community 
Center-San Ysidro at Larsen Field, located approximately 0.1 miles west 
of the alignment at 455 Sycamore Road. Temporary, unavoidable, local, 
construction-related, less-than-significant impacts are expected for 
air quality.

[[Page 51178]]

Historical and Archeological Resources

    A record search was conducted by the South Coast Information Center 
on February 24, 1997, at the request of the permittee. This search 
revealed that a portion of the project area had been previously 
inventoried, and that no cultural resources had been identified.
    On June 9, 1998, a cultural resources and paleontological survey 
with limited subsurface testing was conducted at the border crossing 
site. The primary purpose of the survey and subsurface testing was to 
determine whether cultural and paleontological resources exist in the 
ground disturbance portion of the project area that could be adversely 
affected by the placement of the pole and associated buried fiber optic 
cable. The entire area subject to surface disturbance, as well as a 
buffer area, was examined for the presence of both prehistoric and 
historic archaeological resources, and paleontological resources. A 
total of eight 12-centimeter-diameter auger test holes were excavated. 
No archaeological, historic or paleontological resources have been 
identified at the border crossing site.
    During the June 1998 survey, a spot check was made at a utility 
pole at the southeast corner of Willow Road and Camino de la Plaza 
where a small excavation immediately adjacent to the pole is proposed. 
No evidence of cultural or paleontological resources was observed at 
this location. No historical resources are located along the proposed 
fiber optic cable line alignment.

Noise

    The border crossing site is located within open space land that is 
used by the Border Patrol for control of illegal immigration. It is 
disturbed land with no structures. Like air quality pollutants, land 
uses considered to be sensitive receptors relative to noise typically 
include health-related facilities, child-care facilities and facilities 
where occupants may have limited mobility and/or long-term exposure to 
emissions. Such uses typically include long-term health-care 
facilities, rehabilitation centers, convalescent centers, retirement 
homes, residences, schools and playgrounds. There are no sensitive 
noise receptors present in the vicinity of the border crossing site on 
the U.S. side of the international border.
    The nearest sensitive receptors relative to noise include Willow 
School located at 226 Willow Road, the South Bay Head Start facility 
located at 253 Willow Road, numerous residences along streets traversed 
by the existing overhead transmission lines and underground 
transmission facilities, and the Cesar Chavez Community Center-San 
Ysidro at Larsen Field, located approximately 0.1 miles west of the 
alignment at 455 Sycamore Road. Temporary, unavoidable, local, 
construction-related, less-than-significant impacts are expected for 
noise.

Environmental Justice

    The border crossing site is located on vacant land. No businesses 
or residences exist on or near the site on the U.S. side of the border. 
The population of Census Tract 100.09, which contains all of the border 
crossing site and the majority of the proposed fiber optic cable line 
alignment, was 4,584 as of January 1, 1998. According to a population 
estimate of the census tract by ethnicity, the population of the census 
tract is 87.8% of Hispanic origin, 5.6% White, 5.4% Black and 1.2% 
Asian/Other.
    The median household income for the census tract was $14,495 as of 
January 1, 1998. The largest percentage of households (30.0%) consisted 
of those in the $10,000-$14,999 income range, while 1.5% of households 
earned $50,000-$74,999 and none earned over $75,000.
    The population of the City of San Diego as a whole was 1,224,848 as 
of January 1, 1998. According to a population estimate by ethnicity, 
the population of San Diego is 24.3% of Hispanic origin, 54.7% White, 
8.7% Black and 13.2% Asian/Other.
    The median household income for the City was $40,974 as of January 
1, 1998. The largest percentage of households (19.8%) consisted of 
those in the $50,000-$74,999 income range, while 6.1% of households 
earned $10,000-$14,999 and 8.2% earned under $10,000.
    The general make-up of the population of the census tract 
containing the border crossing site is low-income and of Hispanic 
origin. No disproportionately high and adverse human health or 
environmental impacts on minority populations, low-income populations, 
or Native American Indian tribes are likely to result from construction 
or operation of the proposed fiber optic project.

Cumulative Impacts

    Construction and operation of the proposed fiber optic cable 
project will not result in significant cumulative impacts. The proposed 
project would have no adverse impact on land use, recreation, 
biological resources, cultural resources, geotechnical hazards or 
environmental justice. Temporary, unavoidable, local, construction-
related, less-than-significant impacts are expected for air quality, 
traffic and socioeconomics (temporary partial disruption of access to 
local businesses). Temporary, unavoidable, local, construction-related, 
potentially significant impacts have been identified for noise, but 
these can be reduced to a level that is less-than-significant through 
successful application of the recommended mitigation measures. 
Mitigation is also recommended for air quality to further reduce the 
level of impact.

Conclusion

    On the basis of the Environmental Assessment, the Department's 
independent review of that Assessment, information developed during the 
review of the application and Environmental Assessment, and comments 
received, it appears that none of the alignment alternatives (i.e. 
alternatives 1-4, described above) would have a significant impact on 
the human environment within the United States. Accordingly, a Finding 
of No Significant Impact (``FONSI'') is adopted and an environmental 
impact statement will not be prepared.

    Dated: September 14, 1999.
David E. Randolph,
Coordinator, U.S.-Mexico Border Affairs, Office of Mexican Affairs.
[FR Doc. 99-24579 Filed 9-20-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-29-P