[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 19, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79421-79422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-32205]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[(CA-610-5101-ER-G032) CACA-40467]


Proposed Right-of-Way for an AT&T Corp. Buried Fiber Optic 
Telecommunications System and Plan Amendment

AGENCY: California Desert District, Bureau of Land Management.

ACTION: Notice of availability of an Environmental Assessment for a 
fiber optic telecommunications system from Lemesa, Texas to Los 
Angeles, California.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 202 of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, the Department of Interior, Bureau of Land 
Management (California Desert District), as lead agency, along with the 
U.S. Forest Service (Cleveland National Forest ) and U.S. Marine Corps 
(Camp Pendleton) as cooperating agencies, have prepared an 
Environmental Assessment for a right-of-way proposed by AT&T Corp. for 
a buried fiber optic telecommunications line and associated facilities. 
This system, running from Lamesa, Texas to Los Angeles, California, is 
called the AT&T NexGen/Core Fiber Optic Telecommunications Project 
(``Project'').

[[Page 79422]]

The proposed action, which crosses federal lands in the States of 
California, Arizona and New Mexico, includes an amendment to the 
California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan which, if approved, 
will allow an exception to construct portions of this project along 
existing highways instead of within designated utility corridors on 
federal lands in Riverside, Imperial and San Diego Counties, 
California.
    The proposed Project would consist of five links or points-of-
presence (POP) connecting: (1) Lamesa to El Paso, Texas; (2) El Paso to 
Tucson, Arizona; (3) Tucson to Blythe, California; (4) Blythe to San 
Diego, California; and (5) San Diego to Los Angeles, California. The 
purpose being to construct, operate and maintain a buried fiber optic 
telecommunications system, including signal regeneration or optical 
amplification stations located every 40-50 miles, between Texas and 
California.
    Copies are available for public review at Bureau of Land Management 
offices in: Las Cruces, New Mexico; Safford, Tucson, Phoenix and Yuma, 
Arizona; and Palm Springs, El Centro, and Riverside, California. In 
addition copies will be available at the Environmental Office of Camp 
Pendleton as well as the Descanso Ranger District of the Cleveland 
National Forest. Furthermore, public reading copies may be downloaded 
from the following website: http://www.ca.blm.gov/cdd/att_nexgen_ea.html.

DATES: Written comments on this document must be submitted or 
postmarked no later than February 20, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this document should be addressed to: 
Stephen Johnson, Special Projects Manager, BLM California Desert 
District, 6221 Box Springs Blvd., Riverside, CA 92507.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Johnson, Special Projects 
Manager, at the above address or by phone at (909) 697-5233.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project configuration, as proposed and 
including measures to avoid, minimize, or mitigate impacts on the 
environment, is being considered along with a ``No Project'' and 
``Utility Corridor'' alternative. The BLM has been asked to issue 
rights-of-way for portions of this fiber optic system that cross public 
lands.
    The California portion of this Project, which as proposed includes 
an exception to the CDCA Plan to construction portions along existing 
roads instead of within designated utility corridors, begins at the 
Point of Presence (POP) in Blythe, California, and would travel in a 
southwesterly direction along Highway 78 and Old Highway 80 through the 
following city jurisdictions: Blythe, Brawley, El Centro, El Cajon, La 
Mesa, and San Diego. From San Diego north to Los Angeles the route 
would primarily parallel the coast traversing the U.S. Marine Corps 
Camp Pendleton. In addition, the route would pass through large 
portions of unincorporated areas in Riverside, Imperial and San Diego 
Counties, and besides public lands administered by the BLM, it would 
also cross the Descanso Ranger District of Cleveland National Forest, 
the USMC's Camp Pendleton, as well as the La Posta and Campo Indian 
Reservations. It would require an urban build through San Diego and Los 
Angeles, terminating at the POP in Los Angeles, California.
    The fiber optic telecommunications system project entails the 
design and construction of a six-duct conduit system and ancillary 
facilities to accommodate digital broadband Internet Protocol. 
Ancillary facilities would include: regeneration stations and Optical 
Amplification (Op Amp) Stations spaced an average of 50 miles; buried 
splice boxes placed at 2,500-foot intervals; and marker poles placed 
500 feet apart. The Project, as described in the EA, should contribute 
small to no additional impact to the environment and would operate 
entirely within previously disturbed and routinely maintained road 
rights-of-way.

    Dated: December 12, 2000.
Alan Stein,
Acting District Manager.
[FR Doc. 00-32205 Filed 12-18-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-M