[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 140 (Friday, July 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42379-42380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-14364]


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INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO


United States Section; Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Final 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) for Clean Water Act 
(CWA) compliance at the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment 
Plant (SBIWTP), San Diego County, CA

AGENCY: United States Section, International Boundary and Water 
Commission (USIBWC).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: This announces the availability of the FSEIS that assesses the 
potential environmental impacts of the construction and operation of a 
range of treatment and disposal alternatives for the SBIWTP to achieve 
compliance with the CWA and the requirements contained in its National 
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Situated in the 
United States at the United States/Mexico border, the SBIWTP treats 
sewage flows originating from the City of Tijuana, Mexico and the 
surrounding region and discharges the treated effluent into the Pacific 
Ocean through an ocean outfall. In December 2004, the USIBWC published 
a Draft SEIS (DSEIS) for this action which considered existing and new 
alternatives that would enable the USIBWC to bring the SBIWTP into 
compliance with the CWA and the requirements contained in its NPDES 
permit and to evaluate new information on the current discharges of 
advanced primary effluent from the SBIWTP through the South Bay Ocean 
Outfall (SBOO), as well as potential interim actions that would 
continue operations of the SBIWTP until the SBIWTP achieves CWA 
compliance. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), 
Region 9, San Francisco, California, is a Cooperating Agency for this 
action.

DATES: Written comments are requested by August 24, 2005. The public 
comment period of the FSEIS will end 30 days after publication of the 
NOA in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Written comments (no emails or faxes) must be addressed to: 
Mr. Daniel Borunda, Environmental Protection Specialist, Compliance 
Section, USIBWC, 4171 North Mesa Street, C-100, El Paso, Texas 79902. A 
copy of the FSEIS is available at http://www.ibwc.state.gov and in 
local public libraries in the San Diego area. A limited number of 
copies will be available, if you wish to obtain a copy contact Mr. 
Daniel Borunda at the address above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Daniel Borunda, Environmental 
Protection Specialist, USIBWC, at (915) 832-4701, by fax at (915) 832-
4167, or by mail at the above address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the USIBWC has 
analyzed the impacts of alternatives for the SBIWTP to achieve 
compliance with the CWA and its NPDES permit. This action is needed 
because the SBIWTP currently operates and discharges only at the 
advanced primary level and cannot meet all the requirements of the CWA 
and its NPDES permit, including secondary treatment requirements.
    This DSEIS also evaluated new information on the current discharges 
of advanced primary effluent from the SBIWTP through the SBOO, as well 
as potential treatment and disposal options in Mexico, to achieve 
compliance with the CWA and its NPDES permit.
    The No Action Alternative and six action alternatives were 
evaluated in the DSEIS. The six action alternatives were developed in a 
manner that would enable wastewater flows to be treated in compliance 
with the CWA and the SBIWTP NPDES permit. Formulation of the 
alternatives was the result of a process that included public 
consultation involving the public, regulatory agencies and 
environmental organizations.
    This DSEIS evaluated the following seven alternatives:
    1. Alternative 1: No Action (Continue operation of SBIWTP as 
Advanced Primary Facility).
     Option A: With No Future Improvements to Mexico's Existing 
Conveyance Facilities.
     Option B: With Future Improvements to Mexico's Existing 
Conveyance Facilities.
    2. Alternative 2: Operate SBIWTP as Advanced Primary Facility With 
Treated Flows Conveyed To Mexico for Discharge.
    3. Alternative 3: Operate SBIWTP with City of San Diego Connections 
(Interim Alternative Only).

[[Page 42380]]

    4. Alternative 4: Implementation of Public Law 106-457, Secondary 
Treatment Facility in Mexico.
     Treatment Option A: Operation of SBIWTP as Advanced 
Primary Facility, Secondary Treatment in Mexico.
     Treatment Option B: Cease Operation of SBIWTP, Secondary 
Treatment in Mexico.
     Treatment Option C: Bajagua Project, LLC Proposal--
Operation of SBIWTP as Advanced Primary Facility, Secondary Treatment 
in Mexico.
     Discharge Option I: Treated Effluent Discharged in United 
States via SBOO.
     Discharge Option II: Treated Effluent Discharged in Mexico 
at Punta Bandera.
    5. Alternative 5: Secondary Treatment in the United States at 
SBIWTP.
     Treatment Option A: Completely Mixed Aeration (CMA) Ponds 
at SBIWTP.
     Treatment Options B-1 and B-2: Activated Sludge Secondary 
Treatment at SBIWTP.
    6. Alternative 6: Secondary Treatment in the U. S. and in Mexico.
    7. Alternative 7: SBIWTP Closure/Shutdown.
    Background: The original Draft EIS for the SBIWTP project (1991) 
proposed the construction of a facility in San Diego to achieve 
secondary treatment using an activated sludge technology. Based on a 
1994 Final EIS and Record of Decision (ROD), the USIBWC and the USEPA 
approved the construction of the SBIWTP and the connecting SBOO. The 
SBIWTP is on a 75-acre site in south San Diego County, California, just 
west of San Ysidro near the intersection of Dairy Mart and Monument 
roads. Treated effluent is discharged to the Pacific Ocean through the 
SBOO, a 4.5-mile long piping system completed in January 1999. This 
outfall extends about 3.5 miles offshore.
    Pursuant to the completion of an Interim Operations Supplemental 
EIS in 1996, the USIBWC and USEPA decided to operate the SBIWTP as an 
advanced primary treatment facility before completion of the necessary 
secondary facilities. This decision would expedite the treatment of up 
to 25 mgd of untreated sewage from Tijuana that would otherwise have 
continued to pollute the Tijuana River and Estuary, as well as coastal 
waters in the United States.
    Before the SBOO was completed in 1999, advanced primary treated 
effluent was discharged through an emergency connection to the City of 
San Diego Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant. The emergency 
connection was used daily in the late 1980s and 1990s, but it has not 
been used in this manner since the SBIWTP started discharging through 
the SBOO in 1999.
    After the release of the May 1994 Final EIS and ROD and the 1996 
decision regarding interim operation, significant additional 
information became available and changed circumstances warranted 
reconsidering the best means to complete the SBIWTP secondary treatment 
facilities. The USIBWC and USEPA decided to prepare a Supplemental EIS 
to examine new information as a settlement to a lawsuit that challenged 
the 1994 Final EIS.
    In January 1998, the USIBWC and the USEPA issued the Draft Long 
Term Treatment Options Supplemental EIS to re-evaluate the SBIWTP 
secondary treatment options. In October 1998, the agencies issued a 
supplement to the 1996 Interim Operation Supplemental EIS that 
addressed impacts of the advanced primary treatment. This supplement 
disclosed new information about the presence of dioxins and acute 
toxicity in the advanced primary discharge. This new information was 
incorporated into the Final Long Term Treatment Options Supplemental 
EIS released in March 1999.
    In the 1999 ROD for the Long Term Treatment Options Supplemental 
EIS, the USEPA and the USIBWC selected the CMA pond system at the Hofer 
property as the long-term option for secondary treating 25 mgd of 
wastewater at the SBIWTP. However, Congress did not fund the 
construction of these secondary treatment facilities and the plant has 
continued to provide advanced primary treatment only.
    The specific purpose of the current analysis is to determine the 
environmental impacts of the alternatives that could accomplish 
compliance with the CWA and the SBIWTP NPDES permit.
    A Notice of Availability of the DSEIS was published in the Federal 
Register on December 30, 2004. A public hearing to present the findings 
of the DSEIS was held on February 2, 2005, in San Diego, California. 
The USIBWC has taken public comments on the December 2004 DSEIS into 
consideration and made clarifications and corrections as contained in 
the FSEIS. The USIBWC has identified Alternative 4, Treatment Option C 
with Discharge Option I, as the preferred alternative.
    A copy of the FSEIS has been filed with the USEPA in accordance 
with 40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508 and USIBWC procedures. Written 
comments concerning the FSEIS will be accepted at the address above 
until August 24, 2005.

    Dated: July 14, 2005.
Susan E. Daniel,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 05-14364 Filed 7-21-05; 8:45 am]
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