[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 77 (Friday, April 21, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 20708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-5971]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY


United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology 
(US-VISIT) Program; Notice of Availability of a Final Programmatic 
Environmental Assessment (PEA) and a Finding of No Significant Impact 
(FONSI) on the US-VISIT Plan for Potential Changes to Immigration and 
Border Management Processes

AGENCY: US-VISIT, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: A Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) and 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the United States Visitor 
and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program are 
available to the public for electronic download. The Final PEA examines 
the potential environmental impacts of four strategic approaches to 
enhance immigration and border management processes and addresses the 
substantive comments received on the Draft PEA during the public 
comment period. These four approaches are aimed at improving 
information available to determine the identity and immigration status 
of individuals traveling to and from the United States. The Final PEA 
resulted in a FONSI that selected the proposed action, or Hybrid 
Alternative, as the approach to enhance the immigration and border 
management enterprise. The Final PEA and FONSI are made available to 
the public in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA) and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations 
for implementing NEPA.

DATES: The Final PEA and FONSI will be available to the public on April 
17, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Final PEA and FONSI may be obtained by 
download through the Internet at http://www.dhs.gov/us-visit.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa Mahoney, US-VISIT Environmental 
Program Manager, at (202) 298-5245, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.--5 p.m. EDT.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: US-VISIT published a Notice of Availability 
of a Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) on the US-VISIT 
Plan for Potential Changes to Immigration and Border Management 
Processes in the Federal Register (71 FR 8602, February 17, 2006). The 
Notice briefly discussed four strategic approaches analyzed in the 
Draft PEA, informed the public on how to obtain a copy of the Draft 
PEA, requested comments from the public on the Draft PEA during the 
public commenting period, and informed the public on the location and 
time of public meetings in seven locations in the United States during 
the public comment period. The comment period ended on March 18, 2006. 
Thirty-two (32) comments were received and considered by US-VISIT.
    The proposed action, or Hybrid Alternative, has been selected as 
the approach by which enhancements will be made to immigration and 
border management processes. This approach was selected after careful 
review of the environmental assessment and consideration of input 
received from the public and other federal and state agencies during 
the public comment period. The Hybrid Alternative was chosen because it 
provides the most opportunity for the entities responsible for 
immigration and border management to incorporate and balance the most 
useful components of the virtual and physical border alternatives to 
achieve security, facilitation, individual privacy, and immigration 
system integrity goals. A review of the relative impacts showed that no 
alternative would result in a significant impact and that the Hybrid 
Alternative ranked second in terms of environmental preference. As 
warranted, tiered environmental analyses for specific initiatives at 
the land border ports of entry resulting from selection of the Hybrid 
Alternative will be conducted and these tiered analyses will be made 
available to the public. A collection or ``toolbox'' of strategies and 
information for monitoring, mitigation, and environmental stewardship 
will also be developed to be used in implementing the Hybrid 
Alternative.

Juan Reyes,
Director, Office of Safety and Environmental Programs, Department of 
Homeland Security.
 [FR Doc. E6-5971 Filed 4-20-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-10-P