[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 245 (Friday, December 22, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60716-60717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27584]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

[Docket ID: DOD-2017-OS-0066]


Guantanamo Bay to Punta Salinas, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico Submarine 
Fiber Optic Cable System (GTMO-PR SFOC); Environmental Assessment (EA)/
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)

AGENCY: U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is announcing 
that it has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) and issued a 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) relating to DISA's evaluation 
of the Proposed Action and Alternatives to installing Submarine Fiber 
Optic Cable (SFOC) for communication purposes between the DISN 
Facilities at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO) and Ft. 
Buchanan, Puerto Rico in order to supply high Bandwidth and restoration 
capability to DoD activities at GTMO. This SFOC will improve long-haul 
communications between the continental U.S. (CONUS), Puerto Rico and 
GTMO. The FONSI reports the studies that prove that there will be no 
significant environmental impact from the installation of this SFOC. 
This notice announces the availability of the final EA and FONSI to 
concerned agencies and the public.

DATES: The public comment period will end on January 22, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Requests to receive a copy of the EA or FONSI should be 
mailed to Defense Information Systems Agency, Public Affairs Officer, 
P.O. Box 549, Ft. Meade, MD 20755-0549. Arrangements must be made in 
advance to pick up the documents, due to facility security 
requirements.
    You may submit comments, identified by docket number and title, by 
any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Department of Defense, Office of the Deputy Chief 
Management Officer, Directorate for Oversight and Compliance, 
Regulatory and Advisory

[[Page 60717]]

Committee Division, 4800 Mark Center Drive, Mailbox #24, Suite 08D09B, 
Alexandria, VA 22350-1700.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency 
name, docket number and title for this Federal Register document. The 
general policy for comments and other submissions from members of the 
public is to make these submissions available for public viewing on the 
internet at http://www.regulations.gov as they are received without 
change, including any personal identifiers or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: DISA Public Affairs at 301-225-8100 or 
[email protected] or DISA, P.O. Box 549, Ft. 
Meade, MD 20755-0549.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: Pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) 
regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 
1500-1508) and 32 CFR part 188, Environmental Effects in the United 
States of DoD Actions, the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency 
(DISA) prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) to analyze the 
installation of a submarine fiber optic cable connecting the Defense 
Information System Network (DISN) node located offshore at Guantanamo 
Bay (GTMO), Cuba to the DISN node located in Fort Buchanan, Puerto 
Rico. The DISA is a Department of Defense (DoD) combat support agency 
under the direction, authority and control of the Assistant Secretary 
of Defense for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (ASD 
[C31]).
    The proposed Guantanamo Bay to Puerto Rico Submarine Fiber Optic 
Cable system (GTMO-PR SFOC) comprises a marine cable route 
approximately 1,400 kilometers (756 nm) in length from a pre-laid shore 
end stub cable (installed in 2016 as part of Phase 1 SFOC (published at 
80 FR 12985-12986, March 12, 2015)) ending 19 kilometers (10/26 
nautical miles) offshore of the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba to 
the DISN node located in Fort Buchanan, Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The 
landing location for Puerto Rico is the Puerto Rico Air National Guard 
(PRANG) Radar installation located in Punta Salinas, Toa Baja through a 
horizontally directional drilled (HDD) pipe. For the subsequent 
connection to the Army Reserves Base, Fort Buchanan in Bayamon, DISA 
will lease commercial 10 Gb/s lit services to facilitate the 
terrestrial connection.
    Purpose and Need: The DISA GTMO Cable System Project Management 
Office developed communication services by installing an SFOC during 
Phase 1 that connected the DISN node located at GTMO to the DISN node 
located in Miami, FL to substantially improve the long-haul 
communications between the continental U.S. (CONUS) and GTMO. Long-haul 
communications requirements at GTMO are rapidly expanding and require a 
secure redundant path to and from CONUS. This is currently provided by 
commercial satellite services. Phase 2 of the project for this 
additional SFOC system from GTMO to Puerto Rico will provide 
significantly more bandwidth than satellite services, exhibit very low 
latency, and not be subject to adverse atmospheric conditions, such as 
severe weather (e.g., tropical rain storms and hurricanes). Therefore, 
the Phase 2 SFOC system is proposed to increase the level and 
reliability of communication service between CONUS and GTMO. The EA and 
this FONSI were prepared in compliance with the NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321-
4347), CEQ regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of 
the NEPA (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 1500-1508), and 32 CFR 
part 188, Environmental Effects in the United States of DoD Actions. 
The EA considers all potential impacts of the Proposed Action and 
Alternatives, including the No Action Alternative. This Finding of No 
Significant Impact (FONSI) summarizes the DISA's evaluation of the 
Proposed Action and Alternatives.
    Alternatives Considered: Prior to selection of the PRANG facility, 
several government facility sites were considered for the landing point 
in Puerto Rico. Site visits were made to each location in addition to 
development of preliminary terrestrial and marine cable routing 
concepts. The main sites considered were the U.S. Coast Guard Base, 
Aguadilla, the CBP Facility, Boquer[oacute]n, the CBP Facility, Ponce, 
the CBP Facility, Mayaguez, and the PRANG Base, Punta Salinas. The 
Preferred landing site is the PRANG Base at Punta Salinas. Once the 
general site was chosen, two approaches to the area were considered, 
one from the north/west and one from the south/east. The Northern 
approach was selected as, using a horizontal directionally drilled 
(HDD) solution, the cable will come ashore well beneath the active high 
energy surf zone. The HDD drill path is straight forward and will allow 
an easy direct lay from the main lay installation vessel.
    Deepwater Cable Route Alternatives--Several deep-water route 
alternatives were evaluated as part of the cable route planning process 
with the final route selection chosen to maximize the cable protection 
while minimizing the environmental impact. These alternatives were not 
analyzed with respect to impacts on the human or natural environment 
because the DISA determined that the action of a one-time, direct-laid 
SFOC system on the seabed has been demonstrated in past commercial and 
government project actions worldwide to ordinarily have only a minor, 
localized, and transient effect on the environment. Therefore, the 
action lacks the potential to cause significant harm to the environment 
outside the U.S. and meets the exemption requirement (E2.3.3.1.1) to 
prepare environmental documentation under Executive Order (E.O.) 12114, 
Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions.
    No Action Alternative--The No Action Alternative would be not to 
proceed with the GTMO-PR SFOC system project linking NAVSTAGTMO at 
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with the Fort Buchanan facility in Puerto Rico. 
NAVSTAGTMO would continue to operate with existing Phase 1 SFOC and 
backup satellite communication capabilities which would not meet the 
operational need for reliability and additional bandwidth nor provide a 
secure disaster recovery plan.
    Conclusion: The GTMO-PR SFOC EA was prepared and evaluated pursuant 
to NEPA, CEQ regulations at 40 CFR 1500-1508, and 32 CFR part 188. DISA 
has concluded that, based on the analyses presented in the GTMO-PR SFOC 
EA, no significant direct, indirect, or cumulative impacts would occur 
as a result of the Proposed Action. Therefore, no further study under 
NEPA is required, and a FONSI is thus warranted. In addition, the 
Proposed Action lacks the potential to cause significant harm to the 
environment outside the U.S. and thus is exempt from further 
environmental analyses under Executive Order 12114. Accordingly, the 
DISA approved the installation and operation of the GTMO-PR SFOC.

    Dated: December 19, 2017.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2017-27584 Filed 12-21-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 5001-06-P