[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 95 (Friday, May 15, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29449-29450]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10426]
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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
[Notice-PBS-2020-04; Docket No. 2020-0002; Sequence No. 12]
Revised Notice of Intent/Revised Project Action and Notice of
Availability for Land Ports of Entry (LPOE)
AGENCY: Public Buildings Service (PBS), Pacific Rim Division General
Services Administration (GSA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and
the GSA have partnered to develop a program of projects at a number of
Land Ports of Entry (LPOEs) so that FMCSA agents can safely and
effectively inspect both commercial truck and bus traffic.
DATES: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the safety of the
public, a formal, in-person public meeting will not be held to solicit
comments and provide information about the Draft EA.
We will consider all comments that we receive on or before June 30,
2020.
ADDRESSES: The Draft EA can be viewed on the GSA website at http://www.gsa.gov/nepa. Click on NEPA Library then Public Documents. In
addition, copies may be obtained by calling or writing to the
individual listed in this notice under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section.
You may submit comments at the public meeting by either of the
following methods:
Electronic Mail: [email protected].
Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to:
Tina Sekula, JMT Inc., 1130 Situs Court, Suite 200, Raleigh, NC 27606.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Email: Osmahn Kadri at [email protected]
Mail: Attn: Osmahn Kadri, NEPA Program Manager, 50 United
Nations Plaza, 3345, Mailbox #9, San Francisco, CA 94102.
Telephone: (415) 522-3617.
*NOTE* PLEASE DO NOT MAIL COMMENTS VIA THE U.S. POSTAL
SERVICE (USPS) TO THE GSA MAILING ADDRESS AT THIS TIME. USPS MAIL CAN
BE SENT TO JMT INC AT THE ADDRESS ABOVE.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
GSA intended to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to
analyze the potential impacts from the proposed construction of six (6)
inspection facilities at five (5) different LPOEs in both California
and Arizona. A Notice of Intent (NOI) was published on May 23, 2019
concerning the EIS and scoping meetings. A revised NOI was published on
June 21, 2019 to notify interested parties that dates for the scoping
meetings changed for the two (2) Arizona Sites. This publication serves
as another revised NOI to inform interested parties of a revised
project action.
Based on scoping comments received, GSA has modified the proposed
action to develop co-located truck inspection facilities within
existing state-operated
[[Page 29450]]
inspection facilities to the extent practicable and develop stand-alone
Federal facilities for the proposed bus inspection facilities where
necessary. As a result of the revised proposed action, GSA has revised
the approach to NEPA documentation. GSA has prepared a separate Draft
Environmental Assessment (EA) and will prepare a Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI), if appropriate, to analyze the potential
impacts from the proposed construction of the bus inspection facility
at the San Ysidro LPOE in California. Two alternatives were analyzed to
include: (1) New ``Basic'' Facility Buildout; (2) No Build Action.
Regarding the proposed truck inspection facilities and other bus
inspection facilities previously identified at the other LPOEs, GSA is
negotiating agreements with state operated inspection facilities for
possible co-located facilities, which will determine what type of NEPA
documentation will be prepared for those proposed actions.
GSA is also advising the public that the Draft EA prepared for the
construction of a standalone FMCSA Bus Inspection Facility at the San
Ysidro LPOE in San Diego, California is available for public comment.
The Draft EA is being prepared to comply with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S. Code
[U.S.C.] 4321), as implemented by Council on Environmental Quality
(CEQ) regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 1500-1508), and
policies of the GSA as the lead federal agency. The EA process provides
steps and procedures to evaluate the potential social, economic, and
environmental impacts for the construction of the proposed FMCSA Bus
Inspection Facility at the San Ysidro LPOE while providing an
opportunity for local, state, or federal agencies to provide input and/
or comment through scoping, public information meetings, and/or a
public hearing. The social, economic, and environmental considerations
are evaluated and measured, as defined in the CEQ regulations, by their
magnitude of impacts.
The bus inspection station allows for FMCSA to conduct proper
inspection of buses entering the United States from Mexico. FMCSA is
required to conduct a sufficient number of meaningful vehicle safety
inspections and to accommodate vehicles placed out of service as a
result of said inspections. The current bus inspection operations at
the San Ysidro LPOE lacks the proper infrastructure for bus inspections
and is not adequate to maintain regular inspections. Therefore, the
LPOE does not address safety needs for the travelling public nor FMCSA
staff, nor capacity needs identified in future traffic projections at
the LPOE. The lack of dedicated bus inspection infrastructure exposes
FMCSA to safety concerns while conducting inspections and is not in
conformance with current FMCSA safety standards. GSA proposes to
construct a new FMCSA Bus Inspection facility on a federally owned 1.5-
acre parcel located north of the existing LPOE
A public scoping meeting on the project was held on June 18, 2019.
Comments received during the meeting were considered by GSA in this
Draft EA. The finding, which is based on the Draft EA, reflects the
GSA's determination that construction of the proposed facility will not
have a significant impact on the quality of the human or natural
environment.
Jared Bradley,
Director, Portfolio Management Division, Pacific Rim Region, Public
Buildings Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-10426 Filed 5-14-20; 8:45 am]
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