[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 235 (Wednesday, December 9, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65200-65201]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-29344]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice 6833]
Review of Unused Presidential Permit: Mission (Texas)
International Bridge
SUMMARY: More than 30 years ago, the Department of State issued to the
City of Mission, Texas, a Presidential permit for an international rail
and vehicular bridge. To date, the permit remains unused. The
Department and other federal agencies are currently evaluating whether
to revoke, modify, or retain as written this long-unused permit given
the change of circumstances in the project area, development of nearby
projects, inaction by the permittee, and apparent lack of interest in
pursuing the corresponding projects in Mexico. The review is not a
judgment regarding either the need for a new bridge or the merits of
Mission's plan, but rather represents a recognition that the project
for which this permit was issued has gone unimplemented longer than
similar projects and, due to the passage of time, may no longer be
viable. The City of Mission provided a project status update, which is
included in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.
DATES: Interested members of the public are invited to submit written
comments regarding this permit review on or before February 8, 2010 to
Mr. Stewart Tuttle, U.S.-Mexico Border Affairs Coordinator, via e-mail
at WHA-BorderAffairs@state.gov, or by mail at WHA/MEX--Room 3909,
Department of State, 2201 C St., NW., Washington, DC 20520.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Stewart Tuttle, U.S.-Mexico Border
Affairs Coordinator, via e-mail at WHA-BorderAffairs@state.gov; by
phone at 202-647-9894; or by mail at Office of Mexican Affairs--Room
3909, Department of State, 2201 C St., NW., Washington, DC 20520.
Information about Presidential permits is available at http://www.state.gov/p/wha/rt/permit/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Executive Order 11423 of August 16, 1968, as
amended, authorizes the Secretary of State to issue Presidential
permits for the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of
facilities crossing the international borders of the United States,
including, but not limited to, bridges and pipelines connecting the
United States with Canada or Mexico. In order to issue a Presidential
permit, the Secretary or her delegate must find that a border crossing
is in the U.S. national interest. Within the context of appropriate
border security, safety, health, and environmental requirements, it is
in the U.S. national interest to facilitate the efficient movement of
legitimate goods and travelers across U.S. borders.
Since 1968, the Department has issued 21 Presidential permits for
non-pipeline border crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border and one for the
U.S.-Canada border. Of the 21 U.S.-Mexican border projects that have
received permits, most began construction within two to five years. The
Presidential permit process, which emphasizes interagency and
binational coordination, is designed to ensure that border crossings
are built if, and only if, there is clear local, binational, and
interagency support for the project and construction is in the U.S.
national interest. It is not in the U.S. national interest to commit
scarce government resources (e.g., Customs and Border Protection
inspectors, highway improvement funds, etc.) as well as private
resources (e.g., land, capital, etc.) for border crossing projects that
cannot be successfully implemented within a reasonable time period.
While the Department may find a project to be in the U.S. national
interest under a certain set of circumstances, those circumstances may
change over time so that, five or ten years later, the Department may
conclude that the project is no longer in the national interest or the
relevant agencies may reconsider their recommendations on the
Department's initial grant of the permit. The border region is dynamic
and fast-changing and it is important that an outdated permit not be
used to build a border crossing on a site that is no longer appropriate
due to the passage of time (e.g., due to changes in transportation
patterns, development patterns, etc.). At the same time, the Department
recognizes that, by their nature, border crossing projects are complex,
time consuming, and subject to political, financial, regulatory, and
logistical setbacks.
In this review, the Department of State seeks public input on
whether to revoke, modify, or retain as written the Presidential permit
that it issued in 1978 to the City of Mission, Texas, for an
international rail and vehicular bridge. Interested members of the
public are invited to submit written comments, as set forth above.
[[Page 65201]]
The following is the text of a letter that the City of Mission
submitted on November 2, 2009, to the Department, providing its initial
input to this review process.
Begin text.
My letter today is in response to a teleconference held on October
20 between yourself and persons representing various interests of the
City of Mission concerning the status update, requested by the
Department of State on the Presidential Permit issued to the City of
Mission in 1978 for the construction of an international vehicular and
railroad bridge.
Our City has actively pursued over the last several years progress
on the Mission International Bridge. We have built partnerships with
stakeholders, pursued funding options, and identified future
strategies. Following is a summary of the recent activities we have
undertaken:
Developed and submitted a Congressional Appropriations
Request for a study to support the Railroad Bridge Project.
A Project Engineer--L&G Engineers of Mercedes to conduct a
feasibility study for the rail bridge has been identified.
The Governor of Tamp., the city officials of Reynosa,
Tamp, and Ramiro Garza Cantu, Owner of Grupo San Juan, have been
contacted. These entities will be submitting letters of support within
the next thirty days. We will forward them as soon as we receive them.
Hidalgo County Officials as well as the County's Railroad
District have been contacted and are supporting the Rail Project. In
fact the County Railroad District has plans for additional Rail Systems
within and outside the County to support the project. Public and
private local and regional entities will also be submitting letters of
support for this project.
City Officials along with the Mission Economic Development
Corporation have met with the Kansas City Rail Systems in Kansas City
to discuss not only the new Railroad Bridge in Mission but also the
North-South Rail running out of the Valley and connecting with the
Kansas City System owned by the Texas-Mexico Railways.
The local international port of entry projects currently in process
include the Anzalduas International Bridge and the Donna International
Bridge. The Anzalduas Bridge is scheduled to open in December 2009 for
vehicular traffic and the Donna International Bridge Project is still
under construction with a yet to be defined completion date. It is
important to note that neither bridge has a railroad bridge permit and
that in fact Mission Bridge is the only permitted Railroad Bridge from
Brownsville to Laredo and beyond. It is critical to the continued
economic growth of South Texas including in particular Cameron,
Hidalgo, and Starr Counties and the U.S. economy as a whole to have
railroad access for the transport of goods across the Mexico-Texas
border. It is also important to alleviate congestion at the Texas
Mexico Railroad Bridge in Laredo and the B&M Rail Bridge in
Brownsville.
Our City as mentioned above has contacted Eugenio Hernandez Flores,
Governor of the State of Tamaulipas, the city officials of Reynosa,
Tamp., as well as Ramiro Garza Cantu, Owner of Grupo San Juan, a
business conglomerate that deals with urban development, industrial
parks, agriculture, cattle and energy businesses. Grupo San Juan
presently owns 16,000 acres across the Mission Permitted Crossing Site.
They have all expressed interest. These entities have all shown support
for the Mission Railroad Bridge Project. These entities will be
submitting letters of support within the next thirty days. We will
forward them as soon as we receive them.
The Governor is interested in a new rail connection for the State
of Tamaulipas and is aware of the potential of the Madero site. Mr.
Garza Cantu and I have visited on numerous occasions about the
potential of connecting rail to his existing and sizeable industrial
parks, which are home to a large number of maquiladoras employing
thousands in Reynosa. The Anzalduas International Bridge, which does
not allow rail, empties into Mr. Garza Cantu's Villa Florida Industrial
Park, but he recognizes that any rail that may connect to the U.S. side
would need to be coordinated with our Mission/Madero permitted site.
The Mission/Madero site affords both vehicular and rail capacity as a
possibility for the continued growth of his master plan and the west
side of Reynosa.
As I enter my twelfth year of service as Mayor of the City of
Mission, I take satisfaction in knowing that the Anzalduas crossing
will soon be open and my attention is again focused on a Mission
International Bridge which was my top priority as I began my tenure as
Mayor in 1998. With the dynamic growth in our region both in the United
States and Mexico, I am confident that the Mission/Madero permitted
site continues to be in the interest of both countries.
Respectfully, Norberto ``Beto'' Salinas, Mayor.
Dated: December 4, 2009.
Alex Lee,
Director, Office of Mexican Affairs, Department of State.
[FR Doc. E9-29344 Filed 12-8-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-29-P