[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 10 (Friday, January 15, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2291-2293]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-00532]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2015-0372]
Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment for
the City of El Paso, Texas, Commercial Zone Expansion
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
[[Page 2292]]
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces the availability of a draft Environmental
Assessment (EA) prepared for the expansion of the City of El Paso,
Texas, commercial zone. The EA was prepared in compliance with the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA); the Council on
Environmental Quality Regulations; and FMCSA NEPA Order 5610.1 (NEPA
Implementing Procedures and Policy for Considering Environmental
Impacts). Interested persons are invited to comment on the draft EA.
DATES: Comments on the draft environmental assessment must be received
on or before January 28, 2016.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments bearing the Federal Docket
Management System Docket ID [FMCSA-2015-0372] using any of the
following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 0590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Each submission must include the Agency name and the docket number
for this notice. Note that DOT posts all comments received without
change to www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
included in a comment. Please see the Privacy Act heading below.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments, go to www.regulations.gov at any time or visit Room W12-140
on the ground level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays. The online Federal document management system
is available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. If you want
acknowledgment that we received your comments, please include a self-
addressed, stamped envelope or postcard or print the acknowledgement
page that appears after submitting comments online.
Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits
comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT
posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information
the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the
system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at
www.dot.gov/privacy.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Andrea Pahlevanpour, Environmental
Program Analyst, Regulatory Evaluation Division, U.S. Department of
Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New
Jersey Ave SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001, Telephone number: 202-366-
5370, [email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or
submitting material to the docket, contact Docket Services, telephone
(202) 366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The County of El Paso submitted a Presidential Permit application
on April 14, 2003, to the U.S. Department of State for replacement of
the Fabens-Caseta International Bridge (Fabens, Texas connecting
Caseta, Chihuahua, Mexico) and port of entry. The Department of State,
under its authority under Executive Order 11423, ``Delegation of
Functions to Secretary of State Respecting Certain Facilities
Constructed and Maintained on United States Borders,'' 33 FR 11741
(Aug. 16, 1968), for the construction, maintenance, and operation of
U.S.-Mexico cross-border facilities, issued the Presidential Permit on
March 16, 2005.
Presidential Permit 05-01 is titled ``Authorizing the County of El
Paso, Texas, to Construct, Operate, and Maintain an International
Bridge, Its Approaches and Facilities, at the International Boundary
Between the United States and Mexico.'' This permit granted permission,
subject to the conditions of the permit, to the County of El Paso,
Texas, to construct, operate and maintain an international bridge. The
permit noted that the name of the bridge was proposed as the
``Tornillo-Guadalupe New International Bridge.'' The bridge was to be
constructed, ``approximately 1,950 feet upstream'' from the existing
Fabens-Caseta International Bridge. The permit specified that, ``[T]he
proposed Tornillo International Bridge will facilitate passenger
vehicles, commercial trucks, and pedestrian traffic.'' In June 2011,
the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the kick-off of
construction of the new port facility, including a six-lane replacement
bridge.
Construction is complete on the United States' side of the
crossing, and non-commercial passenger-vehicle crossings are ongoing at
this location. Northbound traffic is using the existing bridge, built
in 1938 that is to be destroyed and replaced along with the port-of-
entry facilities, with the traffic detoured to the new Tornillo
inspection facilities. The construction of facilities, interchanges,
and roads on the Mexican side of the border has been delayed but is
expected to be completed in the near future.
The commercial zone of the City of El Paso, Texas (which had a
population of 649,121 as of the 2010 census) is currently defined by
the general provisions of 49 CFR Sections 372.239, 372.241 and 372.243.
It includes the municipality of the City of El Paso, all municipalities
contiguous to the City of El Paso, and all other municipalities and all
unincorporated areas that are adjacent to the City of El Paso. It also
includes ``when the base municipality has a population of 500,000 but
less than 1 million, all unincorporated areas within 15 miles of its
corporate limits and all of any other municipality any part of which is
within 15 miles of the corporate limits of the base municipality.'' 49
CFR 372.241(c)(6). The unincorporated community of Tornillo, Texas, as
well as the area near the location of the new Port of Entry, are more
than 15 miles from the closest municipal boundary of the City of El
Paso. Therefore, these areas are not included as part of the current
City of El Paso, Texas commercial zone.
FMCSA will expand the City of El Paso, TX, commercial zone to
include all unincorporated areas within 15 miles of the corporate
boundaries of the City of San Elizario, TX. The City of San Elizario
(located southeast of the City of El Paso) was incorporated on November
18, 2013 under the general laws of Texas and is thus included within
the present commercial zone of the City of El Paso because it is within
15 miles of the boundary of the City of El Paso. By expanding the
commercial zone to include those unincorporated areas within 15 miles
of the boundaries of San Elizario, the new Tornillo-Guadalupe POE and
the roads and highways providing access to the POE will be within the
commercial zone of the City of El Paso, TX. Most motor carriers
operating entirely in a border commercial zone such as at El Paso are
not required to obtain operating authority to perform such
transportation. But under 49 U.S.C. 13902(c) and 49 CFR part 368,
Mexico-domiciled motor carriers of property must obtain a certificate
of registration to operate in border commercial zones. Allowing all of
these carriers to continue their operations at El Paso
[[Page 2293]]
necessitates ensuring that the new bridge and port of entry are in a
commercial zone.
Environment
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) requires Federal agencies to
integrate environmental values into their decision-making processes by
requiring Federal agencies to consider the potential environmental
impacts of their proposed actions. In accordance with NEPA, the Council
on Environmental Quality's regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts
1500-1508), FMCSA's NEPA Order 5610.1, NEPA Implementing Procedures and
Policy for Considering Environmental Impacts, and other applicable
requirements (March 1, 2004 (69 FR 9680)), FMCSA has prepared a draft
EA to review the potential impacts of the expansion of the El Paso
commercial zone. FMCSA concludes that the action of expanding the
existing commercial zone will not impact endangered species, cultural
resources protected under the National Historic Preservation Act,
wetlands, and resources protected under Section 4(f) of the DOT Act of
1966 49 U.S.C. 303, as amended by Public Law 109-59 (Aug. 10, 2005).
The impact areas that may be affected and were evaluated in the Draft
EA include air quality, noise, socioeconomics, environmental justice,
land use public health and safety, and hazardous materials. FMCSA
anticipates that expanding the El Paso commercial zone will have
certain minor impacts related principally to air emissions and land use
from economic growth; however, neither of these impacts individually or
collectively will cause significant impacts. In addition, the economic
impact will have potentially beneficial impacts on the quality of life
in terms of job creation. The Draft EA is available for inspection or
copying in the Regulations.gov Web site at http://www.regulations.gov.
The draft EA also provides an analysis under the Clean Air Act, as
amended (CAA), section 176(c) (42 U.S.C. 42 U.S.C. 7506(c)), and
implementing regulations promulgated by the Environmental Protection
Agency. None of the alternatives considered in the Draft EA are located
in a nonattainment or maintenance area for any of the criteria
pollutants; therefore, FMCSA has determined that it is not required to
perform the CAA general conformity analysis.
Subject to public notice and comment, FMCSA anticipates issuing a
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) related to this action.
Issued pursuant to authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.87 on:
Issued on: January 7, 2016.
T.F. Scott Darling, III,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2016-00532 Filed 1-14-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P