New International Bridge, Brownsville, Texas: Finding of No Significant Impact and Summary Environmental Assessment

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Office of the Secretary

[Public Notice No. 2628]

New International Bridge, Brownsville, Texas: Finding of No

Significant Impact and Summary Environmental Assessment

SUMMARY: On October 9, 1997 the Department of State made a finding that

two new international bridges sponsored by the Brownsville Navigation

District (hereafter, BND), Brownsville, Texas, would have no

significant impact on the environment. Accordingly, the Department of

State is announcing issuance of a finding of no significant impact. A

draft environmental assessment of the proposed Port of Brownsville

International Crossings was prepared for the BND, under the guidance

and supervision of the State Department, by Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade

& Douglas, Inc., of Austin, Texas; St. John-Villarreal Associates of

Fairfax, Virginia; Mariah Associates of Austin, Texas; Gonzalez

Engineers and Surveyors of Brownsville, Texas; and Dr. Michael Tewes of

Kingsville, Texas. The Department of State placed a notice in the

Federal Register (56 FR 223 November 19, 1991) regarding the

availability for inspection of the Brownsville Navigation District's

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Permit application and the draft environmental assessment; one public

comment was received, from the Texas Center for Policy Studies. In

August 1995, Hicks & Company, of Austin, Texas and Brown & Root, Inc.

of Houston, Texas, submitted an addendum to the environmental

assessment. In March 1997, Hicks & Company submitted a document

summarizing mitigation efforts associated with the permit application.

Eighteen Federal and state agencies reviewed the draft

environmental assessment. They were: the Immigration and Naturalization

Service, the United States Customs Service, the Food and Drug

Administration, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (of the

Department of Agriculture), the General Services Administration, the

International Boundary and Water Commission-United States Section, the

Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation (Federal

Highway Administration and the United States Coast Guard), the Federal

Emergency Management Agency, the Department of the Interior (United

States Fish and Wildlife Service), the Department of Commerce, the

Environmental Protection Agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission

(now part of the Department of Transportation), the Department of

State, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas Department of

Transportation, the Texas Historical Commission, and the Texas Natural

Resource Conservation Commission (formerly the Texas Water Commission).

All comments received from these agencies were either responded to

directly or resulted in further analysis being conducted and

incorporated into this assessment, including consideration of

mitigation measures. Additionally, the BND met and corresponded with

agencies to discuss ways of meeting their particular concerns and,

where appropriate, to discuss mitigation measures; these contacts were

most frequent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

The results of the BND's meetings and other contacts with agencies

involved in the application review were recorded in correspondence and

in the August, 1995 and March, 1997 addenda to the 1991 BND

application. This summary environmental assessment, the comments

submitted by the agencies, the responses to these comments, and all

correspondence between the agencies and the Permit applicant addressing

the agencies' concerns, together constitute the final environmental

assessment.

Based on the final environmental assessment, including mitigation

measures, and information developed during the review of the BND's

application, the Department of State has concluded that issuance of the

Presidential Permit authorizing construction of the Port of Brownsville

International Crossings will not have a significant impact on the

quality of the human environment within the United States. In

accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C.

Sec. 4321 et seq., Council on Environmental Quality Regulations, 40 CFR

1501.4 and 1508.13, and with Department of State Regulations, 22 CFR

161.8(c), an environmental impact statement, therefore, will not be

prepared.

A finding of no significant impact was made on October 9, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Finding of No Significant Impact may be

obtained from M. Elizabeth Swope, Coordinator, U.S.-Mexico Border

Affairs, Office of Mexican Affairs, Room 4258, Department of State,

Washington, D.C. 20520 (202-647-8529).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of State (the Department) is

charged with issuance of Presidential Permits for the construction of

international bridges between the United States and Mexico under the

International Bridge Act of 1972, 86 Stat. 731; 33 U.S.C. Sec. 535 et

seq., and Executive Order 11423, 33 FR 11741 (1968), as amended by

Executive Order 12847 of May 17, 1993, 58 FR 96 (1993).

The Brownsville Navigation District, Texas, has applied to the

Department for a Presidential Permit to build two bridges, one for

commercial-cargo vehicular traffic and the other for commercial-cargo

rail traffic, across the Rio Grande River from River Mile 24, eight

miles east of downtown Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas, and three

miles south of the Brownsville Ship Channel, to Matamoros, Tamaulipas,

Mexico. The site is 13.5 miles west of the mouth of the Rio Grande,

which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. There are no bridges between the

site and the Gulf of Mexico.

The two bridges will be built adjacent to each other at the

terminus of an undeveloped 1,000-foot wide, BND-owned corridor

extending three miles northward from the site to the Brownsville Ship

Channel. The bridges will be connected to the Ship Channel by a roadway

and a railway built through the center of the corridor. Texas State

Highway 4 (SH 4) bisects the corridor approximately 3,600 feet north of

the bridge site. The General Services Administration (GSA) inspection

facility and BND toll-installation will be located on 40 acres of land

immediately south of SH 4.

The new bridges will:

Provide the Port of Brownsville with additional direct

rail and road links with Mexico, thereby enhancing its competitiveness;

Create an alternative route for commercial traffic

destined for the Port, most of which is obliged to use bridges located

in downtown Brownsville (the Los Tomates bridge, scheduled to open in

March, 1999, is also located in the metropolitan Brownsville area).

Divert traffic away from downtown Brownsville bridges and

thereby reduce noise, vehicle congestion, air pollution, and

deterioration of roadways in the downtown area caused by commercial

traffic.

Reduce the traffic of hazardous materials carriers through

populated areas in Brownsville; and

Accommodate anticipated economic growth in the Brownsville

area.

Summary Environmental Assessment

The Department evaluated possible environmental impacts of the

project. The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas is the primary zone of

occupation within the United States for two species of Federally-

protected cat, the ocelot and the jaguarundi. The project area

constitutes a potential travel corridor for the cats. Additionally,

there is potential that a Federally-protected bird, the northern

aplomado falcon, may nest in or near the area. The project corridor

contains 93 acres of wetlands, 12.77 acres of which would be lost, and

lies entirely within the 100-year floodplain.

The BND worked closely with all agencies involved in the review

process, especially the USFWS, to address their concerns about the

possible environmental impacts of this project. The project has been

extensively redesigned to avoid and mitigate potential impacts.

Specifically, the BND has agreed, inter alia, to elevate the bridges

inland 430 feet and revegetate the area underneath the bridge

structures to reestablish a wildlife travel corridor; construct a

minimum of ten culverts in the elevated approach structure leading to

the bridges that will allow wildlife to pass through; conduct a

breeding-season nest survey to gather information about the northern

aplomado falcon, conduct a three-year public education and information

campaign focusing on three Federally-protected species; and enhance or

create 60.6 acres of wetlands adjacent to Little San Martin Lake,

located north of the

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Ship Channel, about five miles from the impact site.

The Department considered cumulative environmental impacts

resulting from the project. Mitigation of wetlands impacts,

preservation of the riparian vegetation corridor, and establishment of

travel corridors for endangered cats will minimize the project's

contribution to potential environmental impacts caused by existing and

reasonably foreseeable international crossings in the Lower Rio Grande

Valley. The reduction in vehicle waiting times and the deviation of a

significant portion of commercial traffic from downtown Brownsville

bridges will positively impact air quality for the population of the

region. The removal of hazardous cargoes from downtown Brownsville will

have a positive impact on public safety. The commercial-cargo-only

nature of the bridges and constraints to secondary development in the

project area will limit urban and commercial sprawl.

On April 30, 1992, a programmatic agreement was executed among the

Department of State, the Texas State Historic Preservation Officer

(SHPO), the Texas Department of Transportation, the Advisory Council on

Historic Preservation, and the Brownsville Navigation District, in

which the BND agreed, inter alia, to:

Conduct a cultural resources survey within the Area of

Potential Effect prior to initiating construction;

Consult with the SHPO to avoid, minimize, or mitigate

adverse effects on any standing structures or archaeological properties

within the Area of Potential Effect eligible for inclusion in the

National Register of Historic Places; and

Consult with the SHPO to develop a plan for recovery of

any archaeological data within the Area of Potential Effect that cannot

be avoided or preserved in place.

Dated: November 4, 1997.

M. Elizabeth Swope,

Coordinator, U.S.-Mexico Border Affairs.

[FR Doc. 97-30162 Filed 11-17-97; 8:45 am]

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