Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Proposed MFS Globenet, Inc. Monterey Bay Fiber Optic Cable Installation Project Within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS)

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Proposed MFS

Globenet, Inc. Monterey Bay Fiber Optic Cable Installation Project

Within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS)

AGENCY: Marine Sanctuaries Division (MSD), Office of Ocean and Coastal

Resource Management (OCRM), National Ocean Service (NOS), National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce

(DOC).

ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NOAA announces its intention to prepare an EIS in accordance

with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for the

authorization of the proposed installation of a fiber optic cable

through Monterey Bay, California within the MBNMS. The action to be

evaluated by this EIS is the proposal to install a submarine fiber

optic telecommunications cable from New Zealand to Hawaii to

California, with a focus on that part of the ocean route within the

boundaries of the MBNMS and the terrestrial route within Santa Cruz and

Monterey counties.

The EIS will be prepared in cooperation with the County of Santa

Cruz, which issued a Notice of Preparation on March 29, 1999, regarding

its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) pursuant to

the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The EIS prepared under

this notice will be combined with the EIR and a joint EIR/EIS will be

published.

DATES: Written comments on the intent to prepare an EIS and the scope

of the EIS will be accepted on or before September 22, 1999. A public

scoping meeting to inform interested parties of the proposed action and

to receive public comments on the scope of the EIS is scheduled as

follows:

September 1, 1999, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Moss Landing Chamber of Commerce, 8045 Moss Landing Road, Moss

Landing, California

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS, suggested

alternatives and potential impacts should be sent to William Douros,

Responsible Program Manager, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary,

299 Foam Street, Monterey, California 93940. Comments may be submitted

by FAX at (831) 647-4250. Comments received will be available for

public inspection at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Douros, Responsible Program

Manager, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, 299 Foam Street,

Monterey, California 93940.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Proposed Action

The proposed action would involve the authorization of installation

of approximately 58.5 miles of submarine cable within the boundaries of

the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary as part of a larger project

for a cable that would link New Zealand to Hawaii and the continental

United States. Sanctuary regulations at 15 CFR Part 922, Subpart M,

require authorization by the Sanctuary for installation and continued

operation of the proposed cable within the MBNMS. The applicant (MFS

Globenet, Inc. and Worldcom Network Services, Inc.) anticipates the

cable would operate for a minimum of 25 years. The scope of the EIS

will address the offshore area from shore to the seaward boundary of

the MBNMS.

The seaward component of the project includes the seaward portions

of two directionally bored conduits (approximately 950 meters out to

sea to a water depth of 15 meters) and one two-inch wide submarine

cable extending westward from one of the conduits to deep ocean. The

offshore cable would extend along the submarine ridge (``Smooth

Ridge'') to the western boundary of the MBNMS (and then onward to New

Zealand via Hawaii).

The applicant proposes to bury the cable to a depth of one meter

out to a water depth of 2,000 meters, where feasible and where

sensitive areas are not prohibitive. In general, the cable would be

laid directly onto the ocean floor at ocean depths greater than 2,000

meters, where the potential for conflict with other marine uses is

likely to be minimal.

Two cable burial methods are proposed. Where feasible, an

underwater plow deployed from the cable ship would cut a narrow trench

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for the cable and bury the cable. In sensitive areas or areas where the

plow cannot operate safely, the cable would be laid directly on the sea

floor and buried using a post lay jetting system in which a remotely

operated vehicle with high-volume, low-pressure water jets would jet

the cable into the sediment. This system would liquefy the substrate

directly beneath the cable, causing the cable to sink into the

substrate.

The applicant proposes to land the cable onshore in Santa Cruz

County at the Monterey Bay Academy approximately two miles south of La

Selva Beach. A cable landing facility would be located at the Monterey

Bay Academy and the cable would continue onshore buried for 8.7 miles

to a cable equipment building to be located within the unincorporated

community of Pajaro. The cable would be connected to the existing

network facilities at the cable termination station.

II. Alternatives

Pursuant to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements,

the EIR/EIS will evaluate the No Action Alternative and alternative

routes for placement and landing of the fiber optic cable. Six

preliminary alternatives to the proposed action have been developed

based on initial discussions with state and local agencies, as well as

the local commercial fishing industry.

Additional alternatives to the proposed action may be developed as

part of the public scoping phase for inclusion in the Draft EIR/EIS.

The possible alternatives include:

No Action Alternative--Under the No Action Alternative, MFS

Globenet would not construct the proposed fiber optic cable.

Alternative 1 Route--This alternative route follows along the

northern edge of Soquel and Cabrillo canyons to minimize potential

conflicts with commercial fishing. A re-route of the transition between

inner shelf and smooth ridge between 120-400 meter depth contours also

minimizes impacts to hard-bottom benthic habitat. The route would

traverse approximately 62.4 miles of the MBNMS. The onshore landing

area would be the same as the proposed action.

Alternative 2 Route--The cable would be routed up the length of

Monterey Canyon and through Soquel Canyon for a distance of 75.5 miles

across the MBNMS. This alternative is intended to reduce potential

impacts to commercial trawl fishing. The onshore landing area would be

the same as the proposed action.

Alternative 3 Route--This alternative considers a combined landing

at a beach proposed by another cable project proponent. Fiber optic

cables would generally follow the proposed action route, but would land

at La Selva Beach instead of Monterey Bay Academy.

Alternative 4 Route--The cable would generally follow the ridge of

Ano Nuevo Canyon and would traverse approximately 47.3 miles of the

MBNMS. The landing site would be located at Davenport Beach, just south

of El Jarro Point. This alternative reduces linear encroachment into

MBNMS and reduces encroachment onto the continental shelf.

Alternative 5 Route--The offshore segment of the cable would be

routed across a narrower section of the MBNMS (compared to the proposed

action) and along the northern rim of Ascension Canyon to Davenport

Beach, just south of El Jarro Point (same landing as Alternative 4).

The route would traverse approximately 35.8 miles of the MBNMS. This

alternative would reduce linear encroachment into the Sanctuary.

Alternative 6 Route--The cable would be constructed outside the

boundaries of the MBNMS to avoid impacts to Sanctuary resources. The

nearshore cable route and landing site would be consolidated with the

applicant's other proposed cable landings in Morro Bay, California.

III. Summary of Environmental Issues

The installation, maintenance, and eventual decommissioning and

removal of the cable pose potentially significant impacts upon

Sanctuary resources and qualities. The EIR/EIS will address onshore and

offshore environmental effects of cable construction, operation,

maintenance and repair, and removal. Potential onshore impacts have

been identified in the separate Notice of Preparation, issued by the

County of Santa Cruz, as the EIR lead agency. Specific offshore

environmental issues that have been identified for analysis in the EIR/

EIS include:

Effects on commercial and recreational fisheries and

fisheries operations, including construction interference with fishing

activities, potential loss of catch, and potential accidents (e.g.,

fishing net entanglement);

Trenching effects (e.g., sediment plume, benthic

disruption, and siltation) on the water column, marine water quality,

and flora and fauna;

Effects on kelp beds, benthic communities, rocky hard-

bottom communities, plankton, fish, marine birds, marine mammals, and

marine turtles from construction disturbances and/or release of

contaminants, including boats anchoring, increased turbidity, sediment

contamination, boat and construction-related noise, and introduction of

exotic species from foreign vessels;

Potential for bentonite spills and spill effects on water

quality and aquatic habitats and species;

Potential entanglements by cetaceans (whales) including

sperm whales where the cable is exposed and gray whales that feed on

the ocean bottom;

``Strumming'' (lateral movement of the cable along the

seafloor due to ocean currents) impacts on the marine environment;

Geologic hazards and physical effects on the cable (e.g.,

submarine landslides and erosion);

Electromagnetic field effects on marine species;

Impacts on submerged cultural resources;

Direct or indirect effects on sensitive species and

habitats;

Cable installation vessel interference with commercial and

recreational vessel navigation; and

Short-term air quality effects from construction

equipment, vehicle, and vessel emissions.

IV. Future Public Involvement

Additional opportunities for public review will be provided when

the Draft EIR/EIS is completed. A notice of availability of the Draft

EIR/EIS will be published in the Federal Register. In addition, release

of the Draft EIR/EIS for public comment and public meetings on the

Draft EIR/EIS will be announced in the local news media, as the dates

are established. According to the current schedule, which is subject to

change, the Draft EIR/EIS is expected to be released in December 1999.

V. Special Accommodations

The public scoping meeting is physically accessible to people with

disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to Scott Kathey at the Monterey Bay

National Marine Sanctuary, (831) 647-4251, at least five days prior to

the meeting date.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. Section 1431 et seq.

(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog Number 11.429 Marine Sanctuary

Program)

Dated: August 17, 1999.

Ted Lillestolen,

Deputy Assistant Administrator, Ocean Services and Coastal Zone

Management.

[FR Doc. 99-21774 Filed 8-20-99; 8:45 am]

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