Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment for the City of El Paso, Texas, Commercial Zone Expansion

T.F. Scott Darling, III
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
January 15, 2016

[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.

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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, andrea.pahlevanpour@dot.gov. 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

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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