[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 117 (Friday, June 17, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36487-36489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13143]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION

[FRL-9919-01-R9]


United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Mitigation of Contaminated 
Transboundary Flows Project

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); United States 
International Boundary and Water Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability of draft programmatic environmental 
impact statement; notice of virtual public comment meetings; request 
for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with regulations implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as amended, the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. International Boundary and Water 
Commission (USIBWC), as joint lead agencies, have prepared a Draft 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Draft PEIS) for the 
proposed United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Mitigation of 
Contaminated Transboundary Flows Project (the Proposed Action). The 
Proposed Action involves the planning, design, and construction of 
infrastructure to reduce transboundary flows of untreated wastewater 
(sewage), trash, and sediment that routinely enter the U.S. from Mexico 
via the Tijuana River, its tributaries, and across the maritime 
boundary along the San Diego County coast. These transboundary flows 
impact public health and the environment and have been linked to beach 
closures along the San Diego County coast. EPA and USIBWC have 
evaluated the Proposed Action, including alternatives, located in the 
Tijuana River area in southern San Diego County, California in the U.S. 
and in the Tijuana region in Mexico. This Notice initiates the comment 
process by inviting comments from Federal, State, and local agencies; 
Native American tribes; interested stakeholders; and the public on the 
Proposed Action, including alternatives, and environmental consequences 
examined in the Draft PEIS. EPA and USIBWC are also providing notice of 
virtual public comment meetings that are open to all interested 
parties.

DATES: Public comment meetings will be held virtually on July 19, 2022, 
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) and July 20, 2022, 2 
p.m. to 4 p.m. (PDT). A formal presentation on the proposed project 
will be provided at the meetings, followed by an opportunity for public 
comment. Written public comments are due to EPA and USIBWC by 5:00 p.m. 
(PDT) within the 45 days from the date of the publication of the EPA 
Notification of Availability of Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statements in the Federal Register. Please go to: https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-water-infrastructure/usmca-tijuana-river-watershed for more 
information regarding the public comment meetings.

ADDRESSES: Written comments shall be submitted to the following email 
address: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Borowiec, 415-972-3419, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: EPA and USIBWC, as joint lead agencies, in accordance 
with the requirements of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321-4347), Council on 
Environmental Quality NEPA Implementing Regulations (40 Code of Federal 
Regulations [CFR] 1500-1508 [2022]), EPA Procedures for Implementing 
NEPA (40 CFR part 6), and USIBWC NEPA Implementing Procedures (48 FR 
44083), have prepared a Draft PEIS for the Proposed Action. EPA and 
USIBWC invite public comment on the scope of the Draft PEIS, the 
Proposed Action (including alternatives considered), specific 
environmental issues evaluated, relevant information and analyses, the 
identified impacts of the alternatives, and applicable mitigation 
measures.
    The San Diego-Tijuana region has faced persistent transboundary 
flows of contaminated wastewater originating in Mexico for many years. 
The three primary entryways of these transboundary flows into the U.S. 
are in coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean, the Tijuana River, and 
tributaries flowing north through canyons to the Tijuana River. 
Seasonal marine currents cause coastal discharges of largely untreated 
wastewater (sewage) from the Tijuana area to migrate north along the 
Pacific Ocean coast into the U.S. These discharges impact southern San 
Diego County beaches, especially during the summer. Additionally, 
transboundary flows in the Tijuana River and its

[[Page 36488]]

canyon tributaries routinely reach the U.S., bringing untreated 
wastewater (sewage), trash, and sediment into the U.S. These 
contaminated flows can reach the Pacific Ocean through the Tijuana 
River Valley and Estuary and migrate north along the coast, compounding 
the impacts of coastal discharges from the Tijuana area. Collectively, 
these polluted transboundary flows impact the environment and public 
health in communities along the border and the coast, public access to 
beaches and recreational opportunities in southern California, and the 
personnel and activities of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
and the U.S. Navy.
    For several years, EPA and USIBWC have engaged with agencies, 
elected officials, and stakeholder groups in the San Diego-Tijuana 
region in both the U.S. and Mexico to address transboundary pollution 
issues. The USMCA Implementation Act, signed into law in January 2020, 
appropriated funds to EPA for implementation of wastewater 
infrastructure projects at the U.S.-Mexico border and authorized EPA, 
in coordination with eligible public entities, to plan, design, and 
construct wastewater (including stormwater) treatment projects in the 
Tijuana River area. In accordance with the USMCA legislation, EPA 
established the Eligible Public Entities Coordinating Group, consisting 
of Federal, State, and local stakeholders, and solicited their input on 
a set of project options to be considered for evaluation.
    On April 5, 2021, EPA published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare 
an EIS (86 FR 17595) for the Proposed Action. Since the NOI was issued, 
EPA identified specific alternatives to be evaluated and prepared a 
Draft Programmatic EIS (Draft PEIS) for the Proposed Action, which sets 
forth a framework for tiered decision making in accordance with 40 CFR 
1501.11.
    Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action: In accordance with the 
Clean Water Act and the USMCA Implementation Act, the purpose and need 
of this action is to reduce transboundary flows from Tijuana that 
convey pollutants, sewage, and/or trash into the U.S. and cause adverse 
public health and environmental impacts in the Tijuana River watershed 
and neighboring coastal areas in the U.S. as described in the preceding 
section.
    Purpose of the Programmatic EIS: The Draft PEIS is a programmatic 
NEPA document that evaluates environmental impacts of broad agency 
actions such as a wide range of individual projects, implementation 
over a long timeframe, or implementation across a large geographic 
area. The Draft PEIS establishes a tiering process for subsequent 
agency decisions that is supported, in part, by the analysis detailed 
in the Draft PEIS. The initial programmatic decision to be made in this 
Draft PEIS is whether EPA and the USIBWC should consider funding and 
implementing water infrastructure projects that reduce transboundary 
flows in the Tijuana River watershed and adjacent coastal areas. The 
Draft PEIS evaluates: (1) the No-Action Alternative (no disbursement of 
funding and continuation of current wastewater management practices; 
(2) Alternative 1 (a limited approach); or (3) Alternative 2 (a more 
comprehensive solution). The Core projects found in Alternative 1 are 
sufficiently developed to be ready for decision making and, after 
completing the NEPA process, would be considered analyzed in sufficient 
detail for immediate action. In contrast, Alternative 2 includes a 
larger range of projects known as the Supplemental Projects, several of 
which are not yet ready for decision making. These Supplemental 
Projects require additional consideration in subsequent tiered NEPA 
documents before a decision can be made and action can be taken (for 
additional information on tiering, refer to 40 CFR 1501.11). By 
establishing this Draft PEIS, EPA and USIBWC aim to accomplish the 
following:
     Make a broad programmatic decision about which funding 
approach to take,
     Provide a comprehensive baseline analysis from which 
subsequent site-specific proposals (Supplemental Projects) can be 
tiered,
     Efficiently analyze and make decisions on funds for Core 
Projects that are more evolved in planning and design than Supplemental 
Projects and thus ready for decision making,
     Avoid repetition by using the Draft PEIS as a foundation 
for the environmental review in subsequent tiered NEPA documents, and
     Streamline the later environmental review processes of 
Supplemental Projects so that they may move forward as soon as they are 
sufficiently developed for decision making and action.
    Proposed Action and Alternatives: The EPA and IBWC's Proposed 
Action is the implementation of projects to address impacts from 
transboundary flows in the Tijuana River watershed and adjacent coastal 
areas. Because of the programmatic nature of the decisions to be made, 
only the Core projects could be implemented at the completion of this 
NEPA process. The Supplemental projects would require additional tiered 
review before being implemented. The Proposed Action addresses the 
purpose and need stated above by:
     Reducing the generation and/or discharge of contaminated 
flows from point and nonpoint sources of pollution in the Tijuana 
region,
     Improving the collection and/or treatment of contaminated 
flows in the Tijuana region before they reach the U.S.-Mexico border, 
and
     Improving the collection and/or treatment of contaminated 
transboundary flows in the U.S.
    The Draft PEIS evaluates a No-Action Alternative and two 
alternatives for implementing the Proposed Action:
     No-Action Alternative. This alternative would not 
implement the Proposed Action. NEPA requires that a No-Action 
Alternative be analyzed to determine the environmental consequences of 
not undertaking the Proposed Action, and thereby providing a baseline 
against which the potential beneficial and adverse environmental 
impacts of action alternatives can be evaluated and compared.
     Alternative 1: Core Projects. Under this alternative, EPA 
would fund some components of the Comprehensive Infrastructure Solution 
that are the responsibility of the U.S., pursuant to the terms of the 
final cost sharing agreement between the U.S. and Mexico. This approach 
would fund and implement only those projects that are sufficiently 
developed and ready for decision making and is not expected to require 
substantial additional U.S. funding beyond the USMCA Implementation Act 
appropriation and funds from existing programs such as EPA's Border 
Water Infrastructure Program (BWIP). Alternative 1 includes four Core 
Projects: Projects A (Expanded South Bay International Wastewater 
Treatment Plant [ITP]), B (Tijuana Canyon Flows to ITP), C (Tijuana 
Sewer Repairs), and D (Advanced Primary Treatment Plant [APTP] Phase 
1).
     Alternative 2: Core and Supplemental Projects. Under this 
alternative, EPA would use U.S. appropriations to fund all components 
of the Comprehensive Infrastructure Solution that are the 
responsibility of the U.S., pursuant to the terms of the final cost 
sharing agreement between the U.S. and Mexico. This more comprehensive 
approach is expected to require additional funding beyond the USMCA 
Implementation Act appropriations and funds from existing programs such 
as EPA's BWIP. EPA is in the process of identifying additional 
opportunities for Federal funding and/

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or State appropriations that could be used to fully implement the 
Comprehensive Infrastructure Solution. Alternative 2 includes the four 
Core Projects (from Alternative 1) and six Supplemental Projects (10 
projects in total) and would provide a more comprehensive solution for 
reducing contaminated transboundary flows. The six Supplemental 
Projects are Projects E (APTP Phase 2), F (U.S.-side River Diversion to 
APTP), G (New San Antonio de los Buenos Wastewater Treatment Plant 
[SABTP]), H (Tijuana Wastewater Treatment Plant Treated Effluent 
Reuse), I (ITP Treated Effluent Reuse), and J (Trash Boom[s]).
    A preferred alternative has not been identified at this time. 
Descriptions of the alternatives, including descriptions of Core and 
Supplemental Projects, can be found in the Draft PEIS and on the 
project website at https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-water-infrastructure/usmca-tijuana-river-watershed.
    Summary of Expected Impacts: The Proposed Action is expected to 
have beneficial impacts to public safety and water quality in the 
Tijuana River watershed and adjacent coastal areas. The Proposed Action 
covers a large geographic area and would impact a broad range of 
resource areas, including water resources, geologic resources, the 
coastal zone, air quality, climate, biological resources, cultural 
resources, land use, visual resources, solid and hazardous waste, 
energy, public services and utilities, public health and safety, 
transportation, noise, socioeconomics, and environmental justice. The 
impacts to these resources are analyzed in the Draft PEIS.
    Anticipated Permits and Authorization: Implementation of the 
Proposed Action may require Federal authorizations, permits, or 
consultants pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, 
National Historic Preservation Act, and Coastal Zone Management Act. 
EPA has initiated engagement with Federal agencies such as the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers and is working closely with other binational, 
State, and local agencies and stakeholders.
    Public Comment: EPA and USIBWC have established a 45-day public 
comment period for the Draft PEIS. The 45-day public comment period 
will start upon publication of the EPA Notice of Availability (NOA) of 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statements in the Federal Register. 
Comments on the Draft PEIS must be received by 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight 
Time within 45 days after publication of the NOA. EPA and USIBWC are 
requesting written comments from Federal, State, and local governments, 
industry, non-governmental organizations, and the general public on:
     The range of alternatives considered,
     The environmental issues evaluated,
     The submitted alternatives, information, and analyses and 
the summary thereof, and/or
     Measures to mitigate the environmental consequences of the 
Proposed Action.
    Public comment meetings will be held virtually on July 19, 2022. 
and July 20, 2022. Consult the ``Dates'' section above for further 
information on the public comment meetings. All interested parties are 
encouraged to attend. Pursuant to 40 CFR 1503.3, comments on the Draft 
PEIS shall be as specific as possible, may address the adequacy of the 
Draft PEIS and/or the merits of the alternatives, and shall provide 
sufficient detail to meaningfully participate and fully inform EPA and 
USIBWC of the commenter's position. Commenters should explain the 
importance of their comments to the consideration of potential impacts 
and alternatives to the Proposed Action, as well as economic and 
employment impacts, and other impacts affecting the quality of the 
human environment. Comments on the submitted alternatives, information, 
and analyses and summary should be as specific as possible. Comments 
and objections of any kind shall be raised within the comment period on 
the Draft PEIS. Commentors should reference the corresponding section 
or page number of the Draft PEIS; propose specific changes where 
possible; and include data sources and methodologies supporting any 
proposed changes.
    Estimated Date of Final PEIS Release: Once the public review and 
comment process is complete, EPA and USIBWC will prepare a Final PEIS 
and will publish a Federal Register notice announcing its public 
availability. EPA and USIBWC will provide the public with an 
opportunity to review and comment on the Final PEIS. After EPA and 
USIBWC consider those comments, EPA and USIBWC will prepare the final 
ROD and similarly announce its availability. Comments received during 
the Draft PEIS review period will be made available in the Final PEIS. 
The Final PEIS is expected to be released by November 2022.

Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency Region IX.
Mariaelena Giner,
Commissioner (U.S. Section), International Boundary and Water 
Commission, United States and Mexico United States Section.
[FR Doc. 2022-13143 Filed 6-16-22; 8:45 am]
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