Environmental Impact Statement: El Paso County, TX

Topics:  Federal Highway Administration

Gregory S. Punske
Federal Register
October 3, 2011

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 191 (Monday, October 3, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61135-61136]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-25364]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration


Environmental Impact Statement: El Paso County, TX

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Rescind Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS.

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SUMMARY: FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that the NOI 
to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for proposed

[[Page 61136]]

improvements to Loop 375 Border Highway West, in El Paso County, Texas, 
is being rescinded.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory S. Punske, P.E., District 
Engineer, Federal Highway Administration, Texas Division, 300 East 8th 
Street, Room 826, Austin, Texas 78701, Telephone (512) 536-5960.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In September 2007, the Texas Department of 
Transportation (TxDOT) and FHWA announced their intent to prepare an 
EIS pursuant to 40 CFR 1508.22 and 43 TAC Sec. 2.5(e)(2) for the 
proposed Loop 375 C[eacute]sar Ch[aacute]vez Highway (Border Highway 
West Extension) in El Paso, Texas, to include the Texas, New Mexico, 
and Ciudad Ju[aacute]rez, Chihuahua M[eacute]xico border region. The 
proposed Border Highway West Extension project limits extended 
approximately 13.8 miles to provide a continuous route from Interstate 
10 (I-10) east of State Highway (SH) 20 (Mesa Street) to Sunland Park 
Drive and continued on Loop 375 to end at United States Highway (US) 
54. The proposed project was part of an alternate route to provide 
congestion relief for I-10, an east-west facility north of the project. 
The Loop 375 Border Highway West Extension Project was originally 
included in the Gateway 2030 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP); 
and is currently included in the current Mission 2035 MTP, a 
transportation program adopted by the El Paso Metropolitan Planning 
Organization (MPO) in August of 2010 and approved for air conformity on 
January 28, 2011.
    The EIS was in the preliminary stages of development. Two scoping 
meetings were held for cooperating and participating agencies on 
October 23, 2007 and October 30, 2007 at the El Paso International 
Airport Board Room, 6701 Convair Road, El Paso, Texas. In addition, two 
public scoping meetings were held on these same dates at Hilos de Plata 
Senior Center and the Westside Regional Command Center, El Paso, Texas.
    FHWA and TxDOT have decided to rescind the Notice of Intent because 
the Texas Department of Transportation will be using State funding for 
the delivery of the project. A project containing no Federal funds or 
Federal actions is not required to complete NEPA project approvals. 
Further, the project will be broken into several phases or projects, 
all to be funded with State funds and all to have logical termini and 
independent utility. Consequently, the previously proposed project will 
undergo several environmental evaluations under a State environmental 
process. Comments or questions concerning the rescission of this 
proposed action and the EIS should be directed to the FHWA at the 
address provided above.

Gregory S. Punske,
District Engineer, Austin, Texas.
[FR Doc. 2011-25364 Filed 9-30-11; 8:45 am]
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