82 FR 57269 - Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment for the Otay Mesa USDA Plant Inspection Station

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 231 (December 4, 2017)

GSA is making available for public comment a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) prepared for the construction of the proposed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Inspection Station (PIS), adjacent to the existing Otay Mesa Land Port of Entry (LPOE) in Otay Mesa, San Diego County, California. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires Federal agencies to evaluate the potential impacts that the proposed action may have on the human and natural environment. GSA serves as the lead agency for NEPA.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 231 (Monday, December 4, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57269-57270]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-25956]


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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

[Notice--PBS-2017-04; Docket 2017-0002; Sequence 23


Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment for 
the Otay Mesa USDA Plant Inspection Station

AGENCY: Public Building Service, (PBS), General Services Administration 
(GSA).

ACTION: Notice of intent; announcement of meeting.

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SUMMARY: GSA is making available for public comment a Draft 
Environmental Assessment (EA) prepared for the construction of the 
proposed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Inspection Station (PIS), adjacent to 
the existing Otay Mesa Land Port of Entry (LPOE) in Otay Mesa, San 
Diego County, California. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
requires Federal agencies to evaluate the potential impacts that the 
proposed action may have on the human and natural environment. GSA 
serves as the lead agency for NEPA.

DATES: Meeting Date: A public meeting for the Draft EA will be held on 
Tuesday, December 5, 2017, from 4:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PDT), 
to 6:00 p.m., PDT. We will consider all comments that we receive on or 
before Friday, December 29, 2017.

[[Page 57270]]


ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Quality Suites Otay Mesa 
Conference Room, located at 2351 Otay Center Drive, San Diego, 
California 92154. Copies of the Draft EA will be available for public 
review at the Otay Mesa-Nestor Branch Library, located at 3003 Coronado 
Avenue, San Diego, CA 92154, or at gsa.gov/NEPALibrary. CD copies are 
available for review by request.
    You may submit comments at the public meeting by either of the 
following methods:
     Email: [email protected].
     Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: c/o Osmahn Kadri, 50 
United Nations Plaza, Room 3345, Mailbox 9, San Francisco, CA 94102.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Osmahn Kadri, NEPA Project Manager, 
Pacific Rim Region, GSA, 50 United Nations Plaza, Room 3345, Mailbox 9, 
San Francisco, CA 94102, by phone at 415-522-3617, or via email to 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EA is being prepared to comply with the 
NEPA of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321), as implemented by Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations 
[CFR] 1500-1508), and policies of GSA as the lead federal agency. The 
EA process provides steps and procedures to evaluate the potential 
social, economic, and environmental impacts for the construction of the 
proposed USDA APHIS PIS at Otay Mesa LPOE. It allows an opportunity for 
local, state, or federal agencies to provide input and/or comment 
through scoping, public information meetings, and/or a public hearing. 
The social, economic, and environmental considerations are evaluated 
and measured, as defined in the CEQ regulations, by their magnitude of 
impacts.
    Plant Inspection Stations allow the USDA to inspect imported 
plants, other regulated plant material, and live organisms to determine 
admissibility into the country. The current APHIS PIS at Otay Mesa has 
limited capabilities due to space restraints within the LPOE, and has 
exceeded its operational capacity. Also, the U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection needs the existing APHIS PIS space for planned improvements 
to the border crossing.
    Therefore, the USDA and GSA propose to construct a new APHIS PIS on 
the vacant land adjacent to the existing LPOE.

    Dated: November 21, 2017.
Matthew Jear,
Director, Portfolio Management Division, Pacific Rim Region, Public 
Buildings Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-25956 Filed 12-1-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-YF-P