TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The Jacksonville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has received an application for a Department of the Army permit pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. §403) as described below:
APPLICANT: Mr. Christopher Conaway
DISA/Transport Division
P.O. Box 549
Ft. Meade, MD 20755
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with the Atlantic Ocean. The project site is located at Puerto Rico Air National Guard (PRANG) Radar Installation, Punta Salinas, Municipality of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
Directions to the site are as follows: Take the expressway PR-22 from San Juan to Bayamón, exit to the right at road PR-165 toward Cataño, continue on road PR-165 to the West and toward Toa Baja, turn right at road PR-868 and continue to the end of this road PR-868.
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES: Latitude: 18.475950°
Longitude: - 66.183717°
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: Communication cable.
Overall: To develop communication services between Fort Buchannan Base in Puerto Rico and a previously installed cable node offshore of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The cable landing at Puerto Rico is the Puerto Rico Air National Guard Radar (PRANG) Base. This PRANG Radar Installation site is a rocky hill about 25 feet above mean sea level. The proposed horizontal directionally drilled (HDD) bore exit area is described as fairly flat, featureless area of seabed, with a thin cover of coarse sandy sediment over rock. The shoreline at PRANG Radar Installation is a very active, rough and dangerous surf zone. The substrate at the HDD exit point consists mostly of articulated coralline red algae. No live corals listed as endangered species was found along the proposed cable route near the shoreline. No sea turtles nesting beach is present at the proposed cable route.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to install a total of 164.859 nautical miles (nm) long of a submarine fiber optic cable from borehole at the U.S. PRANG’s facility at Punta Salinas to the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). From this total, approximately 164.753 nm long of this cable will be placed in navigable waters of the U.S. Approximately, 0.372 nm long of the cable (which 0.266 nm long of the submarine fiber optic cable is in navigable waters of the U.S.) will be installed using horizontal directionally drilled (HDD) method from borehole at uplands to HDD exit point. The HDD method is proposed to avoid very active, rough and dangerous surf zone along the northern shoreline. The cable to be landed in the Punta Salinas offshore borehole is a single armored cable with an outside diameter of 1.14 inches. The remaining segment of the submarine fiber optic cable from HDD exit point toward the U.S. EEZ, is approximately 164.487 nm and it will be installed using a surface deployment procedure. Flotation buoys will be used to serve as markers while placing out the cable shoreward using a small craft and divers as the cable remains to the surface “lay” ship. During the installation, cables will be guided into place by divers within safe diving limits up to the maximum water depth of 65 feet. The rest of the cable will be laid from the cable ship to the seabottom with slack. The cable segment from Punta Salinas to Ft. Buchannan link will be commercial leased services using existing infrastructure. In accordance to the applicant, the proposed cable will fully function with terminals to be installed at Punta Salinas.
CULTURAL RESOURCES, ENDANGERED SPECIES and ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT: The applicant is the lead Federal agency for complying with those components.
NOTE: This public notice is being issued based on information furnished by the applicant. This information has not been verified or evaluated to ensure compliance with laws and regulation governing the regulatory program. The jurisdictional line has not been verified by Corps personnel.
AUTHORIZATION FROM OTHER AGENCIES: A Coastal Zone Federal Consistency Certificate with the Puerto Rico Coastal Zone Management Plan is required from the Puerto Rico Planning Board.
COMMENTS regarding the potential authorization of the work proposed should be submitted in writing to the attention of the District Engineer through the Antilles Permit Section, Fundación Angel Ramos, Annex BLDG., Suite 202, 383 F. D. Roosevelt Ave., San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918 within 30 days from the date of this notice.
The decision whether to issue or deny this permit application will be based on the information received from this public notice and the evaluation of the probable impact to the aquatic environment. This is based on an analysis of the applicant's avoidance and minimization efforts for the project, as well as the compensatory mitigation.
QUESTIONS concerning this application should be directed to the project manager, Ms. Carmen Gisela Román, in writing at the Antilles Permits Section, Fundación Angel Ramos, Annex BLDG., Suite 202, 383 F. D. Roosevelt Ave., San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918; by electronic mail at carmen.g.roman@usace.army.mil or by telephone at (787)729-6637.
IMPACT ON NATURAL RESOURCES: Coordination with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Marine Fisheries Services, and other Federal, State, and local agencies, environmental groups, and concerned citizens generally yields pertinent environmental information that is instrumental in determining the impact the proposed action will have on the natural resources of the area.
EVALUATION: The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest. That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefits, which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal, must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. All factors which may be relevant to the proposal will be considered including cumulative impacts thereof; among these are conservation, economics, esthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, historical properties, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, floodplain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food, and fiber production, mineral needs, considerations of property ownership, and in general, the needs and welfare of the people. Evaluation of the impact of the activity on the public interest will also include application of the guidelines promulgated by the Administrator, EPA, under authority of Section 404(b) of the Clean Water Act or the criteria established under authority of Section 102(a) of the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972. A permit will be granted unless its issuance is found to be contrary to the public interest.
The US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, State, and local agencies and officials; Indian Tribes; and other Interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps to determine whether to issue, modify, condition, or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this determination, comments are used to assess impacts to endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above. Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.
COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: In Florida, the State approval constitutes compliance with the approved Coastal Zone Management Plan. In Puerto Rico, a Coastal Zone Management Consistency Concurrence is required from the Puerto Rico Planning Board. In the Virgin Islands, the Department of Planning and Natural Resources permit constitutes compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Plan.
REQUEST FOR PUBLIC HEARING: Any person may request a public hearing. The request must be submitted in writing to the District Engineer within the designated comment period of the notice and must state the specific reasons for requesting the public hearing.