61568 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 222 / Tuesday, November 18, 1997 / Notices

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

[Declaration of Disaster #2985]

State of Florida

Pinellas County and the contiguous

Counties of Hillsborough and Pasco in

the State of Florida constitute a disaster

area as a result of damages caused by

tornadoes, wind burst, and

thunderstorms which occurred on

October 27, 1997. Applications for loans

for physical damage may be filed until

the close of business on January 5, 1998

and for economic injury until the close

of business on August 4, 1998 at the

address listed below or other locally

announced locations: U.S. Small

Business Administration, Disaster Area

2 Office, One Baltimore Place, Suite

300, Atlanta, GA 30308

The interest rates are:

Percent

For Physical Damage:

Homeowners with credit available elsewhere .................... 7.625

Homeowners without credit

available elsewhere ............. 3.812

Busineses with credit available

elsewhere ............................ 8.000

Businesses and non-profit organizations without credit

available elsewhere ............. 4.000

Others (including non-profit organizations) with credit

available elsewhere ............. 7.125

For Economic Injury:

Businesses and small agricultural cooperatives without

credit available elsewhere ... 4.000

The number assigned to this disaster

for physical damage is 298511 and for

economic injury the number is

9636.400.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Nos. 59002 and 59008)

Dated: November 4, 1997.

Aida Alvarez,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–30266 Filed 11–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P–M

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

[Declaration of Disaster #2986]

State of Florida

Manatee County and the contiguous

Counties of DeSoto, Hardee,

Hillsborough, Polk, and Sarasota in the

State of Florida constitute a disaster area

as a result of damages caused by

extensive flash flooding as a result of

severe rains which occurred on October

31, 1997. Applications for loans for

physical damage may be filed until the

close of business on January 5, 1998 and

for economic injury until the close of

business on August 4, 1998 at the

address listed below or other locally

announced locations:

U.S. Small Business Administration,

Disaster Area 2 Office, One Baltimore

Place, Suite 300, Atlanta, GA 30308

The interest rates are:

Percent

For Physical Damage:

Homeowners with credit available elsewhere ...................... 7.625

Homeowners without credit

available elsewhere ............... 3.812

Businesses with credit available

elsewhere .............................. 8.000

Businesses and non-profit organizations without credit available elsewhere ...................... 4.000

Others (including non-profit organizations) with credit available elsewhere ...................... 7.125

For Economic Injury:

Businesses and small agricultural cooperatives without

credit available elsewhere ..... 4.000

The number assigned to this disaster

for physical damage is 298606 and for

economic injury the number is 963500.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Nos. 59002 and 59008)

Dated: November 4, 1997.

Ginger Lew,

Acting Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–30268 Filed 11–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

[Declaration of Disaster #2988]

Louisiana; (and Contiguous County in

Texas)

Beauregard Parish and the contiguous

parishes of Allen, Calcasieu, Jefferson

Davis, and Vernon State of Louisiana;

and Newton County in Texas constitute

a disaster area as a result of damages

caused by severe thunderstorms, rain,

and tornadoes which occurred on

October 23–24, 1997. Applications for

loans for physical damage as a result of

this disaster may be filed until the close

of business on January 12, 1998 and for

economic injury until the close of

business on August 10, 1998 at the

address listed below U.S. Small

Business Administration, Disaster Area

3 Office, 4400 Amon Carter Blvd., Suite

102, Ft. Worth, TX 76155.

The interest rates are:

Percent

For Physical Damage:

Percent

Homeowners with credit available elsewhere .................... 7.625

Homeowners without credit

available elsewhere ............. 3.812

Businesses with credit available elsewhere .................... 8.000

Businesses and non-profit organizations without credit

available elsewhere ............. 4.000

Others (including non-profit organizations) with credit

available elsewhere ............. 7.125

For Economic Injury:

Businesses and small agricultural cooperatives without

credit available elsewhere ... 4.000

The numbers assigned to this disaster

for physical damage is 298812 and for

Louisiana; and 298912 for Texas. For

economic injury the numbers are

966900 for Texas.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Nos. 59002 and 59008)

Dated: November 10, 1997.

Aida Alvarez,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–30267 Filed 11–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P–M

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Office of the Secretary

[Public Notice No. 2628]

New International Bridge, Brownsville,

Texas: Finding of No Significant

Impact and Summary Environmental

Assessment

SUMMARY: On October 9, 1997 the

Department of State made a finding that

two new international bridges

sponsored by the Brownsville

Navigation District (hereafter, BND),

Brownsville, Texas, would have no

significant impact on the environment.

Accordingly, the Department of State is

announcing issuance of a finding of no

significant impact. A draft

environmental assessment of the

proposed Port of Brownsville

International Crossings was prepared for

the BND, under the guidance and

supervision of the State Department, by

Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas,

Inc., of Austin, Texas; St. John-Villarreal

Associates of Fairfax, Virginia; Mariah

Associates of Austin, Texas; Gonzalez

Engineers and Surveyors of Brownsville,

Texas; and Dr. Michael Tewes of

Kingsville, Texas. The Department of

State placed a notice in the Federal

Register (56 FR 223 November 19, 1991)

regarding the availability for inspection

of the Brownsville Navigation District’s
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 222 / Tuesday, November 18, 1997 / Notices 61569

Permit application and the draft

environmental assessment; one public

comment was received, from the Texas

Center for Policy Studies. In August

1995, Hicks & Company, of Austin,

Texas and Brown & Root, Inc. of

Houston, Texas, submitted an

addendum to the environmental

assessment. In March 1997, Hicks &

Company submitted a document

summarizing mitigation efforts

associated with the permit application.

Eighteen Federal and state agencies

reviewed the draft environmental

assessment. They were: the Immigration

and Naturalization Service, the United

States Customs Service, the Food and

Drug Administration, the Animal and

Plant Health Inspection Service (of the

Department of Agriculture), the General

Services Administration, the

International Boundary and Water

Commission-United States Section, the

Department of Defense, the Department

of Transportation (Federal Highway

Administration and the United States

Coast Guard), the Federal Emergency

Management Agency, the Department of

the Interior (United States Fish and

Wildlife Service), the Department of

Commerce, the Environmental

Protection Agency, the Interstate

Commerce Commission (now part of the

Department of Transportation), the

Department of State, the Texas Parks

and Wildlife Department, the Texas

Department of Transportation, the Texas

Historical Commission, and the Texas

Natural Resource Conservation

Commission (formerly the Texas Water

Commission). All comments received

from these agencies were either

responded to directly or resulted in

further analysis being conducted and

incorporated into this assessment,

including consideration of mitigation

measures. Additionally, the BND met

and corresponded with agencies to

discuss ways of meeting their particular

concerns and, where appropriate, to

discuss mitigation measures; these

contacts were most frequent with the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

(USFWS).

The results of the BND’s meetings and

other contacts with agencies involved in

the application review were recorded in

correspondence and in the August, 1995

and March, 1997 addenda to the 1991

BND application. This summary

environmental assessment, the

comments submitted by the agencies,

the responses to these comments, and

all correspondence between the

agencies and the Permit applicant

addressing the agencies’ concerns,

together constitute the final

environmental assessment.

Based on the final environmental

assessment, including mitigation

measures, and information developed

during the review of the BND’s

application, the Department of State has

concluded that issuance of the

Presidential Permit authorizing

construction of the Port of Brownsville

International Crossings will not have a

significant impact on the quality of the

human environment within the United

States. In accordance with the National

Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C.

§ 4321 et seq., Council on

Environmental Quality Regulations, 40

CFR 1501.4 and 1508.13, and with

Department of State Regulations, 22 CFR

161.8(c), an environmental impact

statement, therefore, will not be

prepared.

A finding of no significant impact was

made on October 9, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Finding of No

Significant Impact may be obtained

from M. Elizabeth Swope, Coordinator,

U.S.-Mexico Border Affairs, Office of

Mexican Affairs, Room 4258,

Department of State, Washington, D.C.

20520 (202–647–8529).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Department of State (the Department) is

charged with issuance of Presidential

Permits for the construction of

international bridges between the

United States and Mexico under the

International Bridge Act of 1972, 86

Stat. 731; 33 U.S.C. § 535 et seq., and

Executive Order 11423, 33 FR 11741

(1968), as amended by Executive Order

12847 of May 17, 1993, 58 FR 96 (1993).

The Brownsville Navigation District,

Texas, has applied to the Department for

a Presidential Permit to build two

bridges, one for commercial-cargo

vehicular traffic and the other for

commercial-cargo rail traffic, across the

Rio Grande River from River Mile 24,

eight miles east of downtown

Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas,

and three miles south of the Brownsville

Ship Channel, to Matamoros,

Tamaulipas, Mexico. The site is 13.5

miles west of the mouth of the Rio

Grande, which empties into the Gulf of

Mexico. There are no bridges between

the site and the Gulf of Mexico.

The two bridges will be built adjacent

to each other at the terminus of an

undeveloped 1,000-foot wide, BNDowned corridor extending three miles

northward from the site to the

Brownsville Ship Channel. The bridges

will be connected to the Ship Channel

by a roadway and a railway built

through the center of the corridor. Texas

State Highway 4 (SH 4) bisects the

corridor approximately 3,600 feet north

of the bridge site. The General Services

Administration (GSA) inspection

facility and BND toll-installation will be

located on 40 acres of land immediately

south of SH 4.

The new bridges will:

• Provide the Port of Brownsville

with additional direct rail and road

links with Mexico, thereby enhancing

its competitiveness;

• Create an alternative route for

commercial traffic destined for the Port,

most of which is obliged to use bridges

located in downtown Brownsville (the

Los Tomates bridge, scheduled to open

in March, 1999, is also located in the

metropolitan Brownsville area).

• Divert traffic away from downtown

Brownsville bridges and thereby reduce

noise, vehicle congestion, air pollution,

and deterioration of roadways in the

downtown area caused by commercial

traffic.

• Reduce the traffic of hazardous

materials carriers through populated

areas in Brownsville; and

• Accommodate anticipated

economic growth in the Brownsville

area.

Summary Environmental Assessment

The Department evaluated possible

environmental impacts of the project.

The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas

is the primary zone of occupation

within the United States for two species

of Federally-protected cat, the ocelot

and the jaguarundi. The project area

constitutes a potential travel corridor for

the cats. Additionally, there is potential

that a Federally-protected bird, the

northern aplomado falcon, may nest in

or near the area. The project corridor

contains 93 acres of wetlands, 12.77

acres of which would be lost, and lies

entirely within the 100-year floodplain.

The BND worked closely with all

agencies involved in the review process,

especially the USFWS, to address their

concerns about the possible

environmental impacts of this project.

The project has been extensively

redesigned to avoid and mitigate

potential impacts. Specifically, the BND

has agreed, inter alia, to elevate the

bridges inland 430 feet and revegetate

the area underneath the bridge

structures to reestablish a wildlife travel

corridor; construct a minimum of ten

culverts in the elevated approach

structure leading to the bridges that will

allow wildlife to pass through; conduct

a breeding-season nest survey to gather

information about the northern

aplomado falcon, conduct a three-year

public education and information

campaign focusing on three Federallyprotected species; and enhance or create

60.6 acres of wetlands adjacent to Little

San Martin Lake, located north of the
61570 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 222 / Tuesday, November 18, 1997 / Notices

Ship Channel, about five miles from the

impact site.

The Department considered

cumulative environmental impacts

resulting from the project. Mitigation of

wetlands impacts, preservation of the

riparian vegetation corridor, and

establishment of travel corridors for

endangered cats will minimize the

project’s contribution to potential

environmental impacts caused by

existing and reasonably foreseeable

international crossings in the Lower Rio

Grande Valley. The reduction in vehicle

waiting times and the deviation of a

significant portion of commercial traffic

from downtown Brownsville bridges

will positively impact air quality for the

population of the region. The removal of

hazardous cargoes from downtown

Brownsville will have a positive impact

on public safety. The commercial-cargoonly nature of the bridges and

constraints to secondary development in

the project area will limit urban and

commercial sprawl.

On April 30, 1992, a programmatic

agreement was executed among the

Department of State, the Texas State

Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO),

the Texas Department of Transportation,

the Advisory Council on Historic

Preservation, and the Brownsville

Navigation District, in which the BND

agreed, inter alia, to:

• Conduct a cultural resources survey

within the Area of Potential Effect prior

to initiating construction;

• Consult with the SHPO to avoid,

minimize, or mitigate adverse effects on

any standing structures or

archaeological properties within the

Area of Potential Effect eligible for

inclusion in the National Register of

Historic Places; and

• Consult with the SHPO to develop

a plan for recovery of any archaeological

data within the Area of Potential Effect

that cannot be avoided or preserved in

place.

Dated: November 4, 1997.

M. Elizabeth Swope,

Coordinator, U.S.-Mexico Border Affairs.

[FR Doc. 97–30162 Filed 11–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–45–M

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Office of the Secretary

[Public Notice No. 2629]

New International Bridge, Brownsville,

Texas: Issuance of Presidential Permit

SUMMARY: The Department of State is

announcing the issuance to the

Brownsville Navigation District of a

Presidential Permit for two new

international bridges between

Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros,

Tamaulipas, Mexico. The Department

determined that issuance of the Permit

would serve the national interest and

the Permit was signed on October 12,

1997 and issued on November 3, 1997

pursuant to the International Bridge Act

(33 U.S.C. 555 et seq.) and Executive

Order 11423, 33 FR 11741 (1968), as

amended by Executive Order 12847 of

May 17, 1993, 58 FR 96 (1993). No

notifications of disagreement were

received within the 15-day period

prescribed in Section 1(f) of Executive

Order 11423.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Presidential

Permit may be obtained from M.

Elizabeth Swope, Coordinator, U.S.-

Mexico Border Affairs, Office of

Mexican Affairs, Room 4258,

Department of State, Washington, D.C.

20520 (Telephone 202–647–8529).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice of

the application by the Brownsville

Navigation District for a Permit to build

two new international bridges across the

Rio Grande between Brownsville, Texas,

and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico,

was placed in the Federal Register on

November 19, 1991, 56 FR 223. The new

bridges will be located parallel to each

other about eight miles east of

downtown Brownsville, Cameron

County, Texas at River Mile 24. One

bridge will be for commercial-cargo

vehicular traffic and the other will be

for commercial-cargo rail traffic. The

bridges are intended to remove

commercial tariff bound for the Port of

Brownsville from downtown

Brownsville. Eighteen Federal and state

agencies reviewed the draft

environmental assessment. They were:

the Immigration and Naturalization

Service, the United States Customs

Service, the Food and Drug

Administration, the Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service (of the

Department of Agriculture), the General

Service Administration, the

International Boundary and Water

Commission—United States Section, the

Department of Defense, the Department

of Transportation (Federal Highway

Administration and the United States

Coast Guard), the Federal Emergency

Management Agency, the Department of

the Interior (United States Fish and

Wildlife Service), the Department of

Commerce, the Environmental

Protection Agency, the Interstate

Commerce Commission (now part of the

Department of Transportation), the

Department of State, the Texas Parks

and Wildlife Department, the Texas

Department of Transportation, the Texas

Historical Commission, and the Texas

Natural Resource Conservation

Commission (formerly the Texas Water

Commission).

Dated: November 4, 1997.

M. Elizabeth Swope,

Coordinator, U.S.-Mexico Border Affairs.

[FR Doc. 97–30163 Filed 11–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–45–M

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 2630]

Privacy Act of 1974; Creation of a New

System of Records

Notice is hereby given that the

Department of State proposes to create

a new system of records, STATE–23,

pursuant to the provisions of the

Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5

U.S.C. 552a)), and the Office of

Management and Budget Circular No.

A–130, Appendix I. The Department’s

report was filed with the Office of

Management and Budget on November

5, 1997.

This system of records is being

implemented by the Department of State

pursuant to the Debt Collection

Improvement Act of 1996 to support its

responsibilities with regard to the

accounting and collection of debts

incurred by employees of the

Department of State, employees of other

federal agencies, private U.S. citizens

and other individuals with the

Department of State or the U.S.

Government. The information included

is directly related to the accounting and

collection of these debts.

Any persons interested in

commenting on this new system of

records may do so by submitting

comments in writing to Kenneth F.

Rossman, Acting Chief; Programs and

Policies Division, Office of Information

Resources Management Programs and

Services, Room 1239, Department of

State, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington,

DC 20520–1512.

This system of records will be

effective 40 days from the date of

publication (December 29, 1997) unless

we receive comments which will result

in a contrary determination.

The new system description,

‘‘Records of the Domestic Accounts

Receivable Tracking System, STATE–

23’’ will read as set forth below.