Notice of Availability for a Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Floodplain Assessment and Statement of Findings for the Kenneth G. Ward (Lynden) and Sumas Land Ports of Entry Modernization and Expansion Projects in Lynden and Sumas, Washington, 65626-65628 [2024-17864]

Agencies

• General Services Administration

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 155 (Monday, August 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65626-65628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17864]


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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

[Notice-P-2024-08; Docket No. 2024-0002; Sequence No. 36]


Notice of Availability for a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
and Floodplain Assessment and Statement of Findings for the Kenneth G. 
Ward (Lynden) and Sumas Land Ports of Entry Modernization and Expansion 
Projects in Lynden and Sumas, Washington

AGENCY: Public Buildings Service (PBS), United States (U.S.) General 
Services Administration (GSA).

[[Page 65627]]


ACTION: Notice of availability (NOA); public notice of floodplain 
assessment and statement of findings; announcement of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of the Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which examines potential 
environmental impacts from the modernization and expansion of the 
Lynden and Sumas Land Ports of Entry (LPOE) in Lynden and Sumas, 
Washington. The existing Lynden and Sumas LPOEs are owned and managed 
by GSA and operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's 
Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The Draft EIS describes the 
purpose and need for the project; alternatives considered; the existing 
environment that could be affected; the potential impacts resulting 
from each of the alternatives; and proposed best management practices 
and/or mitigation measures. The Draft EIS also includes a Floodplain 
Assessment and Statement of Findings due to the construction in a 
floodplain at the Sumas LPOE.

DATES: 
    Public Comment Period--The Public Comment Period begins with 
publication of this NOA in the Federal Register and will last until 
September 26, 2024. Written comments must be received or postmarked by 
the last day of the Public Comment Period (see the ADDRESSES section of 
this NOA on how to submit comments).
    Hearing Date--GSA will host an in-person, open house public hearing 
on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Pacific Time 
(PT) (see the ADDRESSES section below for location address).

ADDRESSES: 
    Hearing Location--The public may attend the hearing at the American 
Legion Post 212 Building at 134 Harrison St., Sumas, WA 98295, to view 
the presentation and provide comments on the Draft EIS. GSA staff 
members will be available to assist the public in providing public 
comments.
    Public Comments--In addition to oral comments and written comments 
provided at the public hearing, members of the public may also submit 
comments by one of the following methods. All oral and written comments 
will be considered equally and will be part of the public record.
     Electronic comments should be submitted to the Lynden and 
Sumas LPOE email addresses listed below.
    [ssquf] [email protected]
    [ssquf] [email protected]
    Please include `Lynden and Sumas LPOEs EIS' in the subject line of 
the message.
     Written comments on the EIS should be mailed to: ATTN: 
Patrick Manning, Capital Project Manager, Lynden and Sumas LPOEs EIS, 
U.S. General Services Administration, Northwest/Artic, Region 10, 1301 
A Street, Suite 610, Tacoma, WA 98402.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Manning, Capital Project 
Manager, GSA at the Lynden and Sumas LPOE email addresses at 
[email protected] or [email protected], or at 202-501-4755.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Comment Period

    The views and comments of the public are necessary in helping GSA 
in its decision-making process regarding environmental, cultural, and 
economic impacts. Public comments will be solicited through an in-
person public hearing; direct mail correspondence to appropriate 
Federal, state, and local agencies, Tribes, and to private 
organizations and citizens who have previously expressed or are known 
to have an interest in the project; and in local newspapers. The Draft 
EIS has considered previous input provided during the scoping period.

Public Hearing Information

    The public hearing will begin with presentations on the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and National Historic Preservation Act 
(NHPA) processes, which are being executed concurrently for this 
project, as well as an overview of the proposed project, and then will 
continue with the findings of the Draft EIS. A copy of the presentation 
slideshow will be made available within days of the hearing at the GSA 
websites at www.gsa.gov/lynden and www.gsa.gov/sumas. Following the 
presentation, GSA will hold an open house meeting where members of the 
public can discuss the projects with GSA staff members and provide 
written comments on the Draft EIS.

Background

    The existing 4.8-acre Lynden LPOE serves as the port of entry for 
people and vehicles connecting Lynden, Washington to Aldergrove, 
British Columbia, Canada. The LPOE currently operates 16 hours per day, 
7 days per week and processes privately owned vehicles (POVs), buses, 
pedestrians, and permitted commercial traffic. The existing 4.0-acre 
Sumas LPOE serves as the port of entry for people and vehicles 
connecting Sumas, Washington to Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. 
The LPOE operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week and processes POVs, 
buses, pedestrians, and commercial traffic.
    The purpose of these expansion and modernization projects is for 
GSA to support the CBP mission through modernizing and expanding the 
Lynden and Sumas LPOEs. Accomplishing this purpose would increase the 
functionality, capacity, operational efficiency, effectiveness, 
security, sustainability, and safety of the Lynden and Sumas LPOEs. The 
projects are generally needed to update the current facilities at the 
Lynden and Sumas LPOEs, which no longer function adequately and cannot 
meet CBP current operational needs or Program of Requirements. The 
existing Lynden and Sumas LPOEs have not undergone major improvements 
since their initial construction in the late 1980s and do not have 
sufficient space for modernization and expansion. Both facilities also 
have configuration and space issues that cause traffic, delays in 
processing times, and safety and security issues for inspection 
personnel. Additionally, these facilities do not have the ability to 
incorporate new technologies as they become available. The projects at 
the Lynden and Sumas LPOEs are analyzed jointly in this Draft EIS due 
to their proximity (approximately 10 miles) to one another. Operational 
changes at one of the two LPOEs could have impacts on the other LPOE, 
especially during construction. GSA has prepared a Draft EIS to assess 
the potential impacts of these expansion and modernization projects.

Alternatives Under Consideration

    The EIS considers two action alternatives for the Lynden LPOE and 
three action alternatives for the Sumas LPOE, along with two 
construction sequencing options. GSA also considers the No Action 
Alternatives for each project location.
    Action alternatives for the Lynden LPOE are described below.
    Lynden Alternative 2 (East-West Oriented LPOE Expansion) would 
involve potential acquisition of primarily agricultural land to the 
west of the LPOE, site preparation, and construction to modernize and 
expand the LPOE. The maximum proposed limits of disturbance for Lynden 
Alternative 2 would be approximately 14.5 acres.
    Lynden Alternative 3 (North-South Oriented LPOE Expansion) would 
include the same action as Lynden Alternative 2, with a difference of 
alignment. The maximum proposed limits of disturbance for Alternative 3 
would be approximately 10.3 acres.

[[Page 65628]]

    Action Alternatives for the Sumas LPOE are described below.
    Sumas Alternative 2 (Feasibility Study Preferred Alternative) would 
involve potential acquisition of land south and east of the LPOE, site 
preparation, and construction to modernize and expand the LPOE. The 
maximum proposed limits of disturbance for Sumas Alternative 2 would be 
approximately 12.9 acres.
    Sumas Alternative 3 (Commercial Inspection West) would include the 
same action and maximum proposed limits of disturbance as Alternative 
2, with a difference of a ``flipped'' alignment of the commercial 
inspection facility.
    Sumas Alternative 4 (Multi-Story Construction LPOE Expansion) would 
include the same action and maximum proposed limits of disturbance as 
Sumas Alternative 2, with a difference of multi-story Main Building 
being constructed.
    Construction sequencing options are described below.
    Under the Concurrent Construction option, both ports would remain 
open during construction. Pedestrian access would be maintained through 
the ports by utilizing and resetting, as necessary, various access and 
safety controls. POV access would also be maintained through both ports 
using various controls, which may require limits on the number of open 
processing lanes and shifting of POVs to commercial owned vehicle (COV) 
lanes for limited times. COVs may need to be detoured at times to other 
ports to permit adequate space for continued POV processing.
    Under the Sequential Construction Option, GSA and CBP are 
considering the potential for closure of the Lynden LPOE. All traffic, 
pedestrians, POVs, and COVs would be detoured from the Lynden LPOE 
during the majority of its construction. Once the modernized and 
expanded Lynden LPOE is reopened, construction that impacts traffic 
would begin on the Sumas LPOE. The Sumas LPOE would remain open to 
pedestrians and POVs during construction to the greatest extent 
possible. COVs would be detoured from the Sumas LPOE to other LPOEs 
during portions of the construction period.
    The Draft EIS addresses the potential environmental impacts of the 
proposed alternatives on environmental resources including land use; 
water resources; biological resources; geology, topography, and soils; 
air quality, climate change, and greenhouse gases; human health and 
safety; infrastructure and utilities; traffic and transportation; noise 
and vibration; socioeconomics; and environmental justice and protection 
of children's health and safety. Based on the analysis presented in the 
Draft EIS, impacts to all resource areas would be less-than-significant 
(i.e., negligible, minor, or moderate) adverse or beneficial. Impact 
reduction measures are presented in the Draft EIS to reduce potential 
adverse effects.
    GSA is currently undergoing formal consultation with the State 
Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) and consulting parties to follow 
coordination procedures as required under section 106 of the NHPA to 
determine impacts to historic properties. Mitigation measures may be 
determined in consultation between GSA, SHPO, and applicable consulting 
parties.
    GSA is in the process of conducting informal consultation with the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under section 7 of the 
Endangered Species Act to determine potential effects to federally 
protected species and migratory birds. GSA initiated consultation with 
the USFWS regarding the Lynden LPOE and Sumas LPOE and is awaiting 
USFWS responses and findings. Once received, USFWS responses and 
findings would be included in the Final EIS.
    GSA coordinated with the Natural Resources Conservation Service 
(NRCS) via email concerning the Federal Farmland Protection Policy Act 
conversion impact rating forms completed for both the Lynden and Sumas 
LPOEs and is awaiting NRCS responses and findings. Once received, the 
NRCS responses and findings would be included in the Final EIS.
    The Sumas LPOE project area is located within the 1-percent-annual-
chance floodplain (also referred to as the base flood or 100-year 
flood) and 0.2-percent-annual-chance floodplain (also referred to as 
the 500-year flood). In compliance with Executive Order 11988 
(Floodplain Management), GSA prepared a Floodplain Assessment and 
Statement of Findings addressing potential impacts on floodplains, 
which is included in the Draft EIS for public review and comment. As 
described in the Draft EIS, GSA would follow Federal, state, and local 
regulatory compliance requirements and incorporate design standards at 
the Sumas LPOE to minimize impacts to floodplains.

Anamarie Crawley,
Director, R10 Facilities Management Division Northwest/Arctic Region 
10, U.S. General Services Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-17864 Filed 8-9-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-DL-P