Final Environmental Assessment for the Proposed SBInet Tucson West Project Ajo, Tucson, Casa Grande, Nogales, and Sonoita Stations Area of Operation, U.S. Border Patrol, Tucson Sector, Arizona

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

The Secure Border Initiative (SBI) is a comprehensive, multiyear plan established by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in November 2005 to secure America’s borders and reduce illegal immigration. SBI was created to bring clarity of mission, effective coordination of DHS assets, and greater accountability in securing the Nation’s borders. The SBI mission is to promote border security strategies that protect against and prevent terrorist attacks and other transnational crimes. Additionally, SBI will coordinate DHS efforts to ensure the legal entry and exit of people and goods moving across our borders, and improve the enforcement of immigration, customs, and agriculture laws at our borders, within the country, and abroad. SBInet is the component of SBI charged with developing and installing technology and tactical infrastructure (TI) solutions to gain operational control of our Nation’s borders. The goal of SBInet is to field the most effective, proven technology, infrastructure, personnel, and response platforms, and integrate them into a single, comprehensive border security system for DHS. United States (U.S.) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the agent for SBInet, carrying out the program to better execute this vital mission CBP would deploy a mix of technology, TI, and personnel based on operational need to gain control of each diverse mile of the U.S. border. Operational control exists when CBP is consistently able to: (1) detect illegal entries in to the U.S.; (2) identify and classify these entries to determine the level of threat involved; (3) efficiently and effectively respond to these entries; and, (4) bring each event to an appropriate law enforcement resolution. The Environmental Assessment (EA) was prepared in compliance with provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as amended (42 U.S. Code [U.S.C.] 4332 et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) NEPA implementing regulations at 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 1500, and the DHS Management Directive 5100.1, Environmental Planning Program (71 Federal Register [FR] 16790). The EA analyzes various aspects of a proposed project that would be carried out under SBI and be implemented as a part of the SBInet program. It addresses the potential direct and indirect effects, beneficial and adverse, of the proposed construction, installation, operation, and maintenance of a system of sensor and communication towers, which include associated access roads, communications components, and a combination of sensor and communication components on towers within the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) Ajo, Casa Grande, Tucson, Nogales and Sonoita stations’ Areas of Responsibility (AOR) in southwest Arizona.

Final Environmental Assessment for the Proposed SBInet Tucson West Project Ajo, Tucson, Casa Grande, Nogales, and Sonoita Stations Area of Operation, U.S. Border Patrol, Tucson Sector, Arizona

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