Telecom Projects
Environmental Assessment/Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration Fiber Optic Cable Installation
(AT&T sub to Forkert Engineering)
The study area for the fiber optic cable installation project encompasses a 190-mile linear segment located primarily within Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and partially within California State Lands Commission (SLC) managed holdings from the City of Victorville in San Bernardino County, California to the City of Las Vegas in Clark County, Nevada. The project involves trenching and land disturbance including equipment access, staging, and maneuvering along the linear segment. The fiber optic installation and maintenance project consists of 14-miles of existing conduit with the remainder being converted to conduit. The project includes applicant-initiated avoidance and minimization measures, and also includes construction measures to reduce potential biological and cultural resources impacts to a less than significant level. These include biological monitoring during the construction period by a USFWS-permitted desert tortoise monitor.
Environmental Services for Installation of Two Long Haul Fiber-Optic Cables
(Level 3 Communications/AT&T )
Chambers Group provided a full range of environmental permitting services and construction mitigation monitoring in support of two fiber-optic cable installation projects in Central/Southern California. One project involved the desert route from Bakersfield to Cajon Pass for a total of 143 miles. The other was along the coast route from San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles for a total of 244 miles. Installation of the fiber-optic cable and conduits was restricted to utility rights-of-way, the majority of these being the Union Pacific Railroad and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad rights-of-way. Responsibilities included environmental documentation and permitting, wetland delineation, biological and cultural resource surveys, protection of threaten and endangered plant and animal species, Section 404 permits and 1602 Streambed Alteration Agreements. PEA preparation and submittal to CPUC as well as working with CPUC and the Applicant for acceptance of the completed PEAs.
Programmatic Mitigation: Archaeological, paleontological, and biological monitors oversaw permit compliance, agreements and project mitigation conditions during the installation of the cable, including the Programmatic Biological Opinion for red-legged frogs. All crews underwent multiple training sessions with railroad safety personnel and were able to work efficiently and safely within the dangerous rights-of-way. Cultural resources crews monitored construction, recorded newly discovered sites, conducted subsurface testing programs, and coordinated with both construction contractors and Native American representatives. Communication and reporting strategies were also developed, and multiple mitigation tasks were effectively carried out on a long-term basis. Agency Coordination: USFWS, California Department of Fish and Game, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as other local, county, state, and federal agencies.
