U.S. General Services Adminitation to make final decision on BOTA’s modernization project
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The U.S. General Services Administration's public comment period for the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) regarding the BOTA modernization project closed on December 2, over the decision to keep commercial traffic at the Bridge of the Americas (BOTA).
According to the Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, over 12,000 people submitted their comments regarding commercial traffic from BOTA.
In September, the GSA posted three options regarding commercial vehicles and the modernization plans for the Port of Entry, which concluded that Alternative 4 would remove commercial trucks and prioritize pedestrian and private vehicle access.
Congresswoman Veronica Escobar has previously mentioned community members on both sides of the border have had several opportunities to provide public comment and input for over two years.
"We have urged the commercial sector to think about their plan now for how they will adjust. You know, there have been many conversations around that if they're going to just for three years, there's no guarantee that commercial traffic will ever want to come back after having three years of using different alternatives," Congresswoman Escobar said.
For Congresswoman Escobar, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid and Familias Unidas del Chamizal other Ports of Entry have lots of capacity to receive the potential loss of commercial traffic at BOTA.
"The other bridges are fully equipped and will be even better equipped after the funding goes through. They already have infrastructure, they already have warehouses at the other bridges. What they are arguing is to ignore all of these other considerations, and they're ignoring the ultimate finding of these facts that this is what's best for the public health," said Paola Camacho, attorney for TRLA.
Familias Unidas del Chamizal has advocated to remove semitrucks from BOTA for years, and they don't want to see the final decision to be political."
"This is not something new we've been struggling with, we've been dealing with environmental racism for years and we're not going to stop until we address every single issue we have in the barrio. As families of the Chamizal, we have the right to defend our kids," said Hilda Perez with Familias Unidas del Chamizal.
Advocates believe that if the U.S. GSA decides in favor of the maquilas, it will dismiss all the years of work they've done to prove the existence of a community with pollution and health concerns.
ABC-7 reached out to U.S. GSA for comment and to learn the timeline on when the final decision will be made.
In a statement, a spokesperson said:
"In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, GSA is now in the process of finalizing the EIS. Once the final EIS is released, a mandatory 30-day waiting period follows before the Record of Decision (ROD) can be signed. It’s important to note that the final EIS is one of several key factors that federal decision-makers will consider when making the Record of Decision for the project."
"The BOTA LPOE modernization project final EIS is projected to be published at the end of December, which will incorporate comments received during the recent draft EIS comment period. The ROD is projected to be published in January 2025, which will include the determined preferred alternative and explain the process of selecting that alternative. Additional information related to the project, including any updates to the project schedule, can be found at gsa.gov/bota."
