The Department of State announces, in consultation with relevant Federal agencies, that it will include an expiration date among the conditions it establishes in Presidential permits that it issues for the construction, operation, and maintenance of border crossing facilities. Based on the Department's experience and on interagency consultations, the Department intends to provide for the expiration of permits for vehicular border crossings (
Mr. Daniel Darrach, U.S.-Mexico Border Affairs Coordinator, via e-mail at
Executive Order (EO) 11423 of August 16, 1968, as amended, authorizes the Secretary of State to issue Presidential permits for the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of facilities crossing the international borders of the United States, including, but not limited to, bridges and pipelines connecting the United States with Canada or Mexico. EO 13337, dated April 30, 2004, amended EO 11423,
Since 1968, the Department has issued 21 Presidential permits for non-pipeline border crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border and one for the U.S.-Canada border. Of the 21 U.S.-Mexican border projects that have received permits, most began construction within two to five years. One permitted project took 16 years to be built, one is under construction nearly 30 years after receiving a permit, and three are not likely to be built although they have had permits more than 10 years (one of these permits is more than 30 years old). These permits were issued to the City of Mission, Texas (1978), the Union Pacific Railroad Company (1995), and the Brownsville Navigation District (1997). The Department is currently evaluating whether it should revoke these permits, given the change of circumstances in each of the project areas, development of nearby projects, inaction by the permittees on the proposed projects, and lack of interest in pursuing the corresponding projects in Mexico.
The Presidential permit process, which emphasizes interagency and binational coordination, is designed to ensure that border crossings are built if and only if there is clear local, binational, and interagency support for the project and construction is in the U.S. national interest. It is not in the U.S. national interest to commit scarce government resources (
At the same time, the Department recognizes that, by their nature, border crossing projects are complex, time consuming, and subject to political, financial, regulatory, and logistical setbacks. It is unrealistic to expect permits to be implemented instantly and it would be inefficient to set permit expiration dates on such a short timeframe that the relevant agencies are required to review them repeatedly while waiting for construction to begin.
The Department has determined, after consulting with relevant Federal agencies, including the Border Facilitation Working Group, and giving the matter careful consideration, that Presidential permits for vehicular border crossings (for cars, trucks, buses, and trains) will be valid for a period of ten (10) years, while permits for all other border crossing facilities (
If, after a permit has expired, a permittee continues to believe that the project should be built, the Department would welcome the submission of a revised Presidential permit application that demonstrats current local support, shows that the project is financially feasible, and explains based on updated traffic and other studies why the project continues to be in the U.S. national interest. This new application would generally need to be accompanied by updated environmental review documents, in keeping with the Council on Environmental Quality's guidance that environmental documents more than five years old are considered out of date.
In December 2008, the Department issued to the General Services Administration a Presidential permit containing an expiration clause for the new border crossing to be built at Otay Mesa East, near San Diego, California.