Proposed Right-of-Way for an AT&T Corp. Buried Fiber Optic Telecommunications System and Plan Amendment

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In accordance with section 202 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (California Desert District), as lead agency, along with the U.S. Forest Service (Cleveland National Forest ) and U.S. Marine Corps (Camp Pendleton) as cooperating agencies, have prepared an Environmental Assessment for a right-of-way proposed by AT&T Corp. for a buried fiber optic telecommunications line and associated facilities. This system, running from Lamesa, Texas to Los Angeles, California, is called the AT&T NexGen/Core Fiber Optic Telecommunications Project ("Project"). The proposed action, which crosses federal lands in the States of California, Arizona and New Mexico, includes an amendment to the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan which, if approved, will allow an exception to construct portions of this project along existing highways instead of within designated utility corridors on federal lands in Riverside, Imperial and San Diego Counties, California. The proposed Project would consist of five links or points-of- presence (POP) connecting: (1) Lamesa to El Paso, Texas; (2) El Paso to Tucson, Arizona; (3) Tucson to Blythe