BLM authorizes project to improve communication capability for rural areas in San Bernardino County
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MORENO VALLEY, Calif. - The Bureau of Land Management Needles Field Office has authorized the construction of a communication site to improve communication capability along rural areas in San Bernardino County. The release of the Decision Record and Finding of No Significant Impact for a communication site at Nipton authorizes InterConnect to move forward with its project located on public lands.
The BLM is committed to supporting broadband availability for rural Americans, and this project support Executive Order 13821, “Streamlining and Expediting Requests to Locate Broadband Facilities in Rural America.”
The communication site will consist of a 196-foot lattice signal tower, a single multiple-room building capable of holding up to five communication vendors, no more than three 1,000-gallon propane tanks and two 35-kilowatt generators situated on a 50ft2 concrete pad.
InterConnect Towers LLC has submitted proposals for five communications’ sites within the Needles Field Office, located approximately 10 miles south of the California-Nevada state line, 1.25 miles southwest of the junction of I-15 and Nipton Road. The BLM has released previous decisions on similar communication sites located at Ash Hill and Halloran. The Needles Field Office is currently preparing an Environmental Assessment for the last site located southwest of the I-40/Hwy 95 intersection, northwest of Needles, CA.
The BLM requested public comment on the Nipton Environmental Assessment in early June. The BLM considered the public comments in making a final decision.
The Nipton communication site documents are available online at https://go.usa.gov/xPWX3.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.