Comments sought on planned cable through Marianas Trench

RTI Solutions, Inc. has requested a right-of-way permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to lay a portion of the ECHO communications cable within the Mariana Trench National Wildlife Refuge, within the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument. The cable, proposed to be laid directly on the seabed through the Refuge, would provide improved telecommunications interconnectivity between the western Pacific region and the U.S. mainland. 

The Service is seeking public review and comment on the draft environmental assessment that evaluates the effects of the Service issuing a right-of-way permit for the proposed cable through the Monument. The draft EA will be available for public comment from March 22 to April 6. 

The Marianas Trench Marine National Monument is approximately 95,216 square miles and consists of submerged lands and some of the waters of the Mariana Archipelago within three designated units. The Trench Unit and the Volcanic Unit are managed as units of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The CNMI maintains authority for managing the three islands within the Islands Unit. Presidential Proclamation 8335 established the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument in January 2009 and assigned management responsibility to the Secretary of the Interior in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce. The Interior Secretary placed the Trench and Volcanic Units within the National Wildlife Refuge System as the Mariana Trench and Mariana Arc of Fire National Wildlife Refuges and further delegated the management responsibility to the Service. 

All comments and information received by April 6 will be considered. The draft EA is available for review on the Refuge website: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/mariana_trench. 

Public comments on the draft EA can be submitted: 

● Via email: Tammy_Summers@fws.gov; or 

● Via mail to: Marianas Refuge & Monument Complex, c/o Superintendent Tammy Summers, PO Box 8134 MOU-3, Dededo, GU 96912 

All comments and materials we receive become part of the public record associated with this action. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable information in your comments, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personally identifiable information—may be made publicly available at any time. (PR)