FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 5, 2004
SCHUMER: CUSTOMS' DELAY IN RELEASING SHARED BORDER MANAGEMENT
PLAN PUTS PEACE BRIDGE SCOPING DOCUMENT IN DOUBT
Federal Highway Administration said that it will now only approve
Peace Bridge scoping document if and when feasibility of shared
border management is more carefully studied or removed from consideration
Schumer: Customs is four months overdue in releasing plan to
Congress for building US-Canada border management facility; Delay
is now even more unacceptable
US Senator Charles E. Schumer today took the U.S. Bureau of Customs
and Border Protection to task for failing to submit to Congress
a plan for setting up a joint border inspection facility on the
Canadian side of the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, Ontario. At Schumer's
urging, Congress officially directed Customs to come up with the
plan by August 19. Schumer said that it is more imperative than
ever that the study be completed now that the Federal Highway Administration
has said it will not approve its scoping document until shared border
management is more carefully studied or removed from consideration.
"It was one thing when Customs was a week or two late with
the study. It was frustrating but I was willing to give them some
leeway," Schumer said. "But this delay is now four months
long, threatens to hold up major progress in the Peace Bridge expansion
project, and is unacceptable. I have made this clear to Customs.
They said that they understand. Well, now is the time for them to
step up to the plate."
Schumer said without the shared border facility, a larger plaza
would have to be built on the US side that would require the demolition
of hundreds of commercial and residential buildings. The Congressional
directive, which was written into the conference report of the Consolidated
Appropriations Resolution for Fiscal Year 2003, says the agencies
should "report within 180 days of enactment of this Act detailing
how a joint United States-Canadian border inspection facility could
be established on the Canadian side of the Peace Bridge in Fort
Erie, Ontario." The proposed joint facility, which could include
the creation of accord processing zones with shared facilities,
staffing, technology and operations, would also have a huge impact
on the ongoing Peace Bridge expansion project.
Although the provision was non-binding, Schumer appealed to Homeland
Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson personally on March 19 and
received Hutchinson's promise that the plan would be created and
submitted. Undersecretary Hutchinson is responsible for overseeing
the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. Congress's directive
to issue the plan was a major step because previously, only physical
designs for the facility had been drafted. Detailed plans explaining
the logistical details, political ramifications, and time-line for
the facility will move the project much closer to construction.
"Shared border management at the Peace Bridge will keep commercial
traffic flowing between the U.S. and Canada," Schumer said.
"It will help bring the City of Buffalo's West Side back to
life, and it will get the large, commercial diesel trucks out of
Front Park and the adjacent residential neighborhood. This project
is about more than just building a new bridge. It is a development
effort that could create an entirely new gateway to the City of
Buffalo and the United States."
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