Presidential Permit: los Indios/Lucio Blanco Bridge, 1974

PERMIT

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AUTHORIZING SAN BENITO INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE COMPANY

TO CONSTRUCT, COMPLETE, OPERATE AND MAINTAIN AN

INTERNATIONAL TOLL BRIDGE, ITS APPROACHES AND

FACILITIES AT THE INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY BETWEEN

THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO

By virtue of the authority vested in me as Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, pursuant to Executive Order 11423 of August 16, 1968, and Department of State Delegation of Authority No. 118-1 of April 11, 1973, and having requested and received the views of various of the Federal Departments, I hereby grant permission, subject to the acceptance of the conditions, provisions and requirements hereinafter set forth, to the San Benito International Bridge Company, a Texas corporation having its main office in San Benito, Texas (hereinafter referred to as "permittee"), to construct, complete, operate and maintain an international vehicular toll bridge in Cameron County, Texas, connecting the unincorporated areas of Los Indios, Texas, and Soliceno, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

The term "facilities" as used in this permit means the bridge, its approaches, and any land, structures, or installations appurtenant thereto.

The term "United States facilities" as used in this permit means that part of the facilities in the United States.

This permit is subject to the following conditions:

Article 1. It is expressly agreed by the permittee that the United States facilities and operations herein described shall be subject to all the conditions, provisions and requirements of this permit or any amendment thereof, further that this permit may be terminated at the will of the Secretary of State or his delegate or may be amended by the Secretary of State or his delegate at will or upon proper application therefor, further that the permittee shall make no substantial change in the location of the United States facilities or in the operation authorized by this permit until such changes shall have been approved by the Secretary of State or his delegate.

Article 2. (1) Standards for, and manner of, the construction, completion, operation, and maintenance of the United States facilities shall be subject to inspection and approval by the representatives of appropriate Federal or State agencies. The permittee shall allow duly authorized officers and employees of such agencies free and unrestricted access to said facilities in the performance of their official duties.

(2) Approval of the Secretary of Transportation shall be obtained, as required by the first section of the Act of March 23, 1906 (33 USC 491) prior to the commencement of construction.

Article 3. The permittee shall comply with all applicable Federal and State laws and regulations regarding the construction, operation and maintenance of the United States facilities, and with all applicable industrial codes.

Article 4. Upon the termination, revocation, or surrender of this permit, the United States facilities in the immediate vicinity of the international boundary shall be removed by and at the expense of the permittee within such time as the Secretary of State or his delegate may specify, and upon failure of the permittee to remove this portion of the United States facilities as ordered, the Secretary of State or his delegate may direct that possession of such facilities be taken and that they be removed at the expense of the permittee; and the permittee shall have no claim for damages by reason of such possession or removal.

Article 5. If, in the future, it should appear to the Secretary of Transportation that any facilities or operations permitted hereunder cause unreasonable obstructions to the free navigation of any of the navigable waters of the United States, permittee may be required, upon notice from the Secretary of Transportation to remove or alter such of the facilities as are owned by it so as to render navigation through such waters free and unobstructed.

Article 6. This permit is subject to the limitations, terms and conditions contained in any orders issued by any competent agency of the United States Government, including but not limited to the Department of Transportation, and the United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, with respect to United States facilities, and shall continue in force and effect only so long as the permittee shall continue the operations hereby authorized in exact accordance with such limitations, terms and conditions.

Article 7. The permittee agrees that when, in the opinion of the President of the United States, the national security of the United States demands it, due notice being given by the Secretary of State or his delegate, the United States shall have the right to enter upon and take possession of any of the United States facilities or parts thereof; to retain possession, management and control thereof for such length of time as may appear to the President to be necessary to accomplish said purposes; and thereafter to restore possession and control to the permittee. In the event that the United States shall exercise such right, it shall pay to the permittee just and fair compensation for the use of such United States facilities upon the basis of a reasonable profit in normal conditions, and the cost of restoring said facilities to as good condition as existed at the time of entering and taking over the same, less the reasonable value of any improvements that may have been made by the United States.

Article 8. In the event of transfer of the United States facilities or any part thereof, this permit shall continue in effect temporarily for a reasonable time pending the making of an application by the transferee for a permanent permit and decision thereon, provided that notice of such transfer is given promptly in writing to the Department of State accompanied by a statement by the transferee under oath that the United States facilities and the operation and maintenance thereof authorized by this permit will remain substantially the same as before the transfer pending issuance to the transferee of a new permit.

Article 9. (1) The permittee shall acquire such right-of-way grants, easements, permits and other authorizations as may become necessary and appropriate.

(2) The permittee shall save harmless the United States from any claimed or adjudged liability arising out of the construction, completion, or maintenance of the facilities.

(3) The permittee shall maintain the United States facilities and every part thereof in a condition of good repair for their safe operation.

Article 10. The permittee agrees to file with the appropriate agencies of the Government of the United States such statements or reports under oath with respect to the United States facilities, and/or permittee's activities and operations, in connection therewith, as are now or as may hereafter be required under any laws or regulations of the Government of the United States or its agencies.

Article 11. The permittee shall send notice to the Department of State at such time as the construction authorized by this permit is begun, and again at such time when it is completed, interrupted, or discontinued.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I, William J. Casey, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, have hereunto set my hand this 18th day of January, 1974, in the City of Washington, District of Columbia.

/s/ William J. Casey

**NOTE** In 1990, via an exchange of diplomatic notes with the Government of Mexico, the United States acknowledged the transfer of the permit and ownership of the bridge from San Benito International Bridge Company to Cameron County, Texas.