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Tijuana, Baja California: Coastal Tijuana Wastewater Collection Improvement Projects

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Project Location and Description

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering authorizing the award of a Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF) grant to the Comisión Estatal de Servicios Públicos de Tijuana (CESPT), the local utility for the cities of Tijuana and Playas de Rosarito, for construction of wastewater collection lines to serve existing communities in southwestern Tijuana that lack adequate wastewater disposal. Tijuana, a municipality comprised of more than 1.5 million people, is located adjacent to the U.S.-Mexican border on the Pacific coast south of the City of San Diego, CA.

Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action

The purpose of the proposed action is to address the environmental and public health risks associated with inadequate collection, treatment and disposal of wastewater. The proposed action will protect public health by providing appropriate wastewater collection to some 2,700 residents that currently lack access to this service. Residents in the communities currently use latrines or open ditches for wastewater disposal. The proposed action will significantly reduce or eliminate the use of inadequate wastewater disposal practices by providing collection service and conveying the wastewater flows to wastewater treatment plants. This will result in improved environmental and sanitation conditions.

The proposed action will extend the wastewater collection systems to communities within the municipality of Tijuana that currently lack access to these services. The proposed action consists of installing about 8 miles (nearly 13,300 meters) of wastewater collection (sewer) lines ranging from 8 to 15 inches (20 to 38 centimeters) in diameter. Raw wastewater generated by these communities is estimated at 0.12 million gallons per day (5.5 liters per second). All wastewater collected by the new sewer lines will receive secondary treatment prior to discharge in Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. Treatment will be provided at the existing San Antonio de los Buenos wastewater treatment plant and the Tecolote La Gloria wastewater treatment plant currently under construction.

EPA's involvement in the Tijuana , Baja California project is part of a national commitment to improve environmental conditions along the U.S.-Mexico border. EPA participates in the development and implementation of water supply and wastewater infrastructure projects in coordination with the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and the North American Development Bank (NADBank) Exiting EPA (disclaimer). BECC is responsible for certifying projects so that they comply with sound technical, environmental, financial, and public participation principles. NADBank administers the BEIF grants for projects that have been certified by BECC and approved by EPA.

Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), EPA has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) that analyzes the potential transboundary environmental impacts of the proposed action. After considering a wide range of regulatory, environmental (both natural and human) and socio-economic factors, the EA did not identify any significant impacts to the environment that would result from the implementation of the proposed wastewater collection system improvements. The EA and Finding of No Significant Impact (FNSI) are being made available for public review for a 30-day comment period that ends on October 17, 2008. Interested persons, including those who disagree with this proposal, may submit written comments to EPA Region 9.

To view the EA or FNSI, please click on the links below.

Contact Information

For further information about these documents, contact:

Susan Cox (cox.susan@epa.gov)
U.S. EPA Region 9 (WTR-4)
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA  94105
Phone:  (415) 972-3555
Fax: (415) 947-3537

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