Immigration Reimbursement Agreement

							Calais, ME-St. Stephen,NB
 Border Crossing Project
       A Case Study
Agenda
 Introduction
 Planning, coordination, and permitting
 Considerations during Design
 Considerations during Construction
 Lessons learned
Introduction
   New crossing discussed for about 30 years
   8th busiest commercial crossing along the U.S. /
    Canadian border
   Annual traffic – 2.9 million vehicles
   7,500 AADT including 550 heavy trucks
   Delays inbound to the U.S. can be up to
    2 hours
   Truck traffic entering Maine has doubled since
    NAFTA implementation (70,000 to 140,000 annually)
Project Management
 Maine  and New Brunswick DOTs
  share the costs of bridge
  design/construction on a 50/50
  basis
 MaineDOT: Bridge design lead
 MaineDOT: Project Manager for
  the bridge construction portion
Agencies — U.S.
 FHWA  – lead federal agency
 MaineDOT
 GSA – cooperating agency
 U.S. Department of Homeland Security
   Customs and Border Protection
   U.S. Border Patrol
 U.S.   Department of State
Agencies — Canada
 New Brunswick Department of
  Transportation
 Transport Canada
 Canada Border Services Agency
 Canada Revenue Agency
 Citizenship & Immigration Canada
 Foreign Affairs Canada
 Royal Canadian Mounted Police
   Four Alternatives
    including no
    action
    considered
   Alternatives 2A
    and 3 deemed
    viable
   Chosen:
    Alternative 3
    Calais Industrial
    Park
Timeline
 Preliminary design and NEPA compliance –
  started 1999
 FHWA issued FONSI in July 2002
 Final design and permitting
  July 2002 – September 2006
 Construction Begins
     NBDOT - Spring 2006
     MaineDOT – Spring 2007
     GSA and CBSA - 2007
   Open to traffic - Fall 2008
This Last Year…
 January 2006 – Reevaluation of 2001
  Environmental Assessment
 May 2006 – Army Corps of Engineers request
  for details
 June 2006 – Maine DOT replies
 June 2006 - US Coast Guard Approval
 Sept 2006 – Army Corps of Engineers
  approval
 Project tendered September 27, 2006
Planning
 Maineand New Brunswick circulated
 studies at same time
   Changes in process
    (New Brunswick was very flexible)
   Public Involvement
     9 PAC meetings, 2 public meetings,
      and 1 formal public hearing
 MaineDOT– GSA enter into a cost
 reimbursement agreement for NEPA
International Coordination
 Partnership, respect for others’ process,
  flexibility
 International Stakeholders workshops
     Every 6 months to 1 year throughout the process
     International partnering agreement
     Master schedule discussed and developed
     Good forum for troubleshooting problems like
      labor issues
     Communication between workshops
   Find ways to maintain national focus for
    future funding purposes
     TBWG, BSPC, etc.
Permitting — Coast Guard
Bridge Permit
 Required for an international bridge
 Cooperating agency under NEPA
 Bridge permit
     40% plans required
     Approved Presidential Permit is also
      required
     Long lead time is necessary
Permitting – Presidential
Permit
 U.S. Department of State 2003-2005
 No precedent for the northern border
     First one in at least 30 years
   Guidelines for complete application
     State Dept. distributes application to at least
      55 agencies for comment and determinations
     Prepared and circulated own EA and FONSI as
      part of their process as well
Treaties and Approvals
   Transport Canada – New Brunswick
    agreement
     This project spurred a new Canadian equivalent
      of the U.S. Presidential Permit process
 International Boundary Commission
  approval
 International Joint Commission or exchange
  of diplomatic notes required between
  Foreign Affairs Canada and U.S. State
  Department
 MaineDOT - New Brunswick agreement to
  construct and reimburse
Design Considerations — U.S.
 Inspection facility – increased in size from 20 to
  50 acres. (Post 911)
 MaineDOT – GSA cost reimbursement agreements
 Advance notice for materials and people crossing
  the border
 Buy America clause for steel
 MaineDOT – NBDOT funding and management
  agreement
 Bridge contractor ‘fact sheet’ and prequalification
 Coordination between GSA and MaineDOT of
  design issues; staging issues, exchange of plans,
  etc.
Considerations During
Construction - Labor
 Labor and requirements for foreign
  workers
 Human Resources Development
  Canada-Canadian Labor Market
  Opinion
 CBSA – immigration
 Maine Dept of Labor
 Security and background check
 Ideal worker – dual citizenship, no
Considerations During Construction -
Security
 Security   during construction
     U.S. Border Patrol
     RCMP
    Movement of workers; must be
    able to cross border within project
    limits
     No precedent on this issue
  Considerations During
  Construction - Taxes
                           U.S                 Canada
Customs Duties    EXEMPT                Exempt – but imports
                  All international     need NAFTA certificate
                  bridge projects are   of origin
                  exempt

Sales Tax         EXEMPT                None
Value Added Tax   None                  6% GST collected at
(GST/HST)                               border
                                        14% HST
Income Tax        Non-resident          NB responsible for 15%
Withholding       withholding           non-residents
Lessons Learned
 Partnerships among agencies on both sides of
  the border that are built to last
 Respect for others and stay flexible
 Communicate and communicate some more
 Combine NEPA/Presidential Permit Process
  as much as possible
 Maximize the use of the cooperating
  agencies
 Taxation issues for international bridge
  projects are complex
Project Status
International Bridge Construction (11.58 Million)
       March 2007 – Summer 2008
U.S. Inspection Facility
       Summer 2007 – Fall 2008
US Route 1 (9.33 Million):
       April 2007 – Summer 2008
NB Route 1:
      Spring 2007
Canadian Inspection Facility
      Summer 2007 – Fall 2008
Calais, ME-St. Stephen,NB
 Border Crossing Project