My office accepts funding requests for projects that provide benefits to constituents of the 16th Congressional District of Texas, the Border Region, the State of Texas, and our nation. The types of projects I requested funding for in Fiscal Year 2010 support community development and will make our community a better and safer place to live and work. I am requesting funding for projects that make investments in water resources, transportation, energy and environment, agriculture, healthcare, education, workforce, military construction and research, and public safety for our communities. Historically, congressional districts receive a much smaller percentage of the total number of earmarks than requested by their Members of Congress. Projects receiving funding will be published within the appropriations bills passed by Congress.
In an effort to promote unprecedented transparency, Congress now requires all earmark project requests to be placed online and accessible to the public. While the majority of funding requests made are from public or non-profit entities, some private entities can make funding requests; but they would still have to competitively bid before they would receive funding. Below is the list of projects I requested funding for in Fiscal year 2010.
Aerospace Missions Corporation
7362 Remcon Circle, El Paso, TX 79912
Trex Enterprises
10455 Pacific Center Court, San Diego, CA 92121
Mobile Optical Tracking System All Sky Imager
$1,200.000
A critical need still exists for a mobile sensor, at the Fort Bliss, White Sands, and Yuma test ranges that can provide high-resolution 3-D imagery information during testing of several counter-rocket and counter-mortar systems being tested against rocket and mortar threats. Accuracy of testing these systems at these ranges will be greatly improved with the delivery of a Mobile Optical Tracking System (MOTS) system which will result in systems that better protect American service members.
Aliviane, Inc.
1111 Barranca Drive Suite 800, El Paso, TX 79935
Border Institute for Excellence
$3,000,000
The Border Institute for Excellence will train 900 substance abuse counselors and outreach specialists to help educate families to recognize early signals of potential substance abuse, and inform them about intervention techniques and other resources to seek additional help and treatment. This project expands ongoing efforts to reduce the distribution and consumption of illicit drugs in El Paso through community outreach.
Army Corps of Engineers
4101 Jefferson Plaza NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109
Rio Grande Environmental Management Program
$6,100,000
The Rio Grande Environmental Management Program is a federally authorized program in the Rio Grande Basin and provides for planning, construction, and evaluation of measures for fish and wildlife habitat rehabilitation and enhancement. The program calls for a plan for long term monitoring, a computerized data inventory, and performing analysis, applied research, and adaptive management.
Army Corps of Engineers
4101 Jefferson Plaza NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109
Inspection of Completed Works for Flood Damage Reduction
$362,000
Funding for this request will be for the inspection of flood control projects transferred to local entities for operation and maintenance. The program will provide periodic inspections of high hazard dams as well as inspections and continuing evaluations of all other completed flood control projects to ensure that they perform as designed.
Army Corps of Engineers
4101 Jefferson Plaza NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109
Rio Grande Basin Ecosystem Restoration Study
$120,000
Water conveyance and delivery, ecosystem degradation, and flooding are major issues in the Rio Grande Basin. Water supply and flood control in the basin fall under the management and jurisdiction of an international treaty, an interstate compact, and several Federal, State and local agencies. This study will identify ways to integrate the programs, policies, and resources of all concerned agencies into a multi-objective water resources plan.
ARRIBA
1155 Westmoreland Street Suite 235, El Paso, TX 79925
Project ARRIBA
$1,000,000
Project ARRIBA provides workforce training through two local partners: the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and El Paso Community College (EPCC). This project will provide training for individuals living at or near the federal poverty level. This workforce training helps unemployed individuals to find jobs in high-demand fields in the El Paso region.
Bi-National Sustainability Laboratory (BNSL)
709 Waltham Ct., El Paso, TX 79922
Partnership for Innovation & Security
$750,000
BNSL is a non-profit institution whose core mission is to foster technology-based, sustainable economic development of the U.S.-Mexico border region. This project will be used to expand BNSL operational activities in the Paso del Norte region of the border and to develop the Partnership for Innovation and Security.
City of El Paso
700-A San Francisco, El Paso, TX 79901
Bus Acquisition
$12,800,000
By purchasing new environmentally-friendly buses, the City of El Paso will make transit a more accessible, attractive, and viable option. This purchase will represent the first fleet expansion in over a decade and follows the City's substantial investment in the replacement of the total fleet. These buses will reduce congestion, improve air quality, and support an increase in demand for mass transit.
City of El Paso
700-A San Francisco, El Paso, TX 79901
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Corridors
$7,440,000
As the El Paso population expands and road building options become more limited, transit needs become more critical. Increased congestion, commute time, and rising fuel costs will continue to make driving less attractive. BRT combines the quality of rail transit and the flexibility of buses through the use of intelligent transportation systems technology, rapid and convenient fare collection, and integration with transit oriented development in order to substantially upgrade bus system performance. This project is part of the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization's Transportation Improvement Plan.
City of El Paso
700-A San Francisco, El Paso, TX 79901
Compressed Natural Gas Fueling Station
$4,000,000
This is a critical project to help support public transportation in El Paso. The construction of a compressed natural gas fueling station would secure the City of El Paso's Sun Metro supply of natural gas, increase operational efficiency, and improve air quality. The proposed plant will also help stabilize Sun Metro's fuel costs. Lastly, this project would create a fueling facility midway between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Phoenix for compressed natural gas vehicles.
City of El Paso
700-A San Francisco, El Paso, TX 79901
Development of a Border Improvement Master Plan
$1,600,000
The City of El Paso in conjunction with the El Paso regional Texas Department of Transportation office is seeking to develop a broader Border Improvement Master Plan to study how to build upon and improve the current operations of the international ports of entry in the greater El Paso metropolitan area. The study will look at both locally- and federally-owned facilities and cut across state lines to include a port of entry in Santa Teresa, NM and a proposed port of entry at the City of Sunland Park, NM. Other ports of entry that will be included are: Tornillo-Guadalupe (newly permitted), Zaragoza/Ysleta, Bridge of the Americas, Stanton, Santa Fe, a proposed new commuter port of entry, and expansion of Zaragoza/Ysleta. A review of traffic distribution and operations, levels of service, and deployment of intelligent transportation systems to facilitate cross-border traffic will be explored as part of the study.Customs and Border Protection
6701 Convair Road, El Paso, TX 79925
CBP Hanger and Offices
$3,500,000
This project will entail the demolition of an existing hangar and office spaces at El Paso International Airport, and the construction of a new 38,000 sq. ft. hangar with approximately 18,000 sq. ft. of office space. This location is ideal for the Air Operations division of the U.S. Customs & Border Patrol with direct access to the airport's longest runway. This new hangar is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will allow all of the Air and Marine Operations activities to be housed in one location instead of the various locations that are currently used by CBP.
Digital Fusion Corporation
5 Butterfield Trail, Suite A, El Paso, TX 79906
Operational and Technical Training Validation Testbed for Joint Maneuver Forces at Fort Bliss
$1,000,000
The Operational and Technical Trainging Validation Testbed (O/TTVT) provides support for Fort Bliss' numerous and growing training requirements. The O/TTVT leverages the Fort Bliss maneuver area and virtually unrestricted airspace, as well as, its proximity to White Sands Missile Range to provide the largest training area in the Army. Fort Bliss currently provides excellent, focused training for soldiers, conducts joint training exercises, deploys troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, and develops and tests cutting-edge, Future Combat Systems technology. Soon six maneuver brigades plus maneuver and combat support assets (brigade size equivalents) and their training requirements will be based there.
El Paso County
500 E. San Antonio, El Paso, TX 79901
Electric Hybrid Bus Replacement Project
$650,000
Funding will pay for two 19-24 passenger low-floor, wheelchair accessible transit vehicles equipped with natural gas as a primary fuel supplemented with an electric hybrid drive system. This project would bolster regional efforts to employ cleaner transit vehicles to improve air quality in El Paso.
El Paso County
500 E. San Antonio, El Paso, TX 79901
Sparks Arroyo Flood Control Project Feasibility Study
$47,000
The Sparks Arroyo is a major drainage area on the east side of El Paso County, Texas. The arroyo is highly erodible and carries significant levels of silt and debris that often plug the drainage culverts under Interstate 10. The area experienced severe flooding in August 2006 when El Paso County was declared a federal disaster area. This feasibility study will develop proposed solutions to the current flooding problem that is negatively impacting the quality of life, transportation and commercial activity in the effected area.
El Paso County
800 E. Overland St. Room 208, El Paso, TX 79901
Tornillo/Guadalupe International Port of Entry
$4,775,130
El Paso-Ciudad Juarez has the largest volume of passenger vehicle crossings and the second largest volume of commercial crossings, and the existing local land ports of entries are quickly reaching their capacity to accommodate the increasingly heavy volume of commercial and passenger vehicular crossings. The new Tornillo-Guadalupe port of entry will expand the region's capacity by replacing an existing 1 1/2 lane structure.
El Paso County
800 E. Overland St. Room 208, El Paso, TX 79901
Toll Plaza at Tornillo/Guadalupe International Port of Entry
$6,074,233
Also related to the development of the Tornillo-Guadalupe port of entry, this funding would be for the construction of its toll plaza and the connecting roadway. These tolls will ensure that the monies are leveraged by those who will use the port of entry the most. This project has the support of the El Paso MPO.
El Paso County
800 E. Overland St. Room 208, El Paso, TX 79901
MF Aguilera Highway Construction
$16,659,556
This project would provide for the construction of a new two-lane highway to provide direct access from the new Tornillo-Guadalupe port of entry to Interstate 10. This project has the support of the El Paso MPO.
El Paso Police Department
911 N. Raynor Street, El Paso, TX 79903
Public Safety Radio Interoperability System
$5,815,000
Federal mandates require the El Paso Police Department to convert from an analog to digital voice system. This new digital system will allow local responders to communicate with regional and state partners. This project will allow the transition to move forward at a time when interoperable border communications are a necessity for our homeland security efforts on the southern border.
El Paso Water Utilities (EPWU)
1154 Hawkins Blvd. 4th Floor, El Paso, TX 79925
El Paso Flood Prevention and Mitigation
$5,000,000
This project will allow EPWU to make infrastructure improvements for flood prevention and mitigation. The project includes improvements to the Van Buren Dam and storm drainage systems to reduce arterial flooding and reduce property flooding in the central part of El Paso.
El Paso Water Utilities (EPWU)
1154 Hawkins Blvd. 4th Floor, El Paso, TX 79925
North Central El Paso/Ft. Bliss Reclaimed Water Project
$4,000,000
An extensive distribution system carries reclaimed water from four wastewater plants to sites throughout El Paso. This project will allow for the expansion of the Haskell Street Wastewater Treatment Plant Water Recycling Program to north central El Paso to provide reclaimed water to Fort Bliss as well as parks and schools in the area.
El Paso Water Utilities (EPWU)
1154 Hawkins Blvd. 4th Floor
El Paso, TX 79925
University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)
500 West University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968
Center for Inland Desalination Systems
$4,000,000
UTEP and EPWU seek to establish the nation's premier Center of Excellence for Inland Desalination. This project will establish an inland desalination research program that will lead to improved desalination operations through energy and/or water efficiencies. The effort will result in commercial applications and capitalize on the experience gained through the operation of the world’s largest inland desalination plant, a joint EPWU-U.S. Army project.
Florida Solar Energy
725 SW 16th Avenue, Suite 6A, Boca Raton, FL 33444
Fort Bliss Demonstration of Thin Film Solar Modules as a Renewable Energy Source
$1,000,000
This solar installation will support the Department of Defense and the Army’s efforts to decrease dependence on foreign fossil fuels and provide a renewable source of energy that, over time, will lower overall Army energy costs.
Fort Bliss
1 Pershing Road, Fort Bliss, TX 79916
Fort Bliss Data Center
$1,700,000
Fort Bliss will receive the largest influx of personnel growth due to BRAC realignments. With a current IT user base of less than 10,000 today, a Fort Bliss end state is predicted to be in the 50,000+ range. Under current plans the personnel will double by this coming summer and growth is expected to continue over the next five years. Current IT infrastructure and Enterprise services simply will not support the immediate or long-term growth rates; funds are not planned or obligated in the amounts required for adequate information support expansion projects.
Fort Bliss
1 Pershing Road, Fort Bliss, TX 79916
Chapel Complex
$7,400,000
This facility will located on East Fort Bliss and will provide religious support to the 20,000+ soldiers who will live and work there. The facility will also serve military dependents and will provide support to the families of deployed service members.
Fort Bliss
1 Pershing Road, Fort Bliss, TX 79916
Fort Bliss Planning and Design for Access Control Points
$8,400,000
As the Army's mission at Fort Bliss expands, seven additional access control points are required; however, funds for those new entry points to the post have not yet been included in the Army’s budget plans.
Frontera Land Alliance
3800 North Mesa, Suite 2A-258, El Paso, TX 79902
Castner Range Conservation Conveyance Study
$300,000
Maintaining Castner Range - even at the minimal level of preventing access to a restricted area - diverts Army funds for a purpose that does not support the national security mission. This study will facilitate a conservation conveyance which is a first step for transferring responsibility of Castner Range to the State of Texas. This project will help preserve open space in the El Paso area and supports efforts to expand the Franklin Mountains State Park.
Hospice El Paso Inc.
1440 Miracle Way, El Paso, TX 79925
Hospice Inpatient Care Center
$1,998,405
This project will renovate 11,798 sq. ft. of the existing unoccupied space of the Hospice El Paso facility. El Paso is the largest city in Texas without an inpatient hospice facility and this funding will help increase our community’s capacity to provide appropriate hospice care for hundreds of terminally ill patients.
Integrated Defense Applications
6070 Gateway Boulevard East, El Paso, TX 79905
QNA SEG
890 Explorer Boulevard, Huntsville, AL 35806
Integration Innovation, Incorporated
920 Green Briar Cove Road, Union Grove, AL 35175
Scenario Generation for Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Evaluation (SGIE)
$800,000
Scenario development is required to capture system performance evaluation metrics that incorporate not only the design specifications but also expected battlefield situations. Scenario generation is currently identified as a program Unfunded Requirement (UFR). Scenario products from this effort will fill this test and evaluation gap and support design and production decision milestones and Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the Warfighter.
Integrated Medical Systems, Inc.
1984 Obsipo Avenue, Signal Hill, CA 90755
Life Support for Trauma and Transport (LSTAT)
$1,500,000
The Army and DARPA have highlighted an urgent need for a sub-set of LSTAT capabilities to be fielded immediately to support the current war in Iraq; this sub-set is called LSTAT Lite, and its development is co-funded by the Army and DARPA. LSTAT Lite is life-saving technology to support troops in the field, but a shortfall of procurement dollars has delayed its deployment. Integrated Medical Systems (IMS) has indicated that components of the LSTAT system will be procured from El Paso area firms, and IMS intends to establish a manufacturing facility in El Paso.
La Fe Community Development Corporation
616 East Father Rahm, El Paso, TX 79901
La Fe Prep School Facility Enhancement Project
$300,000
This project will support the work of La Fe Preparatory School (LFP) to enhance the school’s facility to allow for increased student and community engagement in literacy, physical fitness, and environmental awareness. LFP serves children in one of the poorest zip codes in the United States.
La Mujer Obrera
2000 Texas Avenue, El Paso, TX 79901
Centro Mayapan Marketplace Workforce Training
$375,000
Centro Mayapán Marketplace is a workforce training, education and capacity building program which assists Limited English Proficient Spanish-speaking community members through workforce and entrepreneurial training; access to technology; basic skills education; and civic engagement capacity building. This project will help provide training to enhance the marketable job skills of program participants.
Lower Rio Grande Valley Water District Managers’ Association
311 N. 15th Street, McAllen, TX 78501
Lower Rio Grande Water Resource Conservation Program
$8,700,000
This program allows for the rehabilitation of irrigation conveyance systems along the Texas-Mexico border. This project will provide flood protection to areas from El Paso to Brownsville; protect primary water and wastewater treatment plants from flood damage; conserve water through reduction of evaporation and seepage losses; and facilitate capture and reuse of excess and storm water.
Medical Center of the Americas (MCA) Foundation
201 E. Main, Suite #1514, El Paso, TX 79901
Phase II Master Plan
$300,000
The Medical Center of the Americas Foundation is in the process of creating an innovative land and facility use plan that will serve as the design for an integrated campus of medical facilities and support infrastructure to better integrate the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, the University Medical Center and the new free-standing children's hospital. This Master Plan will help provide an improved health delivery system for El Paso and its surrounding communities by improving functional performance and identifying how facilities can best support the day-to-day activities of health care providers.
MPO/TXDOT
13301 Gateway Blvd. West, El Paso, TX 79928
Intersection Improvements on US62/180
$13,527,054
El Paso and its surrounding region are experiencing an increase in economic growth and population which is placing a strain on our regional transportation system. Current traffic levels are becoming progressively heavier in several corridors within the region and are expected to increase as the city continues to grow. This project will support the construction of a grade separation and four intersection improvements on US 62/180 (Montana Ave.) at Mescalero to relieve traffic congestion. This project has the support of the El Paso MPO.
MPO/TXDOT
13301 Gateway Blvd. West, El Paso, TX 79928
Old Hueco Tanks Road
$13,694,602
The City of Socorro has experienced notable commercial and residential growth over the last few years. This project will help relieve and prevent traffic congestion in the area, improvements of existing FM roads and construction of new arterial roads. This project will provide a four-lane divided roadway, beginning at FM 76 (North Loop Road) and ending at Interstate 10 to provide a better connection to the El Paso Community College. This project is part of the El Paso MPO's Metropolitan Transportation Plan.
Project Vida/PV Community Development Corporation
3607 Rivera Avenue, El Paso, TX 79905
Montana Vista Dental Services
$106,000
Project Vida Health Center provides integrated behavioral health care in east central and northeast El Paso as well as far east El Paso County. Services include medical, dental and behavioral health care. This project will help expand services to two under-served colonias in El Paso.
Texas A&M University AgriLife
1500 Research Parkway, suite 150, 2259 TAMU College Station, TX, Brazos County
Efficient Irrigation for Water Conservation in the Rio Grande Basin – Extension
$2,500,000
This project will help develop and implement efficient irrigation and other water conservation practices to conserve water in the Rio Grande Basin. Included are economic and engineering studies to help justify federally funded infrastructure improvement projects. This is the extension component of a cooperative research and education initiative involving the Texas A&M University System and New Mexico State University.
Texas A&M University AgriLife
1500 Research Parkway, suite 150, 2259 TAMU College Station, TX, Brazos County
Efficient Irrigation for Water Conservation in the Rio Grande Basin - Research
$2,000,000
This is the research component of a cooperative research and education initiative involving the Texas A&M University System and New Mexico State University. This project will help reduce the amount of irrigation water needed to produce crops economically, conserving water and helping meet rapidly expanding urban water demands.
Texas A&M University AgriLife
1500 Research Parkway, suite 150, 2259 TAMU College Station, TX, Brazos County
Sustainable Agriculture for Freshwater Conservation
$1,950,000
This program will compile and integrate Rio Grande project salinity source information; determine and alleviate information gaps; develop and evaluate potential salinity control management strategies; assess associated economic and environmental impacts and stakeholder interests; identify the most promising methods and locations for salinity control projects and conduct feasibility and cost analyses; and implement, monitor and document water quality improvements and salinity management benefits.
TX Tech University Health Sciences Center
3601 4th Street, STOP 6258, Lubbock, TX 79430
Center for Border Health Research
$4,050,000
The Border Health Research initiative continues the work of the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center of Excellence in Infectious Diseases to research new and re-emerging infectious diseases, as well as providing research opportunities for diabetes, cancer, and traumatic brain injuries. This research will be carried at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso, Texas. These projects will also develop an important bi-national role as they develop and expand.
Texas Transportation Institute (TTI)
Texas A&M University System #3135 College Station, TX 77845
North American Border Crossing Mobility Index
$537,000
Delays due to congestion at our land ports of entry can result in increased transportation costs and interruptions in manufacturing and delivery cycles. This project would help develop standardized, automated methods to measure total border crossing times for commercial and passenger vehicles across major U.S. land border crossings. Because the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez region has the largest volume of passenger vehicle crossings and the second largest volume of commercial crossings along the southern border, the Texas Transportation Institute has chosen the El Paso-Juarez area to begin this initiative.
Texas Transportation Institute (TTI)
Texas A&M University System #3135 College Station, TX 77845
Universal Freight Shuttle (UFS)
$550,000
Funding for this project will be used to perform a detailed feasibility analysis of the implementation of the UFS in the El Paso region to expedite and better control the cross-border shipment of freight between the United States and Mexico. This system will help solve congestion, air quality, safety, and security issues now associated with international goods movement.
UTEP
500 West University Avenue, El Paso, TX 79968
Open Source Lab for Law Enforcement
$1,670,000
This request will help establish an Open Source Intelligence Lab within the Criminal Justice Program at the University of Texas at El Paso to develop a Latin American Database to support law enforcement agencies along the US-Mexico Border. The project will enhance research capacity, student training, and national infrastructure to meet the needs of Spanish language-based counter terrorism activities.
UTEP
500 West University Avenue El Paso, TX 79968
SW Consortium for Environmental Research & Policy (SCERP)
$5,000,000
SCERP is a consortium of five U.S. universities (UTEP, ASU, NMSU, SDSU, and Utah), and their five Mexican partner universities, that researches ways to address the environmental problems that threaten the health, safety, and well-being of more than 15 million people living along the U.S.-Mexico border. This project contributes to the betterment of public health and the mitigation of environmental contamination. All SCERP activities involve university students, thereby enabling them to better serve their community
University Medical Center Foundation
1400 Hardaway Suite 220, El Paso, TX 79903
Multidisciplinary Integrated Care Clinic
$1,000,000
This project will support Thomason Hospital's ongoing transition to a University Medical Center by providing a walk-in clinic of multidisciplinary primary and specialized care with integrated services for diabetes and obesity, asthma and respiratory, and orthopedics. This facility will serve as the platform for developing a Center of Excellence with research, clinical and educational components focusing on diabetes and its impact on a range of medical conditions.
University of Texas at El Paso
500 West University Avenue, El Paso, TX 79968
Center for Defense Systems Research (CDSR)
$1,000,000
The Center for Defense Systems Research acts as a one-stop shop for DOD, DHS and University collaborations at the University of Texas as El Paso, leveraging federal, state and private research dollars with academic resources to improve national security.
Workforce Solutions Upper Rio Grande
221 N. Kansas, Suite 1000, El Paso, Texas 79901
Project Salud
$1,240,500
Project Salud is a partnership between the Academy School of Careers, Workforce Solutions Upper Rio Grande, and the Honorable Judge Anchondo. This project will help rehabilitate young people who have been arrested on drug-related offenses and provide them with training and educational opportunities to encourage them to lead healthy and productive lives.
