[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 75 (Friday, April 18, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21949-21950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-08514]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
[K00621 1314 R3B30]
Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Cloverdale Rancheria
of Pomo Indians' Proposed 65-Acre Fee-to-Trust Acquisition and Resort
Casino Project, Sonoma County, California
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) as lead agency, with the Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo
Indians (Tribe), National Indian Gaming Commission, Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans), Sonoma County, and City of Cloverdale as cooperating
agencies, intends to file a final environmental impact statement (FEIS)
with the EPA for the Tribe's application requesting that the United
States acquire land in trust within Sonoma County, California, and that
the FEIS is now available for public review.
DATES: The Record of Decision on the proposed action will be issued on
or
[[Page 21950]]
after 30 days from the date the EPA publishes its Notice of
Availability in the Federal Register. Any comments on the FEIS must
arrive on or before that date.
ADDRESSES: Mail or hand carry written comments to Amy Dutschke,
Regional Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pacific Region, 2800
Cottage Way, Sacramento, California 95825. See SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION for directions on submitting comments and the public
availability of the FEIS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Rydzik, (916) 978-6051.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BIA prepared the FEIS to address the
potential environmental effects of the United States acquiring six
parcels in trust (totaling approximately 65 acres) for the benefit of
the Tribe, as well as the subsequent development of a destination
resort casino and supporting infrastructure on some of the parcels.
Subsequent to the release of the Draft EIS (DEIS) one of the six
parcels was removed from the fee-to-trust application (Assessor's
Parcel Number 116-310-020). Under Alternatives A through D, this parcel
was proposed to include a tribal government building with workspace and
offices and an associated parking area. Upon review of the
environmental impacts for the alternatives, the BIA determined that the
removal of this parcel would not appreciably change the level of
significance for the issues analyzed in this EIS, and thus the FEIS has
not been altered to remove this parcel from the project site or impact
analysis. However, it should be noted that this parcel, including the
proposed tribal government building and associated parking area, are
not included within the current fee-to-trust application.
The parcels within the current fee-to-trust application are located
within unincorporated Sonoma County, California. The project site is
situated immediately east of Highway 101 and borders Asti Road.
Regional access to the project site is provided by Highway 101, with
local access provided by South Cloverdale Boulevard via Highway 101.
The project site is adjacent to the location of the Tribe's historic
rancheria.
The proposed project (Alternative A) includes an 80,000 square-foot
casino, 287,000 square-foot hotel with 244 rooms, 48,600 square-foot
convention center, 28,100 square-foot entertainment center, 3,400 car
garage and surface parking spaces, and other ancillary facilities.
Buildings would have a height of up to two stories above grade with the
exception of the hotel and parking garage which would have a height of
up to five stories above grade.
Project alternatives considered in the FEIS include: Alternative
A--Proposed Action; Alternative B--Reduced Hotel and Casino;
Alternative C--Reduced Casino; Alternative D--Casino Only; Alternative
E--Commercial Retail-Office Space; and Alternative F--No Action
Alternative. Alternative A (i.e. the proposed fee-to-trust acquisition
and resort casino project) has been selected as the Tribe's preferred
alternative, as discussed in the FEIS. The information and analysis
contained in the EIS, as well as its evaluation and assessment of the
Tribe's preferred alternative, are intended to assist the review of the
issues presented in the fee-to-trust application. The preferred
alternative does not necessarily reflect what the final decision will
be, because the Department must evaluate all of the criteria listed in
25 CFR part 151. The Department's consideration and analysis of the
applicable regulations may lead to a final decision that selects an
alternative other than the preferred alternative, including no action,
or a variant of the preferred or another of the alternatives analyzed
in the FEIS.
Environmental issues addressed in the FEIS include land resources,
water resources, air quality, biological resources, cultural and
paleontological resources, socioeconomic conditions, transportation,
land use and agriculture, public services, noise, hazardous materials,
visual resources, environmental justice, growth inducing effects,
indirect effects, cumulative effects, and mitigation measures.
The BIA afforded other government agencies and the public extensive
opportunity to participate in the preparation of this EIS. A Notice of
Intent to prepare the EIS for the proposed action was published in the
Federal Register on July 7, 2008. The BIA held a public scoping meeting
on July 30, 2008, in the City of Cloverdale. A Notice of Availability
for the DEIS was published in the Federal Register on August 6, 2010.
The DEIS was available for public comment from August 6, 2010 to
October 20, 2010. The BIA held a public hearing on the DEIS on
September 16, 2010, in the City of Cloverdale.
Locations where the FEIS is Available for Review: The FEIS is
available for public review at the Cloverdale Regional Library, 401
North Cloverdale Boulevard, Cloverdale, CA 95425 and at the Santa Rosa
Central Library, 211 E Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404. General
information for the Cloverdale Regional Library can be obtained by
calling (707) 894-5271 and the Santa Rosa Central Library by calling
(707) 545-0831. An electronic version of the FEIS can also be viewed at
the following Web site: http://www.cloverdalerancheria.com/eis.html.
Directions for Submitting Comments: Please include your name,
return address, and the caption, ``FEIS Comments, Cloverdale Rancheria
of Pomo Indians' Fee-to-Trust and Resort Casino Project,'' on the first
page of your written comments and submit comments to the BIA address
listed above in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
To obtain a compact disk copy of the FEIS, please provide your name
and address in writing or by voicemail to John Rydzik, Chief of the
Division of Environmental, Cultural Resources Management and Safety, at
the address listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice, or at the
telephone number listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
of this notice. Note that individual paper copies of the FEIS will be
provided only upon payment of applicable printing expenses by the
requestor for the number of copies requested.
Public Comment Availability: Comments, including the names and
addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at the
BIA mailing address shown in the ADDRESSES section, during regular
business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
holidays. Before including your address, phone number, email address,
or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should
be aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Authority: This notice is published in accordance with the
Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR 1500 et seq.)
and the Department of the Interior regulations (43 CFR part 46)
implementing the procedural requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et
seq.), and is accordance with the exercise of authority delegated to
the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs by part 209 of the
Departmental Manual.
Dated: April 8, 2014.
Kevin Washburn,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2014-08514 Filed 4-17-14; 8:45 am]
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