[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 71 (Friday, April 12, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18018-18019]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-8854]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the proposed White River Amphitheatre, Muckleshoot Indian 
Reservation, King County, WA

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs (BIA) intends to file a Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(FEIS) for the proposed White River Amphitheatre with the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and that the FEIS is now 
available for final public review. The proposed BIA action is to take 
into trust the land upon which the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe (Tribe) 
proposes to construct and operate a 20,000 seat amphitheatre. The 
purpose of the proposed action is to meet the needs for an economically 
competitive performing arts center for the greater Seattle-Tacoma 
concert market and a place for cultural, educational and community 
events for the Tribe. The FEIS was prepared cooperatively among the 
BIA, EPA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and Washington 
Department of Transportation (WSDOT), with the BIA acting as the lead 
agency under the court order in United States ex rel. Citizens for 
Safety & Environment v. Bill Graham Enterprises, Inc., No. C97-1775C 
(W.D. Wash., April 17, 1998).

DATES: Comments on the Final Environmental Impact Statement are due on 
or before May 13, 2002. A Record of Decision will be issued after May 
13, 2002.

ADDRESSES: You may mail or hand carry written comments to Stanley 
Speaks, Portland Regional Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 911 N.E. 
11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97232-4169.
    Copies of this FEIS may be obtained from June Boynton, NEPA 
Coordinator, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Northwest Region, at (503) 231-
6749; or from Dean Torkko, EIS Coordinator, Washington State Department 
of Transportation, at (206) 440-4520, or via e-mail at 
[email protected]. Copies of the FEIS have already been sent to all 
agencies and individuals who participated in the scoping process or 
public hearings, who commented on the Draft EIS (DEIS), or who have 
already requested copies of the document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: June Boynton, (503) 231-6749.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Two federal actions are involved in the 
proposed construction of an outdoor amphitheatre in the southeastern 
portion of the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation, between the cities of 
Auburn and Enumclaw, King County, Washington. One is the BIA's decision 
whether to take into trust 324 acres of tribally owned fee land, on 
which the amphitheatre would be built. The other is the issuance by the 
Corps to the Tribe of a wetland fill permit under section 404 of the 
Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.). The Corps will rely on this 
FEIS for their decision on the 404 permit. In addition, the FEIS will 
satisfy requirements of the Washington State Environmental Policy Act.
    The FEIS presents a preferred alternative, no action alternative 
and three other alternatives. The preferred alternative calls for 
developing approximately 71 acres for a 20,000 seat amphitheatre, 
support facilities and surface parking, plus 17 acres for landscaping 
and buffers, including a

[[Page 18019]]

shielding berm along the southern boundary. The amphitheatre would have 
a main stage, a 10,000 seat bowl with fixed seating, a grass berm for 
informal lawn seating and an open air roof over the stage and fixed 
seating. Support facilities include a ticket and administrative office, 
a loading dock, a hospitality area for performers, a restaurant, cafes, 
concession stands and public rest rooms.
    The no action alternative for the BIA assumes that the 324 acres 
would not be taken into trust and that no new highway access permits 
would be granted by the State of Washington. It also assumes that the 
amphitheatre would not be built at any other proposed site. The 
partially constructed facilities on the site (see discussion of site 
restoration alternative below) would not be completed as an 
amphitheatre, though may eventually be converted to other uses in the 
future.
    For the purposes of the Corps Section 404 Permit, the no action 
alternative represents a ``retain existing work'' alternative. 
Previously disturbed wetlands would be restored, but some buffers would 
not, and compensatory mitigation would not be constructed.
    The three other alternatives include (1) the ``combined gravel 
quarry'' alternative, which is an alternate location where a 20,000 
seat amphitheatre like that in the preferred alternative would displace 
existing gravel quarrying operations; (2) a 10,000 seat alternative 
that would develop a smaller amphitheatre with an open air roof and 
support facilities similar to those for the preferred alternative, but 
with about one-half the parking capacity; and (3) a site restoration 
alternative where the partially completed facilities on the site of the 
preferred alternative would be removed and the site restored to a 
condition similar to its condition before construction was started. 
(This alternative is the Corps' no action alternative for purposes of 
the Section 404 permitting process, and also assumes that the 
amphitheatre would not be constructed at any of the proposed sites.)
    The environmental issues addressed in the FEIS include traffic, 
noise, crime, water quality and quantity, wetlands, fish, wildlife and 
endangered species, geology, sewage disposal, air quality, cultural 
resources, land use, socio-economics, public safety, range of 
alternatives, and cumulative impacts. All of these issues were 
identified during public scoping and addressed in the DEIS. 
Consultation under the Endangered Species Act was completed with the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for bull trout and with the National 
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for chinook salmon after the DEIS was 
issued. Essential fish habitat consultation under the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act was also completed with NMFS.
    The BIA has afforded other government agencies and the public ample 
opportunity to participate in the preparation of this FEIS. A Notice of 
Intent to prepare the EIS, including notice of a public scoping meeting 
to be held on July 15, 1998, was published in the Federal Register on 
July 1, 1998 (63 FR 35939). The public comment period for scoping, 
including an extension, was open until August 3, 1998. The Notice of 
Availability for the DEIS was published in the Federal Register on 
August 27, 1999 (64 FR 46932). It provided a 60-day comment period, 
which was later extended for an additional 30 days. A public hearing on 
the DEIS was held on September 22, 1999, in Auburn, Washington.

Public Comment Availability

    Comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the above address during regular 
business hours, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
holidays. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you 
wish to withhold your name and/or address from public review or from 
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this 
prominently at the beginning of your written comment. Such requests 
will be honored to the extent allowed by law. We will not, however, 
consider anonymous comments. All submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be 
made available for public inspection in their entirety.

Authority

    This notice is published in accordance with section 1503.1 of the 
Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 through 
1508), implementing the procedural requirements of NEPA, and the 
Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 1-6), and is in the exercise 
of authority delegated to the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs by 
209 DM 8.1.

    Dated: April 1, 2002.
Neal A. McCaleb,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 02-8854 Filed 4-11-02; 8:45 am]
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