[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 191 (Tuesday, October 3, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58427-58428]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-16259]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians' Proposed Fee-to-Trust Transfer 
and Casino Project, Jackson County, MS

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), with the cooperation of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw 
Indians (MBCI), intends to collect information necessary to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed 61 acre fee-to-
trust land transfer in Jackson County, Mississippi, and for the 
proposed use of that land, together with an adjacent 40 acre tract of 
Choctaw Reservation land in the same county, for a casino project. The 
purpose of the proposed action is to help meet land base and economic 
needs of the MBCI. This notice also announces a public scoping meeting 
to identify potential issues, alternatives and content for inclusion in 
the EIS.

DATES: Written comments on the scope and implementation of this 
proposal must arrive by November 2, 2006. The public scoping meeting 
will be held October 18, 2006, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., or until all 
those who wish to make statements have been heard.

ADDRESSES: You may mail, hand carry, or fax written comments to 
Franklin Keel, Regional Director, Eastern Region, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, 545 Marriott Dr., Suite 700, Nashville, Tennessee 37214; fax 
(615) 564-1701. Electronic submissions via e-mail are not currently 
available.
    The public scoping meeting will be held at Ocean Springs Civic 
Center, 3730 Bienville Boulevard, Ocean Springs, Mississippi 39564.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kurt Chandler, (615) 564-6832.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The MBCI Reservation is comprised of various 
trust land parcels located in a number of counties in Mississippi, 
including Jackson County. The tribal offices are located in Choctaw, 
Mississippi, in Neshoba County.
    The MBCI currently operates two businesses on land in Jackson 
County, First American Printing & Direct Mail and First American 
Plastic Molding. Together, before Hurricane Katrina, these facilities 
employed 100 full-time and 10 part-time workers from the Mississippi 
Gulf Coast. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused substantial 
adverse impact to these operations through permanent loss of clients 
whose businesses were destroyed. It is highly probable that one or both 
of these operations will therefore be closed in the near future. For 
this reason, the tribe is urgently seeking to identify potential 
alternative uses of the land and its existing facilities.
    The MBCI has identified a preferred use for this property that 
includes gaming and related amenities, in an effort to create a 
positive economic impact for itself and the local economy. The project 
area is located in Jackson County, immediately southwest of the 
intersection of State Highway 57 and Interstate 10. The property is 
bordered by State Highway 57 to the east, vacant undeveloped land to 
the west, and the Sunplex Industrial Park to the south.
    The MBCI proposal is that approximately 61 acres be taken into 
trust, to be added to approximately 40 acres of adjacent, existing 
reservation lands for the construction of a casino, hotel and 
recreational complex. The proposed action encompasses the various 
federal approvals required to implement the 61 acre fee-to-trust 
transfer, plus approval of the combined 101 acre tract for gaming use 
under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
    Areas of environmental concern so far identified for analysis in 
the EIS include traffic, air quality, threatened and endangered 
species, wildlife habitat and conservation areas, wetlands, water 
supply, wastewater disposal, solid waste disposal, and socio-economic 
impacts. Alternatives so far identified for analysis are: (1) The 
preferred alternative, which would include a Class III casino, hotel, 
and retail center supported by adequate on-site parking, and which 
would both maximize potential economic benefits to the MBCI and create 
tax revenues and jobs for the local community; and (2) no action, under 
which the MBCI would close the existing businesses and abandon the 
facilities. The range of issues and alternatives to be addressed in the 
EIS may be expanded or reduced based on comments received during the 
scoping process.

Public Comment Availability

    Comments, including names and addresses of respondents, will be

[[Page 58428]]

available for public review at the mailing address shown in the 
ADDRESSES section, during regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except holidays. Individual respondents may 
request confidentiality. If you wish us 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 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 the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), 
the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 1-6), and is in the 
exercise of authority delegated to the Principal Deputy Assistant 
Secretary--Indian Affairs by 209 DM 8.

    Dated: September 6, 2006.
Michael D. Olsen,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs.
 [FR Doc. E6-16259 Filed 10-2-06; 8:45 am]
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