[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 226 (Friday, November 24, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67895-67896]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-19848]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Proposed Coyote Business Park, Umatilla County, OR

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 Bonneville Power 
Administration (BPA), and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla 
Indian Reservation (CTUIR) intends to file a Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (FEIS) with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the 
proposed lease of up to 142 acres of land held in trust by the United 
States for the benefit of the CTUIR in Umatilla County, Oregon, and 
that the FEIS is now available for public review. The purpose of the 
proposed project, the Coyote Business Park, is to help meet economic 
development needs on the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

DATES: The Record of Decision on the proposed action will be issued on 
or

[[Page 67896]]

after January 3, 2007. Any comments on the FEIS must arrive by January 
2, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may hand carry written comments to the Umatilla Agency 
at 46807 B Street, Mission, Oregon, or mail them to Jerry L. Lauer, 
Acting Superintendent, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Umatilla Agency, P.O. 
Box 520, Pendleton, Oregon 97801.
    To obtain a copy of the FEIS, please contact Jerry L. Lauer at the 
mailing address above or his telephone number below. Copies of the FEIS 
are available for public review at the Umatilla Agency and at the 
Pendleton Public Library, 500 SW. Dorian, Pendleton, Oregon. Copies of 
the FEIS have also been sent to agencies and individuals who 
participated in the scoping process and to all others who have 
previously requested copies of the document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry Lauer, (541) 278-3786.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FEIS, prepared with the cooperation of 
BPA and CTUIR, analyzes the impacts of leasing trust land for the 
purposes of constructing and managing a light industrial and commercial 
business park known as the Coyote Business Park. The proposed Coyote 
Business Park would be located on 142 contiguous acres of a 520 acre 
site south of Interstate 84 at Exit 216 and west of South Market Road, 
approximately 7 miles east of Pendleton, Oregon, on the Umatilla Indian 
Reservation.
    The FEIS includes an analysis of the No Action alternative, the 
Proposed Action (Alternative E) and three additional action 
alternatives (Alternatives B, C, and D). The Proposed Action is the 
Preferred Alternative. The action alternatives differ primarily in the 
size of the proposed business park (21-142 acres), whether domestic 
water would be provided through the drilling of a new well or extension 
of an existing community water system, and whether sanitary sewer 
service would be provided by installation of septic tanks and drain 
fields or connection to an existing municipal sewer system.
    The Proposed Action is to construct infrastructure for the Coyote 
Business Park, including providing domestic water, sanitary sewer, 
storm water drainage, roads and utilities to lots that would be leased 
for light industrial and/or commercial businesses. Replacement of power 
support structures on the high-voltage Bonneville Power Administration 
transmission line that crosses the site would also occur.
    Water would be provided from the Mission Water System. Wastewater 
would be handled by connection to the Mission Wastewater Collection 
System, which is treated through a cooperative agreement by the City of 
Pendleton. Storm water drainage would be retained on-site. Access would 
be provided off South Market Road, which would be improved to an 
industrial standard and provided with a dedicated right hand turn lane 
into the site. Commercial utilities would be provided through 
extensions of existing service, which is located either adjacent to the 
site or within one quarter mile.
    Potential impacts to Patawa Creek as well as nearby residences have 
been considered in the design of the Coyote Business Park. Mitigation 
measures include a storm water drainage collection system that isolates 
storm water from Patawa Creek; creation of a riparian management zone 
along Patawa Creek to establish native vegetation and reduce 
sedimentation and erosion; incorporation of best management practices 
to reduce impacts to groundwater; and incorporation of landscaping and 
night lighting design to reduce visual impact and night light 
pollution.
    Individual business owners would lease lots from the CTUIR and 
construct and operate light industrial and/or commercial facilities. 
The CTUIR could also construct the business facilities and lease them 
to private operators. Anticipated light industrial operations include 
warehouses or distribution facilities and assembly of previously 
manufactured components.
    Public participation has occurred throughout the development of the 
EIS. The Notice of Intent was filed in the Federal Register on January 
9, 2002 (66 FR 1191). A public scoping meeting was held in Pendleton, 
Oregon, on January 23, 2003, to solicit comments and ideas. On November 
6, 2003, an open house was held in Pendleton, Oregon, to update the 
public on the EIS process for the proposed project. A Notice of 
Availability for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was 
filed in the Federal Register on December 16, 2005 (70 FR 74844). 
Public hearings on the DEIS were held in Pendleton, Oregon, on January 
19 and January 30, 2006. The FEIS addresses issues and concerns raised 
during the public scoping period and contains responses to letters and 
oral testimony received during the public comment period on the DEIS.

Public Comment Availability

    Comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the BIA address shown above, during 
regular business hours, 7:30 a.m. to 4 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 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 Assistant Secretary--Indian 
Affairs by 209 DM 8.

    Dated: November 3, 2006.
Michael D. Olsen,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
 [FR Doc. E6-19848 Filed 11-22-06; 8:45 am]
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