[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 38 (Friday, February 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8986-8988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-4113]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the 
Proposed Campo Regional Landfill Project on the Campo Indian 
Reservation, San Diego County, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability for public comment of a 
Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for an 
amended lease and sublease for the proposed Campo Regional Landfill 
Project (proposed action) on the Campo Indian Reservation in San Diego 
County, California. A Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for 
the proposed action was issued in November 1992 and a Record of 
Decision (ROD) was executed in April 1993. This notice also announces 
the dates, times and locations of the public

[[Page 8987]]

hearings to receive comments on the DSEIS. The DSEIS was prepared by 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as lead agency, in cooperation with 
the Campo Band of Mission Indians (Campo Band), Campo Environmental 
Protection Agency (CEPA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA).

DATES: The DSEIS will be available for public comment beginning 
February 26, 2010. Written comments on this notice must arrive by May 
12, 2010, at the address provided below. Two public hearings have been 
scheduled to receive oral and written comments on the DSEIS:
     Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 6-9 p.m., Campo Indian 
Reservation, California.
     Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 6-9 p.m., Buckman Springs, 
California.

ADDRESSES: You may mail or hand carry written comments to Dale Risling, 
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Regional Office, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, California 95825. The public 
hearings will be held at the following locations:
     Campo Tribal Center, 36190 Church Road, Campo, CA.
     Mountain Empire High School, 3305 Buckman Springs Road, 
Buckman Springs, CA.
    See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for locations where the DEIS/EIR will 
be available for review and instructions for submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Rydzik, (916) 978-6051.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the proposed action is to 
address the socio-economic needs of the Campo Band of Mission Indians 
through the development and diversification of the tribal economy. A 
brief description and history of the proposed action, alternatives, 
location, and areas of environmental concern are provided below. This 
notice provides a 75-day public comment period and thereby grants an 
automatic 30-day extension to the normal 45-day public comment period.

Background

    The Campo Indian Reservation consists of approximately 16,000 acres 
in southeastern San Diego County, just north of the United States/
Mexico border, approximately 45 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. 
The proposed action is to approve an amended lease and amended sublease 
to allow a 1,150-acre portion of the Campo Indian Reservation to be 
used for the purpose of constructing and operating a solid waste 
disposal facility. The solid waste disposal facility would consist of a 
landfill waste disposal area, a well field area, an access road and 
other support facilities. The proposed Class III (non-hazardous) solid 
waste landfill would occupy approximately 400 acres of the 1,150 acre 
lease area. An additional approximately 200 acres would be developed to 
support the landfill. Supporting developments include the site entrance 
facilities, screening berms, utilities, surface recharge basins, and 
leachate storage lagoons. The remaining 550 acres of the lease area 
that surround the proposed solid waste landfill facility would serve as 
an undeveloped buffer area.
    In the 1980s, the Campo Band entered into a lease agreement with 
Muht-Hei, Inc. (MHI), the Band's economic development corporation, 
pursuant to which MHI would lease a portion of the Campo Indian 
Reservation for the purpose of constructing and operating a solid waste 
landfill, recycling facility, and composting facility. In 1989, the 
Campo Band authorized MHI to enter into a sublease with Mid-American 
Waste Systems, Inc. (MAWS) for the development of that project. The 
Campo Band requested that the BIA approve the lease and sublease for 
the proposed project. An Environmental Impact Statement was prepared by 
BIA in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) to evaluate the environmental impacts of the proposed 
project prior to determining whether the proposed leases should be 
approved. An FEIS was released on November 24, 1992. The U.S. 
Department of the Interior issued a ROD on April 27, 1993, approving 
the lease between the Campo Band and MHI and sublease between MHI and 
MAWS for the proposed solid waste facility. On April 5, 1994, CEPA 
issued a Final Authority to Construct Permit (ATC) to MHI and MAWS to 
construct the proposed solid waste landfill subject to the conditions 
of the ROD and the ATC. Subsequently, MAWS failed to proceed with 
construction of the project and MHI found MAWS in default of the 
sublease terms. In early 2003, MHI began negotiations with BLT 
Enterprises, Inc. (BLT), of Oxnard, CA, on the terms of a sublease to 
develop the solid waste landfill described in the FEIS. Those 
negotiations were successfully concluded and the Campo Band authorized 
MHI to enter into a sublease with BLT on December 12, 2004.
    The Campo Band requested the BIA approve the amended lease between 
the Band and MHI and the amended sublease between MHI and BLT for the 
proposed action. The BIA, in consultation with the Campo Band, prepared 
this DSEIS to address changes in the proposed action, relevant 
information that has become available, and circumstances that have 
changed in the years since the FEIS was issued. The FEIS included five 
alternatives to the proposed action as follows: (1) Alternative site 1; 
(2) Alternative site 2; (3) Reduced waste stream at the proposed site; 
(4) Reduced area of disturbance at the proposed site; and (5) the No-
action alternative. For each of the alternatives, the FEIS addressed 
land resources, water resources, air quality, living resources, 
cultural resources, socioeconomics, transportation, land use, resource 
use patterns, noise and other values. The DSEIS discusses aspects of 
the proposed action, relevant information that has subsequently become 
available, and circumstances that have changed since the FEIS was 
released in 1992 and any change in environmental impacts associated 
with those changes.
    The proposed project would be required to comply with 40 CFR part 
258 (Criteria for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills). Because the project 
proposes to use alternative landfill design and cover, it requires a 
site-specific flexibility determination to ensure that alternative 
designs and cover meet the requirements of 40 CFR part 258. For 
municipal solid waste landfills in Indian Country, the EPA must makes 
site-specific flexibility determinations. EPA will hold a separate 
public hearing on its proposed site-specific flexibility determination 
after it receives and reviews a complete application.

Directions for Submitting Public Comments

    Please include your name, return address, and the caption ``DSEIS, 
Campo Solid Waste Management Project,'' on the first page of your 
written comments. You may also submit comments at the public hearings.

Public Availability of the DEIS

    The DSEIS will be available for review at the Alpine Public 
Library, 2130 Arnold Way, Alpine, CA 91901 and the Pine Valley Public 
Library, 28804 Old Highway 80, Pine Valley, CA 91962. General 
information for the Alpine Public Library can be obtained by calling 
(619) 445-4221 and for the Pine Valley Public Library by calling (619) 
473-8022. An electronic version of the DSEIS can be viewed at http://www.CampoDSEIS.com.
    To obtain a compact disk copy of the DSEIS, please write John 
Rydzik, Chief of the Division of Environmental, Cultural Resource 
Management and Safety, Pacific Region, Bureau of Indian

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Affairs, 2800 Cottage Way, Room W-2820, Sacramento, CA 95825, or call 
Mr. Rydzik at (916) 978-6051. Individual paper copies of the DSEIS can 
be provided upon payment of the applicable printing cost for the number 
of paper copies requested.

Public Availability of Comments

    Comments, including names and addresses of respondents, will be 
available for public review at the BIA address shown in the ADDRESSES 
section, during business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except holidays.
    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail 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 sections 1502.9, 1503.1 
and 1506.6 of the Council of 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. 
4371 et seq.), 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.l.

    Dated February 1, 2010.
Larry Echo Hawk,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2010-4113 Filed 2-25-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-W7-P