[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 151 (Friday, August 6, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47621-47622]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19180]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Final Environmental Impact Statement for the North Fork 
Rancheria's Proposed 305-Acre Trust Acquisition and Hotel/Casino 
Project, Madera County, CA

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 North Fork Rancheria of Mono 
Indians (Tribe), California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), 
Madera Irrigation District, City of Madera, National Indian Gaming 
Commission (NIGC), and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as 
cooperating agencies, intends to file a Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (FEIS) with the EPA for the Tribe's proposed 305-acre trust 
acquisition and casino-resort project in unincorporated Madera County, 
just north of the City of Madera, California, and that the FEIS is now 
available for public review.

DATES: The Record of Decision (ROD) on the proposed action will be 
issued no sooner than 30 days after the release of the FEIS. Submit 
comments on the FEIS by September 7, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand carry written comments to Dale Morris, Regional 
Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pacific Region, 2800 Cottage Way, 
Sacramento, California 95825. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for 
directions on submitting comments and public availability of the FEIS.

[[Page 47622]]


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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Tribe has requested that the BIA take 
into trust 305 acres currently held in fee, on which the Tribe proposes 
to develop a hotel, casino, parking facilities, and supporting 
infrastructure. The proposed 305-acre site (Madera Site) is located in 
unincorporated Madera County, California, just north of the City of 
Madera and adjacent to State Route 99 (SR-99). The Madera Site is 
bounded on the north by Avenue 18, rural residential land, light 
industrial land, and vacant land; on the east by Golden State Boulevard 
and SR-99; on the south by agricultural land and residential land; and 
on the west by Road 23 and agricultural land. The Proposed Project 
includes the development of an approximately 472,000 square foot hotel 
and casino resort and associated facilities, which include a main 
gaming hall, food and beverage services, retail space, banquet/meeting 
space, and administration space. Food and beverage facilities would 
include three full service restaurants, a five-tenant food court, a 
buffet, four bars and a lounge. The hotel would include 200 rooms, a 
resort style pool area and a spa. Approximately 4,500 parking spaces 
would be provided.
    Project alternatives considered in the FEIS include: (A) The 
proposed casino and hotel alternative; (B) a reduced-intensity 
alternative; (C) a non-gaming use alternative; (D) the North Fork 
Rancheria alternative site; and (E) a no action alternative. 
Alternative A has been selected as the Preferred Alternative, as 
discussed in the FEIS. The alternatives are intended to assist the 
review of the issues presented, but the Preferred Alternative does not 
necessarily reflect what the final decision will be, because a complete 
evaluation of the criteria listed in 25 CFR part 151 may lead to a 
final decision that selects an alternative other than the Preferred 
Alternative, including no action, or that selects 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, environmental 
justice, transportation and circulation, land use, public services, 
noise, hazardous materials, visual resources, cumulative effects, 
indirect effects and mitigation measures.
    The BIA has afforded other government agencies and the public 
extensive opportunity to participate in the preparation of this EIS. 
The BIA published a notice of intent to prepare the EIS for the 
proposed action in the Federal Register on October 27, 2004 (69 FR 
62721). The BIA held a public scoping meeting on November 15, 2004, in 
Madera, California. A Notice of Correction (NOC) was published in the 
Federal Register on April 6, 2005, to amend the October 2004 NOI to 
include a description of possible project alternatives and further 
extend the scoping comment period to May 6, 2005. A Notice of 
Availability for the Draft EIS (DEIS) was published in the Federal 
Register on February 15, 2008 (73 FR 8898). The DEIS was available for 
public comment from February 15 to March 31, 2008. The BIA held a 
public hearing on the DEIS on March 12, 2008, in the City of Madera.

Directions for Submitting Comments

    Please include your name, return address and the caption, ``FEIS 
Comments, North Fork Rancheria's Hotel/Casino, Fee-to-Trust Acquisition 
Project,'' on the first page of your written comments.

Public Availability of the FEIS

    The FEIS is available for public review at the Madera County Public 
Library, 121 N. G. Street, Madera, California 93637; and at the Madera 
County Public Library, Chowchilla Branch, 300 Kings Ave., Chowchilla, 
California 93610. General information for the Madera County Public 
Library can be obtained by calling (559) 675-7871, and (559) 665-2630 
for the Madera County, Chowchilla Branch. The FEIS is also available on 
the following Web site: http://www.NorthForkEIS.com.
    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:  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 names and addresses of respondents, will be 
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. 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 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. 4371 et seq.), 
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.

    Dated: July 20, 2010.
Donald Laverdure,
Deputy Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2010-19180 Filed 8-5-10; 8:45 am]
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