[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 195 (Friday, October 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62440-62442]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-25751]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Manzanita Band of 
Kumeyaay Indians Fee-to-Trust Transfer and Casino Project, Calexico, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs (BIA)

[[Page 62441]]

as lead agency, with the Manzanita Band of Kumeyaay Indians (a.k.a. 
Manzanita Band of Digueno Mission Indians) (Tribe), National Indian 
Gaming Commission (NIGC), and City of Calexico as cooperating agencies, 
intends to file a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) with the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the Tribe's proposed 60.8-
acre fee-to-trust transfer and casino project located in the City of 
Calexico, California, and that the FEIS is now available for public 
review. Public review of the FEIS is part of the administrative process 
for the evaluation of Tribal applications seeking to have the United 
States take land into trust for gaming.

DATES: The Record of Decision (ROD) on the proposed action will be 
issued no sooner than 30 days after the release of the FEIS. Thus, any 
comments on the FEIS must arrive by November 7, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may mail or hand carry written comments to Amy Dutschke, 
Regional Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pacific Regional Office, 
2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, California 95825. Please see the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice for directions on 
submitting comments and how to obtain a copy of the FEIS. The FEIS will 
be available to view at the following locations:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Contact number for
          Location                   Address         general information
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Holtville Branch--Meyer       101 E. 6th Street,    (760) 356-2385
 Memorial Library.             Holtville, CA 92250.
City of Calexico--Camarena    850 Encinas Avenue,   (760) 768-2170
 Memorial Library.             Calexico, CA 92231.
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    An electronic version of the FEIS can also be viewed at: http://www.calexico.ca.gov (planning division site).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Rydzik, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
Pacific Regional Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, California 
95825, telephone number: (916) 978-6051.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public review of the FEIS is part of the 
administrative process for the evaluation of Tribal applications 
seeking to have the United States take land into trust for gaming 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 465, 25 CFR 151, 29 CFR 292 and 25 U.S.C. 
2719(b)(1)(B). Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations (40 CFR 1506.10), 
the publication of this Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal 
Register initiates a 30-day waiting period for the Federal decision.

Background

    The Tribe proposes that 60.8 acres of land be taken into trust; it 
subsequently plans to develop a casino facility on this land. The 
subject property is located at the northern most gateway to the City of 
Calexico, a California/Mexico border city of growing importance in 
international trade. The project site is situated at the southwest 
quadrant of State Highway 111 and Jasper Road and is bounded on the 
south and west by the Central Main and Dogwood Canals. The 60.8-acre 
parcel is undeveloped former agricultural land and is located within 
the City of Calexico's 111 Calexico Place project site, a commercial 
highway development project that was approved by the City of Calexico 
City Council on May 5, 2010.
    The proposed action consists of the fee-to-trust transfer of the 
project site, Federal review (by NIGC) of the development and 
management contract, and development of the proposed project. The 
proposed project includes a 459,621-square foot casino facility on the 
60.8-acre parcel. The casino facility would include an approximately 
93,880-square foot casino; 63,000 square feet of food/beverage and 
retail components; 38,660-square foot entertainment venue; and 218,081 
square feet of other operational facilities (e.g., back of house area, 
central plant). In addition, there will be a 46,000-square foot 
banquet/meeting hall and 200-room hotel. The casino will have 2,000 
slot machines and 45 gaming tables. There will be three guest 
restaurants and one employee dining room. A swimming pool and 6,000-
guest space parking facility will also be developed within the project 
area.
    Project alternatives considered in the FEIS include: (1) 
Alternative A--Proposed Action; (2) Alternative B--Reduced Casino; (3) 
Alternative C--No Action Alternative. Alternative A--Proposed Action 
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 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; transportation; 
land use and agriculture; public services; noise; hazardous materials; 
visual resources; environmental justice; growth inducing effects, 
indirect effects; cumulative 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 March 6, 2008 (73 FR 12203). 
The BIA held a public scoping meeting on March 27, 2008, at the County 
of Imperial's Board of Supervisors Chamber Room in El Centro, 
California. An NOA for the Draft EIS (DEIS) was published in the 
Federal Register on October 8, 2010 (75 FR 62417). The DEIS was 
available for public comment from October 8, 2010 to December 22, 2010. 
The BIA held a public hearing on the DEIS on November 10, 2010, in the 
City of Calexico, California.

Directions for Submitting Comments

    Please include your name, return address and the caption, ``FEIS 
Comments, Manzanita Band of Kumeyaay Indians, 60.8-Acre Fee-to-Trust 
Casino Project, Calexico, California'' on the first page of your 
written comments. Comments, including names and addresses of 
respondents, will be available for public review at the BIA mailing 
address shown in the ADDRESSES section of this notice, during regular 
business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
holidays. Before including your address, telephone 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

[[Page 62442]]

information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

Directions To Obtain a Copy of FEIS

    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 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this notice. Individual paper copies of the FEIS will be provided upon 
payment of applicable printing expenses by the requestor for the number 
of copies requested.

Authority

    This notice is published pursuant to Sec. 1503.1 of the Council of 
Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508) and 
Sec. 46.305 of the Department of the Interior Regulations (43 CFR part 
46), implementing the procedural requirements of the NEPA of 1969, as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 4371, et seq.), and is in the exercise of authority 
delegated to the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs by 209 DM 8.

    Dated: September 22, 2011.
Larry Echo Hawk,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs .
[FR Doc. 2011-25751 Filed 10-6-11; 8:45 am]
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