[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 10, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21398-21399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-08267]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Indian Gaming Commission


Notice of Intent to Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Approval of a Gaming Management Contract

AGENCY: National Indian Gaming Commission, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the National Indian Gaming 
Commission (NIGC) as lead agency, in cooperation with the Jamul Indian 
Village (Tribe), intends to gather information necessary to prepare a 
supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the proposed 
Gaming Management Contract between the Tribe and San Diego Gaming 
Ventures, LLC (SDGV). The Gaming Management Contract, if approved, 
would allow SDGV to manage the approved 203,000 square foot tribal 
gaming facility to be located on the Tribe's Reservation, which 
qualifies as ``Indian Lands'' pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 2703.
    The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Pacific Region, Division of 
Environmental, Cultural Resources Management & Safety will serve as 
environmental staff to the NIGC in the preparation of the SEIS. As 
such, the BIA is the contact for further information, in lieu of the 
NIGC.
    This notice also announces that no public scoping meeting will be 
held for the SEIS.

DATES: Written comments on the scope and implementation of this 
proposal must arrive by May 10, 2013. No public scoping meeting will be 
held for the proposal given the long history of the project and the 
extensive public input received to-date.

ADDRESSES: You may mail, email, hand carry or fax written comments to: 
Mr. John Rydzik, Chief, Division of Environmental, Cultural Resources 
Management &Safety, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pacific Region, 2800 
Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825; Facsimile (916) 978-6055; Email 
[email protected].

[[Page 21399]]


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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Tribe is requesting NIGC approval of a 
Gaming Management Contract between the Tribe and SDGV for the 
management of a 203,000 square foot gaming facility on the Tribe's 
Reservation, which is located in unincorporated San Diego County 
approximately 1-mile south of the unincorporated community of Jamul. 
Pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, signed into law on 
October 17, 1988, the Tribe may enter into a Gaming Management Contract 
for the operation and management of a gaming facility subject to the 
approval of the NIGC. The purpose of the Proposed Action is to help 
provide for the economic development of the Jamul Reservation.
    The enterprise to be managed includes a gaming facility, a multi-
level parking structure, surface parking lot, fire-fighting facilities, 
wastewater treatment plant/disposal facilities, water delivery system, 
and improved on-site traffic circulation. The main use within the 
gaming facility is the gaming floor, which would contain slot machines, 
table games, and poker entertainment. The total estimated gaming floor 
area for the gaming facility is 70,000 square feet. The exterior of the 
complex would include downcast lighting consistent with San Diego 
County codes and ordinances to maintain consistency with the 
surrounding area.
    The environmental effects of a gaming facility on the Tribe's 
Reservation has been extensively studied and evaluated since 2000 when 
the Tribe originally approached the BIA and NIGC with fee-to-trust and 
Gaming Management Contract requests. Serving as the lead agency for 
these initial requests, the BIA originally developed and published an 
environmental assessment (EA) on February 1, 2001. The NIGC served as a 
Cooperating Agency for this early request. The Final EA was completed 
and published in November 2001. Following a decision by the BIA and 
NIGC that the mitigation measures in the EA were too provisional, the 
BIA and NIGC developed an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the 
proposed fee-to-trust and Management Contract requests. The notice of 
intent for the EIS was published in the Federal Register on April 2, 
2002 (67 FR 15583). The notice of availability for the Draft EIS was 
published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2003 (68 FR 2538). 
After release of the Draft EIS, a public meeting was held on February 
6, 2003 at the El Cajon Community Center to take comments from the 
public. Following receipt and consideration of all comments on the 
Draft EIS, the notice of availability of the Final EIS was published on 
November 14, 2003 (68 FR 64622).
    Between late 2003 and early 2006, the Tribe revised their project 
to eliminate the fee-to-trust component and to reconfigure all uses 
onto the existing Reservation except for an access road, which is 
designed to travel through adjacent tribally owned land connecting the 
Reservation with State Route 94. The project modifications were 
evaluated by the Tribe in a Tribal Environmental Impact Statement/
Report (December 2006). Additional changes to the project resulted in 
the release of a Draft Tribal Environmental Evaluation (Tribal EE) in 
March 2012 and a Final Tribal EE in January 2013. Between release of 
the Draft and Final Tribal EE, the Tribe provided a public comment 
period and held a public meeting to accept comments on the Draft Tribal 
EE. All written and oral comments provided by the public during the 
comment period were responded to and incorporated into the Final Tribal 
EE. The Final Tribal EE was certified as adequate and complete by the 
Tribe in January 2013. Now that the Tribe has completed the final 
version of the proposed gaming facility, they are requesting NIGC 
approval of a Gaming Management Contract between the Tribe and SDGV.
    The gaming facility has always been designed to be located on the 
Reservation; however, other uses such as the wastewater treatment/
disposal facilities, fire-fighting facilities, and structured parking 
were designed to be located on adjacent land north of the Reservation. 
The reconfiguration of uses to place all features on the Reservation, 
together with the passage of time since the Final EIS was circulated, 
has resulted in the need for the NIGC to develop and issue an SEIS to 
address these changes. No other alternatives will be addressed in the 
SEIS.
    Issues to be addressed in the SEIS include updating the 
environmental baseline and impact/mitigation analysis of the 2003 Final 
EIS as it relates to the new design alternative. Areas to be analyzed 
include land resources, water resources, air quality, biological 
resources, cultural and paleontological resources, socioeconomics, 
transportation, land use, agriculture, public services, noise, 
hazardous materials and visual resources.
    Directions for Submitting Public Comments: Please include your 
name, return address, and the caption ``SEIS Jamul Gaming Project'' on 
the first page of any written comments you submit. Please note that 
comments will only be received in writing by email, facsimile or 
regular mail. Pursuant to 40 CFR 1502.9, no public scoping meeting will 
be held for this SEIS.
    Public Availability of Comments: Comments, including names and 
addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at the 
BIA, Pacific Region address shown in the ADDRESSES section of this 
notice, during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, except 
holidays. Before including your address, phone number, email 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 25 
U.S.C. 2711, section 1501.7 of the Council on Environmental Quality 
Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508), and the Department of 
the Interior regulations (43 CFR part 46), implementing the 
procedural requirements of NEPA, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.).

    Dated: April 4, 2013.
Dawn Houle,
Chief of Staff.
[FR Doc. 2013-08267 Filed 4-9-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7565-01-P