[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 75 (Friday, April 18, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21949-21950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-08514]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

[K00621 1314 R3B30]


Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Cloverdale Rancheria 
of Pomo Indians' Proposed 65-Acre Fee-to-Trust Acquisition and Resort 
Casino Project, Sonoma County, California

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 Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo 
Indians (Tribe), National Indian Gaming Commission, Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA), California Department of Transportation 
(Caltrans), Sonoma County, and City of Cloverdale as cooperating 
agencies, intends to file a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) 
with the EPA for the Tribe's application requesting that the United 
States acquire land in trust within Sonoma County, California, and that 
the FEIS is now available for public review.

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

[[Page 21950]]

after 30 days from the date the EPA publishes its Notice of 
Availability in the Federal Register. Any comments on the FEIS must 
arrive on or before that date.

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

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BIA prepared the FEIS to address the 
potential environmental effects of the United States acquiring six 
parcels in trust (totaling approximately 65 acres) for the benefit of 
the Tribe, as well as the subsequent development of a destination 
resort casino and supporting infrastructure on some of the parcels. 
Subsequent to the release of the Draft EIS (DEIS) one of the six 
parcels was removed from the fee-to-trust application (Assessor's 
Parcel Number 116-310-020). Under Alternatives A through D, this parcel 
was proposed to include a tribal government building with workspace and 
offices and an associated parking area. Upon review of the 
environmental impacts for the alternatives, the BIA determined that the 
removal of this parcel would not appreciably change the level of 
significance for the issues analyzed in this EIS, and thus the FEIS has 
not been altered to remove this parcel from the project site or impact 
analysis. However, it should be noted that this parcel, including the 
proposed tribal government building and associated parking area, are 
not included within the current fee-to-trust application.
    The parcels within the current fee-to-trust application are located 
within unincorporated Sonoma County, California. The project site is 
situated immediately east of Highway 101 and borders Asti Road. 
Regional access to the project site is provided by Highway 101, with 
local access provided by South Cloverdale Boulevard via Highway 101. 
The project site is adjacent to the location of the Tribe's historic 
rancheria.
    The proposed project (Alternative A) includes an 80,000 square-foot 
casino, 287,000 square-foot hotel with 244 rooms, 48,600 square-foot 
convention center, 28,100 square-foot entertainment center, 3,400 car 
garage and surface parking spaces, and other ancillary facilities. 
Buildings would have a height of up to two stories above grade with the 
exception of the hotel and parking garage which would have a height of 
up to five stories above grade.
    Project alternatives considered in the FEIS include: Alternative 
A--Proposed Action; Alternative B--Reduced Hotel and Casino; 
Alternative C--Reduced Casino; Alternative D--Casino Only; Alternative 
E--Commercial Retail-Office Space; and Alternative F--No Action 
Alternative. Alternative A (i.e. the proposed fee-to-trust acquisition 
and resort casino project) has been selected as the Tribe's preferred 
alternative, as discussed in the FEIS. The information and analysis 
contained in the EIS, as well as its evaluation and assessment of the 
Tribe's preferred alternative, are intended to assist the review of the 
issues presented in the fee-to-trust application. The preferred 
alternative does not necessarily reflect what the final decision will 
be, because the Department must evaluate all of the criteria listed in 
25 CFR part 151. The Department's consideration and analysis of the 
applicable regulations may lead to a final decision that selects an 
alternative other than the preferred alternative, including no action, 
or 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 afforded other government agencies and the public extensive 
opportunity to participate in the preparation of this EIS. A Notice of 
Intent to prepare the EIS for the proposed action was published in the 
Federal Register on July 7, 2008. The BIA held a public scoping meeting 
on July 30, 2008, in the City of Cloverdale. A Notice of Availability 
for the DEIS was published in the Federal Register on August 6, 2010. 
The DEIS was available for public comment from August 6, 2010 to 
October 20, 2010. The BIA held a public hearing on the DEIS on 
September 16, 2010, in the City of Cloverdale.
    Locations where the FEIS is Available for Review: The FEIS is 
available for public review at the Cloverdale Regional Library, 401 
North Cloverdale Boulevard, Cloverdale, CA 95425 and at the Santa Rosa 
Central Library, 211 E Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404. General 
information for the Cloverdale Regional Library can be obtained by 
calling (707) 894-5271 and the Santa Rosa Central Library by calling 
(707) 545-0831. An electronic version of the FEIS can also be viewed at 
the following Web site: http://www.cloverdalerancheria.com/eis.html.
    Directions for Submitting Comments: Please include your name, 
return address, and the caption, ``FEIS Comments, Cloverdale Rancheria 
of Pomo Indians' Fee-to-Trust and Resort Casino Project,'' on the first 
page of your written comments and submit comments to the BIA address 
listed above in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
    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 that 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 the names and 
addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at the 
BIA 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, 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 the 
Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR 1500 et seq.) 
and the Department of the Interior regulations (43 CFR part 46) 
implementing the procedural requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et 
seq.), and is accordance with the exercise of authority delegated to 
the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs by part 209 of the 
Departmental Manual.

    Dated: April 8, 2014.
Kevin Washburn,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2014-08514 Filed 4-17-14; 8:45 am]
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