Final Environmental Impact Statement for the North Fork Rancheria's Proposed 305-Acre Trust Acquisition and Hotel/Casino Project, Madera County, CA, 47621-47622 [2010-19180]
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 151 / Friday, August 6, 2010 / Notices
miles of the new 230-kV transmission
line would be outside of the project site
and inside the SCE ROW.
The proposed solar facility has an
estimated life span of 30 years. The
BLM is considering a renewable 20-year
ROW grant authorization to align with
the 20-year Power Purchase Agreement
signed by the Applicant and SCE on
August 9, 2005. Upgrades to the SCE
electrical transmission system would be
needed to transmit the electricity
generated from the Calico Solar Project
and are identified as a reasonably
foreseeable future actions in the Final
EIS. The existing SCE transmission lines
have the ability to handle about 275
MW of generation and upgrades would
be needed to handle all of the proposed
new capacity of 850 MW. These
upgrades would be built outside of the
Calico Solar Project site and are being
considered by the BLM as a separate
ROW grant application that will require
separate NEPA review. The SCE
upgrades would also require licensing
by the California Public Utilities
Commission and separate
environmental review under the
California Environmental Quality Act.
The BLM is also considering
amending the CDCA Plan as part of
processing the project proposal. The
CDCA Plan, while recognizing the
potential compatibility of solar
generation facilities on public lands,
requires that all sites associated with
power generation or transmission not
identified in that Plan be considered
through the plan amendment process. If
the BLM decides to approve the ROW
authorization, the BLM must also
amend the CDCA Plan.
In the Final EIS analysis, the BLM’s
proposed action is to authorize the
modified 850 MW Calico Solar project
and approve the CDCA Plan amendment
in response to the application received
from Calico Solar, LLC. The action
alternatives include the: (1) 850–MW
Proposed Action (8,230 acres (13 square
miles)); (2) 850–MW Agency Preferred
Alternative (6,512 acres (9.7 square
miles)); (3) 275–MW Reduced Acreage
Alternative (2,320 acres (3.6 square
miles)); and (4) 850–MW Avoidance of
Donated and Acquired Lands
Alternative (7,050 acres (11 square
miles)) which avoids 1,718 acres of
donated and LWCF-acquired lands
(included as part of the Proposed Action
and Agency Preferred Alternative). The
latter alternative was described in the
Staff Assessment (SA)/Draft EIS to
accommodate 28,800 SunCatchers and
generate 720 MW, but the Applicant has
since conducted more detailed site
analysis which indicates that this
alternative could accommodate 34,000
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SunCatchers and generate 850 MW of
electricity from solar thermal power.
The Final EIS also analyzes three
alternatives under which the project
would not be approved: (1) Deny the
Calico Solar Project ROW grant
application and not amend the CDCA
Plan (the ‘‘No Action ’’ alternative); (2)
deny the Calico Solar Project ROW
grant, but amend the CDCA Plan to
allow other solar energy project
applications on the proposed project
site; and (3) deny the Calico Solar
Project ROW grant and amend the
CDCA Plan to prohibit solar energy
project applications on the proposed
project site. As part of its review of the
Calico Solar, LLC application, the BLM
considered the Energy Policy Act of
2005 and Secretarial Orders 3283
(Enhancing Renewable Energy
Development on the Public Lands) and
3285A1 (Renewable Energy
Development by the Department of the
Interior).The BLM’s Final EIS evaluates
the potential impacts of the proposed
Calico Solar Project on air quality and
climate; biological resources; non-native
and invasive species; cultural resources
and paleontology; fire and fuels;
geology, soils, topography, mineral
resources and seismicity; grazing, wild
horses and burros; land use, including
corridor analysis; noise and vibration;
public health and safety, and hazardous
materials; recreation; socioeconomics
and environmental justice; special
designations; traffic and transportation;
visual resources; wilderness
characteristics; and water resources.
E-mailed and faxed protests will not
be accepted as valid protests unless the
protesting party also provides the
original letter by either regular or
overnight mail postmarked by the close
of the protest period. Under these
conditions, the BLM will consider the emailed or faxed protest as an advance
copy and it will receive full
consideration. If you wish to provide
the BLM with such advance
notification, please direct faxed protests
to the attention of the BLM protest
coordinator at (202) 912–7212, and emails to Brenda_HudgensWilliams@blm.gov. Instructions for
filing a protest with the Director of the
BLM regarding the proposed CDCA Plan
Amendment may be found in the ‘‘Dear
Reader Letter’’ of the CDCA Plan
Amendment/Final EIS and at 43 CFR
1610.5–2. All protests, including the
follow-up letter to e-mails or faxes, must
be in writing and mailed to the
appropriate address, as set forth in the
ADDRESSES section above. Please note
that public comments will be available
for public review and disclosure at the
above BLM office address during regular
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47621
business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.),
Monday through Friday, except
holidays.
Before including your address, phone
number, e-mail address, or other
personal identifying information in any
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: 40 CFR 1506.6 and 1506.10;
and 43 CFR 1610.2.
Thomas Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director, Natural Resources.
[FR Doc. 2010–19470 Filed 8–5–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–40–P
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
Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
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.
SUMMARY:
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47622
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 151 / Friday, August 6, 2010 / Notices
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
John
Rydzik, (916) 978–6051.
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 reducedintensity 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
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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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: https://
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
PO 00000
Frm 00100
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
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]
BILLING CODE 4310–W7–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
for the Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo
Indians’ Proposed 70-Acre Trust
Acquisition and Resort Casino Project,
Sonoma County, CA
AGENCY:
Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Interior.
ACTION:
Notice of availability.
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
(NIGC), Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans), Sonoma
County, and City of Cloverdale as
cooperating agencies, intends to file a
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS) with the EPA for the Tribe’s
proposed 70± acre Fee-to-Trust and
Resort Casino Project to be located
within Sonoma County, California, and
that the DEIS is now available for public
review and comment. 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.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\06AUN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 151 (Friday, August 6, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47621-47622]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19180]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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: https://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]
BILLING CODE 4310-W7-P
