Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 42 / Friday, March 2, 2012 / Notices 12873 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

Draft Environmental Impact Statement 

for the Proposed Spokane Tribe of 

Indians West Plains Casino and Mixed 

Use Project, City of Airway Heights, 

Spokane County, WA 

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public 

that the Bureau of Indian Affairs intends 

to file a draft environmental impact 

statement with the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency for the Spokane Tribe 

of Indians West Plains casino and mixed 

use project, City of Airway Heights, 

Spokane County, Washington. The draft 

statement is now available for public 

review and BIA will hold a public 

hearing to receive comments on the 

mixed use project. 

DATES: Submit written comments by 

April 16, 2012. The public hearing will 

be held on March 26, 2012, starting at 

6 p.m. and will run until the last public 

comment is received. 

ADDRESSES: You may mail or hand 

deliver written comments to Mr. Stanley 

Speaks, Northwest Regional Director, 

Bureau of Indian Affairs, Northwest 

Region, 911 Northeast 11th Avenue, 

Portland, Oregon 97232. 

The public hearing will be held at the 

Sunset Elementary School Gymnasium, 

12824 West 12th Avenue, Airway 

Heights, Washington 99001. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

B.J. Howerton, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Northwest Region, 911 Northeast 11th 

Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97232; fax 

(503) 231–2275; phone (503) 231–6749. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public 

review of the draft environmental 

impact statement (DEIS) is part of the 

administrative process for evaluating 

tribal applications seeking a two-part 

determination from the Secretary of the 

Interior under Section 20 of the Indian 

Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 

2719(b)(1)(B)). Under Council on 

Environmental Quality National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

regulations (40 CFR 1506.10), the 

publication of this notice of availability 

in the Federal Register initiates a 45- 

day public comment period. 

Background 

The Spokane Tribe of Indians (Tribe) 

has requested that the Secretary of the 

Interior issue a two-part determination 

under Section 20 of the Indian Gaming 

Regulatory Act for Class III gaming on 

145 acres held in Federal trust for the 

Tribe near the City of Airway Heights, 

Washington. The 145-acre project is 

located immediately west of the city 

limits of Airway Heights in the 

unincorporated West Plains area of 

Spokane County, Washington. 

The proposed project consists of the 

following components: (1) Issuance of a 

two-part determination by the Secretary 

of the Interior; and (2) development of 

a casino-resort facility, parking 

structure, site retail, commercial 

building, tribal cultural center, and 

police/fire station within the project 

site. At full build-out, the proposed 

casino-resort facility would have 

approximately 98,442 square feet of 

gaming floor and a 300-room hotel. 

The following alternatives are 

considered in the DEIS: (1) Proposed 

casino and mixed-use development; (2) 

reduced casino and mixed-use 

development; (3) non-gaming mixed-use 

development; and (4) no action/no 

development. Environmental issues 

addressed in the DEIS include geology 

and soils, water resources, air quality, 

biological resources, cultural and 

paleontological resources, 

socioeconomic conditions (including 

environmental justice), transportation 

and circulation, land use, public 

services, noise, hazardous materials, 

aesthetics, cumulative effects, and 

indirect and growth inducing effects. 

BIA issues the DEIS as lead agency, 

with the Spokane Tribe of Indians, 

National Indian Gaming Commission, 

Washington State Department of 

Transportation, City of Airway Heights, 

Spokane County, Federal Aviation 

Administration, and U.S. Department of 

the Air Force serving as cooperating 

agencies. BIA held a public scoping 

meeting for the project on September 16, 

2009, in the City of Airway Heights, 

Washington. 

Directions for Submitting Comments 

Please include your name, return 

address, and the caption: ‘‘DEIS 

Comments, Spokane Tribe of Indians 

West Plains Development Project,’’ on 

the first page of your written comments. 

Locations Where the DEIS Is Available 

for Review 

The DEIS will be available for review 

at the Airway Heights Branch of the 

Spokane County Library District, 

located at 1213 South Lundstrom St. 

Airway Heights, Washington 99001 and 

the Spokane Public Library, located at 

906 West Main Street, Spokane, 

Washington 99201. The DEIS is also 

available online at: http://www.

westplainseis.com. 

To obtain a compact disk copy of the 

DEIS, please provide your name and 

address in writing or by voice mail to 

Dr. B.J. Howerton, whose contact 

information is listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

notice. Individual paper copies of the 

DEIS will be provided upon payment of 

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 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, 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 under 

§ 1503.1 of the Council of Environmental 

Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 

through 1508) and § 46.305 of the 

Department of the Interior Regulations (43 

CFR part 46), implementing the procedural 

requirements of the National Environmental 

Policy Act of l969, 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: February 17, 2012. 

Larry Echo Hawk, 

Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4803 Filed 3–1–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–W7–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLAZ931000.L51010000.FX0000.

LVRWA09A2590; AZA34666] 

Notice of Segregation of Public Lands 

in the State of Arizona Associated With 

the Proposed Quartzsite Solar Energy 

Project, La Paz County, AZ 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) is segregating 

public lands located in the State of 

Arizona from appropriation under the 

public land laws, including the mining 

law, but not the mineral leasing or 

material sales acts, for a period of 2 


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