Two California tribes will fail to meet Governor Schwarzenegger’s May 31 deadline to complete a federal land transfer process needed to effect their off-reservation casino proposals; but according to a spokesman for Barwest, the developer and manager of proposed Big Lagoon and Los Coyotes Indian Casino Resorts planned in Barstow, the parties are counting on the Governor to amend their existing agreements.
The gaming compacts negotiated by Governor Schwarzenegger with the Big Lagoon Rancheria and Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians in 2005 include several critical deadlines.
| Barwest Casinos EIS/EIR COMPLETED DOCUMENTS: |
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May 31, 2007 Deadline
Among them, by May 31, 2007 Barwest was to have conveyed roughly 48 acres of land in Barstow to the United States to be held in trust for the two tribes and the tribes were to have had other positive determinations made by the Secretary of the Interior.
However, Barwest, the tribes’ developer, and the private entity that owns the 48-acres, failed to execute activity needed to convey the property to the tribes via the trust process until 2006.
An Environmental Impact Statement and Tribal Environmental Impact Report (EIS/TEIR) for the project is being prepared by Analytical Environmental Services (AES) as a 3rd party contractor for the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); but that process won’t be complete for months.
Public Environmental Review Not Complete
The EIS at absolute best case takes a minimum of 18 months. At this point, the parties are about one third of the way through the EIS process: A notice of intent was circulated last year, a scoping meeting was held in Barstow and the scoping report was issued in September 2006.
The Draft EIS must be circulated and available for 45-day public comment; a series of hearings must be held and then the final report must be authored and submitted. A Record of Decision (ROD) must then be made. Other administrative considerations are taken into account and must receive the green-light from the Secretary of Interior before a casino can be built.
Clearly Barwest and its tribal partners will fail to meet the May 31 deadlines set by the Governor.
Falling Short on Other Deadlines & Requirements
The 2005 compacts included a second deadline, August 31, 2007 by which the two tribes must have completed all other elements needed for the compacts to take effect or the agreements would be null and void.
Since the Governor signed the agreements in 2005, Barwest and its tribal partners have failed to win ratification of the agreements from the state Legislature; another element required before the casinos can be built. The legislature failed to act on the agreements in 2006 and the author of legislation to ratify the agreements this year, Senator Pat Wiggins (D-Eurkea), tells reporters the bill's prospects aren't looking very "rosey."
Barwest Hopes Schwarzenegger Will Amend Compacts & Legislature Will Agree
At a recent Barstow City Council meeting, Barwest’s spokesman Tom Shields indicated they were hopeful the Governor would renegotiate those elements of the Compacts with them.
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