ELR Citation: 45 ELR 20181
No(s). 2:12-cv-3021 (E.D. Cal. Sep 29, 2015) (Nunley, J.)

A district court, on motions for summary judgment, held that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) complied with NEPA and other statutes when it approved a tribe's application for a proposed gaming facility and hotel fee-to-trust acquisition project in Yuma, California. BIA prepared an EIS for the proposed trust acquisition and issued a record of decision finding that a gaming establishment on the site would be in the best interest of the tribe and its members and would not be detrimental to the surrounding community. The court ruled BIA's EIS was proper. The EIS' purpose statement was not overly narrow, BIA took the requisite "hard look" at impacts to the environment and surrounding socioeconomic interests, and the EIS did not give undue weight to one of the tribe's consultants. The court also rejected claims that the DOI Secretary should have performed a conformity determination under the CAA since the applicable emissions from the project fall below the de minimis levels established by the conformity regulations. Nor did the government violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act or the Indian Reorganization Act. (Defense counsel included Nicholas C. Yost of Dentons in San Francisco, Cal.).