Post by blackcrowheart on Oct 11, 2006 17:15:06 GMT -5
BIA to examine potential impact of casino project in Mississippi
By Ana Radelat, Gannett News Service
www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-05-choctaw-casino_x.htm
WASHINGTON — The Interior Department will examine a proposal for a casino the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians hopes to build in Jackson County.
In a notice in the Federal Register on Wednesday, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) said it intends to study the potential environmental impact of the casino, which would consist of a hotel, shops and parking near the intersection of Highway 57 and Interstate 10.
State officials oppose the project.
"The governor campaigned against it and consistently said he opposes the expansion of gaming beyond where it is today," said Pete Smith, Gov. Haley Barbour's spokesman.
Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., says the project would pose unfair competition for Gulf Coast casinos that, unlike tribal enterprises, aren't exempt from state taxes and other regulations.
The complex would be built on 40 acres the tribe owns in Jackson County and 61 adjoining acres the Choctaws have asked the federal government to put into trust, which would take it out of state control.
The environmental impact study will assess the proposed casino's effects on traffic and wildlife, air quality and sewage and water systems. Possible social and economic impacts also will be reviewed.
The BIA established a 30-day period for the public to comment on the proposal and has scheduled a public meeting Oct. 18 on the project in the Ocean Springs Civic Center.
It called the Choctaws' plan a "preferred alternative" for the land, saying it would "maximize potential economic benefits" for the tribe and create jobs. Otherwise, the BIA notice said, the Choctaws would close two county businesses: First American Printing and Direct Mail and First American Plastic Molding, which together employ more than 100 people.
Kurt Chandler, the BIA's regional environmental scientist in Nashville, said Choctaw Chief Phillip Martin decided to pay at least $2 million for the environmental impact statement to convince residents and Mississippi officials that it would not have any negative consequences.
Choctaw representatives could not be reached for comment.
HAZCLEAN Environmental Consultants of Jackson will do most of the work on the environmental impact study under the supervision of the BIA.
"Nothing is going to get past me," Chandler said. He said the study will take six to nine months.
===========
House rejects attempt to curb Indian gaming
By Ana Radelat, Gannett New Service
www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-09-13-indian-gaming_x.htm
WASHINGTON — Indian tribes hoping to establish casinos away from tribal lands dodged a potential setback Wednesday when the House rejected a bill barring off-reservation gambling.
California Rep. Richard Pombo, head of the House Committee on Resources, said "reservation shopping" by tribes has "perverted" the intent of the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which opened the door for tribes to establish casinos.
But Pombo, who introduced the bill, was unable to secure the two-thirds vote needed for it to pass, under special House rules barring amendments. The vote was 247-171 for the bill, with 278 votes needed for approval.
All of Louisiana's House members, except Reps. William Jefferson, R-New Orleans, and Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, voted for Pombo's bill.
As Indian gaming revenues have grown — they reached nearly $22.7 billion in 2005 — so has opposition in Congress to the industry's expansion.
Only four tribes have off-reservation casinos. But at least 44 others, many landless and newly recognized by the federal government, like the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, have applications pending at the Interior Department.
Pombo's bill would have prohibited the Jena Band and other tribes from establishing casinos off tribal land or land not contiguous to their reservations. It also would have required tribes to compensate local communities for a new casino's impact on roads, water and sewer systems and other services, including law enforcement.
The National Indian Gaming Association, which represents more than 180 tribes, strongly opposed the bill, saying it would violate tribal sovereignty.
"Before they could use their lands, these tribes would have to jump through many new hoops," an NIGA statement said. "Indian tribes are recognized as sovereign in the Constitution and under existing law. Sovereign tribes negotiate with sovereign states, not town councils."
The defeat of Pombo's bill is expected to end the congressional debate over Indian gaming this year.
In the Senate, lawmakers from two opposing camps have stalled a less restrictive bill sponsored by John McCain, R-Ariz.
Some senators, including Sen. David Vitter, R-Metarie, have blocked McCain's bill because they say it's not tough enough. Others oppose it because they say it attempts to curb Indian gaming violate tribal sovereignty.
By Ana Radelat, Gannett News Service
www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-05-choctaw-casino_x.htm
WASHINGTON — The Interior Department will examine a proposal for a casino the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians hopes to build in Jackson County.
In a notice in the Federal Register on Wednesday, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) said it intends to study the potential environmental impact of the casino, which would consist of a hotel, shops and parking near the intersection of Highway 57 and Interstate 10.
State officials oppose the project.
"The governor campaigned against it and consistently said he opposes the expansion of gaming beyond where it is today," said Pete Smith, Gov. Haley Barbour's spokesman.
Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., says the project would pose unfair competition for Gulf Coast casinos that, unlike tribal enterprises, aren't exempt from state taxes and other regulations.
The complex would be built on 40 acres the tribe owns in Jackson County and 61 adjoining acres the Choctaws have asked the federal government to put into trust, which would take it out of state control.
The environmental impact study will assess the proposed casino's effects on traffic and wildlife, air quality and sewage and water systems. Possible social and economic impacts also will be reviewed.
The BIA established a 30-day period for the public to comment on the proposal and has scheduled a public meeting Oct. 18 on the project in the Ocean Springs Civic Center.
It called the Choctaws' plan a "preferred alternative" for the land, saying it would "maximize potential economic benefits" for the tribe and create jobs. Otherwise, the BIA notice said, the Choctaws would close two county businesses: First American Printing and Direct Mail and First American Plastic Molding, which together employ more than 100 people.
Kurt Chandler, the BIA's regional environmental scientist in Nashville, said Choctaw Chief Phillip Martin decided to pay at least $2 million for the environmental impact statement to convince residents and Mississippi officials that it would not have any negative consequences.
Choctaw representatives could not be reached for comment.
HAZCLEAN Environmental Consultants of Jackson will do most of the work on the environmental impact study under the supervision of the BIA.
"Nothing is going to get past me," Chandler said. He said the study will take six to nine months.
===========
House rejects attempt to curb Indian gaming
By Ana Radelat, Gannett New Service
www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-09-13-indian-gaming_x.htm
WASHINGTON — Indian tribes hoping to establish casinos away from tribal lands dodged a potential setback Wednesday when the House rejected a bill barring off-reservation gambling.
California Rep. Richard Pombo, head of the House Committee on Resources, said "reservation shopping" by tribes has "perverted" the intent of the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which opened the door for tribes to establish casinos.
But Pombo, who introduced the bill, was unable to secure the two-thirds vote needed for it to pass, under special House rules barring amendments. The vote was 247-171 for the bill, with 278 votes needed for approval.
All of Louisiana's House members, except Reps. William Jefferson, R-New Orleans, and Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, voted for Pombo's bill.
As Indian gaming revenues have grown — they reached nearly $22.7 billion in 2005 — so has opposition in Congress to the industry's expansion.
Only four tribes have off-reservation casinos. But at least 44 others, many landless and newly recognized by the federal government, like the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, have applications pending at the Interior Department.
Pombo's bill would have prohibited the Jena Band and other tribes from establishing casinos off tribal land or land not contiguous to their reservations. It also would have required tribes to compensate local communities for a new casino's impact on roads, water and sewer systems and other services, including law enforcement.
The National Indian Gaming Association, which represents more than 180 tribes, strongly opposed the bill, saying it would violate tribal sovereignty.
"Before they could use their lands, these tribes would have to jump through many new hoops," an NIGA statement said. "Indian tribes are recognized as sovereign in the Constitution and under existing law. Sovereign tribes negotiate with sovereign states, not town councils."
The defeat of Pombo's bill is expected to end the congressional debate over Indian gaming this year.
In the Senate, lawmakers from two opposing camps have stalled a less restrictive bill sponsored by John McCain, R-Ariz.
Some senators, including Sen. David Vitter, R-Metarie, have blocked McCain's bill because they say it's not tough enough. Others oppose it because they say it attempts to curb Indian gaming violate tribal sovereignty.