Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Cortina Integrated Waste Management Project, Colusa County, CA

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Cortina

Integrated Waste Management Project, Colusa County, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior

ACTION: Notice

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian

Affairs (BIA) intends to submit a Draft Environmental Impact Statement

(DEIS) for a proposed lease of approximately 443 acres held in trust by

the federal government for the Cortina Band of Wintun Indians in Colusa

County, California, to the Environmental Protection Agency for public

review and comment. The purpose of the proposed action is to allow

Cortina Integrated Waste Management, Inc., to develop and operate

needed waste treatment facilities referred to as the Cortina Integrated

Waste Management Project. The BIA prepared the DEIS in cooperation with

the Cortina Band of Wintun Indians and the Band's environmental

consultants. A description of the proposed project location and of the

environmental issues addressed in the DEIS follow as supplementary

information. This notice also announces a public hearing to receive

public comments on the DEIS.

DATES: Written comments must arrive by February 15, 2000. The Public

hearing will be held on February 2, 2000, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any

one of several methods. You may mail or hand carry written comments to

Ronald M. Jaeger, Regional Director, Pacific Region, Bureau of Indian

Affairs, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, California, 95825-1846. You may

also comment via the Internet to [email protected]. Please submit

Internet comments as an ASCII file, avoiding the use of special

characters and any form of encryption. Include your name, return

address and the caption, ``DEIS Comments, Cortina Integrated Waste

Management Project, Cortina Indian Rancheria of Wintun Indians, Colusa

County, California,'' on the first page of your written comments or

Internet message. If you do not receive confirmation from the system

that your Internet message was received, contact us directly at (916)

978-6043.

Comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, will

be available for public review at the above address during regular

business hours, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except

holidays. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you

wish to withhold your name and/or address from public review or from

disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this

prominently at the beginning of your written comment. Such requests

will be honored to the extent allowed by law. We will not, however,

consider anonymous comments. All submissions from organizations or

businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as

representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be

made available for public inspection in their entirety.

To obtain a copy of the DEIS, please write or call William Allan,

Environmental Protection Specialist, Pacific Region, Bureau of Indian

Affairs, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825-1846, telephone (916)

978-6043.

The public hearing will be held at Colusa Industrial Properties,

100 Sunrise Boulevard, Colusa, California. This hearing will be co-

hosted by the BIA and the Cortina Band of Wintun Indians.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Allan, (916) 978-6043.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed action is the approval of a 25

year lease of 443 acres of the 640 acre Cortina Rancheria to Cortina

Integrated Waste Management, Inc., for the development and operation of

a landfill, a materials recovery facility, a composting facility, a

bio-remediation facility, plus ancillary facilities. These would occupy

approximately 213 acres of the lease area. The proposed project site is

located in the rugged eastern foothills of the Coast Ranges, just above

the west side of the Sacramento Valley in northern California. It is

[[Page 71150]]

approximately 50 miles northwest of Sacramento, in the southwest corner

of Colusa County.

The landfill is proposed as a Class III solid waste facility, which

may only accept non-hazardous, municipal solid waste. The disposal of

hazardous waste in a Class III landfill is prohibited. The landfill

would be operated as a balefill, designed to consist of four separate

phases that are operated sequentially. The active portion of the

landfill would typically be less than one quarter acre. The containment

system for the landfill would well exceed federal, California and

Wintun Environmental Protection Agency regulatory requirements for

Class III landfills.

The materials recovery facility proposed as part of the project

would separate and recover recyclable materials, thus producing revenue

for the Band and reducing the amount of material deposited in the

landfill. It would be an enclosed structure on a concrete/asphalt pad.

The proposed composting facility would accelerate natural

decomposition of organic waste by bacteria. Its operations would occur

within a lined portion of the landfill, utilizing the ``turned

windrow'' method.

The proposed bio-remediation facility for processing petroleum

contaminated soils would also be operated within a lined portion of the

landfill area. The process consists of adding oxygen, nutrients, and

microorganizms to the contaminated soils to enhance the breakdown of

the petroleum hydrocarbons.

Alternatives to the proposed project that are considered in the

DEIS include the no action alternative and two reduced project

alternatives. The environmental issues addressed in the DEIS include

land and water resources, air quality, living resources, cultural and

socioeconomic resources, land use, traffic, noise, public safety and

health, and visual resources.

This notice is published in accordance with Sec. 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. 4321 et seq.),

and the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 1-6), and is in the

exercise of the authority delegated to the Assistant Secretary--Indian

Affairs by 209 DM 8.

Dated: December 10, 1999.

Kevin Gover,

Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs.

[FR Doc. 99-32926 Filed 12-17-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-02-P