ASIA Sweeney had a great meeting with the Tejon Indian Tribal Chairman Octavio Escobedo and Tribal Council from Bakersfield, California. #IndianAffairs #HallOfTribalNations pic.twitter.com/583oQcbjd9
— Indian Affairs (@USIndianAffairs) April 8, 2019

California | Casino Stalker | Land Acquisitions

Tejon Tribe finally sees action on long-awaited gaming development

Thursday, May 2, 2019

It's taken awhile but the Tejon Tribe is finally seeing some movement on a long-awaited casino in California.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs released a scoping report for the tribe's project in February, The Delano Record reported. It's the first sign of progress since a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement was published way back in August 2015.

But the scoping report is only a small step for the tribe. The BIA must still release a "draft" environmental impact statement, something that's not expected to happen until "late 2019," according to an anticipated schedule.

That's three years behind the original schedule. Back in 2015, the BIA thought the "draft" would be out in the winter or spring of 2016.

The draft must be issued before a "final" environmental impact statement is issued. When will that happen? It's "To Be Determined," according to the anticipated schedule.

But "final" doesn't mean the end of the process. The BIA must still issue a decision to place the site of the proposed gaming facility in trust before the tribe can claim success.

In this case, the tribe is seeking to build a casino on a 306-acre site near Mettler, California. The project location is about 23 miles south of Bakersfield. Tribal headquarters are in Bakersfield.

The BIA placed the tribe back on the list of federally recognized entities in January 2012.