Notice for downtown L.A. stadium EIR filed

The group proposing an NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles is beginning its environmental impact report, a necessary first step to getting approval for the project.

On Monday, AEG submitted a notice of preparation to the city, which will in turn make a formal public announcement that the process is underway. The city in turn will hold a so-called EIR scoping meeting on March 30 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the L.A. Convention Center, giving the public the chance to give input on what issues should be analyzed in the document.

AEG expects to have a draft of the EIR completed and ready to submit to the city for approval by the end of the year. A period of public comment would follow before the document could be finalized.

“AEG has a clear idea of what we’re proposing,” said Bill Delvac, outside counsel for the sports and entertainment company. “We have a very good idea of what approvals we need. Half the people want answers immediately, and half want us to take our time and do the studies in a thorough way. We’re trying to do both.”

The EIR, which is expected to be several thousand pages including additional documents, will include detailed studies about traffic, parking, noise, air quality and the like. The EIR for L.A. Live took less than a year, whereas the one for Staples Center required two years, mostly because of contentious city negotiations.

—Sam Farmer

ETC.

Ducks promote Emery

The Ducks recalled goaltender Ray Emery, who had been assigned to Syracuse of the American Hockey League over the weekend to regain his game sharpness. His return to the NHL ice could be as soon as Wednesday, when the Ducks play the New York Rangers at Honda Center.

Emery, who underwent hip surgery last April, stopped 27 of 28 shots in a win against the Texas Stars, less than 48 hours after he had stopped 40 of 41 shots in a victory at San Antonio. Goalie J.P. Levasseur, who backed up Dan Ellis on Sunday in the Ducks’ 3-0 loss to Vancouver, was returned to Syracuse.

—Helene Elliott

Long Beach State junior Casper Ware became the first player in Big West Conference history to be named the player of the year and the defensive player of the year in a vote of the league’s coaches. The 49ers’ Dan Monson won coach-of-the-year honors, and all five 49ers starters earned a spot on one of the all-conference teams.

Texas Tech fired Pat Knight, ending a disappointing three-year run for a coach who failed to lead the Red Raiders to the NCAA tournament after taking over for his famous father, Bob.

Knight will coach the Red Raiders at this week’s Big 12 Conference tournament and then step down, a school spokesman said.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety and cornerback Carnell Lake was hired as the team’s defensive backs coach.

Lake, a first-team All-American linebacker at UCLA in 1988, was an assistant for the Bruins last season but decided last month to leave for family reasons.