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The U.S. Senate on Thursday night unanimously approved a bill putting a big speed bump in front of any future plans for a big, Nevada-style expansion of the San Pablo Lytton Casino.

Community and state legislative opposition has long since led the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians to abandon plans to expand its 70,000-square-foot facility into something as much as eight times bigger with thousands of lucrative, house-banked, Nevada-style slot machines. But author U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said her bill will dissuade the tribe from trying to revive such plans.

"This legislation was broadly supported in the community," she said in a statement issued Friday. "And it means that the Lytton Band must go through the congressionally mandated application and review process before it can expand its Bay Area casino operations."

Feinstein urged the House to pass the bill as well, and recommended President Barack Obama sign it into law.

The bill would repeal part of a 2000 amendment by Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, that "backdated" the Casino San Pablo card room and its 9-acre tract's placement in trust for the Lytton Band so it was deemed to have happened before Oct. 17, 1988 — the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act's effective date, after which gaming on newly acquired land requires rigorous bureaucratic review.

Without this loophole, the tribe can't offer Nevada-style gaming at its casino 15 minutes north of Oakland without direct

consent from the governor and U.S. Interior Secretary, who would have to consult the local community and nearby tribes. No California tribe has ever completed this process.

The Lytton Band had supported this bill when Feinstein introduced it in 2007, as it would let them keep operating without the threat of closure; the Senate passed the bill but it died in the House. A spokesman for the tribe declined to comment Friday.

The tribe and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004 agreed on a 2,500-slot-machine casino from which the state, county and city would share 25 percent of the revenue, but concerns of traffic, gambling addiction and other possible problems kindled community opposition.

Conceding the Legislature wouldn't ratify such a compact, the tribe backed off and instead installed more than 1,000 electronic bingo terminals that look and play much like slot machines, but are permitted without a compact. That current gaming isn't affected by Feinstein's bill.

Reach Josh Richman at 510-208-6428 or jrichman@bayareanewsgroup.com. Read the Political Blotter at www.ibabuzz.com/politics