Unless a federal court intervenes, the U.S. Interior Department is expected to activate its approval of the compact Florida Gov. Charlie Crist signed with the Florida Seminoles to allow Class III gaming at the tribe's seven Florida casinos by publishing it in the Federal Register next week.

While the compact was automatically approved when the Interior Department failed to act by Dec. 28th, the 45th day after it was signed by Crist and the Seminoles, Carl J. Artman, assistant Interior secretary for Indian Affairs, subsequently signed the document on Dec. 31st, according to a spokesperson.

But compacts do not actually take effect until the Interior Department approval is published in the Federal Register. The Miami Herald reported that is now expected to happen next week, and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel said that could happen as early as Monday, Jan. 7th.

Publication of the Federal Register notice would trigger an initial $50 million payment by the Seminole's to the state of Florida. The pact calls for Florida to receive at least $100 million a year -- and possibly far more -- in return for giving the tribe the right to offer Class III slots, blackjack and baccarat at its seven casinos.

But Florida Atty. Gen. Bill McCollum is hoping to at least temporarily block publication of the Federal Register notice, and intends to ask a federal judge to issue an injunction preventing the compact from taking effect until the Florida Supreme Court decides whether Crist's signing of the compact was legal.

"We're right now exploring our options to best expedite" the request for an injunction, said Sandi Copes, a spokesperson for McCollum.

The speaker of the Florida House, Marco Rubio, has filed a lawsuit with the State Supreme Court challenging the validity of the the Governor's decision to enter into the casino compact with the Seminoles without seeking approval of the Legislature.

The Supreme Court has postponed oral arguments on the suit until Jan. 30th.

Even if the Interior Department is able to proceed with publication of the Federal Register notice, it appears that the Seminole will not be actually unveiling the new games at any of their casinos before summer at the earliest.

"The tribe is ''six or seven months away'' from starting the new games, a Seminole spokesperson told the Miami Herald. ''They have to order and install equipment, hire and train dealers. The tribe looks at this from a long-term view. They want to do it right.''