II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1331

To give Lincoln County, Nevada, the right to purchase at fair market value

certain public land in the county.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 1, 1999

Mr. REID introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to

the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To give Lincoln County, Nevada, the right to purchase at

fair market value certain public land in the county.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lincoln County Land

5 Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. SALE OF PUBLIC LAND.

7 (a) RIGHT TO PURCHASE.—For a period of 10 years

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, Lincoln County,

9 Nevada, shall have the exclusive right to purchase the par10 cels of public land described in subsection (b).
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1 (b) LAND DESCRIPTION.—The parcels of public land

2 referred to in subsection (a) are the following parcels in

3 T. 12 S., R. 71 E., Mount Diablo Meridian, Nevada:

(1) Sec. 16: NW 1⁄4 SW 1⁄4, S 1⁄2 SW 1 4 ⁄4, SE

1 5 ⁄4.

(2) Sec. 17: SW 1⁄4, W 1⁄2 SE 1⁄4, SE 1 6 ⁄4 SE

1 7 ⁄4.

(3) Sec. 18: SE 1 8 ⁄4.

(4) Sec. 19: E 1 9 ⁄2.

10 (5) Sec. 20.

(6) Sec. 21: W 1 11 ⁄2.

(7) Sec. 28: W 1 12 ⁄2.

13 (8) Sec. 29.

(9) Sec. 30: E 1 14 ⁄2.

(10) Sec. 31: E 1 15 ⁄2.

16 (11) Sec. 32.

(12) Sec. 33: W 1⁄2, SE 1 17 ⁄4.

(13) Sec. 34: S 1 18 ⁄2.

19 (c) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 180 days after

20 the date of enactment of this Act, Lincoln County, Ne21 vada, shall notify the Secretary of the Interior which of

22 the parcels of public land described in subsection (b) the

23 county intends to purchase.

24 (d) TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE.—All sales of

25 public land under this section—
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1 (1) shall be subject to valid existing rights; and

2 (2) shall be made for fair market value, as de3 termined by the Secretary.

4 (e) CONVEYANCE.—Not later than 1 year after re5 ceiving notification by Lincoln County that the county

6 wishes to proceed with a purchase under subsection (a),

7 the Secretary of the Interior shall convey to Lincoln Coun8 ty the parcels of land selected for purchase.

9 (f) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights,

10 until the date that is 10 years after the date of enactment

11 of this Act, the public land described in subsection (b) is

12 withdrawn from all forms of entry and appropriation

13 under the public land laws, including the mining laws, and

14 from operation of the mineral leasing and geothermal leas15 ing laws.

16 SEC. 3. DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS.

17 (a) LAND SALES.—Of the gross proceeds of sales of

18 land under this Act in a fiscal year—

19 (1) 5 percent shall be paid directly to the State

20 of Nevada for use in the general education program

21 of the State;

22 (2) 10 percent shall be returned to Lincoln

23 County for use as determined through normal coun24 ty budgeting procedures, with emphasis given to

25 support of schools, of which no amount may be used
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1 in support of litigation against the Federal Govern2 ment; and

3 (3) the remainder shall be deposited in a special

4 account in the Treasury of the United States (re5 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘special account’’) for

6 use as provided in subsection (b).

7 (b) AVAILABILITY OF SPECIAL ACCOUNT.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the special ac9 count (including amounts earned as interest under

10 paragraph (3)) shall be available to the Secretary of

11 the Interior, without further Act of appropriation,

12 and shall remain available until expended, for—

13 (A) the cost of acquisition of environ14 mentally sensitive land or interests in such land

15 in the State of Nevada, with priority given to

16 land outside Clark County;

17 (B) development of a multispecies habitat

18 conservation plan in Lincoln County, Nevada;

19 and

20 (C) reimbursement of costs incurred by the

21 Bureau of Land Management in preparing sales

22 under this Act, or other authorized land sales

23 or exchanges within Lincoln County, Nevada,

24 including the costs of land boundary surveys,

25 compliance with the National Environmental
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1 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),

2 appraisals, environmental and cultural clear3 ances, and any public notice.

4 (2) ACQUISITION FROM WILLING SELLERS.—An

5 acquisition under paragraph (1)(A) shall be made

6 only from a willing seller and after consultation with

7 the State of Nevada and units of local government

8 under the jurisdiction of which the environmentally

9 sensitive land is located.

10 (3) INTEREST.—Amounts in the special account

11 shall earn interest in the amount determined by the

12 Secretary of Treasury on the basis of current aver13 age market yield on outstanding marketable obliga14 tions of the United States of comparable maturities.

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