I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3996 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the Nevada System 

of Higher Education certain Federal land located in Clark and Nye 

Counties, Nevada, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2012 

Mr. AMODEI (for himself, Mr. HECK, and Ms. BERKLEY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the 

Nevada System of Higher Education certain Federal 

land located in Clark and Nye Counties, Nevada, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Southern Nevada 

5 Higher Education Land Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) southern Nevada is one of the fastest grow2 ing regions in the United States, with 750,000 new 

3 residents added since 2000; 

4 (2) the Nevada System of Higher Education 

5 serves more than 71,000 undergraduate and grad6 uate students in southern Nevada, with enrollment 

7 in the System expected to grow by 21 percent during 

8 the next 10 years, which would bring enrollment to 

9 a total of 85,000 students in the System; 

10 (3) the Nevada System of Higher Education 

11 campuses in southern Nevada comprise 1,200 acres, 

12 one of the smallest land bases of any major higher 

13 education system in the western United States; 

14 (4) the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with 

15 27,903 students and 3,000 faculty and staff, is the 

16 fourth fastest-growing research university in the 

17 United States; 

18 (5) the College of Southern Nevada— 

19 (A) serves more than 41,000 students each 

20 semester; and 

21 (B) is near capacity at each of the 3 urban 

22 campuses of the College; 

23 (6) Pahrump, located in rural Nye County, Ne24 vada— 


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1 (A) has grown by 20 percent since 2000; 

2 and 

3 (B) has a small satellite campus of Great 

4 Basin College to serve the 40,500 residents of 

5 Pahrump, Nevada; and 

6 (7) the Nevada System of Higher Education 

7 needs additional land to provide for the future 

8 growth of the System, particularly for the University 

9 of Nevada, Las Vegas, the College of Southern Ne10 vada, and the Pahrump campus of Great Basin Col11 lege. 

12 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

13 (1) to provide additional land for a thriving 

14 higher education system that serves the residents of 

15 fast-growing southern Nevada; 

16 (2) to provide residents of the State with great17 er opportunities to pursue higher education and the 

18 resulting benefits, which include increased earnings, 

19 more employment opportunities, and better health; 

20 and 

21 (3) to provide communities in southern Nevada 

22 the economic and societal values of higher education, 

23 including economic growth, lower crime rates, great24 er civic participation, and less reliance on social 

25 services. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) BOARD OF REGENTS.—The term ‘‘Board of 

4 Regents’’ means the Board of Regents of the Ne5 vada System of Higher Education. 

6 (2) CAMPUSES.—The term ‘‘Campuses’’ means 

7 the Great Basin College, College of Southern Ne8 vada, and University of Las Vegas, Nevada, cam9 puses. 

10 (3) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

11 means each of the 3 parcels of Bureau of Land 

12 Management land identified on the maps as ‘‘Parcel 

13 to be Conveyed’’, of which— 

14 (A) approximately 40 acres is to be con15 veyed for the College of Southern Nevada; 

16 (B) approximately 2,085 acres is to be 

17 conveyed for the University of Nevada, Las 

18 Vegas; and 

19 (C) approximately 285 acres is to be con20 veyed for the Great Basin College. 

21 (4) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means each of the 

22 3 maps entitled ‘‘Southern Nevada Higher Edu23 cation Land Act’’, dated July 11, 2008, and on file 

24 and available for public inspection in the appropriate 

25 offices of the Bureau of Land Management. 


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1 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

3 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

4 of Nevada. 

5 (7) SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘System’’ means the 

6 Nevada System of Higher Education. 

7 SEC. 4. CONVEYANCES OF FEDERAL LAND TO THE SYSTEM. 

8 (a) CONVEYANCES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 202 

10 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

11 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) and section 1(c) of the Act 

12 of June 14, 1926 (commonly known as the ‘‘Recre13 ation and Public Purposes Act’’) (43 U.S.C. 869(c)) 

14 and subject to all valid existing rights, the Secretary 

15 shall— 

16 (A) not later than 180 days after the date 

17 of enactment of this Act, convey to the System, 

18 without consideration, all right, title, and inter19 est of the United States in and to the Federal 

20 land for the Great Basin College and the Col21 lege of Southern Nevada; and 

22 (B) not later than 180 days after the re23 ceipt of certification of acceptable remediation 

24 of environmental conditions existing on the par25 cel to be conveyed for the University of Nevada, 


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1 Las Vegas, convey to the System, without con2 sideration, all right, title, and interest of the 

3 United States in and to the Federal land for 

4 the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 

5 (2) PHASES.—The Secretary may phase the 

6 conveyance of the Federal land under paragraph 

7 (1)(B) as remediation is completed. 

8 (b) CONDITIONS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of the con10 veyance under subsection (a)(1), the Board of Re11 gents shall agree in writing— 

12 (A) to pay any administrative costs associ13 ated with the conveyance, including the costs of 

14 any environmental, wildlife, cultural, or histor15 ical resources studies; 

16 (B) to use the Federal land conveyed for 

17 educational and recreational purposes; 

18 (C) to release and indemnify the United 

19 States from any claims or liabilities that may 

20 arise from uses carried out on the Federal land 

21 on or before the date of enactment of this Act 

22 by the United States or any person; 

23 (D) as soon as practicable after the date of 

24 the conveyance under subsection (a)(1), to erect 

25 at each of the Campuses an appropriate and 


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1 centrally located monument that acknowledges 

2 the conveyance of the Federal land by the 

3 United States for the purpose of furthering the 

4 higher education of the citizens in the State; 

5 and 

6 (E) to assist the Bureau of Land Manage7 ment in providing information to the students 

8 of the System and the citizens of the State 

9 on— 

10 (i) public land (including the manage11 ment of public land) in the Nation; and 

12 (ii) the role of the Bureau of Land 

13 Management in managing, preserving, and 

14 protecting the public land in the State. 

15 (2) AGREEMENT WITH NELLIS AIR FORCE

16 BASE.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—As a precondition of 

18 the conveyance of the Federal land for the Uni19 versity of Nevada, Las Vegas under subsection 

20 (a)(1)(B), the Board of Regents shall enter into 

21 a binding interlocal agreement with Nellis Air 

22 Force Base to preserve the long-term capability 

23 of Nellis Air Force Base. 

24 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—The interlocal 

25 agreement entered into under subparagraph (A) 


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1 and any related master plan shall require the 

2 mutual assent of the parties to the agreement. 

3 (C) LIMITATION.—In no case shall the use 

4 of the Federal land conveyed under subsection 

5 (a)(1)(B) compromise the national security mis6 sion or avigation rights of Nellis Air Force 

7 Base. 

8 (c) USE OF FEDERAL LAND.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The System may use the 

10 Federal land conveyed under subsection (a)(1) for— 

11 (A) any purpose relating to the establish12 ment, operation, growth, and maintenance of 

13 the System; and 

14 (B) any uses relating to the purposes, in15 cluding residential and commercial development 

16 that would generally be associated with an insti17 tution of higher education. 

18 (2) OTHER ENTITIES.—The System may— 

19 (A) consistent with Federal and State law, 

20 lease, or otherwise provide property or space at, 

21 the Campuses, with or without consideration, to 

22 religious, public interest, community, or other 

23 groups for services and events that are of inter24 est to the System or to any community located 

25 in southern Nevada; 


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1 (B) allow any other communities in south2 ern Nevada to use facilities of the Campuses for 

3 educational and recreational programs of the 

4 community; and 

5 (C) in conjunction with the city of Las 

6 Vegas, North Las Vegas, or Pahrump or Clark 

7 or Nye County plan, finance (including through 

8 the provision of cost-share assistance), con9 struct, and operate facilities for the city of Las 

10 Vegas, North Las Vegas, or Pahrump or Clark 

11 or Nye County on the Federal land conveyed 

12 for educational or recreational purposes con13 sistent with this section. 

14 (d) REVERSION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Federal land or any 

16 portion of the Federal land conveyed under sub17 section (a)(1) ceases to be used for the System, the 

18 Federal land, or any portion of the Federal land 

19 shall, at the discretion of the Secretary, revert to the 

20 United States. 

21 (2) UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS.—If 

22 the System fails to complete the first building or 

23 show progression toward development of the Univer24 sity of Nevada, Las Vegas campus on the applicable 

25 parcels of Federal land by the date that is 50 years 


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1 after the date of receipt of certification of acceptable 

2 remediation of environmental conditions, the parcels 

3 of the Federal land described in section 3(3)(B) 

4 shall, at the discretion of the Secretary, revert to the 

5 United States. 

Æ 


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