79–006 

111TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 111–199 

PROVIDING FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF CERTAIN BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LAND IN THE STATE OF NEVADA TO THE LAS VEGAS MOTOR 

SPEEDWAY, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

JULY 10, 2009.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. RAHALL, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 409] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 409) to provide for the conveyance of certain Bureau of 

Land Management land in the State of Nevada to the Las Vegas 

Motor Speedway, and for other purposes, having considered the 

same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. 

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ means the approximately 115 

acres of Bureau of Land Management land identified on the map as ‘‘Lands 

identified for Las Vegas Speedway Parking Lot Expansion’’. 

(2) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map titled ‘‘Las Vegas Speedway Parking Lot Expansion’’, dated March 6, 2009, and on file in the Office of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. 

(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the Interior. 

SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE OF FEDERAL LAND TO NEVADA SPEEDWAY. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—If Nevada Speedway, LLC, submits to the Secretary an offer to 

acquire the Federal land for the appraised value, notwithstanding the land use 

planning requirements of section 202 and 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1713), the Secretary shall convey to Nevada 

Speedway, LLC, all right, title, and interest in and to the Federal land, subject to 

valid existing rights. 

(b) APPRAISAL.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

Act, the Secretary shall complete an appraisal of the Federal land. 

(2) APPLICABLE LAW.—The appraisal under paragraph (1) shall be conducted 

in accordance with— 

(A) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions; and 

(B) the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. 

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(3) COSTS.—All costs associated with the appraisal required under paragraph 

(1) shall be paid by Nevada Speedway, LLC. 

(c) PAYMENT OF CONSIDERATION.—As a condition of the conveyance, Nevada 

Speedway, LLC, shall pay to the Secretary an amount equal to the appraised value 

of the Federal land, as determined under subsection (b). 

(d) COSTS OF CONVEYANCE.—As a condition of the conveyance, any costs of the 

conveyance under subsection (a) shall be paid by Nevada Speedway, LLC. 

(e) REVERSION.—If Nevada Speedway, LLC, or any subsequent owner of the Federal land conveyed under subsection (a), uses the Federal land for purposes other 

than a parking lot for the Nevada Speedway, all right, title, and interest in and to 

the land (and any improvements to the land) shall revert to the United States at 

the discretion of the Secretary. 

(f) DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS.—The Secretary shall deposit the proceeds from the 

conveyance of Federal land under subsection (a) in the Federal Land Disposal Account established under section 206(a) of the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation 

Act (43 U.S.C. 2305(a)). 

(g) COMPLIANCE.—Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the conveyance authorized in this section shall be carried out in compliance with all laws and regulations applicable to the conveyance of Federal land. 

SEC. 3. WITHDRAWAL OF FEDERAL LAND. 

(a) WITHDRAWAL.—Except as provided in section 2(a) and subject to valid existing 

rights, the Federal land is withdrawn from— 

(1) all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws; 

(2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and 

(3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 

(b) TERMINATION.—If two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

conveyance authorized under section 2 has not been executed, the withdrawal under 

subsection (a) shall have no force or effect. 

SEC. 4. SUNSET. 

The authority provided to the Secretary under this Act shall terminate 5 years 

after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 409 is to provide for the conveyance of certain Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in the State of Nevada to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and for other purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is an auto racing complex located about 12 miles north of downtown Las Vegas. It is owned by 

the Nevada Speedway, LLC (Speedway). The complex hosts 

NASCAR and other racing events, which can bring in as many as 

100,000 racing fans. For several years now, the Speedway has been 

looking for options to expand its parking. 

H.R. 409 would require the conveyance of 115 acres of BLM land 

to the Speedway specifically for expansion of the Las Vegas Speedway parking lot. The legislation provides that the Secretary of the 

Interior (Secretary) shall complete an appraisal of the 115 acres of 

federal land, in accordance with federal appraisal standards and 

practices. Once the appraisal is completed, the Secretary would be 

required to convey all right, title, and interest in that land to the 

Speedway for fair market value. The bill further provides that the 

land would be withdrawn from entry, appropriation, and disposal 

under the public land laws, as well as under the mining, mineral 

leasing, and other related laws. 

The bill also directs the Speedway to pay all costs associated 

with the conveyance, and it requires that, if the Speedway uses the 

land for any purpose other then a parking lot, the land will revert 

back to the United States at the discretion of the Secretary. 

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COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 409 was introduced on January 9, 2009, by Representative 

Dean Heller (R–NV). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 

on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. At a hearing before 

the Subcommittee on March 3, 2009, the Administration testified 

in support of the bill. 

On June 10, 2009, the Subcommittee was discharged from further consideration of H.R. 409 and the Full Natural Resources 

Committee met to consider the bill. Subcommittee Chairman 

Grijalva offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute, which 

was agreed to by unanimous consent. The bill, as amended, was 

then favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article IV, section 3 of the Constitution of the United States 

grants Congress the authority to enact this bill. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) of rule 

XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 

308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this bill does not 

contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to interchange the administrative jurisdiction of certain Federal lands between the Forest Service and the Bureau of 

Land Management. 

4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

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H.R. 409—A bill to provide for the conveyance of certain Bureau of 

Land Management land in the state of Nevada to the Las Vegas 

Motor Speedway 

H.R. 409 would direct the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

to sell a parcel of federal land located near Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Proceeds from the sale would be available to BLM without further 

appropriation for land acquisition programs. Enacting H.R. 409 

would increase direct spending—by an estimated $10 million to $20 

million over the 2010–2014 period—because the bill would allow 

BLM to spend offsetting receipts that would, under existing law, be 

deposited in the U.S. Treasury. 

The legislation contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 

would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

Under H.R. 409, BLM would sell to the Nevada Speedway, LLC, 

about 115 acres of federal land adjacent to the company’s Las 

Vegas Speedway, an auto racing complex. The company would pay 

all administrative costs of the transaction and could only use the 

purchased land as a parking lot. Proceeds from the sale would be 

deposited into BLM’s federal land disposal account and could be 

spent, without further appropriation, to acquire other lands within 

Nevada. 

BLM is already authorized to sell the property affected by H.R. 

409 (subject to appropriate land use procedures). Unlike current 

law, however, the bill would allow the proceeds of that sale to be 

spent without further appropriation. Based on recent land values 

in the area of the Speedway, CBO estimates that selling the acreage specified by the bill would increase offsetting receipts by $10 

million to $20 million in 2010 or 2011, about three or four years 

earlier than under current law. Spending of that amount would 

occur over the 2010–2014 period. The bill would have no significant 

effect on discretionary spending and no effect on revenues. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

H.R. 409 does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e) 

or 9(f) of rule XXI. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law. 

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