II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1475 

To convey certain land to Clark County, Nevada, to designate the Nellis 

Dunes National Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2011 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To convey certain land to Clark County, Nevada, to designate 

the Nellis Dunes National Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area, 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 ‘‘Nellis Dunes National 

5 Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) CITY.—The term ‘‘City’’ means the city of 

9 North Las Vegas, Nevada. 


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1 (2) COUNTY.—The term ‘‘County’’ means Clark 

2 County, Nevada. 

3 (3) ECONOMIC SUPPORT AREA.—The term 

4 ‘‘Economic Support Area’’ means the land identified 

5 on the map as the ‘‘Economic Support Area’’. 

6 (4) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

7 means the approximately 1,211 acres of Federal 

8 land in the County, as depicted on the map. 

9 (5) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en10 titled ‘‘Clark County Off Highway Vehicle Recre11 ation Park’’ and dated July 28, 2011. 

12 (6) NET PROCEEDS.—The term ‘‘net proceeds’’ 

13 means the amount that is equal to the difference be14 tween— 

15 (A) the amount of gross revenues received 

16 by the County from the development of the 

17 Economic Support Area; and 

18 (B) the total amount expended by the 

19 County for capital improvements to each of the 

20 Economic Support Area and the Recreation 

21 Area. 

22 (7) RECREATION AREA.—The term ‘‘Recreation 

23 Area’’ means the Nellis Dunes National Off-High24 way Vehicle Recreation Area designated by section 

25 4(a). 


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

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

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

4 of Nevada. 

5 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF FEDERAL LAND TO CLARK COUN6 TY, NEVADA. 

7 (a) CONVEYANCE.—As soon as practicable after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall convey 

9 to the County, subject to valid existing rights, for no con10 sideration, all right, title, and interest of the United States 

11 in and to the parcels of Federal land. 

12 (b) USE OF FEDERAL LAND.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The parcels of Federal land 

14 conveyed under subsection (a)— 

15 (A) shall be used by the County— 

16 (i) to provide a suitable location for 

17 the establishment of a centralized off-road 

18 vehicle recreation park in the County; 

19 (ii) to provide the public with opportu20 nities for off-road vehicle recreation, in21 cluding a location for races, competitive 

22 events, training and other commercial serv23 ices that directly support a centralized off24 road vehicle recreation area and County 

25 park; and 


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1 (iii) to provide a designated area and 

2 facilities that would discourage unauthor3 ized use of off-highway vehicles in areas 

4 that have been identified by the Federal 

5 Government, State government, or County 

6 government as containing environmentally 

7 sensitive land; and 

8 (B) shall not be disposed of by the County. 

9 (2) REVERSION.—If the County ceases to use 

10 any parcel of the Federal land for the purposes de11 scribed in paragraph (1)(A) or paragraph (3)— 

12 (A) title to the parcel shall revert to the 

13 United States, at the option of the United 

14 States; and 

15 (B) the County shall be responsible for any 

16 reclamation necessary to revert the parcel to 

17 the United States. 

18 (3) RENEWABLE AND SOLAR ENERGY.—The 

19 Federal land conveyed to the County under sub20 section (a) and the land conveyed to the County 

21 under section 1(c) of Public Law 107–350 (116 

22 Stat. 2975) may be used for the incidental purpose 

23 of generating renewable energy and solar energy for 

24 use by the Clark County Off Highway Vehicle RecreVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:38 Aug 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1475.IS S1475

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1 ation Park, the shooting park authorized under Pub2 lic Law 107–350 (116 Stat. 2975), and the County. 

3 (4) CONSULTATION WITH THE SECRETARY OF

4 THE AIR FORCE.— 

5 (A) RESTRICTION.—Any project authorized 

6 under paragraph (3) shall not interfere with the 

7 national security mission of Nellis Air Force 

8 Base (or any military operation). 

9 (B) CONDITION.—Before the construction 

10 of any proposed project under paragraph (3), 

11 the project proponent shall consult with the 

12 Secretary of Defense (or a designee). 

13 (c) ECONOMIC SUPPORT AREA.— 

14 (1) DESIGNATION.—There is designated the 

15 Economic Support Area. 

16 (2) INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Before the Economic 

18 Support Area may be developed, the City and 

19 County shall enter into an interlocal agreement 

20 regarding the development of the Economic 

21 Support Area. 

22 (B) CITY OF NORTH LAS VEGAS.—As a 

23 precondition of the development of the Eco24 nomic Support Area, the County shall use the 

25 best efforts of the County to cooperate with the 


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1 City to ensure compatible development of the 

2 Economic Support Area. 

3 (C) LIMITATION OF AGREEMENT.—In no 

4 case shall the interlocal agreement under this 

5 paragraph compromise or interfere with the 

6 aviation rights provided under subsection (f) 

7 and section 4(d). 

8 (D) FUTURE CONVEYANCES.—Any future 

9 conveyance of Federal land for addition to the 

10 Clark County Off Highway Vehicle Park or the 

11 Recreation Area shall be subject to— 

12 (i) the binding interlocal agreement 

13 under this paragraph; and 

14 (ii) the aviation easement require15 ments under subsection (f). 

16 (E) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The Secretary, 

17 in consultation with the Secretary of the Air 

18 Force and the County, may develop a special 

19 management plan for the Federal land— 

20 (i) to enhance public safety and safe 

21 off-highway recreation use; and 

22 (ii) to ensure compatible development 

23 with the mission requirements of the Nellis 

24 Air Force Base. 


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1 (3) USE OF NET PROCEEDS.—Of the net pro2 ceeds from the development of the Economic Sup3 port Area, the County shall— 

4 (A) deposit 50 percent in a special account 

5 in the Treasury, to be used by the Secretary to 

6 develop, maintain, and operate the Recreation 

7 Area; and 

8 (B) retain 50 percent, to be used by the 

9 County for capital improvements and maintain10 ing and operating the park established under 

11 subsection (b)(1). 

12 (d) AGREEMENT WITH NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before the Federal land may 

14 be conveyed to the County under subsection (a), the 

15 Clark County Board of Commissioners, the Bureau 

16 of Land Management, and Nellis Air Force Base 

17 shall enter into an interlocal agreement for the Fed18 eral land and the Recreation Area— 

19 (A) to enhance safe off-highway recreation 

20 use; and 

21 (B) to ensure that development of the Fed22 eral land is consistent with the long-term mis23 sion requirements of Nellis Air Force Base. 

24 (2) LIMITATION.—The use of the Federal land 

25 conveyed under subsection (a) shall not compromise 


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1 the national security mission or aviation rights of 

2 Nellis Air Force Base. 

3 (e) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—With re4 spect to the conveyance of Federal land under subsection 

5 (a), the Secretary may require such additional terms and 

6 conditions as the Secretary considers to be appropriate to 

7 protect the interests of the United States. 

8 (f) AVIATION EASEMENT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each deed entered into for 

10 the conveyance of the Federal land shall contain a 

11 perpetual aviation easement reserving to the United 

12 States all rights necessary to preserve free and un13 obstructed overflight in and through the airspace 

14 above, over, and across the surface of the Federal 

15 land for the passage of aircraft owned or operated 

16 by any Federal agency or other Federal entity. 

17 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—Each easement described 

18 in paragraph (1) shall include such terms and condi19 tions as the Secretary of the Air Force determines 

20 to be necessary to comply with paragraph (1). 

21 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF THE NELLIS DUNES NATIONAL 

22 OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE RECREATION AREA. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The area known as ‘‘Nellis 

24 Dunes’’ in the Bureau of Land Management Resource 

25 Management Plan shall be known and designated as the 


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1 ‘‘Nellis Dunes National Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation 

2 Area’’. 

3 (b) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The Director of the Bu4 reau of Land Management may develop a special manage5 ment plan for the Recreation Area to enhance the safe 

6 use of off-highway vehicles for recreational purposes. 

7 (c) EXCLUSION FROM NATIONAL LANDSCAPE CON8 SERVATION SYSTEM.—The Recreation Area shall not be 

9 considered to be a unit of the National Landscape Con10 servation System. 

11 (d) AVIATION RIGHTS.—The aviation rights de12 scribed in section 3(f) shall apply to the Recreation Area. 

13 SEC. 5. WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION OF LAND FOR 

14 NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE. 

15 (a) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights 

16 and except as otherwise provided in this section— 

17 (1) the Federal land and interests in Federal 

18 land identified on the map as land to be withdrawn 

19 for Nellis Air Force Base are withdrawn from all 

20 forms of appropriation under the general land laws, 

21 including the mining, mineral leasing, and geo22 thermal leasing laws; and 

23 (2) jurisdiction over the land and interest in 

24 lands withdrawn and reserved by this section is 

25 transferred to the Secretary of the Air Force. 


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1 (b) RESERVATION.—The land withdrawn under sub2 section (a) is reserved for use by the Secretary of the Air 

3 Force for— 

4 (1) the enlargement and protection of Nellis Air 

5 Force Base; or 

6 (2) other defense-related purposes consistent 

7 with the purposes of this section. 

8 (c) CHANGES IN USE.—The Secretary of the Air 

9 Force shall consult with the Secretary before using the 

10 land withdrawn and reserved by this section for any pur11 pose other than the purposes described in section 3(b). 

12 (d) EASEMENT.—The United States reserves— 

13 (1) a right of flight for the passage of aircraft 

14 in the airspace above the surface of the Federal land 

15 conveyed to the County; and 

16 (2) the right to cause in the airspace any noise, 

17 vibration, smoke, or other effects that may be inher18 ent in the operation of aircraft landing at, or taking 

19 off from, Nellis Air Force Base. 

Æ 


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