I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1757

To provide for the orderly disposal of certain Federal lands in Clark County,

Nevada, and to provide for the acquisition by the Secretary of the

Interior of environmentally sensitive lands in the State of Nevada.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 11, 1999

Mr. GIBBONS (for himself and Mr. YOUNG of Alaska) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To provide for the orderly disposal of certain Federal lands

in Clark County, Nevada, and to provide for the acquisition by the Secretary of the Interior of environmentally

sensitive lands in the State of Nevada.

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 ‘‘Spring Mountain Ex5 change Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. EXCHANGE OF LANDS AND MINERAL INTERESTS.

7 (a) CONVEYANCE BY UNITED STATES.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (b),

2 (c), and (d) and notwithstanding any other provision

3 of law, not later than 90 days after the final deter4 mination of lands and interests subject to exchange

5 under this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall

6 convey to Rhodes Design and Development Corpora7 tion, subject to any valid existing rights and in ex8 change for lands and interests conveyed by the Cor9 poration in accordance with subsection (b), all right,

10 title, and interest of the United States in and to ap11 proximately 1,463 acres of Federal lands in the

12 State of Nevada depicted on the map entitled

13 ‘‘Spring Mountain Land Exchange, Map 1 dated

14 lllll’’. The Secretary shall make that map

15 available for public inspection in the offices of the

16 Director of the Las Vegas District of the Bureau of

17 Land Management.

18 (2) DETERMINATION OF LANDS AND INTER19 ESTS.—The Secretary shall determine the lands and

20 interests that are subject to exchange under this sec21 tion not later than 90 days after the date of the en22 actment of this Act.

23 (b) OFFER AND ACCEPTANCE.—The Secretary shall

24 make the conveyance to the Corporation under subsection

25 (a) only if the Corporation conveys to the United States
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1 all right, title, and interest of the Corporation in and to

2 approximately 490 acres of lands in the State of Nevada

3 depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Spring Mountain Land Ex4 change Map 2 dated lllll’’. The Secretary shall

5 make that map available for public inspection in the of6 fices of the Director of the Las Vegas District of the Bu7 reau of Land Management.

8 (c) EQUALIZATION PAYMENTS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the fair market values of

10 lands and interests exchanged under this section are

11 not equal, the Secretary shall ensure that they are

12 equalized by the payment of money to the Secretary

13 or to the Corporation as appropriate in accordance

14 with section 206(b) of the Federal Land Policy and

15 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)).

16 (2) VALUATION.—The value of lands and inter17 ests shall be determined for purposes of this

18 section—

19 (A) utilizing nationally recognized ap20 praisal standards;

21 (B) in accordance with section 206 of the

22 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of

23 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)); and

24 (C) without regard to the presence of any

25 species listed as threatened species or endan-
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1 gered species under the Endangered Species

2 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

3 (d) PAYMENTS TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN4 MENT.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall require,

6 as a term of any conveyance under this section, that

7 the Corporation shall make direct payments to the

8 State of Nevada and the Southern Nevada Water

9 Authority in accordance with paragraph (2). Such

10 payments shall be considered to be a cost incurred

11 by the Corporation and shall be compensated by the

12 Secretary.

13 (2) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—

14 (A) PAYMENT TO STATE.—The amount

15 paid by the Corporation to the State of Nevada

16 shall be equal to 5 percent of the fair market

17 value of the Federal lands conveyed by the

18 United States under this section (as determined

19 under subsection (b)), and shall be used by the

20 State only in the general education program of

21 the State.

22 (B) PAYMENT TO AUTHORITY.—The

23 amount paid by the Corporation to the South24 ern Nevada Water Authority shall be equal to

25 10 percent of the fair market value of the Fed-
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1 eral lands conveyed by the United States under

2 this section (as determined under subsection

3 (b)), and shall be used by the Authority only

4 for water treatment and transmission facility

5 infrastructure in Clark County, Nevada.

6 (e) ADJUSTMENTS TO MAPS.—The Secretary may

7 make such minor corrections in the maps referred to in

8 this section as may be agreed upon by the Secretary and

9 the Corporation, after the Secretary notifies the Com10 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate

11 and the Committee on Resources of the House of Rep12 resentatives of any such minor corrections.

13 (f) ADMINISTRATION OF LANDS.—

14 (1) CANCELLATION.—If, before the exchange

15 has been carried out pursuant to subsections (a) and

16 (b), the Corporation provides written notification to

17 the Secretary that the Corporation no longer intends

18 to complete the exchange, the status of the lands

19 and interests otherwise subject to the exchange shall

20 revert to the status of such lands and interests as

21 of the day before the date of enactment of this Act,

22 and the lands and interests shall be managed in ac23 cordance with applicable law and management plans.

24 (2) ADMINISTRATION OF LANDS ACQUIRED BY

25 THE UNITED STATES.—On acceptance of title by the
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1 United States, all land and interests acquired by the

2 United States under this section that are located

3 within the boundaries of a unit of the National For4 est System, National Park System, National Wildlife

5 Refuge System, National Wild and Scenic Rivers

6 System, National Trails System, National Wilder7 ness Preservation System, or any other system es8 tablished by an Act of Congress, or within the

9 boundaries of any national conservation area or na10 tional recreation area established by an Act of

11 Congress—

12 (A) shall become part of the unit or area

13 without further administrative or legislative ac14 tion; and

15 (B) shall be managed in accordance with

16 all laws, regulations, and land use plans appli17 cable to the unit or area.

18 (g) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

19 (1) CORPORATION.—The term ‘‘Corporation’’

20 means the Rhodes Design and Development Cor21 poration (a corporation established under the laws of

22 the State of Nevada).

23 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

24 the Secretary of the Interior.

Æ