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[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4332 Introduced in House (IH)]

108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4332

To provide for the proper development of Federal lands in Clark County, 
    Nevada, to best promote public welfare and economic development 
               consistent with surrounding airport usage.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 11, 2004

 Mr. Gibbons (for himself, Mr. Porter, and Ms. Berkley) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To provide for the proper development of Federal lands in Clark County, 
    Nevada, to best promote public welfare and economic development 
               consistent with surrounding airport usage.

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

SECTION 1. PROPER DEVELOPMENT OF FEDERAL LANDS IN CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) In 1992, the Bureau of Land Management and Clark 
        County, Nevada, entered into an Interim Cooperative Management 
        Agreement to coordinate in the disposal and management of 
        Federal lands and areas affected by aircraft noise.
            (2) The Agreement restricts development of those Federal 
        lands in the affected area generally known as the airport 
        overlay district to certain compatible uses. Those compatible 
        uses do not include transient lodging.
            (3) The Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998 
        (31 U.S.C. 6901 note) provides for the transfer of Federal 
        lands in the airport overlay district to Clark County, Nevada, 
        but limits Clark County's ability to sell, lease, or convey 
        those lands for uses that are deemed incompatible uses under 
        the Agreement.
            (4) The restrictions on incompatible uses in the airport 
        overlay district only apply to those publicly owned lands 
        governed by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 
        1998. Uses that are deemed incompatible for public lands can 
        and do frequently occur in the airport overlay district on 
        privately owned lands, and can even directly abut those Federal 
        lands governed by the Agreement where incompatible uses are 
        prohibited.
            (5) The restrictions on certain uses by the Southern Nevada 
        Public Land Management Act of 1998 diminish the revenues that 
        the public receives from the sale, lease, or conveyance of 
        public lands in the airport overlay district by prohibiting 
        incompatible uses, even though those uses may, considering the 
        uses of surrounding privately owned property, be the most 
        appropriate and beneficial use.
            (6) The public interest would better be served by allowing 
        some incompatible uses in the airport overlay area where the 
        public lands are sufficiently surrounded by private property 
        that is being put to uses that are also deemed incompatible 
        uses under the Agreement.
            (7) The public benefits because it will earn greater 
        revenue from allowing certain uses that are incompatible under 
        the Agreement, but which, under the circumstances, do not 
        materially contribute to problems of noise pollution since 
        surrounding properties are already being put to such 
        incompatible uses.
            (8) Currently, the public is not realizing the best return 
        because the revenue generating capacity of these public lands 
        is diminished by the restrictions on incompatible uses, but the 
        purpose of such restrictions, alleviating noise pollution, is 
        not materially advanced since incompatible uses are allowed on 
        the neighboring privately owned properties.
            (9) There are existing hotel properties (transient lodging) 
        on 3 sides of the subject property as follows: on the west side 
        3 new hotels have just been completed; on the north side there 
        is an existing hotel and a convention center; and on the east 
        side there are 3 older hotels.
            (10) Because of the unique circumstances of the property, 
        allowance of the nonconforming use of transient lodging is in 
        the public interest by allowing the public to benefit from a 
        higher revenue generating use of the property without 
        materially contributing to the problem of noise pollution which 
        the Agreement and the Southern Nevada Public Land Management 
        Act of 1998 seek to diminish.
    (b) Purposes.--The purpose of this section is to facilitate the 
public's most beneficial use of public lands in a manner consistent 
with the purposes and objectives of the Agreement and the Southern 
Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998.
    (c) Permitted Uses.--Notwithstanding section 4(g)(3) of the 
Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998 (112 Stat. 2346), 
Clark County may sell, lease, or otherwise convey the property and 
allow the nonconforming use of transient lodging on the property.
    (d) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section, the following 
definitions apply:
            (1) Agreement.--The term ``Agreement'' means the agreement 
        referred to in section 1(a)(1).
            (2) Property.--The term ``property'' means the parcel of 
        Clark County Department of Aviation land consisting of 
        approximately 11.404 acres located in the north half (N \1/2\) 
        of the northeast quarter (NE \1/4\) of section 32, township 21 
        south, range 61 east, Mountain Diablo Base and Meridian, Clark 
        County, Nevada.
                                 <all>
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