SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lincoln County Land
Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) Lincoln County, Nevada, encompasses an
area of 10,132 square miles of the State of Nevada;
(2) approximately 98 percent of the County is
owned by the Federal Government;
(3) the City of Mesquite, Nevada, needs land
for an organized approach for expansion to the
north;
(4) citizens of the County would benefit through
enhanced county services and schools from the in-
creased private property tax base due to commercial
and residential development;
(5) the County would see improvement to the
budget for the county and school services through
the immediate distribution of sale receipts from the
Secretary selling land through a competitive bidding
process;
(6) a cooperative approach among the Bureau
of Land Management, the County, the City, and
other local government entities will ensure con-
tinuing communication between those entities;
(7) the Federal Government will be fairly com-
pensated for the sale of public land; and
(8) the proposed Caliente Management Frame-
work Amendment and Environmental Impact State-
ment for the Management of Desert Tortoise Habi-
tat Plan identify specific public land as being suit-
able for disposal.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to provide for the orderly disposal of certain
public land in the County; and
(2) to provide for the acquisition of environ-
mentally sensitive land in the State of Nevada.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) CITY.—The term ‘‘City’’ means the City of
Mesquite, Nevada.
(2) COUNTY.—The term ‘‘County’’ means Lin-
coln County, Nevada.
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Interior.
(4) SPECIAL ACCOUNT.—The term ‘‘special ac-
count’’ means the account in the Treasury of the
United States established under section 5.
SEC. 4. DISPOSAL OF LAND.
(a) DISPOSAL.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after
the date of the enactment of this Act, notwith-
standing the land use planning and land sale re-
quirements contained in sections 202 and 203 of the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
(43 U.S.C. 1711, 1712), the Secretary, in coopera-
tion with the County and the City, in accordance
with this Act, the Federal Land Policy and Manage-
ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), and
other applicable law, and subject to valid existing
rights, shall dispose of the land described in sub-
section (b) in a competitive bidding process, at a
minimum, for fair market value.
(2) TIMING.—The Secretary shall dispose of—
(A) the land described in subsection
(b)(1)(A) not later than 1 year after the date
of the enactment of this Act; and
(B) the land described in subsection
(b)(1)(B) not later than 5 years after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
(b) LAND DESCRIPTION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The land referred to in sub-
section (a) is the land depicted on the map entitled
‘‘Public Lands Identified for Disposal in Lincoln
County, Nevada’’ and dated July 24, 2000, con-
sisting of—
(A) the land identified on the map for dis-
posal within 1 year, comprising approximately
4,817 acres; and
(B) the land identified on the map for dis-
posal within 5 years, comprising approximately
8,683 acres.
(2) MAP.—The map described in paragraph (1)
shall be available for public inspection in the Ely
Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management.
(c) SEGREGATION.—Subject to valid existing rights,
the land described in subsection (b) is segregated from all
forms of entry and appropriation (except for competitive
sale) under the public land laws, including the mining
laws, and from operation of the mineral leasing and geo-
thermal leasing laws.
(d) COMPLIANCE WITH LOCAL PLANNING AND ZON-
ING.—The Secretary shall ensure that qualified bidders in-
tend to comply with—
(1) County and City zoning ordinances; and
(2) any master plan for the area developed and
approved by the County and City.
SEC. 5. DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS.
(a) LAND SALES.—Of the gross proceeds of sales of
land under this Act in a fiscal year—
(1) 5 percent shall be paid directly to the State
of Nevada for use in the general education program
of the State;
(2) 10 percent shall be returned to the County
for use as determined through normal county budg-
eting procedures, with emphasis given to support of
schools, of which no amount may be used in support
of litigation against the Federal Government; and
(3) the remainder shall be deposited in a special
account in the Treasury of the United States (re-
ferred to in this section as the ‘‘special account’’) for
use as provided in subsection (b).
(b) AVAILABILITY OF SPECIAL ACCOUNT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the special ac-
count (including amounts earned as interest under
paragraph (3)) shall be available to the Secretary of
the Interior, without further Act of appropriation,
and shall remain available until expended, for—
(A) inventory, evaluation, protection, and
management of unique archaeological resources
(as defined in section 3 of the Archaeological
Resources Protection Act of 1979 (16 U.S.C.
470bb)) in the County;
(B) development of a multispecies habitat
conservation plan in the County;
(C)(i) reimbursement of costs incurred by
the Nevada State Office and the Ely Field Of-
fice of the Bureau of Land Management in pre-
paring sales under this Act, or other authorized
land sales within the County, including the
costs of land boundary surveys, compliance with
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), appraisals, environ-
mental and cultural clearances, and any public
notice; and
(ii) processing public land use authoriza-
tions and rights-of-way stemming from develop-
ment of the conveyed land; and
(D) the cost of acquisition of environ-
mentally sensitive land or interests in such land
in the State of Nevada, with priority given to
land outside Clark County.
(2) ACQUISITION FROM WILLING SELLERS.—An
acquisition under paragraph (1)(D) shall be made
only from a willing seller and after consultation with
the State of Nevada and units of local government
under the jurisdiction of which the environmentally
sensitive land is located.