[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H9961-H9962]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NEVADA BOUNDARY CORRECTION

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2135) to provide for the correction of boundaries of certain 
lands in Clark County, NV, acquired by persons who purchased such lands 
in good faith reliance on existing private land surveys, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2135

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

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds and declares that:
       (1) Certain landowners in the (North) Decatur Boulevard 
     area of Las Vegas and North

[[Page H9962]]

     Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada, who own property adjacent to 
     lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management have been 
     adversely affected by certain erroneous private surveys.
       (2) These landowners have occupied or improved their 
     property in good faith and in reliance on erroneous surveys 
     of their properties that they believed were accurate.
       (3) These landowners presumed their occupancy was codified 
     through an Eighth Judicial District Court (Nevada) Judgment 
     and Decree filed October 26, 1989, as a ``friendly lawsuit'' 
     affecting numerous landowners in the (North) Decatur 
     Boulevard area.
       (4) The 1990 Bureau of Land Management dependent resurvey 
     and section subdivision of sections 6, 7, 18, and 19, T. 19 
     S., R. 61 E., Mount Diablo Meridian, Nevada, correctly 
     established accurate boundaries between such public lands and 
     private lands.
       (5) The Bureau of Land Management has the authority to sell 
     public lands which are affected as a result of erroneous 
     private survey and encroachments existing as of the date of 
     this Act as it affects T. 19 S., R. 61 E., sections 18 and 
     19, and T. 19 S. R. 60 E., section 13 and 24, if 
     encroachments based on the same erroneous private survey 
     are identified, in accordance with this Act.

     SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE OF LANDS.

       (a) Claims.--Within one year after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the city of Las Vegas on behalf of the 
     owners of real property, located adjacent to the lands 
     described in subsection (b), may submit to the Secretary of 
     the Interior (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 
     ``Secretary'') in writing a claim to the lands described in 
     subsection (b). The claim submitted to the Secretary shall be 
     accompanied by--
       (1) a description of the lands claimed;
       (2) information relating to the claim of ownership of such 
     lands; and
       (3) such other information as the Secretary may require.
       (b) Lands Described.--The lands described in this 
     subsection are those Federal lands located in the Bureau of 
     Land Management Las Vegas District, Clark County, Nevada, in 
     sections 18 and 19, T. 19 S., R. 61 E., Mount Diablo 
     Meridian, as described by the dependent resurvey by the 
     Bureau of Land Management accepted May 4, 1990, under Group 
     No. 683, Nevada, and subsequent supplemental plats of 
     sections 18 and 19, T. 19 S., R. 61 E., Mount Diablo 
     Meridian, as contained on plats accepted November 17, 1992. 
     Such lands are described as (1) government lots 22, 23, 26, 
     and 27 in said section 18; and (2) government lots 20, 21, 
     and 24 in said section 19, containing 29.36 acres, more or 
     less.
       (c) Conveyance.--The Secretary shall convey all right, 
     title, and interest of the United States in and to the public 
     lands described in subsection (b) to the city of Las Vegas, 
     Clark County, Nevada, upon payment by the city of fair market 
     value based on a Bureau of Land Management approved appraised 
     market value of the lands as of December 1, 1982, and on the 
     condition that the city convey the effected lands to the land 
     owners referred to in subsection (a).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Doolittle] and the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Miller] each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California [Mr. Doolittle].
  (Mr. DOOLITTLE asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, within the city of Las Vegas there are many areas where 
longstanding property line disputes exist. H.R. 2135 is meant to solve 
one of the most difficult, which is along the Decatur Boulevard 
alignment at the border between the cities of Las Vegas and North Las 
Vegas.
  The original land surveys of the subject area were performed in 1881 
and 1882. There is considerable evidence that points set by the 
original Government contract surveys were not stones as called for in 
the official field notes, but small mesquite stakes.
  Originally, the poor surveys did not affect anyone, but in the 1950's 
development began to move toward the outer edges of Las Vegas. As years 
passed and development increased it became evident that severe 
discrepancies existed among the property surveys in the area. In 1989, 
in response to citizens' concerns, the city of Las Vegas commissioned a 
survey of the properties in an area 4 miles north to south and 1 mile 
each side of Decatur Boulevard.
  H.R. 2135 will resolve the longstanding property line disputes that 
have prevented the affected landowners from being able to sell or even 
refinance their homes and enjoys the support of the BLM, the city of 
Las Vegas, and the affected landowners.

                              {time}  1400

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, we support this legislation to correct these erroneous 
private surveys and to straighten out the actual property ownership 
problems and to provide for the conveyance of these lands for fair 
market value to the adjacent owners or to others.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2135 deals with about 30 acres of land in Las Vegas 
that because of erroneous private surveys, has created problems for the 
adjacent private landowners who thought the land was theirs and who 
found that after accurate surveys were done that the land actually 
belongs to the Federal Government.
  We have no objection to consideration of the measure. The bill has 
been amended by the Resources Committee to provide for the sales of 
these parcels to the adjacent private landowners, based on the fair 
market value of the property at the time these survey errors were 
brought to the attention of the Bureau of Land Management. With that 
change the administration has no problems with the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. VUCANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to see the House take 
up H.R. 2135, legislation I have introduced to make boundary 
corrections along Decatur Boulevard in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.
  Landowners along Decatur approached me last year with the problem 
that H.R. 2135 addresses. It seems that the original survey conducted 
in the area in the late 1800's was deficient. Subsequent surveys based 
on that first one, and upon which people bought land along Decatur, 
were in error due to that initial botched survey. Since there are no 
liens on any of the property, the usual title searches performed at the 
time of purchase did not show problems with the titles. However, 
subsequent to the purchases of the properties, it was discovered that 
the property lines are drawn incorrectly.
  The cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas have spent a lot of time 
and money trying to correct the erroneous boundaries and make the 
homeowners whole. And they have been largely successful, in that the 
bulk of people affected by the boundary error have had their property 
boundaries adjusted. Unfortunately, however, for about 20 homeowners, 
the land in question involves Federal land managed by the BLM. Since 
Las Vegas and North Las Vegas have no jurisdiction over the BLM land, 
these boundary errors can only be corrected by Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, this situation has created a nightmare for those who, in 
good faith, bought property along Decatur Boulevard. They don't own the 
land they thought they paid for; in some cases, almost one-third of the 
land actually belongs to the Bureau of Land Management. Today's 
consideration of H.R. 2135 caps the efforts of many years by the cities 
of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas to put to rest the issue by resolving 
the boundary dispute along Decatur Boulevard, and I urge my colleagues 
to support the measure.
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of the bill, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Wicker). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from California [Mr. Doolittle] that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2135, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to provide 
for the relief of certain persons in Clark County, Nevada, who 
purchased lands in good faith reliance on existing private land 
surveys.''
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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