[House Report 106-847]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     106-847

======================================================================



 
                    LINCOLN COUNTY LAND ACT OF 2000

                                _______
                                

 September 14, 2000.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2752]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 2752) to give Lincoln County, Nevada, the right to 
purchase at fair market value certain public land located 
within that county, and for other purposes, having considered 
the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and 
recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
  The amendments are as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

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 increased 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 continuing communication between those 
        entities;
          (7) the Federal Government will be fairly compensated for the 
        sale of public land; and
          (8) the proposed Caliente Management Framework Amendment and 
        Environmental Impact Statement for the Management of Desert 
        Tortoise Habitat Plan identify specific public land as being 
        suitable 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 environmentally 
        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 Lincoln County, 
        Nevada.
          (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        the Interior.
          (4) Special account.--The term ``special account'' 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 
        enactment of this Act, notwithstanding the land use planning 
        and land sale requirements 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 cooperation with the County and 
        the City, in accordance with this Act, the Federal Land Policy 
        and Management 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 subsection (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 enactment of this 
                Act; and
                  (B) the land described in subsection (b)(1)(B) not 
                later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this 
                Act.
  (b) Land Description.--
          (1) In general.--The land referred to in subsection (a) is 
        the land depicted on the map entitled ``Public Lands Identified 
        for Disposal in Lincoln County, Nevada'' and dated July 24, 
        2000, consisting of--
                  (A) the land identified on the map for disposal 
                within 1 year, comprising approximately 4,817 acres; 
                and
                  (B) the land identified on the map for disposal 
                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 geothermal leasing laws.
  (d) Compliance With Local Planning and Zoning.--The Secretary shall 
ensure that qualified bidders intend 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 budgeting 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 (referred 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 account (including 
        amounts earned as interest under paragraph (3)) shall be 
        available to the Secretary ofthe 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 Office of the Bureau of 
                Land Management in preparing 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, 
                environmental and cultural clearances, and any public 
                notice; and
                  (ii) processing public land use authorizations and 
                rights-of-way stemming from development of the conveyed 
                land; and
                  (D) the cost of acquisition of environmentally 
                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.
  (c) Investment of Special Account.--All funds deposited as principal 
in the special account shall earn interest in the amount determined by 
the Secretary of the Treasury on the basis of the current average 
market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States 
of comparable maturities.

SEC. 6. ACQUISITIONS.

  (a) Definition of Environmentally Sensitive Land.--In this section, 
the term ``environmentally sensitive land'' means land or an interest 
in land, the acquisition of which by the United States would, in the 
judgment of the Secretary--
          (1) promote the preservation of natural, scientific, 
        aesthetic, historical, cultural, watershed, wildlife, and other 
        values contributing to public enjoyment and biological 
        diversity;
          (2) enhance recreational opportunities and public access;
          (3) provide the opportunity to achieve better management of 
        public land through consolidation of Federal ownership; or
          (4) otherwise serve the public interest.
  (b) Acquisitions.--
          (1) In general.--After the consultation process has been 
        completed in accordance with subsection (c), the Secretary may 
        acquire with the proceeds of the special account 
        environmentally sensitive land and interests in environmentally 
        sensitive land. Land may not be acquired under this section 
        without the consent of the landowner.
          (2) Use of other funds.--Funds made available from the 
        special account may be used with any other funds made available 
        under any other provision of law.
  (c) Consultation.--Before initiating efforts to acquire land under 
this subsection, the Secretary shall consult with the State of Nevada 
and with local government within whose jurisdiction the land is 
located, including appropriate planning and regulatory agencies, and 
with other interested persons, concerning the necessity of making the 
acquisition, the potential impacts on State and local government, and 
other appropriate aspects of the acquisition.
  (d) Administration.--On acceptance of title by the United States, 
land and interests in land acquired under this section that is within 
the boundaries of a unit of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, 
National Trails System, National Wilderness Preservation System, any 
other system established by Act of Congress, or any national 
conservation or national recreation area established by Act of 
Congress--
          (1) shall become part of the unit or area without further 
        action by the Secretary; and
          (2) shall be managed in accordance with all laws and 
        regulations and land use plans applicable to the unit or area.

  Amend the title so as to read:

    A bill to direct the Secretary of Interior to sell certain public 
land in Lincoln County through a competitive process.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 2752 is to give Lincoln County, Nevada, 
the right to purchase at fair market value certain public land 
located within that county, and for other purposes.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 2752 would grant Lincoln County, Nevada, the exclusive 
right to purchase pieces of public land, at fair market value, 
for a ten-year period. The bill would also withdraw such land 
from all forms of entry and appropriation under public land 
laws, including the mining laws, and from operation of the 
mineral leasing and geothermal laws during the ten years.
    The gross proceeds of these sales would then be placed in 
several funds to be used for a number of purposes: (1) five 
percent of the proceeds would be paid directly to the State of 
Nevada for use in the general education program of the State; 
(2) ten percent shall be returned to Lincoln County to be used 
for normal budgeting procedures, with emphasis given to 
supporting public schools; and (3) the remainder shall be 
deposited in a special account in the Treasury of the United 
States.
    Located in southeastern Nevada, Lincoln County encompasses 
6.8 million acres, making it the third largest in the State. 
Despite its size, Lincoln County remains sparsely populated, 
and nearly 90 percent of the land is under federal ownership. 
This pattern of private ownership mixed with public lands poses 
many problems for land managers. H.R. 2752 would help resolve 
this problem by allowing some of these lands to be made 
available to the private sector. The increase of private lands 
would also increase the revenue for county tax rolls, thereby 
providing much needed resources to Lincoln County's 
schoolchildren.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 2752 was introduced by Congressman Jim Gibbons (R-NV) 
on August 5, 1999. The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
National Parks and Public Lands and the Subcommittee on Energy 
and Mineral Resources. On July 13, 2000, the Subcommittee on 
National Parks and Public Lands held a hearing on the bill. On 
July 26, 2000, the Resources Committee met to consider the 
bill. Both Subcommittees were discharged from further 
consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. Mr. Gibbons 
offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute that expands 
the amount of land available for sale and requires the Bureau 
of Land Management to sell the land to the highest bidder, not 
necessarily the Lincoln County government. The amendment was 
adopted by voice vote. No further amendments were offered and 
the bill, as amended was ordered favorably reported to the 
House of Representatives by voice vote.

            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations 
are reflected in the body of this report.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Article I, section 8 and Article IV, section 3 of the 
Constitution of the United States grant Congress the authority 
to enact this bill.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) 
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when 
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted 
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
bill does not contain any new budget authority, credit 
authority, or an increase or decrease in tax expenditures. 
According to the Congressional Budget Office, enactment of this 
bill will yield offsetting receipts over the 2001-2005 time 
period, and increase net direct spending over the 2001-2010 
time period.
    3. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause 
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee has received no report of 
oversight findings and recommendations from the Committee on 
Government Reform on this bill.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate 
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget:
                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                   Washington, DC, August 31, 2000.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2752, the Lincoln 
County Land Act of 2000.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan 
Carroll.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 2752--Lincoln County Land Act of 2000

    Summary: H.R. 2752 would accelerate the timing of certain 
land sales in Nevada and would allow the proceeds to be spent 
without further appropriation. CBO estimates that enacting this 
bill would increase net direct spending by $2 million over the 
2001-2005 period and by a total of $16 million over the next 15 
years. Because the bill would affect direct spending, pay-as-
you-go procedures would apply. We estimate that implementing 
H.R. 2752 would not have a significant impact on discretionary 
spending.
    H.R. 2752 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    Estimated cost to the Federal Government: For this 
estimate, CBO assumes that H.R. 2752 will be enacted near the 
start of fiscal year 2001. The estimated budgetary impact of 
H.R. 2752 is shown in the following table. The costs of this 
legislation fall within budget functions 300 (natural resources 
and environment) and 800 (general government).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                                    --------------------------------------------
                                                                       2001     2002     2003     2004     2005
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           CHANGES IN DIRECT SPENDING

Net receipts from sale of Federal lands: \1\
    Estimated budget authority.....................................       -4       -1       -2       -1       -1
    Estimated outlays..............................................       -4       -1       -2       -1       -1
New direct spending:
    Estimated budget authority.....................................        1        2        2        3        3
    Estimated outlays..............................................        1        2        2        3        3
Net change in direct spending:
    Estimated budget authority.....................................       -3        1        0        2        2
    Estimated outlays..............................................       -3        1        0        2        2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Estimates of net receipts include payments to the state of Nevada as authorized under current law.

            Basis of estimate
    H.R. 2752 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to 
sell, for fair market value through a competitive bidding 
process, approximately 13,500 acres of federal lands located 
within Lincoln County, Nevada, and administered by the Bureau 
of Land Management (BLM). The bill would require the Secretary 
to sell 4,817 acres of those lands within one year and the rest 
within five years. The bill would direct the Secretary to pay 5 
percent of the proceeds from those sales to the state of Nevada 
(as provided under current law) and another 10 percent to 
Lincoln County. The rest would be deposited in an interest-
bearing account and could be spent by the Secretary, without 
further appropriation, for acquiring environmentally sensitive 
lands in Nevada and other resource management activities.
    Based on information from BLM, CBO estimates that enacting 
H.R. 2752 would increase net direct spending by $2 million over 
the 2001-2005 period and by a total of $16 million over the 
next 15 years. This estimate includes the impact of provisions 
that would accelerate land sales that otherwise would occur 
over a longer period, as well as the cost of provisions that 
would result in new direct spending. In particular, the bill 
would incur net direct spending costs because it would allow 
the Secretary of the Interior to spend receipts from land sales 
that could not be spent under current law.
            Acceleration of land sales
    According to BLM, the lands that would be sold under this 
bill already have been identified for disposal under current 
law, and the agency plans to sell those lands over the next 15 
years. Based on information from BLM, we estimate that, under 
current law, net proceeds from the sale of those lands would 
total about $15 million, of which about $5 million would be 
collected over the 2001-2005 period and $10 million in later 
years.
    By directing the Secretary to sell all the lands within 
five years, H.R. 2752 would accelerate the collection of those 
proceeds and subsequent payments to Nevada. Based on 
information from BLM, we estimate that the sales would yield 
net offsetting receipts totaling about $14 million over the 
2001-2005 period. (That amount is lower than our estimate of 
receipts under current law because we expect that the sales 
price of the lands would increase in future years due to 
inflation and appreciation.) Thus, we estimate that enacting 
this bill would result in a near-term increase in offsetting 
receipts of $9 million, which would be more than offset by 
forgone receipts of $10 million over the 2006-2015 period. 
CBO's estimate of the annual change in net proceeds reflects 
the timing of the sales outline in the bill.
            New direct spending
    CBO estimates that spending the proceeds from the 
accelerated land sales (plus interest) would cost about $15 
million over the 2001-2010 period. Under current law, net 
proceeds from the sale of federal lands are deposited in the 
Treasury and are unavailable for spending. H.R. 2752 contains 
two provisions that would increase direct spending of those net 
receipts. First, the bill would require that 10 percent of the 
gross proceeds from the sale of land under the bill be paid to 
Lincoln County. CBO estimates that such payments would total 
about $1 million over the 2001-2005 period. Second, under H.R. 
2752, the remaining sale proceeds would be deposited in an 
interest-bearing account and could be spent by the Secretary, 
without further appropriation. The Secretary could use this 
money to cover certain administrative costs, support activities 
related to archaeological resources and habitat conservation in 
the county, and acquire environmentally sensitive land in 
Nevada. Based on information from BLM, CBO estimates that the 
agency would spend a total of $14 million over the 2001-2010 
period for those activities.
    Pay-as-you-go considerations: The Balanced Budget and 
Emergency Deficit Control Act sets up pay-as-you-go procedures 
for legislation affecting direct spending or receipts. The new 
changes in outlays that are subject to pay-as-you-go procedures 
are shown in the following table. For the purposes of enforcing 
pay-as-you-go procedures, only the effects in the current year, 
the budget year, and the succeeding four years are counted.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      2000   2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2006   2007   2008   2009   2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes in outlays.................      0     -3      1      0      2      2      3      2      2      1      1
Changes in receipts................                                 Not applicable
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 2752 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or 
tribal governments. Lincoln County would benefit from enactment 
of this bill, because it would receive a portion of the 
proceeds from the land sales, and because the land, if sold to 
private parties, would be added to the county's tax base.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal costs: Megan Carroll; Impact 
on State, local, and tribal governments: Marjorie Miller; 
Impact on the private sector; Lauren Marks.
    Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

               PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL, OR TRIBAL LAW

    This bill is not intended to preempt State, local, or 
tribal law.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                                
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