[House Report 107-705]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



107th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     107-705

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



 
 RED ROCK CANYON NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA PROTECTION AND ENHANCEMENT 
                              ACT OF 2002

                                _______
                                

October 1, 2002.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Hansen, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 4141]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 4141) to authorize the acquisition by exchange of lands 
for inclusion in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation 
Area, Clark County, Nevada, and for other purposes, having 
considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment 
and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
    Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Red Rock Canyon National Conservation 
Area Protection and Enhancement Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

  In this Act, the following definitions apply:
          (1) Corporation.--The term ``Corporation'' means The Howard 
        Hughes Corporation, an affiliate of the Rouse Company, with its 
        principal place of business at 10000 West Charleston Boulevard, 
        Las Vegas, Nevada.
          (2) Red rock.--The term ``Red Rock'' means the Red Rock 
        Canyon National Conservation Area, consisting of approximately 
        195,780 acres of public lands in Clark County, Nevada, 
        specially designated for protection in the Red Rock Canyon 
        National Conservation Area Establishment Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 
        460ccc et seq.), as depicted on the Red Rock Map.
          (3) Red rock map.--The term ``Red Rock Map'' means the map 
        entitled ``H.R. 4141--Boundary Modifications'', dated July 1, 
        2002.
          (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        the Interior.

SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

  (a) Findings.--The Congress makes the following findings:
          (1) Red Rock is a natural resource of major significance to 
        the people of Nevada and the United States. It must be 
        protected in its natural state for the enjoyment of future 
        generations of Nevadans and Americans, and enhanced wherever 
        possible.
          (2) In 1998, the Congress enacted the Southern Nevada Public 
        Lands Management Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-263), which 
        provided among other things for the protection and enhancement 
        of Red Rock.
          (3) The Corporation owns much of the private land on Red 
        Rock's eastern boundary, and is engaged in developing a large-
        scale master-planned community.
          (4) Included in the Corporation's land holdings are 1,071 
        acres of high-ground lands at the eastern edge of Red Rock. 
        These lands were intended to be included in Red Rock, but to 
        date have not been acquired by the United States. The 
        protection of this high-ground acreage would preserve an 
        important element of the western Las Vegas Valley view-shed.
          (5) The Corporation has volunteered to forgo development of 
        the high-ground lands, and proposes that the United States 
        acquire title to the lands so that they can be preserved in 
        perpetuity to protect and expand Red Rock.
  (b) Purposes.--This Act has the following purposes:
          (1) To accomplish an exchange of lands between the United 
        States and the Corporation that would transfer certain high-
        ground lands to the United States in exchange for the transfer 
        of other lands of approximately equal value to the Corporation.
          (2) To protect Red Rock and to expand its boundaries as 
        contemplated by the Bureau of Land Management, as depicted on 
        the Red Rock Map.
          (3) To further fulfill the purposes of the Southern Nevada 
        Public Lands Management Act of 1998 and the Red Rock Canyon 
        National Conservation Area Establishment Act of 1990.

SEC. 4. RED ROCK LAND EXCHANGE.

  (a) Acquisition Requirement.--If the Corporation offers to convey to 
the United States all right, title, and interest in and to the 
approximately 1,082 acres of nonfederal land owned by the Corporation 
and depicted on the Red Rock Map as ``OFFERED LANDS TO BE INCORPORATED 
INTO NCA'', the Secretary shall accept such offer on behalf of the 
United States, and not later than 90 days after the date of the offer, 
except as otherwise provided in this Act, shall make the following 
conveyances:
          (1) To the Corporation, the approximately 998 acres of 
        Federal lands depicted on the Red Rock Map as ``BLM LANDS 
        SELECTED FOR EXCHANGE''.
          (2) To Clark County, Nevada, the approximately 1,221 acres of 
        Federal lands depicted on the Red Rock Map as ``BLM LANDS FOR 
        CLARK COUNTY PARK''.
  (b) Simultaneous Conveyances.--Title to the private property and the 
Federal property to be conveyed pursuant to this section shall be 
conveyed at the same time.
  (c) Map.--The Secretary shall keep the Red Rock Map on file and 
available for public inspection in the Las Vegas District Office of the 
Bureau of Land Management in Nevada, and the State Office of the Bureau 
of Land Management, Reno, Nevada.
  (d) Conditions--
          (1) Hazardous materials.--As a condition of the conveyance 
        under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall require that the 
        Corporation be responsible for removal of and remediation 
        related to any hazardous materials that are present on the 
        property conveyed to the United States under subsection (a).
          (2) Survey.--As a condition of the conveyance under 
        subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall require that not later 
        than 90 days after the date of the offer referred to in 
        subsection (a), the Corporation shall provide a metes and 
        bounds survey, that is acceptable to the Corporation, Clark 
        County, and the Secretary, of the common boundary between the 
        parcels of land to be conveyed under subsection (a).
          (3) Lands conveyed to clark county.--As a condition of the 
        conveyance under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall require 
        that--
                  (A) the lands transferred to Clark County by the 
                United States must be held in perpetuity by the County 
                for use only as a public park or as part of a public 
                regional trail system; and
                  (B) if the County attempts to transfer the lands or 
                to undertake a use on the lands that is inconsistent 
                with their preservation and use as described in 
                subparagraph (A), such lands shall revert to the United 
                States.

SEC. 5. STATUS AND MANAGEMENT OF LANDS.

  (a) Inclusion of Basin Lands.--Upon the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary shall administer the lands depicted on the Red Rock 
Map as ``Flood Control Detention Basin Lands'', exclusive of those 
lands used for the Corps of Engineers R-4 Detention Basin, as part of 
Red Rock and in accordance with the Red Rock Canyon National 
Conservation Area Establishment Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 460ccc et seq.), 
the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act of 1998 (Public Law 
105-263), and all other applicable laws.
  (b) Inclusion of Acquired Lands; Maps Reflecting Boundary 
Adjustments.--Upon acquisition by the United States of lands under this 
Act, the Secretary shall--
          (1) administer the lands as part of Red Rock and in 
        accordance with the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area 
        Establishment Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 460ccc et seq.), the 
        Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act of 1998 (Public Law 
        105-263), and all other applicable laws; and
          (2) create new maps showing the boundaries of Red Rock as 
        modified by or pursuant to this Act, and make such maps 
        available for review at the Las Vegas District Office of the 
        Bureau of Land Management and the State Office of the Bureau of 
        Land Management, Reno, Nevada.
  (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 3(a)(2) of the Red Rock Canyon 
National Conservation Area Establishment Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 460ccc-
1(a)(2)) is amended by inserting before the period the following: ``, 
and such additional areas as are included in the conservation area 
pursuant to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Protection 
and Enhancement Act of 2002''.

SEC. 6. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

  (a) Review of Appraisal.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete a review of the 
appraisal entitled ``Complete Self-Contained Appraisal Red Rock 
Exchange, Las Vegas, Nevada'', completed on or about June 3, 2002. The 
difference in appraisal values shall be reimbursed to the Secretary by 
the Corporation in accordance with the Southern Nevada Public Lands 
Management Act of 1998.
  (b) Valid Existing Rights.--The land exchange under this Act shall be 
subject to valid existing rights. Each party to which property is 
conveyed under this Act shall succeed to the rights and obligations of 
the conveying party with respect to any lease, right-of-way, permit, or 
other valid existing right to which the property is subject.
  (c) Technical Corrections.--Nothing in this Act prohibits the parties 
to the conveyances under this Act from agreeing to the correction of 
technical errors or omissions in the Red Rock Map.
  (d) Withdrawal of Affected Lands.--To the extent not already 
accomplished under law or administrative action, the Secretary shall 
withdraw from operation of the public land and mining laws, subject to 
valid existing rights--
          (1) those Federal lands acquired by the United States under 
        this Act; and
          (2) those Federal lands already owned by the United States on 
        the date of the enactment of this Act but included within the 
        Red Rock National Conservation Area boundaries by this Act.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of H.R. 4141 is to authorize the acquisition by 
exchange of lands for inclusion in the Red Rock Canyon National 
Conservation Area, Clark County, Nevada.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    In 1998, Congress passed the Southern Nevada Public Land 
Management Act (PL 105-263), which provides for the orderly 
disposal of federal lands in Clark County, Nevada, and for the 
acquisition of environmentally sensitive lands in the State of 
Nevada.
    H.R. 4141, which represents the orderly disposal of Federal 
land, would promulgate the exchange of 1,071 acres of private, 
environmentally sensitive, mountainous land on the eastern 
border of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area 
(195,780 acres) held by the Howard Hughes Corporation for 998 
acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands use to expand 
its Summerlin master-planned community. The land Hughes 
Corporation would convey includes archeological, scenic and 
recreational values. Furthermore, the public lands to be 
acquired by the Hughes Corporation run contiguous with the 
Hughes corporate land holdings as well as lie within the 
disposal boundaries identified by the Southern Nevada Public 
Land Management Act for development. Therefore, this exchange 
would be a fulfillment of the stated goals of the Southern 
Nevada Public Land Management Act and, more importantly, would 
place more land into the public domain than it would remove. In 
addition, the bill calls for 1,250 acres of BLM land behind the 
proposed development site to go to Clark County for a county 
park.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 4141 was introduced on April 10, 2002, by Congressman 
Jim Gibbons (R-NV). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
National Parks, Recreation, and Public Lands. On June 6, 2002, 
the Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation, and Public 
Lands held a hearing on the bill. On September 12, 2002, the 
Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. Congressman 
Gibbons offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute that 
made the following changes to the original text: (1) Specified 
the acreage to be exchanged; (2) required the Hughes 
Corporation to be responsible for the removal and remediation 
of any hazardous material on their lands; (3) required the 
Secretary of the Interior to review the appraisal cited in the 
bill and mandated that the Hughes Corporation pay the 
difference of the appraisal; (4) directed the Secretary of the 
Interior to administer retention basins, and (5) corrected the 
map name and number cited in the bill. The amendment was agreed 
to by unanimous consent. The bill, as amended, was then ordered 
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous 
consent.

            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, Article IV, section 3 of the 
Constitution of the United States grants 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, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in tax 
expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the 
government may receive offsetting receipts of amounts up to 
$300,000. These amounts could be used to acquire nonfederal 
lands and make payments to local governments.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill is to authorize the acquisition by 
exchange of lands for inclusion in the Red Rock Canyon National 
Conservation Area, Clark County, Nevada.
    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 
Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 27, 2002.
Hon. James V. Hansen,
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. 4141, the Red Rock 
Canyon National Conservation Area Protection and Enhancement 
Act of 2002.
    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. 4141--Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Protection and 
        Enhancement Act of 2002

    CBO estimates that H.R. 4141 would not significantly affect 
the federal budget. The bill could affect direct spending 
(including offsetting receipts); therefore, pay-as-you-go 
procedures would apply, but we estimate that any such effects 
would be negligible. H.R. 4141 contains no intergovernmental or 
private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    H.R. 4141 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to 
convey to a private corporation about 998 acres of federal 
lands in Nevada in exchange for approximately 1,082 acres of 
lands owned by that corporation. If the federal lands are worth 
more than the private lands, the corporation would pay the 
difference. Based on preliminary information from the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) regarding the estimated value of the 
lands to be exchanged, CBO estimates that offsetting receipts 
from such payments would total $300,000. Under H.R. 4141, such 
amounts could be used in the same year they are received to 
acquire nonfederal lands and make payments to local 
governments. Hence, we estimate that completing this land 
exchange would have a negligible impact on direct spending.
    H.R. 4141 also would direct the Secretary to convey to 
Clark County, Nevada, without consideration, roughly 1,221 
acres of federal lands located within that county. In addition, 
the bill would add certain federal lands to the Red Rock Canyon 
National Conservation Area and would withdraw those lands from 
programs to develop geothermal and mineral resources. According 
to BLM, none of the lands affected by these provisions generate 
significant receipts, and they are not expected to do so over 
the next 10 years. Hence, CBO estimates that enacting those 
provisions would not significantly affect offsetting receipts 
or direct spending.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. 
This estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, 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 any State, local or 
tribal law.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

      SECTION 3 OF THE RED ROCK CANYON NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA 
                       ESTABLISHMENT ACT OF 1990


SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CONSERVATION AREA.

    (a) In General.--(1) * * *
    (2) The conservation areas shall consist of approximately 
195,780 acres as generally depicted on the map entitled ``Red 
Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Administrative Boundary 
Modification'', dated August 8, 1996, and such additional areas 
as are included in the conservation area pursuant to the Red 
Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Protection and 
Enhancement Act of 2002.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  
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