[House Report 109-629]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     109-629

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                  SOUTHERN NEVADA READINESS CENTER ACT

                                _______
                                

 September 6, 2006.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 4382]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 4382) to provide for the conveyance of certain land in 
Clark County, Nevada, for use by the Nevada National Guard, 
having considered the same, report favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 4382 is to provide for the conveyance 
of certain land in Clark County, Nevada, for use by the Nevada 
National Guard.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    This bill would allow Clark County, Nevada, to convey 35-50 
acres to the State and exempt it from the Southern Nevada 
Public Lands Management Act (SNPLMA) that would normally 
require the State to pay the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
85% of the value of the land. SNPLMA was intended to provide 
receipts to the BLM if and when the former BLM lands were sold 
by the County. The bill is supported by the Nevada delegation, 
the State, and Clark County.
    Since the 1990s, BLM, Clark County, and the State of Nevada 
have cooperatively managed roughly 5,000 acres around McCarran 
International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. The land is managed 
to be compatible with airport uses and to comply with noise 
abatement laws. With the passage of the SNPLMA, the BLM lands 
within the cooperative management area were conveyed to Clark 
County, Nevada, with the caveat that if the land was ever sold 
Clark County must give the BLM 85% of the proceeds to be used 
to purchase more public land in the State of Nevada, or for 
other stated public purposes. The State of Nevada would like to 
build a National Guard facility (the Southern Nevada Readiness 
Center) on some of this land and needs roughly 35 to 50 acres 
to do so. Clark County would like to convey this land to the 
State for free, but is limited by SNPLMA. H.R. 4382 would 
simply allow Clark County to convey this land to the State, and 
would exempt them from SNPLMA.
    The Southern Nevada Readiness Center would likely serve as 
the new Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team for 
Nevada. Currently, National Guard units in Las Vegas must serve 
and operate from locations spread over 25 miles. The facility 
would also help to protect the airport and the City of Las 
Vegas against potential terrorist attacks.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 4382 was introduced on November 17, 2005, by 
Congressman Jon Porter (R-NV). The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. On March 9, 2006, 
the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On July 19, 2006, 
the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The 
Subcommittee was discharged from further consideration of the 
bill by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered and the 
bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of 
Representatives by a 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 IV, section 3, clause 2, and Article I, section 8, 
clause 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, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does 
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not 
apply.
    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:

H.R. 4382--Southern Nevada Readiness Center Act

    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4382 would not 
significantly affect the federal budget. Under the Southern 
Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA), the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) conveyed certain federal land to Clark County, 
Nevada. That act specifies that, if the county ever conveys the 
land it must charge fair market value and give a portion of the 
proceeds to BLM. The agency could use such proceeds, without 
further appropriation, to acquire environmentally sensitive 
property and complete certain projects in Nevada.
    H.R. 4382 would authorize Clark County to convey to the 
state of Nevada, for no consideration, between 35 and 50 acres 
of land originally conveyed to the county under SNPLMA. The 
state would likely establish a National Guard facility on any 
land it receives under the bill. Based on information from BLM, 
CBO expects that the county would not sell the affected land 
under current law; therefore, we estimate it would generate no 
significant receipts (or subsequent direct spending) over the 
next 10 years. We also estimate that the bill would not affect 
federal costs for land management, which are subject to 
appropriation.
    H.R. 4382 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. 
Enacting this bill would benefit the state of Nevada and Clark 
County.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. 
This estimate was 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 any State, local or 
tribal law.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

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

                                  
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