[House Report 111-199]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


111th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    111-199

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


 
PROVIDING FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF CERTAIN BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LAND 
 IN THE STATE OF NEVADA TO THE LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, AND FOR OTHER 
                                PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

 July 10, 2009.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 409]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 409) to provide for the conveyance of certain Bureau 
of Land Management land in the State of Nevada to the Las Vegas 
Motor Speedway, 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. DEFINITIONS.

  In this Act:
          (1) Federal land.--The term ``Federal land'' means the 
        approximately 115 acres of Bureau of Land Management land 
        identified on the map as ``Lands identified for Las Vegas 
        Speedway Parking Lot Expansion''.
          (2) Map.--The term ``map'' means the map titled ``Las Vegas 
        Speedway Parking Lot Expansion'', dated March 6, 2009, and on 
        file in the Office of the Director of the Bureau of Land 
        Management.
          (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        the Interior.

SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE OF FEDERAL LAND TO NEVADA SPEEDWAY.

  (a) In General.--If Nevada Speedway, LLC, submits to the Secretary an 
offer to acquire the Federal land for the appraised value, 
notwithstanding the land use planning requirements of section 202 and 
203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 
1712, 1713), the Secretary shall convey to Nevada Speedway, LLC, all 
right, title, and interest in and to the Federal land, subject to valid 
existing rights.
  (b) Appraisal.--
          (1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete an 
        appraisal of the Federal land.
          (2) Applicable law.--The appraisal under paragraph (1) shall 
        be conducted in accordance with--
                  (A) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land 
                Acquisitions; and
                  (B) the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal 
                Practice.
          (3) Costs.--All costs associated with the appraisal required 
        under paragraph (1) shall be paid by Nevada Speedway, LLC.
  (c) Payment of Consideration.--As a condition of the conveyance, 
Nevada Speedway, LLC, shall pay to the Secretary an amount equal to the 
appraised value of the Federal land, as determined under subsection 
(b).
  (d) Costs of Conveyance.--As a condition of the conveyance, any costs 
of the conveyance under subsection (a) shall be paid by Nevada 
Speedway, LLC.
  (e) Reversion.--If Nevada Speedway, LLC, or any subsequent owner of 
the Federal land conveyed under subsection (a), uses the Federal land 
for purposes other than a parking lot for the Nevada Speedway, all 
right, title, and interest in and to the land (and any improvements to 
the land) shall revert to the United States at the discretion of the 
Secretary.
  (f) Disposition of Proceeds.--The Secretary shall deposit the 
proceeds from the conveyance of Federal land under subsection (a) in 
the Federal Land Disposal Account established under section 206(a) of 
the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (43 U.S.C. 2305(a)).
  (g) Compliance.--Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the 
conveyance authorized in this section shall be carried out in 
compliance with all laws and regulations applicable to the conveyance 
of Federal land.

SEC. 3. WITHDRAWAL OF FEDERAL LAND.

  (a) Withdrawal.--Except as provided in section 2(a) and subject to 
valid existing rights, the Federal land is withdrawn from--
          (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under the 
        public land laws;
          (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
          (3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and 
        geothermal leasing laws.
  (b) Termination.--If two years after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the conveyance authorized under section 2 has not been 
executed, the withdrawal under subsection (a) shall have no force or 
effect.

SEC. 4. SUNSET.

  The authority provided to the Secretary under this Act shall 
terminate 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 409 is to provide for the conveyance of 
certain Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in the State of 
Nevada to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and for other purposes.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is an auto racing complex 
located about 12 miles north of downtown Las Vegas. It is owned 
by the Nevada Speedway, LLC (Speedway). The complex hosts 
NASCAR and other racing events, which can bring in as many as 
100,000 racing fans. For several years now, the Speedway has 
been looking for options to expand its parking.
    H.R. 409 would require the conveyance of 115 acres of BLM 
land to the Speedway specifically for expansion of the Las 
Vegas Speedway parking lot. The legislation provides that the 
Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) shall complete an 
appraisal of the 115 acres of federal land, in accordance with 
federal appraisal standards and practices. Once the appraisal 
is completed, the Secretary would be required to convey all 
right, title, and interest in that land to the Speedway for 
fair market value. The bill further provides that the land 
would be withdrawn from entry, appropriation, and disposal 
under the public land laws, as well as under the mining, 
mineral leasing, and other related laws.
    The bill also directs the Speedway to pay all costs 
associated with the conveyance, and it requires that, if the 
Speedway uses the land for any purpose other then a parking 
lot, the land will revert back to the United States at the 
discretion of the Secretary.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 409 was introduced on January 9, 2009, by 
Representative Dean Heller (R-NV). The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. At a 
hearing before the Subcommittee on March 3, 2009, the 
Administration testified in support of the bill.
    On June 10, 2009, the Subcommittee was discharged from 
further consideration of H.R. 409 and the Full Natural 
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. Subcommittee 
Chairman Grijalva offered an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute, which was agreed to by unanimous consent. The bill, 
as amended, was then 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 Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    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 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    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 interchange the administrative 
jurisdiction of certain Federal lands between the Forest 
Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
    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. 409--A bill to provide for the conveyance of certain Bureau of 
        Land Management land in the state of Nevada to the Las Vegas 
        Motor Speedway

    H.R. 409 would direct the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
to sell a parcel of federal land located near Las Vegas, 
Nevada. Proceeds from the sale would be available to BLM 
without further appropriation for land acquisition programs. 
Enacting H.R. 409 would increase direct spending--by an 
estimated $10 million to $20 million over the 2010-2014 
period--because the bill would allow BLM to spend offsetting 
receipts that would, under existing law, be deposited in the 
U.S. Treasury.
    The legislation 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.
    Under H.R. 409, BLM would sell to the Nevada Speedway, LLC, 
about 115 acres of federal land adjacent to the company's Las 
Vegas Speedway, an auto racing complex. The company would pay 
all administrative costs of the transaction and could only use 
the purchased land as a parking lot. Proceeds from the sale 
would be deposited into BLM's federal land disposal account and 
could be spent, without further appropriation, to acquire other 
lands within Nevada.
    BLM is already authorized to sell the property affected by 
H.R. 409 (subject to appropriate land use procedures). Unlike 
current law, however, the bill would allow the proceeds of that 
sale to be spent without further appropriation. Based on recent 
land values in the area of the Speedway, CBO estimates that 
selling the acreage specified by the bill would increase 
offsetting receipts by $10 million to $20 million in 2010 or 
2011, about three or four years earlier than under current law. 
Spending of that amount would occur over the 2010-2014 period. 
The bill would have no significant effect on discretionary 
spending and no effect on revenues.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    H.R. 409 does not contain any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9(d), 9(e) or 9(f) of rule XXI.

                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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