[House Report 111-199]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
111th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 111-199
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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.