[House Report 108-741]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
108th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 108-741
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TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF CERTAIN PUBLIC LAND IN CLARK COUNTY,
NEVADA, FOR USE AS A HELIPORT
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October 6, 2004.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 4285]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 4285) to provide for the conveyance of certain public
land in Clark County, Nevada, for use as a heliport, having
considered the same, report favorably theron without amendment
and recommend that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 4285 is to provide for the conveyance
of certain public land in Clark County, Nevada, for use as a
heliport.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Las Vegas Valley is among the fastest growing
communities in the United States, at present adding more than
6,000 new residents per month. The local economic community
thrives on tourism with one of the most popular tourist
excursions being the helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon.
Currently, helicopter tour flight paths impact long-standing
residential neighborhoods with overflights approaching ninety
per day.
The purpose of this legislation is to provide a suitable
location for the establishment of a commercial service heliport
facility to serve the Las Vegas Valley. One of the primary
goals is also to minimize the impact of air tours on the Sloan
Canyon National Conservation Area (Conservation Area) and North
McCullough Mountains Wilderness that lie just north of the
major residential areas. The bill directs the Bureau of Land
Management to convey to Clark County, Nevada, 229 acres of
public land for a new Clark County Public Heliport Facility.
H.R. 4285 also seeks to prevent helicopter flights over the
Conservation Area except between 3 and 5 miles north of the
southern-most boundary, lower than 1,000 feet over eastern
segments and lower than 500 feet over the western segments.
In addition, any operator of a helicopter tour originating
from or concluding at the new heliport shall pay the Clark
County Department of Aviation a $3 conservation fee for each
passenger on the tour if any of the helicopter tour overflies
the Conservation Area. The fee collected will be placed in a
special account in the Treasury of the United States. Those
funds will then be made available to the Secretary of the
Interior for management of cultural, wildlife and wilderness
resources on public land in the State of Nevada.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Representative Jim Gibbons (R-NV) introduced H.R. 4285 on
May 5, 2004. The bill was then referred to the Committee on
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on
National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands. On September 14,
2004, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On September
15, 2004, the Full Resource 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 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 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, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures. According to the Congressional
Budget Office, enactment of this bill will have a ``negligible
effect'' on direct spending.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. The 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. 4285--A bill to provide for the conveyance of certain public land
in Clark County, Nevada, for use as a heliport
CBO estimates that H.R. 4285 would have no significant
impact of the federal budget. Enacting the bill would have a
negligible effect on direct spending and would not affect
revenues.
H.R. 4285 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to
give 229 acres of federal land to Clark County, Nevada, The
county would use that land to build a heliport facility, H.R.
4285 would require helicopter tour operators who use that
facility to pay a fee of $3 per passenger if they fly over the
Sloan Canyon National conservation Area, which is adjacent to
the proposed heliport site. Under the bill, the Secretary could
retain and spend those fees, without further appropriation, to
manage cultural, wildlife, and wilderness resources on federal
land in Nevada.
According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the
federal land to be conveyed currently generates no significant
receipts and is not expected to do so over the next 10 years.
Based on information from BLM, we estimate that charging
helicopter tour operators a fee as proposed under H.R. 4285
would generate offsetting receipts (a credit against direct
spending) totaling less than $500,000 annually. Because we
expect those amounts would be largely offset within the year
they are collected by increased spending for resource
management, we estimate that any resulting net change in direct
spending under H.R. 4285 would be negligible.
H.R. 4285 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 legislation would benefit Clark County by
providing for the conveyance of federal land to the county at
very little cost: only the administrative costs of the
transfer. These costs would be incurred voluntarily.
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.