La Paz County Solar Energy and Job Creation Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1499 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain Federal land in Arizona to La Paz County, Arizona, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 2, 2021 Mr. GOSAR (for himself, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, and Mrs. LESKO) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Nat- ural Resources A BILL To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain Federal land in Arizona to La Paz County, Arizona, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘La Paz County Solar 4 Energy and Job Creation Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) COUNTY.—The term ‘‘County’’ means La 8 Paz County, Arizona. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1499.IH H1499 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1499 IH (2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 1 means the approximately 4,800 acres of land man- 2 aged by the Bureau of Land Management and des- 3 ignated as ‘‘Federal Land to be Conveyed’’ on the 4 map. 5 (3) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map 6 prepared by the Bureau of Land Management enti- 7 tled ‘‘La Paz County Land Conveyance’’ and dated 8 September 1, 2020. 9 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE TO LA PAZ COUNTY, ARIZONA. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the planning re- 11 quirement of sections 202 and 203 of the Federal Land 12 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 13 1713) and in accordance with this section and other appli- 14 cable law, as soon as practicable after receiving a request 15 from the County to convey the Federal land, the Secretary 16 shall convey the Federal land to the County. 17 (b) RESTRICTIONS ON CONVEYANCE.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The conveyance under sub- 19 section (a) shall be subject to— 20 (A) valid existing rights; and 21 (B) such terms and conditions as the Sec- 22 retary determines to be necessary. 23 (2) EXCLUSION.—The Secretary shall exclude 24 from the conveyance under subsection (a) any Fed- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1499.IH H1499 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1499 IH eral land that contains significant cultural, environ- 1 mental, wildlife, or recreational resources. 2 (c) PAYMENT OF FAIR MARKET VALUE.—The con- 3 veyance under subsection (a) shall be for the fair market 4 value of the Federal land to be conveyed, as determined— 5 (1) in accordance with the Federal Land Policy 6 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et 7 seq.); and 8 (2) based on an appraisal that is conducted in 9 accordance with— 10 (A) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for 11 Federal Land Acquisitions; and 12 (B) the Uniform Standards of Professional 13 Appraisal Practice. 14 (d) PROTECTION OF TRIBAL CULTURAL ARTI- 15 FACTS.—As a condition of the conveyance under sub- 16 section (a), the County shall, and as a condition of any 17 subsequent conveyance, any subsequent owner shall— 18 (1) make good faith efforts to avoid disturbing 19 Tribal artifacts; 20 (2) minimize impacts on Tribal artifacts if they 21 are disturbed; 22 (3) coordinate with the Colorado River Indian 23 Tribes Tribal Historic Preservation Office to identify 24 artifacts of cultural and historic significance; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1499.IH H1499 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1499 IH (4) allow Tribal representatives to rebury un- 1 earthed artifacts at or near where they were discov- 2 ered. 3 (e) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The map shall be on file and 5 available for public inspection in the appropriate of- 6 fices of the Bureau of Land Management. 7 (2) CORRECTIONS.—The Secretary and the 8 County may, by mutual agreement— 9 (A) make minor boundary adjustments to 10 the Federal land to be conveyed under sub- 11 section (a); and 12 (B) correct any minor errors in the map, 13 an acreage estimate, or the description of the 14 Federal land. 15 (f) WITHDRAWAL.—The Federal land is withdrawn 16 from the operation of the mining and mineral leasing laws 17 of the United States. 18 (g) COSTS.—As a condition of the conveyance of the 19 Federal land under subsection (a), the County shall pay— 20 (1) an amount equal to the appraised value de- 21 termined in accordance with subsection (c)(2); and 22 (2) all costs related to the conveyance, including 23 all surveys, appraisals, and other administrative 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1499.IH H1499 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1499 IH costs associated with the conveyance of the Federal 1 land to the County under subsection (a). 2 (h) PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF LAND.—The pro- 3 ceeds from the sale of land under this section shall be— 4 (1) deposited in the Federal Land Disposal Ac- 5 count established by section 206(a) of the Federal 6 Land Transaction Facilitation Act (43 U.S.C. 7 2305(a)); and 8 (2) used in accordance with that Act (43 U.S.C. 9 2301 et seq.). 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1499.IH H1499 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS