La Paz County Solar Energy and Job Creation Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 528 To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to La Paz County, Arizona, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 2 (legislative day, MARCH 1), 2021 Ms. SINEMA (for herself and Mr. KELLY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land 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’’. 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 22:25 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S528.IS S528 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 528 IS (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 Map’’ and 8 dated June 19, 2020. 9 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 10 the Secretary of the Interior. 11 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE TO LA PAZ COUNTY, ARIZONA. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the planning re- 13 quirement of sections 202 and 203 of the Federal Land 14 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 15 1713) and in accordance with this section and other appli- 16 cable law, as soon as practicable after receiving a request 17 from the County to convey the Federal land, the Secretary 18 shall convey the Federal land to the County. 19 (b) RESTRICTIONS ON CONVEYANCE.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The conveyance under sub- 21 section (a) shall be subject to— 22 (A) valid existing rights; and 23 (B) such terms and conditions as the Sec- 24 retary determines to be necessary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S528.IS S528 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 528 IS (2) EXCLUSION.—The Secretary shall exclude 1 from the conveyance under subsection (a) any Fed- 2 eral land that contains significant cultural, environ- 3 mental, wildlife, or recreational resources. 4 (c) PAYMENT OF FAIR MARKET VALUE.—The con- 5 veyance under subsection (a) shall be for the fair market 6 value of the Federal land to be conveyed, as determined— 7 (1) in accordance with the Federal Land Policy 8 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et 9 seq.); and 10 (2) based on an appraisal that is conducted in 11 accordance with— 12 (A) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for 13 Federal Land Acquisitions; and 14 (B) the Uniform Standards of Professional 15 Appraisal Practice. 16 (d) PROTECTION OF TRIBAL CULTURAL ARTI- 17 FACTS.—As a condition of the conveyance under sub- 18 section (a), the County shall, and as a condition of any 19 subsequent conveyance, any subsequent owner shall— 20 (1) make good faith efforts to avoid disturbing 21 Tribal artifacts; 22 (2) minimize impacts on Tribal artifacts if the 23 artifacts are disturbed; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S528.IS S528 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 528 IS (3) coordinate with the Colorado River Indian 1 Tribes Tribal Historic Preservation Office to identify 2 artifacts of cultural and historic significance; and 3 (4) allow Tribal representatives to rebury un- 4 earthed artifacts at or near where the artifacts were 5 discovered. 6 (e) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The map shall be on file and 8 available for public inspection in the appropriate of- 9 fices of the Bureau of Land Management. 10 (2) CORRECTIONS.—The Secretary and the 11 County may, by mutual agreement— 12 (A) make minor boundary adjustments to 13 the Federal land to be conveyed under sub- 14 section (a); and 15 (B) correct any minor errors in the map, 16 an acreage estimate, or the description of the 17 Federal land. 18 (f) WITHDRAWAL.—The Federal land is withdrawn 19 from the operation of the mining and mineral leasing laws 20 of the United States. 21 (g) COSTS.—As a condition of the conveyance of the 22 Federal land under subsection (a), the County shall pay— 23 (1) an amount equal to the appraised value de- 24 termined in accordance with subsection (c)(2); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S528.IS S528 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 528 IS (2) all costs related to the conveyance, including 1 all surveys, appraisals, and other administrative 2 costs associated with the conveyance of the Federal 3 land to the County under subsection (a). 4 (h) PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF LAND.—The pro- 5 ceeds from the sale of land under this section shall be— 6 (1) deposited in the Federal Land Disposal Ac- 7 count established by section 206(a) of the Federal 8 Land Transaction Facilitation Act (43 U.S.C. 9 2305(a)); and 10 (2) used in accordance with that Act (43 U.S.C. 11 2301 et seq.). 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S528.IS S528 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS