I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1043
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
FEBRUARY6, 2025
Mr. G
OSAR(for himself and Mr. BIGGSof Arizona) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 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’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
In this Act: 7
(1) C
OUNTY.—The term ‘‘County’’ means La 8
Paz County, Arizona. 9
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(2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 1
means the approximately 3,400 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) M
AP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map 6
prepared by the Bureau of Land Management enti-7
tled ‘‘BLM Arizona—La Paz County Land Convey-8
ance Map’’ and dated June 29, 2023. 9
SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE TO LA PAZ COUNTY, ARIZONA. 10
(a) I
NGENERAL.—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) R
ESTRICTIONS ONCONVEYANCE.— 18
(1) I
N 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) E
XCLUSION.—The Secretary shall exclude 24
from the conveyance under subsection (a) any Fed-25
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eral land that contains significant cultural, environ-1
mental, wildlife, or recreational resources. 2
(c) P
AYMENT OFFAIRMARKETVALUE.—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) P
ROTECTION OF TRIBALCULTURALARTI-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
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(4) allow Tribal representatives to rebury un-1
earthed artifacts at or near where they were discov-2
ered. 3
(e) A
VAILABILITY OFMAP.— 4
(1) I
N 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) C
ORRECTIONS.—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) W
ITHDRAWAL.—The Federal land is withdrawn 16
from the operation of the mining and mineral leasing laws 17
of the United States. 18
(g) C
OSTS.—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
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costs associated with the conveyance of the Federal 1
land to the County under subsection (a). 2
(h) P
ROCEEDSFROM THESALE OFLAND.—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
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