H.R. 2134 — Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to hold approximately 44,950 acres of federal land in southern Nevada, administered by the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation and generally depicted on the map entitled "Southern Nevada Land Management" dated November 14, 2024, in trust for the Moapa Band of Paiutes of the Moapa River Indian Reservation, Nevada, as part of the Tribe's reservation, subject to valid existing rights (including rights-of-way for water, wastewater, and electric generation, storage, transmission, distribution, and supporting facilities) and reserving to the United States electric transmission corridor rights-of-way (with post-enactment payments directed to the Tribe). The Secretary must complete a boundary survey within 60 days of enactment. Land taken into trust is ineligible for class II or class III gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. No federal reserved rights to surface water or groundwater are created for the trust land; the Tribe retains any water rights or claims under state law.

This section places approximately 196 acres of fee land owned by the Tribe—as generally depicted on the map entitled “Southern Nevada Land Management” and dated November 14, 2024—into trust by the United States for the Tribe's benefit and declares it part of the Tribe's reservation. The section further directs the Secretary to complete a survey establishing the land's boundaries within 180 days of enactment.

This section transfers approximately 3,156 acres of Bureau of Land Management-administered land in southern Nevada, as generally depicted on the map entitled “Southern Nevada Land Management” dated November 14, 2024, into trust for the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe—subject to valid existing rights—and designates it as part of the tribe's reservation. The section further (1) requires the Secretary of the Interior to complete a boundary survey within 180 days of enactment; (2) directs the tribe to grant a 300-foot-wide right-of-way to a qualified electric utility within 30 days of the transfer for high-voltage transmission facilities consistent with existing tribal agreements; (3) prohibits class II gaming (i.e., bingo and certain card games) or class III gaming (i.e., casino-style games) on the land under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act; (4) states that the transfer neither affirms nor denies federal reserved water rights while preserving the tribe's state-law water rights; (5) preserves the March 2021 intergovernmental agreement between the tribe and the City of Las Vegas; and (6) strikes subsection (d) of Section 3092 of the Carl Levin and Howard P. “Buck” McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (Public Law 113-291).

This section amends the definitions section of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Protection and Enhancement Act of 2002 by (1) redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as paragraphs (2), (4), and (5), respectively; (2) adding a new paragraph (1) defining "associated supportive use" as a use that supports the overall function and enjoyment of a public park; and (3) adding a new paragraph (3) defining "public park" to include land developed or managed by a partnership between Clark County, Nevada, and a private entity for recreational uses and associated supportive uses, including uses that require a fee for admittance or use of property within the public park.

This section revises the boundary of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area to consist of approximately 253,950 acres (from approximately 195,620 acres), as generally depicted on the map entitled “Southern Nevada Land Management” dated November 14, 2024.

This section modifies land disposal authorities under the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998 (SNPLMA) and related laws as follows: (1) extends the general disposal deadline to November 14, 2024 (from September 17, 2012), and requires the Secretary of the Interior and Clark County to jointly nominate not more than 25,000 acres from the "Proposed Expanded Las Vegas Disposal Boundary" map for addition to the disposal boundary; (2) authorizes the Secretary to permit owners of surface estates acquired under SNPLMA or the Clark County Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act of 2002 to move or dispose of common varieties of sand and gravel for recontouring, balancing the surface, or filling utility trenches; (3) directs the Secretary to offer Clark County an agreement within 180 days of enactment allowing the county to make public health and safety management modifications—without Secretary approval—on federal lands previously conveyed to the county under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.) for public safety facilities (including flood control and water management), parks, and educational facilities; and (4) requires the Secretary to prioritize and complete review of local government applications for affordable housing land use under SNPLMA within 180 days of submission (ahead of other disposal applications).

This section revokes any portion of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) February 14, 2014, designation of the Ivanpah Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) in Clark County, Nevada, not included within one of nine newly designated special management areas (SMAs) and establishes those SMAs on approximately 358,964 acres of BLM-administered federal land in the county, as generally depicted on the map entitled “Southern Nevada Land Management” dated November 14, 2024: (1) Stump Springs SMA (approximately 140,976 acres); (2) Bird Springs Valley SMA (approximately 39,327 acres); (3) Desert Tortoise Protective Corridor SMA (approximately 45,881 acres); (4) Jean Lake SMA (approximately 2,645 acres); (5) Gale Hills SMA (approximately 16,355 acres); (6) California Wash SMA (approximately 10,120 acres); (7) Bitter Springs SMA (approximately 61,813 acres); (8) Muddy Mountains SMA (approximately 33,430 acres); and (9) Mesa Milkvetch SMA (approximately 8,417 acres). The purposes of the SMAs are to conserve, protect, and enhance cultural, archaeological, natural, wilderness, scientific, geological, historical, biological, wildlife (including species covered by the Clark County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan), educational, and scenic resources. BLM must manage the SMAs in accordance with those purposes, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, and other applicable laws, allowing only consistent uses; motorized vehicle use is permitted only on designated roads and routes per the management plan (except for administrative or emergency needs); and no new permanent or temporary roads may be constructed after enactment. BLM must prepare and file maps and legal descriptions of the SMAs for public availability and may make minor corrections in coordination with the county.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior, upon receipt from Clark County, Nevada, of a complete application to amend the federal incidental take permit and Clark County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP)—incorporating Special Management Areas established under section 204(b) and the related management plan required under section 204(h)—to (1) credit approximately 358,954 acres of those areas, as depicted on the map entitled “Southern Nevada Land Management” and dated November 14, 2024, as mitigation to offset additional incidental take impacts from development under the existing or amended MSHCP, as determined using the best available scientific and commercial information; and (2) extend the MSHCP and permit for the maximum authorized duration, all in accordance with this Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and other applicable laws. (As background, the MSHCP is a regional habitat conservation plan under the Endangered Species Act authorizing incidental take permits for covered species in exchange for conservation commitments to mitigate development impacts in Clark County.) The section specifies that nothing else in the Act limits, alters, modifies, or amends the MSHCP.

This section designates the peak of Frenchman Mountain in Nevada located at latitude 36°10'31.45" N., longitude 114°59'31.52" W. as “Maude Frazier Mountain” and directs that any reference to the peak in a federal law, map, regulation, document, record, or other paper be deemed a reference to “Maude Frazier Mountain”.

This section adds the Tule Springs Fossil Bed National Monument to the list of areas eligible for funding from the special account under the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998. (The special account receives proceeds from public land sales in southern Nevada for federal land management purposes, including capital improvements at specified parks and areas.)

This section expands the boundary of the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area (NCA)—a Bureau of Land Management area in Nevada established to conserve cultural, archaeological, natural, wilderness, and other resources—by substituting a new map entitled "Proposed Sloan Canyon Expansion" dated May 20, 2024 (for the prior map entitled "Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act" dated October 1, 2002), and increasing its acreage to 57,728 (from 48,438). The section further directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Land Management Director, to grant the Southern Nevada Water Authority, without rents or charges and within one year of enactment, temporary and permanent rights-of-way within the NCA for a water pipeline (the Horizon lateral pipeline) and outside the NCA for related powerlines, facilities, and access roads to support geotechnical investigations and water transmission operations. These rights-of-way allow the Authority to excavate and use or dispose of tunneling materials (via a required memorandum of understanding identifying disposal sites on federal land), subject to requirements including reasonable resource protections, no permanent adverse surface impacts, and avoidance of wilderness areas. The boundary expansion is subject to valid existing rights, including pre-enactment utility transmission corridors and rights-of-way, and does not preclude their authorized activities or new utility rights-of-way in existing designated corridors (subject to the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws). Except for the new water pipeline right-of-way, the section does not alter NCA management under existing law.

This section directs the Secretary to convey, at the request of Clark County and without consideration, approximately 350 acres of federal land in Sloan, Nevada (Job Creation Zone), notwithstanding Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) land use planning and sales requirements (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1713). The section further (1) authorizes the county to sell, lease, or convey portions of the land for nonresidential development at fair market value, with gross proceeds distributed per section 4(e) of the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998; (2) allows the county to retain parcels for recreation or public purposes under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.); (3) requires the county to manage the land for airport noise compatibility under 49 U.S.C. 47504, with any county conveyances restricted to compatible uses; and (4) provides for reversion of unused or inconsistently used parcels to the United States, at the Secretary's discretion, if not conveyed or reserved within 30 years of enactment.

This section amends section 202(a) of the Clark County Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act of 2002 by (1) expanding seven existing wilderness areas in paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (11), (12), (16), and (17) to include additional Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land comprising approximately 10,095 acres, 3,789 acres, 19,716 acres, 33,164 acres, 30,134 acres, 29,966 acres, and 699 acres, respectively (totaling 127,563 acres); and (2) adding new paragraphs (19) through (24) to designate (A) Mount Stirling Wilderness (72,942 acres managed by BLM and Forest Service), (B) Gates of the Grand Canyon Wilderness (91,963 acres managed by National Park Service), (C) New York Mountains Wilderness addition to the Mojave Wilderness (14,459 acres, BLM), (D) Piute Mountains Wilderness addition to the Mojave Wilderness (7,520 acres, BLM), (E) Southern Paiute Wilderness (1,276,246 acres managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), and (F) Lucy Gray Wilderness (9,601 acres, BLM)—all as generally depicted on the map entitled “Southern Nevada Land Management” dated November 14, 2024. Subsection (b) provides that, for administering these designations and additions under the Wilderness Act, any reference to that Act's effective date (September 3, 1964) is deemed to be the date of enactment, subject to valid existing rights and notwithstanding section 203(a) of the 2002 Act. (Thus, wilderness protections—prohibiting roads, motorized use, and commercial development except for valid existing rights—apply using enactment as the grandfathering cutoff date rather than 1964.)

This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the City of Boulder City, Nevada, without consideration and at the City's request, all right, title, and interest of the United States in specified federal land (i.e., public land reserved to the United States as described in item 2 under exhibit B of Patent Nev–048100, pursuant to P.L. 85–339). The conveyance is subject to valid existing rights, with the Secretary retaining administrative authority over the land post-conveyance and holding a reversionary interest if the land ceases to be used for its intended public purpose (with the City responsible for remediating any hazardous waste contamination prior to reversion).

This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to convey, without consideration, approximately 250 acres of federal land in Nevada to the City of Mesquite, notwithstanding the land use planning requirements of sections 202 and 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, for the city to develop and implement a watershed management plan to protect the Virgin River watershed (retaining a federal reversionary interest). The Secretary must complete necessary surveys for final legal descriptions, which will be available for public inspection, and may correct minor errors in the map or descriptions. If the land ceases to be used for that public purpose, it reverts to the United States at the Secretary's discretion if determined to be in the federal interest, with the city responsible for remediating any hazardous waste contamination.

This section authorizes the Secretary concerned to convey to Clark County, Nevada, without consideration and notwithstanding land use planning requirements of sections 202 and 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1713), approximately 141.1 acres of specified federal land in Clark County—upon county request and completion of required environmental analyses including NEPA—for public safety and wildfire response uses consistent with the Recreation and Public Purposes Act (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.). The parcels consist of (1) a 12-acre parcel and a 1.5-acre parcel near Mount Charleston for police and fire facilities, as depicted on specified maps; and (2) a 127.6-acre parcel for public safety training facilities, as depicted on the "Metro Parcels" map. The county must pay all survey and associated conveyance costs; the Secretary concerned will prepare legal descriptions and make maps available for public inspection; and conveyed parcels revert to the United States, at the Secretary's discretion, if they cease public safety uses (with the county responsible for any hazardous waste remediation).

This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to convey, without consideration and notwithstanding land use planning requirements of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1713), approximately 121 acres of federal land in Nevada to the Moapa Valley Water District upon request for construction, operation, and maintenance of water conveyance infrastructure serving Logandale, Overton, Glendale, and Moapa. If any parcel is subject to transfer for the benefit of the Tribe, the conveyance is limited to a right-of-way; the Secretary must finalize a map and legal descriptions (with minor corrections allowed), make them publicly available, and may require reversion to the United States if the land ceases the specified use, with the District responsible for any hazardous waste remediation.

This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to convey, without consideration, approximately 10 acres of federal land in North Las Vegas, Nevada—as generally depicted on the map entitled “North Las Vegas Fire Department Training Facility” dated November 18, 2024—to the city for construction, operation, and maintenance of a fire training facility to support public safety and fire response, notwithstanding the land use planning requirements of sections 202 and 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1713) and consistent with the Recreation and Public Purposes Act (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.). The city must pay all survey and associated conveyance costs; the Secretary will finalize legal descriptions (with authority to correct minor errors) and make them publicly available; and the land reverts to the United States, at the Secretary's discretion if deemed in the national interest, if it ceases the approved public use (with the city responsible for any hazardous waste remediation).

This section revises Section 3(d)(3) of the Mesquite Lands Act of 1988 by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting a new subparagraph (A) authorizing activities for the development and implementation of a watershed plan for the Lower Virgin River, and by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (B).

This section revises provisions governing the Transition Area—approximately 742 acres of federal land in Henderson, Nevada, identified on a map entitled “Limited Transition Area (LTA) 2023 Amendment” dated November 18, 2024, excluding the NV Energy Utility Corridor (east 100 feet of the NW 1/4 sec. 21, T. 23 S., R. 61 E., Mount Diablo Meridian)—under Section 2602 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-11). Specifically, the section (1) authorizes the City of Henderson, after conveyance, to sell, lease, or otherwise convey any portion of the Transition Area for nonresidential development or limited residential development that augments and integrates nonresidential development and is not freestanding, at not less than fair market value, and requires compliance with applicable federal and state law; (2) allows the City to retain parcels for public recreation or other public purposes consistent with the Recreation and Public Purposes Act (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.) by providing written notice to the Secretary of the Interior, or for any other use by providing written notice and consideration equal to fair market value (subject to disposition under the fair market value requirements); and (3) makes conforming changes to withdrawal and reversion provisions.

This section establishes four off-highway vehicle recreation areas on approximately 117,576 acres of Bureau of Land Management-administered federal land in Nevada, subject to valid existing rights and Moapa Valley Water District rights-of-way: (1) Laughlin Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area (13,050 acres); (2) Logandale Trails Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area (21,729 acres); (3) Nelson Hills Off-Highway Recreation Area (43,775 acres); and (4) Sandy Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area (39,022 acres). The purposes of the areas are to preserve, protect, and enhance off-highway vehicle use, other appropriate activities, and scenic, watershed, habitat, cultural, historic, and ecological resources. This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to develop a comprehensive long-term management plan for each area within two years of enactment, after consulting appropriate state, tribal, and local governmental entities and the public. The Secretary shall manage the areas in accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and other applicable laws to support these purposes, permitting motorized vehicles only on designated roads and trails (with interim management per existing requirements and authority to close routes for resource protection or public safety). This section preserves the use, maintenance, and expansion of existing transportation and utility corridors (authorizing new utility rights-of-way therein subject to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and other laws) and access to pre-enactment transmission line rights-of-way. Subject to valid existing rights, it withdraws all federal land in these areas and the existing Nellis Dunes Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area (approximately 10,035 acres) from appropriation or disposal under public land laws, location/entry/patent under mining laws, and operation of mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws. It further requires the Secretary to finalize legal descriptions for the areas as soon as practicable after enactment (with authority to correct minor map or description errors), to be filed and available for public inspection at appropriate Bureau of Land Management offices.

This section directs the Secretary to complete construction of 6 unfinished erosion control weirs on the lower Las Vegas Wash within Lake Mead National Recreation Area, as identified in the Federal Highway Administration's 2010 Lower Las Vegas Wash Planning Study. Congress intends completion by not later than 8 years after enactment.

This section directs the Secretary to amend the 1998 Las Vegas Resource Management Plan to allow design and construction of flood control facilities in the Coyote Springs Desert Tortoise Area of Critical Environmental Concern, as described in the most recent update of the Las Vegas Valley Master Plan for Flood Control Facilities developed by the Regional Flood Control District and generally depicted on the map entitled “Regional Flood Control District Master Plan Facilities in the Coyote Springs Area of Critical Environmental Concern.” (As background, Bureau of Land Management resource management plans govern public land uses, and areas of critical environmental concern protect unique natural resources such as threatened desert tortoise habitat.)