La Paz County Solar Energy and Job Creation Act
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The law directs the Department of the Interior to convey about 3,400 acres of federal land in La Paz County, Arizona, to the county for fair market value, once the county requests it.
The conveyance excludes land with significant cultural, environmental, wildlife, or recreational value, and requires the county and future owners to protect tribal artifacts, reflecting a narrow, locally targeted federal land transfer.
What this law does
What it does
The law requires the Secretary of the Interior, upon request from La Paz County, Arizona, to convey approximately 3,400 acres of Bureau of Land Management land identified on a specific 2023 map to the county at fair market value, determined through a formal appraisal process. It excludes any parcels containing significant cultural, environmental, wildlife, or recreational resources from the conveyance, and withdraws the transferred land from mining and mineral leasing laws. As conditions of the conveyance, the county and any future owners must make good-faith efforts to avoid disturbing tribal artifacts, coordinate with the Colorado River Indian Tribes Tribal Historic Preservation Office, and allow tribal representatives to rebury unearthed artifacts near their discovery site. The county must pay the appraised value and all conveyance-related costs, and proceeds go into the federal Land Disposal Account.
Key provisions
- 1Requires the Secretary of the Interior to convey about 3,400 acres of identified BLM land to La Paz County upon request, at fair market value.
- 2Excludes federal land containing significant cultural, environmental, wildlife, or recreational resources from the conveyance.
- 3Requires fair market value be set through a formal appraisal under federal uniform appraisal standards.
- 4Conditions the conveyance on protections for tribal artifacts, including coordination with the Colorado River Indian Tribes and reburial rights.
- 5Withdraws the conveyed land from operation of federal mining and mineral leasing laws.
- 6Requires the county to pay the appraised value and all administrative costs of the conveyance.
- 7Directs that conveyance proceeds be deposited into the Federal Land Disposal Account.
Who is affected
La Paz County, Arizona, which would receive and pay for the land; the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the affected acreage; and the Colorado River Indian Tribes, whose historic preservation office must be consulted if tribal artifacts are found on the land.
Why it matters
The transfer gives La Paz County control over land it can use for local development, such as solar energy projects, while the tribal artifact protections and resource exclusions limit how much of the land can be repurposed. Withdrawal from mining laws also forecloses future mineral extraction on the parcel.
What changed
Changes to existing law
Amends Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (Sec. 3(a))
Exempts this specific conveyance from the Act's planning requirements while still using its fair market value determination process.
Amends Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (Sec. 3(h))
Directs proceeds from this land sale into the existing Federal Land Disposal Account established under that Act.
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Land conveyance to La Paz County occurs after the county formally requests it
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates H.R. 1043 would increase the federal deficit by $13 million over the 2026–2035 period, primarily by redirecting solar energy right-of-way receipts from the federal government to La Paz County.
CBO estimates that H.R. 1043 would increase net direct spending (mandatory spending not subject to annual appropriations) by $13 million over the 2026–2035 period, with no effect on revenues. The main cost driver is the loss of federal offsetting receipts: under current law, half of the roughly $4 million in annual receipts from a 30-year solar energy right-of-way on the affected land would reduce direct spending, but once the land is conveyed to La Paz County, the county would collect those receipts instead. The land sale proceeds themselves would have a negligible net effect because they would be deposited in the Federal Land Disposal Account and spent on eligible land purchases without further appropriation. CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How it works
Interior must convey the land after the county formally requests it, following an appraisal conducted under federal uniform appraisal standards to set the fair market value the county must pay. The Bureau of Land Management keeps the governing map on public file and may make minor boundary corrections by mutual agreement with the county. The county and later owners remain bound by the tribal artifact protection conditions indefinitely, and conveyance proceeds are deposited into the Federal Land Disposal Account for use under existing federal land transaction law.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
By Senator Lee from Committee on Energy and Natural Resources filed written report. Report No. 119-109.
Official CRS summary
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This act directs the Department of the Interior, after receiving a request from La Paz County, Arizona, to convey approximately 3,400 acres of identified land managed by the Bureau of Land Management to the county for fair market value.
Interior must exclude from the conveyance any federal land that contains significant cultural, environmental, wildlife, or recreational resources.
As a condition of the conveyance, La Paz County and any subsequent owner must
- make good faith efforts to avoid disturbing tribal artifacts;
- minimize impacts on tribal artifacts if they are disturbed;
- coordinate with the Colorado River Indian Tribes Tribal Historic Preservation Office to identify artifacts of cultural and historic significance; and
- allow tribal representatives to rebury unearthed artifacts at, or near, where they were discovered.
The federal land is withdrawn from the operation of U.S. mining and mineral leasing laws, and thus the land is not available for new mining claims, new mineral or geothermal leases, nor sales of mineral materials.
The county must pay all costs related to the conveyance.
Legislative subjects
Arizona; Historical and cultural resources; Indian lands and resources rights; Land transfers; Public Lands and Natural Resources
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-183