Sponsors (2)
The bill enables La Paz County to buy a specific federal parcel (with tribal protections and proceeds funding other land buys) while streamlining the transfer, but it does so by limiting standard federal planning/public review and shifting long-term costs and certain public-access/conservation protections to local control.
La Paz County can purchase the specified federal parcel at fair market value, allowing the county to use the land for local development, conservation, or other local priorities.
Taxpayers and conservation programs benefit because sale proceeds go to the Federal Land Disposal Account to fund other land acquisitions or conservation projects under FLTFA.
Indigenous communities receive protections because tribal cultural resources must be identified, tribes consulted, and reburying/coordination with Tribal Historic Preservation Officers is required during the conveyance.
Residents and the public lose standard planning and public-review protections because the conveyance bypasses FLPMA planning sections and reduces public planning review and agency/local oversight.
Regional communities and recreation users may lose long-term access and federal conservation options because removing the parcel from federal ownership withdraws it from mining and leasing laws and other federal land protections.
Local taxpayers and county governments may incur new costs and liabilities because the county assumes management, remediation, and stewardship responsibilities after purchase.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Conveys ~3,400 acres of BLM land to La Paz County, AZ for sale at fair market value to support local solar development, with tribal consultation and proceeds deposited to federal land disposal funds.
Introduced March 10, 2025 by Ruben Gallego · Last progress March 10, 2025
Directs the Interior Secretary, through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to convey about 3,400 acres of specified federal land in La Paz County, Arizona to La Paz County for sale and local use, primarily to support solar energy development and related job creation. The county must pay fair market value (based on approved appraisals) and all conveyance costs; protected cultural, environmental, wildlife, and recreational areas are excluded, tribal consultations are required, and sale proceeds go to the federal land disposal account.