La Paz County Solar Energy and Job Creation Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The La Paz County Solar Energy and Job Creation Act creates a land-conveyance path for approximately 3,400 acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Arizona. After a county request, Interior must convey the land to La Paz County for fair market value, may exclude land with significant cultural, environmental, wildlife, or recreational resources, requires the county and later owners to avoid and minimize disturbance to Tribal artifacts in coordination with the Colorado River Indian Tribes Tribal Historic Preservation Office, withdraws the land from mining and mineral leasing laws, and deposits proceeds in the Federal Land Disposal Account.
Who Benefits and How
La Paz County benefits because it can acquire a large BLM parcel for solar-energy and job-creation development. Solar energy developers benefit from a county-controlled site that can be assembled for renewable-energy projects. Local workers benefit if solar development creates construction, operations, and tax-base activity. The Colorado River Indian Tribes benefit from artifact-protection coordination and reburial conditions attached to the conveyance.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Interior Secretary and BLM must process the conveyance, appraisal, exclusions, maps, and boundary corrections. La Paz County must pay fair market value and all survey, appraisal, and administrative costs. Subsequent landowners must avoid or minimize disturbance to Tribal artifacts and coordinate with Tribal preservation officials. Mining and mineral leasing interests lose access because the land is withdrawn from those laws.
Key Provisions
- Requires conveyance of about 3,400 acres of BLM land to La Paz County after a county request.
- Requires fair market value payment based on federal appraisal standards and county payment of administrative costs.
- Protects cultural, environmental, wildlife, recreational, and Tribal artifact interests through exclusions and conveyance conditions.
- Withdraws the land from mining and mineral leasing laws and directs sale proceeds to the Federal Land Disposal Account.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires the Interior Secretary to convey about 3,400 acres of BLM land to La Paz County, Arizona, for fair market value, with exclusions for significant resources and conditions protecting Tribal artifacts.
Key Policy Areas
Public Lands, Energy, Local Government
Primary Purpose
Requires the Interior Secretary to convey about 3,400 acres of BLM land to La Paz County, Arizona, for fair market value, with exclusions for significant resources and conditions protecting Tribal artifacts.
Policy Domains
Bill provisions
Identified Gains
- La Paz County
- Solar energy developers
- Local workers
- Colorado River Indian Tribes
Identified Costs
- Interior Secretary
- Bureau of Land Management
- La Paz County
- Subsequent landowners
- Mining interests
Sponsors
Ruben Gallego
D-AZ | Primary Sponsor
Legislative Progress
ReportedPlaced on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. …
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Lee …
Reported by Mr. Lee, without amendment
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and …
Introduced in Senate
Mr. Gallego (for himself and Mr. Kelly) introduced the following …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
La Paz County, La Paz County property offices
Positive-direction: La Paz County
Negative-direction: La Paz County property offices
Bureau of Land Management, Colorado River Indian Tribes
Positive-direction: Colorado River Indian Tribes
Negative-direction: Bureau of Land Management
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "county"
- → La Paz County
- "secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology