What This Bill Does
This bill would transfer about 3,156 acres of Bureau of Land Management land into trust for the benefit of the Las Vegas Tribe of Paiute Indians and make that land part of the Tribe’s reservation. It also requires the Secretary of the Interior to complete a boundary survey within 180 days after enactment. As a condition of the transfer, the Tribe must grant an approximately 300-foot-wide right-of-way within 30 days for high-voltage transmission facilities tied to existing renewable energy transmission agreements. The bill also bars Class II and Class III gaming on the land and preserves existing water-rights claims and a March 2021 intergovernmental agreement with the City of Las Vegas.
- About 3,156 acres of BLM land would be taken into trust for the Las Vegas Tribe.
- The Secretary of the Interior must complete a boundary survey within 180 days.
- An approximately 300-foot-wide right-of-way must be granted within 30 days for high-voltage transmission facilities.
- Class II and Class III gaming are prohibited on the trust land.
- The bill says it does not change the March 2021 intergovernmental agreement with the City of Las Vegas.
Who This Bill Affects
For the general public, this bill would have a limited, localized effect. It would change ownership and jurisdictional status for about 3,156 acres in southern Nevada, require a 180-day boundary survey, and preserve a 300-foot transmission corridor, but it does not create a new federal benefit program or direct payments to most people. If you live near the affected land or work on tribal, utility, or land-management issues in the Las Vegas area, the bill could matter more directly.
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- The Las Vegas Paiute Tribe and tribal land advocates They would likely support the bill because it expands the Tribe’s land base and places the covered land into trust, strengthening tribal control over land use and long-term planning. The reservation designation can support sovereignty and economic development on land the Tribe can govern more directly.
- Renewable-energy developers and electric utilities They may support the required transmission corridor because it preserves a right-of-way for high-voltage facilities and ties it to existing renewable energy transmission agreements. That can reduce uncertainty for infrastructure needed to move power across the region.
- Local officials seeking clear land-status rules They may favor the bill’s explicit limits, including the gaming prohibition and the preservation of the March 2021 intergovernmental agreement. Those provisions can reduce ambiguity about future land use and local-government relations.
- Nearby residents concerned about land-use change Some neighbors may oppose the transfer because trust status can change how land is governed and developed. Even with the gaming ban, they may worry about increased development, traffic, or reduced local control over adjacent areas.
- Water-rights skeptics and parties in water disputes The bill expressly says it neither affirms nor denies federal reserved water rights, which may frustrate stakeholders seeking a definitive resolution. Because it preserves state-law claims too, it leaves water questions open rather than settling them.
- People wary of federal land transfers Some opponents may object on principle to removing federal land from the public land system. They may argue that transferring 3,156 acres into trust narrows future federal land-management options.
Key Implications
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““all right, title, and interest of the United States… is hereby taken into trust””
This is the core legal change: the federal government would hold the land in trust for the Tribe, which generally shifts the land into a tribal trust status rather than ordinary federal public-land status.
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““approximately 3,156 acres of land administered by the Bureau of Land Management””
The bill concerns a specific, sizable parcel in southern Nevada, not a nationwide program. The acreage gives a sense of the local footprint and the scale of the land-status change.
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““not later than 180 days… the Secretary shall complete a survey””
A survey deadline means the federal government must formally establish the trust-land boundaries soon after enactment, which matters for administration, mapping, and any future land-use decisions.
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““an approximately 300-foot-wide right-of-way… shall be granted””
The bill protects a utility corridor even as it transfers the land, showing that the trust transfer is conditioned on continued transmission infrastructure access.
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““Class II gaming and class III gaming… are prohibited””
This prevents casino-style gaming on the newly trusted land under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, limiting one common economic use of trust land.
Latest Status
June 3, 2026
Referred to the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs.
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Ask AI about this billData sourced from api.congress.gov.