Land bill gets January hearing

Robert Perea, Reno Gazette Journal
December 17, 2013

The Yerington land bill awaiting action in Congress will get its hearing in January.

Republican Mark Amodei (NV-2) and Democrat Steven Horsford (NV-4) announced Dec. 12 that House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings has scheduled H.R. 696, the Lyon County Economic Development and Conservation Act, for markup for a hearing in January.

“I am grateful to Chairman Hastings for his show of support today, which is very good news indeed for Northern Nevada,” Amodei said. “We’ve come a long way from passing the Yerington bill in the House last Congress as an economic development measure to this Congress — advancing what should be a comprehensive group of bills for the Silver State. I look forward to continuing this effort with my colleagues and to a productive markup in January.”

“I am pleased to hear that this important legislation will be among the bills considered for a committee vote early next year by the House Natural Resources Committee” Horsford said.

“The Yerington jobs bill is a commonsense piece of legislation with bipartisan support. It is not about getting credit for passing a bill; it is about getting Lyon County and Nevada back to work. I will work with every member of the committee to ensure that this bill is passed and becomes law next year.”

Hastings said he had hoped that a last markup of the year would occur this week but said the committee will look to continue to continue the work in January that it began this week.

The bill would allow the city of Yerington to acquire 10,400 acres of federal land east of Yerington, now under the Bureau of Land Management. Nevada Copper would fund the acquisition, which would allow it to obtain permits through the state of Nevada instead of the BLM, allowing Nevada Copper to develop a larger mining operation, and sooner than if permits BLM permits were required.

The city would receive property and net proceeds tax from the land, while some of the land would be used for other economic development, recreation and community event facilities.

The bill also would designate the Wovoka Wilderness on approximately 48,000 acres in southern Lyon County.

Officials were happy with the work the bill will finally get its hearing, although many were disappointed it didn’t happen before Congress adjourned for the holidays.

“We were all hoping it would pass out of committee this year, but we understand the circumstances,” said Tim Dyhr, Nevada Copper vice president, environment and external relations. “It’s ready for the printer; they just ran out of time to get it on the agenda this year.”

The House will convene Jan. 6. Dyhr said he hopes the bill will be placed on the calendar immediately.

“If I was chairman, I’d put it in the calendar for Jan. 7,” Dyhr said.

Yerington Mayor George Dini said the news was what he’d been hoping to hear.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” Dini said. “I can’t emphasize how important it is to get this done. It’s the future of this community, and now is the time to get it done.”

Lyon County Commissioner Virgil Arellano said although he is frustrated and disappointed the legislation did not pass this year, he is optimistic now that Hastings publicly committed to schedule action by the Committee on Natural Resources in early January.

“Our Nevada Congressional Delegation as well as local and state leadership unanimously supports this legislation,” Arellano said. “Both Congressman Amodei and Horsford have worked tirelessly to expedite passage. It’s fourth and goal at the 1-foot line; we need to cross the goal line. The citizens of Yerington and the residents of Lyon County have endured for almost four years and deserve this win.”