Background
In the 2000 Ivanpah Valley Airport Public Lands Transfer Act (Public Law 106-362), Congress directed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), acting on behalf of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, to transfer property in Ivanpah Valley, Nevada to Clark County for the purpose of developing an airport facility and related infrastructure. That transfer of 5,752 acres has been completed. Other BLM Managed lands associated with the proposed airport would also be transferred to Clark County under the Clark County Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-282) and the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 (Public Law 113-291).
The 2000 Ivanpah Valley Airport Public Lands Transfer Act also directed the U.S. Departments of Transportation and the Interior to prepare a joint Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) “with respect to initial planning and construction” prior to construction of an airport facility and related infrastructure on the proposed Ivanpah site. However, in accordance with the Ivanpah Valley Airport Public Lands Transfer Act, should completion of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process lead to the determination that an airport should not be constructed at the site, it will be transferred back to BLM ownership.
NEPA Timeline of Events:
- September 5, 2006 – The FAA published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS for the proposed SNSA (71 FR 52367).
- January 25, 2008 – FAA published a Notice of Availability of the Draft Purpose and Need Working Paper for the Draft EIS which was available for public comment pursuant to Section 304 of the Vision 100 Century of Aviation Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-176) [49 U.S.C. § 47171(I)] (73 FR 4666).
- August 4, 2008 – FAA published a Notice of Availability of the Draft Alternatives Working Paper for the Draft EIS for public comment pursuant to Section 304 of the Vision 100 Century of Aviation Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-175) [49 U.S.C. § 47171] (73 FR 45268).
- June 29, 2010 – CCDOA requested FAA to suspend the EIS due to local economic conditions in Las Vegas, and Clark County, as well as other local fiscal and budgetary constraints.
- 2023 – Economic conditions in Clark County improved and passenger usage at LAS increased.
- 2025 – The FAA, in cooperation with the BLM, issued a NOI cancelling the EIS process, started in 2006, and initiated a new EIS and Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) process for the SNSA.
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Proposed Project:
Clark County Department of Aviation (CCDOA) is proposing the following development:
• Two parallel runways and supporting taxiway system
• Airport Traffic Control Tower
• Aircraft navigational aids for landing and takeoff
• Airspace and flight procedure changes
• Airport surveillance radar & Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), and a supplemental radar site
• Central terminal with Federal Inspection Service (FIS) facility
• New I-15 interchanges and improvements to existing interchange at Jean
• Support facilities
• Public, employee, and rental car parking
• Utilities
• Drainage/flood mitigation facilities
• Non-aeronautical development
The EIS/RMPA will include consideration of the 5,752 acres of previously transferred federally managed lands by the BLM in 2000, to Clark County for the new airport (Pub. L. 106-362). In addition to the 5,752 acres of previously transferred federally managed lands by the BLM, 2,320 acres for flood mitigation infrastructure shall be conveyed to Clark County upon an acceptable Record of Decision (ROD) under Public Law 113-291. Lastly, the approximately 17,000-acres designated as the Noise Compatibility Area around the proposed new airport, shall be conveyed to Clark County from the BLM upon an acceptable Record of Decision (ROD) under Public Law 107-282. This law also includes the establishment of the Ivanpah transportation and utilities corridor between the Las Vegas valley and the proposed SNSA for the placement, on a nonexclusive basis, of transportation and utilities infrastructure. Also associated with the EIS and in compliance with NEPA, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Las Vegas Field Office (LVFO) intends to prepare a resource management plan amendment (RMPA).
