S252SEP16

TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending September 16, 2005

S.252 A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land in Washoe County, Nevada, to the Board of Regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada.

BRIEF

“S. 252 directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey, without consideration, approximately 467 acres of land in Washoe County, Nevada, to the Board of Regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada. The land in question, which is located in Reno, Nevada, was patented to the University and Community College System of Nevada in the 1970's and is now known as the Dandini Research Park. The site is used by the Desert Research Institute and Truckee Meadows Community College.

“Because patents were issued under the authority of the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, the Board of Regents is limited by the terms of the patents as to how it can use the property. The patent terms and conditions prohibit the Board of Regents from transferring control of the property or using it for other than public purposes. These limitations are preventing the Board of Regents from developing a University-sponsored research park that would provide for technology transfer, science-based economic development and partnering among academic, governmental and industrial sectors in Nevada. The terms of the patents also restrict the Board of Regents from using the land as security or collateral for private financing of buildings on the site.

“S. 252 will allow the Board of Regents to continue with the development of the Dandini Research Park while ensuring that the net proceeds of any future sale of the site be returned to the Secretary of the Interior for use by the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada.” {From the committee report}

Sponsor: Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)

Vote: Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent (July 29, 2005)

Cost to the taxpayers: “CBO estimates that enacting S. 252 would have no significant impact on the federal budget and no effect on revenues.”