Arizona county gets 3,400 acres of federal land for solar—at fair market price
H.R. 1043 — La Paz County Solar Energy and Job Creation Act · Filed by Paul Gosar (R-AZ) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 6, 2025 · Signed
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What it does
This bill directs the Interior Department to sell approximately 3,400 acres of federal land in Arizona to La Paz County for fair market value. The county intends to develop the land for solar energy projects and job creation. The sale includes protections for tribal cultural artifacts and excludes any land with significant environmental, wildlife, or recreational resources.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a straightforward federal land sale to a county for solar development. It is a property transaction, not a subsidy or immunity grant, structured around fair-market-value compensation and environmental/cultural protections.
What the text implies
- Conveyance is contingent on county request and Secretary discretion on exclusions; if Secretary narrowly interprets 'significant' cultural/environmental resources, more sensitive land may be conveyed than intended.
- Tribal artifact protections rely on 'good faith efforts' and coordination with Colorado River Indian Tribes THPO, but enforcement mechanism and remedies for violations are not specified.
- Once conveyed, land is no longer subject to federal planning requirements (FLPMA §202–203 waived), reducing public input on future development.
- Proceeds flow to Federal Land Disposal Account per FLTFA, not directly to conservation or local programs, limiting visibility of how revenue is used.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens benefit from potential job creation and renewable energy development on previously idle federal land, and the county pays fair market value (no giveaway). However, citizens lose public ownership of 3,400 acres and any future public use or conservation value, and the bill's exclusion of culturally significant land depends on the Secretary's discretion, creating implementation risk.
Who stands to gain
- La Paz County (acquires 3,400 acres at fair market value for solar development)
- Solar energy developers (gain access to county-owned land for projects)
Named in the bill
La Paz County, Arizona, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Secretary of the Interior, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Federal Land Disposal Account, Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Republicans.
- Feb 6, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 6, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Apr 9, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Apr 9, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent”
- Jul 21, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3498-3499)”
- Jul 21, 2025 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Gosar moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
- Dec 16, 2025 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote. (consideration: CR S8766-8768)”
- Dec 18, 2025 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
- Dec 29, 2025 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-68”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $30,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 7 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Paul Gosar, the sponsor, reported $87,570 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- La Paz County, Arizona — $30,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,615 characters) on Apr 9, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Arizona county gets 3,400 acres of federal land for solar—at fair market price” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr1043 Report an error
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