In this law, “convey” means that the federal government (through the Department of the Interior/Bureau of Land Management) will permanently transfer ownership (title) of the roughly 3,400 acres to La Paz County in a sale for cash at fair market value. It is not a lease; it is a one‑time transfer of the land itself, subject to any valid existing rights already on the land.
Under H.R. 1043, Interior (through the Bureau of Land Management) must: (1) wait for La Paz County to submit a written request for the land; (2) have the land appraised to determine fair market value under federal appraisal standards; (3) prepare a legal description and process a patent (deed) conveying the land to the county, “subject to valid existing rights”; and (4) collect payment from the county before issuing the deed. The bill does not specify extra procedural steps beyond these standard federal land‑sale steps.
The law itself mainly addresses the land sale and does not waive environmental laws. After the county acquires the land, any solar or other development would still have to comply with applicable environmental reviews and permits (for example, under state law and any relevant federal laws that still apply). The federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) would have applied to Interior’s conveyance decision; the bill does not clearly exempt the conveyance or later projects from NEPA or other environmental requirements.
The bill requires that the land be sold to La Paz County for economic development tied to solar energy and job creation and that the conveyance is “subject to valid existing rights” on the land (such as the already‑issued solar right‑of‑way). It does not appear to impose detailed, ongoing federal land‑use restrictions beyond those conditions, so once the county owns the land it generally controls local zoning and use, so long as it honors existing rights and other applicable laws.
La Paz County will pay the federal government the fair market value of the roughly 3,400 acres. Fair market value is determined by an appraisal of the land conducted under the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions or similar federal standards, and Interior must use that appraised value as the sale price. The bill does not authorize any other entity to pay on the county’s behalf or to discount the price.
The law does not set a hard deadline for when the conveyance must be completed. It directs Interior to convey the land “upon request” by La Paz County and after the county pays fair market value, but the exact completion date will depend on when the county formally requests the land, how long appraisals and administrative processing take, and when payment is made. As of the bill’s signing (Dec. 29, 2025), no specific target completion date has been publicly announced.
H.R. 1043 was sponsored in the House by Rep. Paul A. Gosar (Republican, Arizona‑9). It passed the House on July 21, 2025, by a recorded vote of 357–62, and later passed the Senate by unanimous consent (voice vote) before being signed into law on December 29, 2025.