PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Congressional Research Service
Version 55 · Passed Senate · Dec 18, 2024
Sloan Canyon Conservation and Lateral Pipeline Act
This bill expands the boundaries of the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area in Clark County, Nevada, and grants rights-of-way through the conservation area for the construction of a water transmission pipeline and related facilities.
Specifically, the bill requires the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which administers the conservation area, to grant certain rights-of-way to the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) for the purposes of (1) performing geotechnical investigations within the rights-of-way, and (2) constructing and operating a water pipeline and related facilities.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Rights-of-way may not be located through or under areas designated as wilderness, and construction of the pipeline may not permanently adversely affect surface resources within the conservation area. The BLM may place other reasonable terms and conditions on the issuance of rights-of-way as necessary to protect the conservation area’s resources. In tunneling the water pipeline, SNWA may excavate and dispose of sand, gravel, minerals, and other materials as needed. The BLM must enter into a memorandum of understanding with SNWA to identify federal land on which SNWA may dispose of such materials.
The bill also adds approximately 9,000 acres of land to the conservation area. This expansion of the conservation area is subject to valid existing rights (e.g., utility transmission rights), must not preclude authorized activities within existing rights-of-way or corridors, and must not preclude the BLM from authorizing new utility rights-of-way.
People & committees
Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] · D–NV
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Held at the desk.
Received in the House.
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S7166; text: CR S7166)
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 299.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Manchin with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 118-147.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Manchin with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 118-147.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 118-285.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.2042 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.2042 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.2042 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.2042 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.