Congress OKs second valley airport

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2000 | 11:08 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Congress on Tuesday approved a plan for Las Vegas to join a "unique class" of cities with two airports, Nevada lawmakers said.

"We came a long way from this bill having no chance of passing to a point where everyone in Congress could agree," Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said.

Now that the bill has won final House approval, it heads to President Clinton, who is likely to sign it.

The bill allows Clark County to buy about 6,500 acres of dry-lake bed about 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas, currently managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management. The land had an estimated value of $13 million at last appraisal.

The county plans to construct a $500 million, two-runway airport that could open in nine or 10 years. That's when McCarran International Airport will near its capacity of 55 million passengers a year, local officials say. The new airport will keep Las Vegas' tourism-driven economy humming, they say.

The bill at times had an arduous path through Congress. Environmentalists said the facility would harm the 1.6 million-acre Mojave National Preserve just inside the California border. So did California's senators.

But in a series of meetings with local and national environmental groups Nevada officials chipped away at some compromises. Now the bill is palatable -- though still not popular -- with environmental groups.

Among the changes:

"This demonstrates that you can be sensitive to the environment and still be pro-business," Berkley said. "You don't have to choose between the two."

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., authored the early versions of the bill and fought for it from the beginning, despite their party differences.

"Congressman Gibbons and I have worked closely together to ensure we are providing the best possible solution to accommodate the dynamic residential and tourism growth in Southern Nevada," Reid said.

Still, environmental leaders are holding out hope Ivanpah never gets built. They vow to watch for any missteps in the environmental studies.

"In an ideal world, NPCA would like to have not seen this bill at all," said Marcia Argust, lobbyist with the National Parks Conservation Association. "We are not thrilled with the final outcome, but some language changes improve the public input process and environmental review process."

Environmentalists also are concerned the airport will promote urban sprawl as tourist and construction businesses leapfrog out into the desert to meet the airport.

"I appreciate the efforts that were made (to change the bill)," said Anne Martin, a field director now based in Reno for the group American Lands who watched the Ivanpah plan develop. "I'm still concerned about the effect of the airport on the surrounding environment."

Environmentalists are worried officials won't really consider other sites; Nevada's lawmakers say there are no other sites.

Ultimately, the airport could spoil the silent landscape of the preserve located just 10 miles away, environmentalists say. Planes landing and taking off could stress the desert tortoise and bighorn sheep, they say.

"At 10,000 feet you are talking about a lot of (airplane) noise," Argust said.

But Nevada lawmakers said the airport planning process will ensure planes do not rattle the wildlife or harm the desert landscape.

"This bill addresses the issues of expansion and infrastructure and prepares Clark County for the 21st century," Gibbons said.