Environmentalists smell a rat in land-for-sewer plan

By Lisa Mascaro

Sunday, Nov. 26, 2006 | 7:41 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Auctioning off federal land in exchange for money that can be used to preserve environmentally sensitive acreage across Nevada was one compromise that environmentalists could accept.

But a new suggestion that the land proceeds be put toward a $750 million sewer line to handle urban growth in Las Vegas is not what they had in mind.

The provision is just one of a handful of amendments to the 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act before Congress that environmentalists complain would end up subsidizing sprawl.

The Sierra Club's Rose Strickland, water campaign coordinator for the Toiyabe Chapter that covers most of Nevada, said the federal government should not be "selling off the public lands in Southern Nevada to raise money to pay the costs of growth and development."

The Sierra Club and others are steamed about the amendments that they say came at the eleventh hour, despite years of discussion with Nevada's congressional delegation over the land bill.

Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, the incoming majority leader, has said he hopes to get the bill passed before Congress adjourns next month. However, action could be delayed if Republicans punt major spending bills - where bills like this could hitch a ride to passage - to the new Congress in January.

The sewer line funding, along with another provision that loosens rules for buying land at a discount in the name of affordable housing, are among the changes to the 1998 act tucked inside a land exchange bill sponsored by Reid and Republican Sen. John Ensign for White Pine County.

The senators say the changes are needed, arguing that the pipeline funding would help the water quality at Lake Mead while the development of more affordable housing would give working professionals greater opportunity to buy into Las Vegas' expensive real estate market.

Ensign's staffers said they would continue to work with the Sierra Club but believe the sewer project is worthy of federal land revenues.

"This is one of the best environmental projects we can do with these monies," said John Lopez, Ensign's deputy chief of staff.

The bill calls for taking an undisclosed sum from federal land sales in Las Vegas and devoting it to the wastewater pipeline.

The sewer project is needed to handle population growth expected to double the wastewater flowing into Lake Mead over the next 20 years, according to the government agency building the project. The pipeline is expected to be operating by 2012.

But environmentalists say the sewer project already has a funding source: higher rates on homebuilders and sewer customers.

Last month, the agency planning the pipeline project hit developers with a $400 sewer hook-up fee on new homes. That fee will rise to $812 in July 2007.

Similarly, existing residential sewer customers are seeing about a 75-cent rate hike in their monthly bills, while bigger users such as casino-resort hotels could see their monthly bills climb by as much as $3,500 a month.

The new fees will continue for the life of the sewer project, rising annually by 2 to 3 percent.

Eric Hawkins, a spokesman for the agency building the pipeline, said if the federal money comes through, the annual increases could be halted. The agency plans to revisit the issue every few years and determine whether the hikes are still necessary, he said.

If the agency receives federal help for the pipeline, "great," he said. "If we don't, we also have something in place."

The land bill for White Pine County is the third of its kind, modeled after the 1998 Southern Nevada act.

The bill has divided the environmental community, with many key wildlife and outdoors groups supporting plans to swap 45,000 developable acres for nearly 10 times as much wildlife land in that county.

But Janine Blaeloch, director of the Western Lands Projects in Seattle, which opposes the selling of public lands, said the amendments to the 1998 act chisel away at its foundation.

She opposes the affordable housing changes as a "gift to developers."

Under current law, developers can bid below market value for land if they pledge to build affordable housing for those earning about $47,000 a year. The proposal, however, would allow developers access to cut-rate land for homes for those earning about $70,000.

In essence, the change would mean developers could get discounted land for building new homes in the $250,000 range, rather than the current $165,000 range, according to various estimates.

"I actually don't think it's a bad idea to be subsidizing affordable housing, but when we start throwing money to developers to meet a looser standard, who are we helping?" Blaeloch said.

Reid and Ensign contend the change is needed because no affordable housing has been developed in the years since the original legislation was approved.

Middle-income teachers, nurses and public safety officials are among those who have difficulty affording Las Vegas homes on their salaries.

During the first half of 2006, the median price of a new home in Southern Nevada was $335,000 and the median price of a resale home was $290,000, property sale records show.

The Southern Nevada Home Builders Association supports lifting the price cap.

"We have an affordable and workforce housing crisis on the horizon in Southern Nevada," Reid spokesman Jon Summers said. "Our hardworking teachers, police, and other essential workers are being priced out of Las Vegas."