Swanson and Hugh Butler Reservoirs Land Conveyances Act
Public Law 118-185 · H.R. 8413 · 118th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Joe Biden (D) on Dec 23, 2024 · Water Resources Development
Sponsor: Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE-3)
Cosponsors (5): Rep. Mike Flood, Rep. Don Bacon,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
This act provides for the conveyance of certain federal lands located at the Swanson Reservoir and Hugh Butler Reservoir in Nebraska to Hitchcock County and Frontier County, respectively. The counties must manage the land for substantially the same purposes for which they are being used or for (1) certain public recreation purposes, (2) public access, (3) fish and wildlife habitat, or (4) the preservation of the natural character of the land.
Within three years, the Bureau of Reclamation must enter into negotiations to transfer (1) the Swanson Permitted Cabin Land, the Swanson Permitted Concession Land, and the Lakeview Lodge Permitted Concession Land to Hitchcock County; and (2) the Red Willow Permitted Cabin Land and the Red Willow Permitted Concession Land to Frontier County. Reclamation must offer to convey the land as soon as practicable after the title transfer agreement is made. The land must be conveyed in whole and not subdivided. Additionally, the act subjects the conveyances to certain existing rights and requirements. Further, the act limits future conveyances of the land.
Reclamation must enter into a memorandum of agreement with each county to establish and define the roles and responsibilities for actions required to convey the land.
The counties must provide compensation to the Reclamation Fund in an amount equal to the fair market value of the land. The counties must also pay the conveyance costs in advance of the conveyance.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Natural Resources Committee · House · discharged from, markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Related bills
The record lists no related bills.
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 21 actions.
- Dec 23, 2024Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 118-185.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Dec 17, 2024FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Dec 16, 2024FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- Dec 9, 2024CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate, read twice.
- Dec 5, 2024FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 8413.
- FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- Nov 14, 2024CalendarCalendar · Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 620.
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 118-735.
- Sep 19, 2024CommitteeCommittee · Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- CommitteeCommittee · Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Discharged
- Sep 10, 2024CommitteeCommittee · Subcommittee Hearings Held
- CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee
- Sep 9, 2024CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries.
- May 15, 2024CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
No amendments to this bill are on record.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.