House OKs Swap of Santa Monicas Land for Site in Nevada : Properties: In the deal, Los Angeles would receive 5,882 acres for a power plant and a utility corridor for transmission lines. The measure still faces the Senate.

The House of Representatives approved land-swap legislation Wednesday that would preserve two pristine parcels in the Santa Monica Mountains as parkland and obtain federal land in Nevada for a power plant that the city of Los Angeles wants to build.

But the bill faces uncertain prospects in the Senate, where a key senator’s reservations could jeopardize chances of final passage.

Under the measure, the city of Los Angeles would transfer about 294 acres of Upper Franklin Canyon above Beverly Hills and about 98 acres of Corral Canyon above Malibu to the National Park Service. The centrally located properties, long coveted by environmentalists as well as developers, would become part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

In exchange, the city would receive about 5,882 acres of Nevada land owned by the Bureau of Land Management and a one-mile-wide utility corridor for transmission lines for a power plant that Los Angeles plans to build outside Henderson, Nev.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power estimates that it could eventually receive as much as 30% of its electricity from the proposed facility.

“Because of escalating land values in Los Angeles and budgetary pressures here in Washington, it is becoming increasingly difficult to rely solely on the appropriations process to acquire these valuable lands,” said Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), the proposal’s sponsor. “This bill provides a vehicle to obtain for the park service two very unique and valuable parcels.”

The DWP would still have to obtain various permits and meet stringent environmental standards under the bill before it could construct the plant, which is not expected to be completed until after the year 2000. The legislation would also establish a $5-million trust fund to purchase environmentally sensitive land in Nevada.

The House passed the measure on a voice vote. Rep. Barbara F. Vucanovich (R-Nev.) joined Berman in supporting it. They were opposed, however, by Rep. James H. Bilbray (D-Nev.), who declared, “Nevada is again being considered a wasteland for others.”

Bilbray’s opposition foreshadows potential problems in the Senate. The measure could be sidetracked unless the concerns of Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), in particular, are assuaged, congressional aides said.

“He’s opposed this type of land transfers in the past, where Nevada gets the short end of the stick,” a Reid aide said. “It’s very possible that could happen again with this.”

The Sierra Club opposes the proposed land swap, contending that it would degrade the environment in Nevada.

The measure had contained additional provisions that would have traded Elsmere Canyon near Santa Clarita to the city and county of Los Angeles to use as a dump. Berman removed those proposals, however, when it became apparent that the complex deal could not be finalized in time to pass a bill during the legislative session scheduled to end this month.