Wildlife Refuge Conservation and Recreation for the Community Act

IB Union Calendar No. 216 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 972 [Report No. 117–294] To establish the Western Riverside County Wildlife Refuge, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 11, 2021 Mr. CALVERT (for himself and Mr. TAKANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources APRIL 25, 2022 Additional sponsor: Mr. AGUILAR APRIL 25, 2022 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources; committed to the Com- mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Apr 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H972.RH H972 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 972 RH A BILL To establish the Western Riverside County Wildlife Refuge, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Apr 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H972.RH H972 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 972 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wildlife Refuge Con- 4 servation and Recreation for the Community Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF WESTERN RIVERSIDE COUNTY 6 NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior (in 8 this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), acting 9 through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, shall 10 establish as a national wildlife refuge the lands, waters, 11 and interests therein acquired under subsection (g). The 12 national wildlife refuge shall be known as the ‘‘Western 13 Riverside County National Wildlife Refuge’’ (in this sec- 14 tion referred to as the ‘‘Wildlife Refuge’’). 15 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Wildlife Refuge 16 shall be— 17 (1) to conserve, manage, and restore wildlife 18 habitats for the benefit of present and future gen- 19 erations of Americans; 20 (2) to conserve species listed as threatened or 21 endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 22 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) or the California En- 23 dangered Species Act (California Fish and Game 24 Code 2050–2068), or which is a covered species 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Apr 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H972.RH H972 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 972 RH under the Western Riverside County Multiple Spe- 1 cies Habitat Conservation Plan; 2 (3) to support the recovery and protection of 3 threatened and endangered species under the En- 4 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 5 seq.); and 6 (4) to provide for wildlife habitat connectivity 7 and migratory corridors within the Western River- 8 side County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation 9 Plan Area. 10 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 11 gress that the Secretary shall seek to acquire land, water, 12 or interests therein (including conservation easements), or 13 sufficient to satisfy the goals established in the Multiple 14 Species Habitat Conservation Plan, within the acquisition 15 boundaries pursuant to this section, including but not lim- 16 ited to those which have been heretofore or may be herein- 17 after acquired by the Western Riverside County Regional 18 Conservation Authority for Purposes of the Multiple Spe- 19 cies Habitat Conservation Plan. 20 (d) NOTIFICATION OF ESTABLISHMENT.—The Sec- 21 retary shall publish notice of the establishment of the 22 Wildlife Refuge in the Federal Register. 23 (e) ACQUISITION BOUNDARIES.—The Secretary shall 24 establish the acquisition boundaries of the Wildlife Refuge 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Apr 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H972.RH H972 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 972 RH as the lands and waters within the Western Riverside 1 County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan Area 2 (as depicted on maps and described in the Final Western 3 Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation 4 Plan dated June 17, 2003). 5 (f) ADMINISTRATION.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the establishment of 7 the Wildlife Refuge and thereafter, the Secretary 8 shall administer all federally owned lands, waters, 9 and interests in the Wildlife Refuge in accordance 10 with the National Wildlife Refuge System Adminis- 11 tration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et seq.) and 12 this section. The Secretary may use such additional 13 statutory authority as may be available to the Sec- 14 retary for the conservation, management, recovery 15 and restoration of fish and wildlife and habitat, the 16 development of compatible wildlife dependent out- 17 door recreation opportunities, and the facilitation of 18 fish and wildlife interpretation and education as the 19 Secretary considers appropriate to carry out the pur- 20 poses of this section and serve the objectives of the 21 Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat 22 Conservation Plan. 23 (2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS REGARDING 24 NON-FEDERAL LANDS.—The Secretary may enter 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Apr 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H972.RH H972 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 972 RH into cooperative agreements with the State of Cali- 1 fornia, any political subdivision thereof, or any other 2 person— 3 (A) for the management, in a manner con- 4 sistent with this section and the Western River- 5 side County Multiple Species Habitat Conserva- 6 tion Plan, of lands that are owned by such 7 State, subdivision, or other person and located 8 within the acquisition boundaries of the Wildlife 9 Refuge; 10 (B) to promote public awareness of the 11 natural resources of the Western Riverside 12 County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation 13 Plan Area; or 14 (C) to encourage public participation in the 15 conservation of those resources. 16 (g) ACQUISITION AND TRANSFERS OF LANDS AND 17 WATERS FOR WILDLIFE REFUGE.— 18 (1) ACQUISITIONS.—The Secretary shall ac- 19 quire by donation, purchase with appropriated 20 funds, or exchange such lands and waters, or inter- 21 ests therein (including conservation easements), as 22 they become available, that will achieve the purposes 23 of subsection (b), within the acquisition boundaries 24 of the Wildlife Refuge, except that the lands, waters, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Apr 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H972.RH H972 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 972 RH and interests therein owned by the State of Cali- 1 fornia and its political subdivisions may be acquired 2 only by donation. 3 (2) TRANSFERS.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The head of any Fed- 5 eral department or agency, including any agen- 6 cy within the Department of the Interior, that 7 has jurisdiction of any Federal property located 8 within the boundaries of the Wildlife Refuge as 9 described by this section shall, not later than 1 10 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 11 submit to the Secretary an assessment of the 12 suitability of such property for inclusion in the 13 Wildlife Refuge. 14 (B) ASSESSMENT.—Any assessment under 15 subparagraph (A) shall include— 16 (i) parcel descriptions and best exist- 17 ing land surveys for such property; 18 (ii) a list of existing special reserva- 19 tions designations, or purposes of the prop- 20 erty; 21 (iii) a list of all known or suspected 22 hazardous substance contamination of such 23 property, and any facilities, surface water, 24 or groundwater on such property; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Apr 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H972.RH H972 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 972 RH (iv) the status of withdrawal of such 1 property from— 2 (I) the Mineral Leasing Act (30 3 U.S.C. 181 et seq.); and 4 (II) the General Mining Act of 5 1872 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.); and 6 (v) a recommendation as to whether 7 such property is or is not suitable for in- 8 clusion in the Wildlife Refuge, and the rea- 9 sons supporting the recommendation. 10 (C) INCLUSION IN WILDLIFE REFUGE.— 11 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 12 shall, not later than 60 days after receiving 13 an assessment submitted pursuant to sub- 14 paragraph (A), determine if the property 15 described in such assessment is suitable for 16 inclusion in the Wildlife Refuge. 17 (ii) TRANSFER.—If the Secretary de- 18 termines the property in an assessment 19 submitted under subparagraph (A) is suit- 20 able for inclusion in the Wildlife Refuge, 21 the head of the Federal department or 22 agency that has jurisdiction of such prop- 23 erty shall transfer such property to the ad- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Apr 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H972.RH H972 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 972 RH ministrative jurisdiction of the Secretary 1 for the purposes of this section. 2 (D) PROPERTY UNSUITABLE FOR INCLU- 3 SION.—Property determined by the Secretary to 4 be unsuitable for inclusion in the Wildlife Ref- 5 uge based on an assessment submitted under 6 subparagraph (A) shall be subsequently trans- 7 ferred to the Secretary for purposes of this sec- 8 tion by the head of the department or agency 9 that has jurisdiction of such property if such 10 property becomes suitable for inclusion in the 11 Wildlife Refuge as determined by the Secretary 12 in consultation with the head of the department 13 or agency that has jurisdiction of such prop- 14 erty. 15 (E) PUBLIC ACCESS.—If property trans- 16 ferred to the Secretary under this paragraph al- 17 lows for public access at the time of transfer, 18 such access shall be maintained unless such ac- 19 cess— 20 (i) would be incompatible with the 21 purposes of the Wildlife Refuge; 22 (ii) would jeopardize public health or 23 safety; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Apr 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H972.RH H972 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 972 RH (iii) must be limited due to emergency 1 circumstances. 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Apr 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H972.RH H972 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Apr 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H972.RH H972 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No. 216 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 972 [Report No. 117–294] A BILL To establish the Western Riverside County Wildlife Refuge, and for other purposes. APRIL 25, 2022 Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Apr 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H972.RH H972 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS