California Desert Protection and Recreation Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 376 To provide for conservation, enhanced recreation opportunities, and develop- ment of renewable energy in the California Desert Conservation Area, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2019 Mr. COOK (for himself, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. VARGAS, and Mr. RUIZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To provide for conservation, enhanced recreation opportuni- ties, and development of renewable energy in the Cali- fornia Desert Conservation Area, and for other purposes. 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘California Desert Protection and Recreation Act of 5 2019’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 7 this Act is as follows: 8 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H376.IH H376 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 376 IH TITLE I—DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS IN THE CALIFORNIA DESERT CONSERVATION AREA Sec. 101. California desert conservation and recreation. TITLE II—DESIGNATION OF SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA Sec. 201. Vinagre Wash Special Management Area. TITLE III—NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM ADDITIONS Sec. 301. Death Valley National Park Boundary revision. Sec. 302. Mojave National Preserve. Sec. 303. Joshua Tree National Park. TITLE IV—OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE RECREATION AREAS Sec. 401. Off-highway vehicle recreation areas. TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS Sec. 501. Transfer of land to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Sec. 502. Wildlife corridors. Sec. 503. Prohibited uses of acquired, donated, and conservation land. Sec. 504. Tribal uses and interests. Sec. 505. Release of Federal reversionary land interests. Sec. 506. California State school land. Sec. 507. Designation of wild and scenic rivers. Sec. 508. Conforming amendments. Sec. 509. Juniper Flats. Sec. 510. Conforming amendments to California Military Lands Withdrawal and Overflights Act of 1994. Sec. 511. Desert tortoise conservation center. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) CONSERVATION AREA.—The term ‘‘Con- 3 servation Area’’ means the California Desert Con- 4 servation Area. 5 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 6 means— 7 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re- 8 spect to land administered by the Department 9 of the Interior; or 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H376.IH H376 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 376 IH (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re- 1 spect to National Forest System land. 2 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 3 of California. 4 TITLE I—DESIGNATION OF WIL- 5 DERNESS IN THE CALIFORNIA 6 DESERT CONSERVATION 7 AREA 8 SEC. 101. CALIFORNIA DESERT CONSERVATION AND 9 RECREATION. 10 (a) DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS AREAS TO BE 11 ADMINISTERED BY THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGE- 12 MENT.—Section 102 of the California Desert Protection 13 Act of 1994 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–433; 14 108 Stat. 4472) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 15 lowing: 16 ‘‘(70) AVAWATZ MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS.— 17 Certain land in the California Desert Conservation 18 Area administered by the Director of the Bureau of 19 Land Management, comprising approximately 20 89,500 acres, as generally depicted on the map enti- 21 tled ‘Proposed Avawatz Mountains Wilderness’ and 22 dated November 7, 2018, to be known as the 23 ‘Avawatz Mountains Wilderness’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H376.IH H376 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 376 IH ‘‘(71) GREAT FALLS BASIN WILDERNESS.—Cer- 1 tain land in the California Desert Conservation Area 2 administered by the Director of the Bureau of Land 3 Management, comprising approximately 7,810 acres, 4 as generally depicted on the map entitled ‘Proposed 5 Great Falls Basin Wilderness’ and dated November 6 7, 2018, to be known as the ‘Great Falls Basin Wil- 7 derness’. 8 ‘‘(72) SODA MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS.—Cer- 9 tain land in the California Desert Conservation 10 Area, administered by the Bureau of Land Manage- 11 ment, comprising approximately 80,090 acres, as 12 generally depicted on the map entitled ‘Proposed 13 Soda Mountains Wilderness’ and dated November 7, 14 2018, to be known as the ‘Soda Mountains Wilder- 15 ness’. 16 ‘‘(73) MILPITAS WASH WILDERNESS.—Certain 17 land in the California Desert Conservation Area, ad- 18 ministered by the Bureau of Land Management, 19 comprising approximately 17,250 acres, depicted as 20 ‘Proposed Milpitas Wash Wilderness’ on the map en- 21 titled ‘Proposed Vinagre Wash Special Management 22 Area and Proposed Wilderness’ and dated December 23 4, 2018, to be known as the ‘Milpitas Wash Wilder- 24 ness’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H376.IH H376 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 376 IH ‘‘(74) BUZZARDS PEAK WILDERNESS.—Certain 1 land in the California Desert Conservation Area, ad- 2 ministered by the Bureau of Land Management, 3 comprising approximately 11,840 acres, depicted as 4 ‘Proposed Buzzards Peak Wilderness’ on the map 5 entitled ‘Proposed Vinagre Wash Special Manage- 6 ment Area and Proposed Wilderness’ and dated De- 7 cember 4, 2018, to be known as the ‘Buzzards Peak 8 Wilderness’.’’. 9 (b) ADDITIONS TO EXISTING WILDERNESS AREAS 10 ADMINISTERED BY THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGE- 11 MENT.—In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness 12 Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the following land in the 13 State is designated as wilderness and as components of 14 the National Wilderness Preservation System: 15 (1) GOLDEN VALLEY WILDERNESS.—Certain 16 land in the Conservation Area administered by the 17 Director of the Bureau of Land Management, com- 18 prising approximately 1,250 acres, as generally de- 19 picted on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Golden Valley 20 Wilderness Addition’’ and dated November 7, 2018, 21 which shall be added to and administered as part of 22 the ‘‘Golden Valley Wilderness’’. 23 (2) KINGSTON RANGE WILDERNESS.—Certain 24 land in the Conservation Area administered by the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H376.IH H376 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 376 IH Director of the Bureau of Land Management, com- 1 prising approximately 52,410 acres, as generally de- 2 picted on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Kingston 3 Range Wilderness Additions’’ and dated November 4 7, 2018, which shall be added to and administered 5 as part of the ‘‘Kingston Range Wilderness’’. 6 (3) PALO VERDE MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS.— 7 Certain land in the Conservation Area administered 8 by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, 9 comprising approximately 9,350 acres, depicted as 10 ‘‘Proposed Palo Verde Mountains Wilderness Addi- 11 tions’’ on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Vinagre Wash 12 Special Management Area and Proposed Wilder- 13 ness’’ and dated December 4, 2018, which shall be 14 added to and administered as part of the ‘‘Palo 15 Verde Mountains Wilderness’’. 16 (4) INDIAN PASS MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS.— 17 Certain land in the Conservation Area administered 18 by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, 19 comprising approximately 10,860 acres, depicted as 20 ‘‘Proposed Indian Pass Wilderness Additions’’ on 21 the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Vinagre Wash Special 22 Management Area and Proposed Wilderness’’ and 23 dated December 4, 2018, which shall be added to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H376.IH H376 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 376 IH and administered as part of the ‘‘Indian Pass Moun- 1 tains Wilderness’’. 2 (c) DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS AREAS TO BE 3 ADMINISTERED BY THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.—In 4 furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act (16 5 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) the following land in Death Valley 6 National Park is designated as wilderness and as a compo- 7 nent of the National Wilderness Preservation System, 8 which shall be added to, and administered as part of the 9 Death Valley National Park Wilderness established by sec- 10 tion 601(a)(1) of the California Desert Protection Act of 11 1994 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 103–433; 108 12 Stat. 4496): 13 (1) DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK WILDER- 14 NESS ADDITIONS-NORTH EUREKA VALLEY.—Ap- 15 proximately 11,496 acres, as generally depicted on 16 the map entitled ‘‘Death Valley National Park Pro- 17 posed Wilderness Area-North Eureka Valley’’, num- 18 bered 143/100,082D, and dated November 1, 2018. 19 (2) DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK WILDER- 20 NESS ADDITIONS-IBEX.—Approximately 23,650 21 acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled 22 ‘‘Death Valley National Park Proposed Wilderness 23 Area-Ibex’’, numbered 143/100,081D, and dated No- 24 vember 1, 2018. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H376.IH H376 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 376 IH (3) DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK WILDER- 1 NESS ADDITIONS-PANAMINT VALLEY.—Approxi- 2 mately 4,807 acres, as generally depicted on the 3 map entitled ‘‘Death Valley National Park Proposed 4 Wilderness Area-Panamint Valley’’, numbered 143/ 5 100,083D, and dated November 1, 2018. 6 (4) DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK WILDER- 7 NESS ADDITIONS-WARM SPRINGS.—Approximately 8 10,485 acres, as generally depicted on the map enti- 9 tled ‘‘Death Valley National Park Proposed Wilder- 10 ness Area-Warm Spring Canyon/Galena Canyon’’, 11 numbered 143/100,084D, and dated November 1, 12 2018. 13 (5) DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK WILDER- 14 NESS ADDITIONS-AXE HEAD.—Approximately 8,638 15 acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled 16 ‘‘Death Valley National Park Proposed Wilderness 17 Area-Axe Head’’, numbered 143/100,085D, and 18 dated November 1, 2018. 19 (6) DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK WILDER- 20 NESS ADDITIONS-BOWLING ALLEY.—Approximately 21 28,923 acres, as generally depicted on the map enti- 22 tled ‘‘Death Valley National Park Proposed Wilder- 23 ness Area-Bowling Alley’’, numbered 143/128,606A, 24 and dated November 1, 2018. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H376.IH H376 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 376 IH (d) ADDITIONS TO EXISTING WILDERNESS AREA AD- 1 MINISTERED BY THE FOREST SERVICE.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the pur- 3 poses of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 4 seq.), the land described in paragraph (2)— 5 (A) is designated as wilderness and as a 6 component of the National Wilderness Preser- 7 vation System; and 8 (B) shall be added to and administered as 9 part of the San Gorgonio Wilderness estab- 10 lished by the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 11 et seq.). 12 (2) DESCRIPTION OF LAND.—The land referred 13 to in paragraph (1) is certain land in the San 14 Bernardino National Forest, comprising approxi- 15 mately 7,141 acres, as generally depicted on the 16 map entitled ‘‘San Gorgonio Wilderness Additions— 17 Proposed’’ and dated November 7, 2018. 18 (3) FIRE MANAGEMENT AND RELATED ACTIVI- 19 TIES.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 21 carry out such activities in the wilderness area 22 designated by paragraph (1) as are necessary 23 for the control of fire, insects, and disease, in 24 accordance with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilder- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H376.IH H376 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 376 IH ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)) and House 1 Report 98–40 of the 98th Congress. 2 (B) FUNDING PRIORITIES.—Nothing in 3 this subsection limits the provision of any fund- 4 ing for fire or fuel management in the wilder- 5 ness area designated by paragraph (1). 6 (C) REVISION AND DEVELOPMENT OF 7 LOCAL FIRE MANAGEMENT PLANS.—As soon as 8 practicable after the date of enactment of this 9 Act, the Secretary shall amend the local fire 10 management plans that apply to the wilderness 11 area designated by paragraph (1). 12 (D) ADMINISTRATION.—In accordance 13 with subparagraph (A) and other applicable 14 Federal law, to ensure a timely and efficient re- 15 sponse to fire emergencies in the wilderness 16 area designated by paragraph (1), the Secretary 17 shall— 18 (i) not later than 1 year after the date 19 of enactment of this Act, establish agency 20 approval procedures (including appropriate 21 delegations of authority to the Forest Su- 22 pervisor, District Manager, or other agency 23 officials) for responding to fire emergencies 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H376.IH H376 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 376 IH in the wilderness area designated by para- 1 graph (1); and 2 (ii) enter into agreements with appro- 3 priate State or local firefighting agencies 4 relating to the wilderness area. 5 (e) EFFECT ON UTILITY FACILITIES AND RIGHTS- 6 OF-WAY.—Nothing in this section or an amendment made 7 by this section affects or precludes the renewal or reau- 8 thorization of any valid existing right-of-way or customary 9 operation, maintenance, repair, upgrading, or replacement 10 activities in a right-of-way acquired by or issued, granted, 11 or permitted to the Southern California Edison Company 12 or successors or assigns of the Southern California Edison 13 Company. 14 (f) RELEASE OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS.— 15 (1) FINDING.—Congress finds that, for pur- 16 poses of section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and 17 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782), any 18 portion of a wilderness study area described in para- 19 graph (2) that is not designated as a wilderness 20 area, or a wilderness addition by this Act (including 21 an amendment made by this Act) or any other Act 22 enacted before the date of enactment of this Act has 23 been adequately studied for wilderness designation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H376.IH H376 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 376 IH (2) DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREAS.—The 1 study areas referred to in subsection (a) are— 2 (A) the Cady Mountains Wilderness Study 3 Area; 4 (B) the Soda Mountains Wilderness Study 5 Area; 6 (C) the Kingston Range Wilderness Study 7 Area; 8 (D) the Avawatz Mountain Wilderness 9 Study Area; 10 (E) the Death Valley 17 Wilderness Study 11 Area; and 12 (F) the Great Falls Basin Wilderness 13 St [Text truncated for display. 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