California Desert Conservation Enhancement Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8849 To facilitate land exchanges in California between the California State Lands Commission and the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 3, 2020 Mr. COOK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To facilitate land exchanges in California between the Cali- fornia State Lands Commission and the Department of the Interior, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘California Desert Con- 4 servation Enhancement Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. CALIFORNIA STATE SCHOOL LAND. 6 Section 707 of the California Desert Protection Act 7 of 1994 (16 U.S.C. 410aaa–77) is amended— 8 (1) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 9 following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8849.IH H8849 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8849 IH ‘‘(5) SPECIAL DEPOSIT FUND ACCOUNT.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Assembled land ex- 2 changes may be used to carry out this section 3 through the sale of surplus Federal property 4 and subsequent acquisitions of State school 5 land. 6 ‘‘(B) RECEIPTS.—Past and future receipts 7 from the sale of property described in sub- 8 section (a), less any costs incurred related to 9 the sale, shall be deposited in a Special Deposit 10 Fund Account established in the Treasury. 11 ‘‘(C) USE.—Funds accumulated in the 12 Special Deposit Fund Account may be used by 13 the Secretary, without an appropriation, to ac- 14 quire State school lands or interest in the land 15 consistent with this section.’’; and 16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(e) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.— 18 ‘‘(1) TRANSACTIONS BEFORE JANUARY 1, 19 2018.—Any transaction completed pursuant to this 20 section before January 1, 2018— 21 ‘‘(A) is deemed to be in compliance with 22 the terms of the October 26, 1995, Memo- 23 randum of Agreement between the commission, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8849.IH H8849 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8849 IH the general services administration, and the 1 Secretary; and 2 ‘‘(B) meets the requirements of subsection 3 (a). 4 ‘‘(2) TRANSACTIONS ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 5 2018.—Any transaction completed pursuant to this 6 section on or after January 1, 2018, that satisfies 7 the terms of the October 26, 1995, Memorandum of 8 Agreement shall be considered to be in compliance 9 with subsection (a).’’. 10 SEC. 3. PROHIBITED USES OF ACQUIRED, DONATED, AND 11 CONSERVATION LAND. 12 Section 714(a) of the California Desert Protection 13 Act of 1994 (16 U.S.C. 410aaa–81c(a)) is amended by 14 striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 15 ‘‘(3) CONSERVATION LAND.—The term ‘con- 16 servation land’ means— 17 ‘‘(A) any land within the Conservation 18 Area that is designated to satisfy the conditions 19 of a Federal habitat conservation plan, general 20 conservation plan, or State natural communities 21 conservation plan; 22 ‘‘(B) any national conservation land within 23 the Conservation Area established pursuant to 24 section 2002(b)(2)(D) of the Omnibus Public 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8849.IH H8849 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8849 IH Land Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 1 7202(b)(2)(D)); and 2 ‘‘(C) any area of critical environmental 3 concern within the Conservation Area estab- 4 lished pursuant to section 202(c)(3) of the Fed- 5 eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 6 (43 U.S.C. 1712(c)(3)).’’. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8849.IH H8849 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS