Central Coast Heritage Protection Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2545 To designate certain Federal land in the State of California as wilderness. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 10, 2023 Mr. CARBAJAL (for himself, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. CHU, and Mr. HUFFMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To designate certain Federal land in the State of California as wilderness. 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 ‘‘Central Coast Heritage 4 Protection Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) SCENIC AREAS.—The term ‘‘scenic area’’ 8 means a scenic area designated by section 408(a). 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2545.IH H2545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2545 IH (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 1 means— 2 (A) with respect to land managed by the 3 Bureau of Land Management, the Secretary of 4 the Interior; and 5 (B) with respect to land managed by the 6 Forest Service, the Secretary of Agriculture. 7 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 8 of California. 9 (4) WILDERNESS AREA.—The term ‘‘wilderness 10 area’’ means a wilderness area or wilderness addi- 11 tion designated by section 403(a). 12 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the Wilderness 14 Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the following areas in the 15 State are designated as wilderness areas and as compo- 16 nents of the National Wilderness Preservation System: 17 (1) Certain land in the Bakersfield Field Office 18 of the Bureau of Land Management comprising ap- 19 proximately 35,116 acres, as generally depicted on 20 the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Caliente Mountain Wil- 21 derness’’ and dated November 13, 2019, which shall 22 be known as the ‘‘Caliente Mountain Wilderness’’. 23 (2) Certain land in the Bakersfield Field Office 24 of the Bureau of Land Management comprising ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2545.IH H2545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2545 IH proximately 13,332 acres, as generally depicted on 1 the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Soda Lake Wilderness’’ 2 and dated June 25, 2019, which shall be known as 3 the ‘‘Soda Lake Wilderness’’. 4 (3) Certain land in the Bakersfield Field Office 5 of the Bureau of Land Management comprising ap- 6 proximately 12,585 acres, as generally depicted on 7 the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Temblor Range Wilder- 8 ness’’ and dated June 25, 2019, which shall be 9 known as the ‘‘Temblor Range Wilderness’’. 10 (4) Certain land in the Los Padres National 11 Forest comprising approximately 23,670 acres, as 12 generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Chumash 13 Wilderness Area Additions—Proposed’’ and dated 14 March 29, 2019, which shall be incorporated into 15 and managed as part of the Chumash Wilderness as 16 designated by the Los Padres Condor Range and 17 River Protection Act (Public Law 102–301; 106 18 Stat. 242). 19 (5) Certain land in the Los Padres National 20 Forest comprising approximately 54,036 acres, as 21 generally depicted on the maps entitled ‘‘Dick Smith 22 Wilderness Area Additions—Proposed Map 1 of 2 23 (Bear Canyon and Cuyama Peak Units)’’ and ‘‘Dick 24 Smith Wilderness Area Additions—Proposed Map 2 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2545.IH H2545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2545 IH of 2 (Buckhorn and Mono Units)’’ and dated No- 1 vember 14, 2019, which shall be incorporated into 2 and managed as part of the Dick Smith Wilderness 3 as designated by the California Wilderness Act of 4 1984 (Public Law 98–425; 16 U.S.C. 1132 note). 5 (6) Certain land in the Los Padres National 6 Forest and the Bakersfield Field Office of the Bu- 7 reau of Land Management comprising approximately 8 7,289 acres, as generally depicted on the map enti- 9 tled ‘‘Garcia Wilderness Area Additions—Proposed’’ 10 and dated March 29, 2019, which shall be incor- 11 porated into and managed as part of the Garcia Wil- 12 derness as designated by the Los Padres Condor 13 Range and River Protection Act (Public Law 102– 14 301; 106 Stat. 242). 15 (7) Certain land in the Los Padres National 16 Forest and the Bakersfield Field Office of the Bu- 17 reau of Land Management comprising approximately 18 8,774 acres, as generally depicted on the map enti- 19 tled ‘‘Machesna Mountain Wilderness—Proposed 20 Additions’’ and dated October 30, 2019, which shall 21 be incorporated into and managed as part of the 22 Machesna Mountain Wilderness as designated by the 23 California Wilderness Act of 1984 (Public Law 98– 24 425; 16 U.S.C. 1132 note). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2545.IH H2545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2545 IH (8) Certain land in the Los Padres National 1 Forest comprising approximately 30,184 acres, as 2 generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Matilija Wil- 3 derness Area Additions—Proposed’’ and dated 4 March 29, 2019, which shall be incorporated into 5 and managed as part of the Matilija Wilderness as 6 designated by the Los Padres Condor Range and 7 River Protection Act (Public Law 102–301; 106 8 Stat. 242). 9 (9) Certain land in the Los Padres National 10 Forest comprising approximately 23,969 acres, as 11 generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘San Rafael 12 Wilderness Area Additions—Proposed’’ and dated 13 February 2, 2021, which shall be incorporated into 14 and managed as part of the San Rafael Wilderness 15 as designated by Public Law 90–271 (82 Stat. 51), 16 the California Wilderness Act of 1984 (Public Law 17 98–425; 16 U.S.C. 1132 note), and the Los Padres 18 Condor Range and River Protection Act (Public Law 19 102–301; 106 Stat. 242). 20 (10) Certain land in the Los Padres National 21 Forest comprising approximately 2,921 acres, as 22 generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Santa Lucia 23 Wilderness Area Additions—Proposed’’ and dated 24 March 29, 2019, which shall be incorporated into 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2545.IH H2545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2545 IH and managed as part of the Santa Lucia Wilderness 1 as designated by the Endangered American Wilder- 2 ness Act of 1978 (Public Law 95–237; 16 U.S.C. 3 1132 note). 4 (11) Certain land in the Los Padres National 5 Forest comprising approximately 14,313 acres, as 6 generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Sespe Wil- 7 derness Area Additions—Proposed’’ and dated 8 March 29, 2019, which shall be incorporated into 9 and managed as part of the Sespe Wilderness as 10 designated by the Los Padres Condor Range and 11 River Protection Act (Public Law 102–301; 106 12 Stat. 242). 13 (12) Certain land in the Los Padres National 14 Forest comprising approximately 17,870 acres, as 15 generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Diablo 16 Caliente Wilderness Area—Proposed’’ and dated 17 March 29, 2019, which shall be known as the ‘‘Dia- 18 blo Caliente Wilderness’’. 19 (b) MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 21 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 22 shall file maps and legal descriptions of the wilder- 23 ness areas with— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2545.IH H2545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2545 IH (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 1 Resources of the Senate; and 2 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 3 of the House of Representatives. 4 (2) FORCE OF LAW.—The maps and legal de- 5 scriptions filed under paragraph (1) shall have the 6 same force and effect as if included in this Act, ex- 7 cept that the Secretary may correct any clerical and 8 typographical errors in the maps and legal descrip- 9 tions. 10 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The maps and 11 legal descriptions filed under paragraph (1) shall be 12 on file and available for public inspection in the ap- 13 propriate offices of the Forest Service and Bureau 14 of Land Management. 15 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF THE MACHESNA MOUNTAIN PO- 16 TENTIAL WILDERNESS. 17 (a) DESIGNATION.—In furtherance of the purposes of 18 the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain land 19 in the Los Padres National Forest comprising approxi- 20 mately 2,359 acres, as generally depicted on the map enti- 21 tled ‘‘Machesna Mountain Potential Wilderness’’ and 22 dated March 29, 2019, is designated as the Machesna 23 Mountain Potential Wilderness Area. 24 (b) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2545.IH H2545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2545 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 1 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 2 shall file a map and legal description of the 3 Machesna Mountain Potential Wilderness Area (re- 4 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘potential wilderness 5 area’’) with— 6 (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 7 Resources of the Senate; and 8 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 9 of the House of Representatives. 10 (2) FORCE OF LAW.—The map and legal de- 11 scription filed under paragraph (1) shall have the 12 same force and effect as if included in this Act, ex- 13 cept that the Secretary may correct any clerical and 14 typographical errors in the map and legal descrip- 15 tion. 16 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The map and legal 17 description filed under paragraph (1) shall be on file 18 and available for public inspection in the appropriate 19 offices of the Forest Service. 20 (c) MANAGEMENT.—Except as provided in subsection 21 (d) and subject to valid existing rights, the Secretary shall 22 manage the potential wilderness area in accordance with 23 the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2545.IH H2545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2545 IH (d) TRAIL USE, CONSTRUCTION, RECONSTRUCTION, 1 AND REALIGNMENT.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with para- 3 graph (2), the Secretary may reconstruct, realign, or 4 reroute the Pine Mountain Trail. 5 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In carrying out the recon- 6 struction, realignment, or rerouting under paragraph 7 (1), the Secretary shall— 8 (A) comply with all existing laws (including 9 regulations); and 10 (B) to the maximum extent practicable, 11 use the minimum tool or administrative practice 12 necessary to accomplish the reconstruction, re- 13 alignment, or rerouting with the least amount 14 of adverse impact on wilderness character and 15 resources. 16 (3) MOTORIZED VEHICLES AND MACHINERY.— 17 In accordance with paragraph (2), the Secretary 18 may use motorized vehicles and machinery to carry 19 out the trail reconstruction, realignment, or rerout- 20 ing authorized by this subsection. 21 (4) MOTORIZED AND MECHANIZED VEHI- 22 CLES.—The Secretary may permit the use of motor- 23 ized and mechanized vehicles on the existing Pine 24 Mountain Trail in accordance with existing law (in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2545.IH H2545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2545 IH cluding regulations) and this subsection until such 1 date as the potential wilderness area is designated 2 as wilderness in accordance with subsection (h). 3 (e) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 4 the Federal land in the potential wilderness area is with- 5 drawn from all forms of— 6 (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the 7 public land laws; 8 (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining 9 laws; and 10 (3) disposition under all laws pertaining to min- 11 eral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials. 12 (f) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—In carrying out 13 this section, the Secretary may enter into cooperative 14 agreements with State, Tribal, and local governmental en- 15 tities and private entities to complete the trail reconstruc- 16 tion, realignment, or rerouting authorized by subsection 17 (d). 18 (g) BOUNDARIES.—The Secretary shall modify the 19 boundary of the potential wilderness area to exclude any 20 area within 150 feet of the centerline of the new location 21 of any trail that has been reconstructed, realigned, or re- 22 routed under subsection (d). 23 (h) WILDERNESS DESIGNATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2545.IH H2545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2545 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The potential wilderness 1 area, as modified under subsection (g), shall be des- 2 ignated as wilderness and as a component of the Na- 3 tional Wilderness Preservation System on the earlier 4 of— 5 (A) the date on which the Secretary pub- 6 lishes in the Federal Register notice that the 7 trail reconstruction, realignment, or rerouting 8 authorized by subsection (d) has been com- 9 pleted; or 10 (B) the date that is 20 years after the date 11 of enactment of this Act. 12 (2) ADMINISTRATION OF WILDERNESS.—On 13 designation as wilderness under this section, the po- 14 tential wilderness area shall be— 15 (A) incorporated into the Machesna Moun- 16 tain Wilderness Area, as designated by the Cali- 17 fornia Wilderness Act of 1984 (Public Law 98– 18 425; 16 U.S.C. 1132 note) and expanded by 19 section 403; and 20 (B) administered in accordance with sec- 21 tion 405 and the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 22 1131 et seq.). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Apr 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2545.IH H2545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2545 IH SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION OF WILDERNESS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 2 the wilderness areas shall be administered by the Sec- 3 retary in accordance with this Act and the Wilderness Act 4 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), except that— 5 (1) any reference in the Wilderness Act (16 6 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) to the effective date of that Act 7 shall be considered to be a reference to the date of 8 enactment of this Act; and 9 (2) any reference in the Wilderness Act (16 10 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) to the Secretary of Agriculture 11 shall be considered to be a reference to the Secretary 12 that has jurisdiction over the wilderness area. 13 (b) FIRE MANAGEMENT AND RELATED ACTIVI- 14 TIES.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may take any 16 measures in a wilderness area as are necessary for 17 the control of fire, insects, and diseases in [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]