[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1372 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1372

 To provide for the protection of farmland at the Point Reyes National 
                   Seashore, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 5, 1997

 Mrs. Boxer (for herself and Mrs. Feinstein) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the protection of farmland at the Point Reyes National 
                   Seashore, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Point Reyes National Seashore 
Farmland Protection Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to protect the pastoral nature of the land adjacent to 
        the Point Reyes National Seashore from development that would 
        be incompatible with the character, integrity, and visitor 
        experience of the park;
            (2) to create a model public/private partnership among the 
        Federal, State, and local governments, and as organizations and 
        citizens that will preserve and enhance the agricultural land 
        along Tomales and Bodega Bay Watersheds;
            (3) to protect the substantial Federal investment in Point 
        Reyes National Seashore by protecting land and water resources 
        and maintaining the relatively undeveloped nature of the land 
        surrounding Tomales and Bodega Bays; and
            (4) to preserve productive uses of land and waters in Marin 
        and Sonoma counties adjacent to Point Reyes National Seashore, 
        primarily by maintaining the land in private ownership 
        restricted by conservation easements.

SEC. 3. ADDITION OF FARMLAND PROTECTION AREA TO POINT REYES NATIONAL 
              SEASHORE AND ACQUISITION OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS.

    (a) Addition.--Section 2 of Public Law 87-657 (16 U.S.C. 459c-1) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Farmland Protection Area.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Point Reyes National Seashore shall 
        include the Farmland Protection Area depicted on the map 
        numbered 612/60,163 and dated July 1995, which shall be on file 
        and available for public inspection in the Offices of the 
        National Park Service of the Department of the Interior in 
        Washington, District of Columbia.
            ``(2) Objective.--Within the Farmland Protection Area 
        depicted on the map described in paragraph (1), the primary 
        objective shall be to maintain agricultural land in private 
        ownership protected from nonagricultural development by 
        conservation easements.''.
    (b) Farmland Acquisition and Management.--Section 3 of Public Law 
97-657 (16 U.S.C. 459c-2) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(d) Farmland Acquisition and Management.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsections (a) through 
        (c), the Secretary, to encourage continued agricultural use, 
        may acquire land or interests in land from the owners of the 
        land within the Farmland Protection Area depicted on the map 
        described in section 2(c).
            ``(2) Method of acquisition.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph 
                (4), land and interests in land may be acquired under 
                this subsection only by donation, purchase with donated 
                or appropriated funds, or exchange.
                    ``(B) Land acquired by exchange.--Land acquired 
                under this subsection by exchange may be exchanged for 
                land outside the State of California, notwithstanding 
                section 206(b) of the Federal Land Policy and 
                Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)).
            ``(3) Requirements.--
                    ``(A) Priority.--The Secretary shall give priority 
                to--
                            ``(i) acquiring interests in land through 
                        the purchase of development rights and 
                        conservation easements;
                            ``(ii) acquiring land and interests in land 
                        from nonprofit corporations operating primarily 
                        for conservation purposes; and
                            ``(iii) acquiring land and interests in 
                        land by donation or exchange.
                    ``(B) Conservation easements.--The Secretary shall 
                not acquire any conservation easement on land within 
                the Farmland Protection Area from a nonprofit 
organization that was acquired by the nonprofit organizations before 
January 1, 1997.
                    ``(C) Cooperative agreements.--For the purpose of 
                managing, in the most cost-effective manner, interests 
                in land acquired under this subsection, and for the 
                purpose of maintaining continuity with land that has an 
                easement on the date of enactment of this subsection, 
                the Secretary shall enter into cooperative agreements 
                with public agencies or nonprofit organizations having 
                substantial experience holding, monitoring, and 
                managing conservation easements on agricultural land in 
                the region, such as the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, 
                the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open 
                Space District, and the Sonoma Land Trust.
            ``(4) Regulation.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Within the boundaries of the 
                Farmland Protection Area depicted on the map described 
                in section 2(c)--
                            ``(i) absent an acquisition of privately 
                        owned land or an interest in land by the United 
                        States, nothing in this Act authorizes any 
                        Federal agency or official to regulate the use 
                        or enjoyment of privately owned land, including 
                        land that, on the date of enactment of this 
                        subsection, is subject to an easement held by 
                        the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, the Sonoma 
                        County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space 
                        District, or the Sonoma Land Trust; and
                            ``(ii) such privately owned land shall 
                        continue under the jurisdiction of the State 
                        and political subdivisions within which the 
                        land is located.
                    ``(B) Permits and leases.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Secretary may permit 
                        [What does this mean?], or lease, land acquired 
                        in fee under this subsection.
                            ``(ii) Consistency.--Any such permit or 
                        lease shall be consistent with the purposes of 
                        the Point Reyes National Seashore Farmland 
                        Protection Act of 1997.
                            ``(iii) Use of revenues.--Notwithstanding 
                        any other provision of law, revenues derived 
                        from any such permit or lease--
                                    ``(I) may be retained by the 
                                Secretary; and
                                    ``(II) shall be available, without 
                                further appropriation, for expenditure 
                                to further the goals and objectives of 
                                agricultural preservation within the 
                                boundaries of the area depicted on the 
                                map described to in section 2(c).
                    ``(C) Land of state and local governments.--Land or 
                an interest in land, within the area depicted on the 
                map described in section 2(c) that is owned by the 
                State of California or a political subdivision of the 
                State of California, may be acquired only by donation 
                or exchange.
            ``(5) Owner's reservation of right.--Section 5 shall not 
        apply with respect to land and or an interest in land acquired 
        under this subsection.''.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 9 of Public Law 87-
657 (16 U.S.C. 459c-7) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a) In General.--'' before ``There are 
        authorized''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Land Acquisition.--
            ``(1) In general.--In addition to the sums authorized to be 
        appropriated by this section before the enactment of the Point 
        Reyes National Seashore Farmland Protection Act of 1997, there 
        is authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 to be used on a 
        matching basis to acquire land and interests in land under 
        section 3(d).
            ``(2) Federal share.--The Federal share of the costs for 
        acquiring land and interests in land under section 3(d) shall 
        be 50 percent of the total costs of the acquisition.
            ``(3) Non-federal share.--
                    ``(A) Form.--The non-Federal share of the 
                acquisition costs may be paid in the form of property, 
                moneys, services, or in-kind contributions, fairly 
                valued.
                    ``(B) Land of state and local governments.--For the 
                purpose of determining the non-Federal share of the 
                costs, any land or interests in land that is within the 
                boundaries of the area depicted on the map described in 
                section 2(c), that, on the date of enactment of this 
                subsection, is held under a conservation easement by 
                the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, the Sonoma County 
                Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, the 
                Sonoma Land Trust, or any other land protection agency 
                or by the State of California or any political 
                subdivision of the State, shall be considered to be a 
                matching contribution from non-Federal sources in an 
                amount that is equal to the fair market value of the 
                land or interests in land, as determined by the 
                Secretary.''.
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