[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 276 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 276

  To designate the Piedras Blancas Light Station and the surrounding 
public land as an Outstanding Natural Area to be administered as a part 
 of the National Landscape Conservation System, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 5, 2007

  Mrs. Capps introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To designate the Piedras Blancas Light Station and the surrounding 
public land as an Outstanding Natural Area to be administered as a part 
 of the National Landscape Conservation System, 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; DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Piedras Blancas 
Historic Light Station Outstanding Natural Area Act of 2007''.
    (b) Definitions.--For the purposes of this Act, the following 
definitions apply:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (2) Light station.--The term ``Light Station'' means 
        Piedras Blancas Light Station.
            (3) Public lands.--The term ``public lands'' has the 
        meaning stated in section 103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and 
        Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1703(e)).
            (4) Outstanding natural area.--The term ``Outstanding 
        Natural Area'' means the Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station 
        Outstanding Natural Area established pursuant to section 3.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The publicly owned Piedras Blancas Light Station has 
        nationally recognized historical structures that should be 
        preserved for present and future generations.
            (2) The coastline adjacent to the Light Station is 
        internationally recognized as having significant wildlife and 
        marine habitat that provides critical information to research 
        institutions throughout the world.
            (3) The Light Station tells an important story about 
        California's coastal prehistory and history in the context of 
        the surrounding region and communities.
            (4) The coastal area surrounding the Light Station was 
        traditionally used by Indian people, including the Chumash and 
        Salinan Indian tribes.
            (5) The Light Station is historically associated with the 
        nearby world-famous Hearst Castle (Hearst San Simeon State 
        Historical Monument), now administered by the State of 
        California.
            (6) The Light Station represents a model partnership where 
        future management can be successfully accomplished among the 
        Federal Government, the State of California, San Luis Obispo 
        County, local communities, and private groups.
            (7) Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station Outstanding 
        Natural Area would make a significant addition to the National 
        Landscape Conservation System administered by the Department of 
        the Interior's Bureau of Land Management.
            (8) Statutory protection is needed for the Light Station 
        and its surrounding Federal lands to ensure that it remains a 
        part of our historic, cultural, and natural heritage and to be 
        a source of inspiration for the people of the United States.

SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF THE PIEDRAS BLANCAS HISTORIC LIGHT STATION 
              OUTSTANDING NATURAL AREA.

    (a) In General.--In order to protect, conserve, and enhance for the 
benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations the unique and 
nationally important historical, natural, cultural, scientific, 
educational, scenic, and recreational values of certain lands in and 
around the Piedras Blancas Light Station, in San Luis Obispo County, 
California, while allowing certain recreational and research activities 
to continue, there is established, subject to valid existing rights, 
the Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station Outstanding Natural Area.
    (b) Maps and Legal Descriptions.--The boundaries of the Outstanding 
Natural Area as those shown on the map entitled ``Piedras Blancas 
Historic Light Station: Outstanding Natural Area'', dated May 5, 2004, 
which shall be on file and available for public inspection in the 
Office of the Director, Bureau of Land Management, United States 
Department of the Interior, and the State office of the Bureau of Land 
Management in the State of California.
    (c) Basis of Management.--The Secretary shall manage the 
Outstanding Natural Area as part of the National Landscape Conservation 
System to protect the resources of the area, and shall allow only those 
uses that further the purposes for the establishment of the Outstanding 
Natural Area, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), and other applicable laws.
    (d) Withdrawal.--Subject to valid existing rights, and in 
accordance with the existing withdrawal as set forth in Public Land 
Order 7501 (Oct. 12, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 198, Federal Register 52149), 
the Federal lands and interests in lands included within the 
Outstanding Natural Area are hereby withdrawn from--
            (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under 
        the public land laws;
            (2) location, entry, and patent under the public land 
        mining laws; and
            (3) operation of the mineral leasing and geothermal leasing 
        laws and the mineral materials laws.

SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT OF THE PIEDRAS BLANCAS HISTORIC LIGHT STATION 
              OUTSTANDING NATURAL AREA.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall manage the Outstanding Natural 
Area in a manner that conserves, protects, and enhances the unique and 
nationally important historical, natural, cultural, scientific, 
educational, scenic, and recreational values of that area, including an 
emphasis on preserving and restoring the Light Station facilities, 
consistent with the requirements section 3(c).
    (b) Uses.--Subject to valid existing rights, the Secretary shall 
only allow such uses of the Outstanding Natural Area as the Secretary 
finds are likely to further the purposes for which the Outstanding 
Natural Area is established as set forth in section 3(a).
    (c) Management Plan.--Not later than 3 years after of the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete a comprehensive 
management plan consistent with the requirements of section 202 of the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) to 
provide long-term management guidance for the public lands within the 
Outstanding Natural Area and fulfill the purposes for which it is 
established, as set forth in section 3(a). The management plan shall be 
developed in consultation with appropriate Federal, State, and local 
government agencies, with full public participation, and the contents 
shall include--
            (1) provisions designed to ensure the protection of the 
        resources and values described in section 3(a);
            (2) objectives to restore the historic Light Station and 
        ancillary buildings;
            (3) an implementation plan for a continuing program of 
        interpretation and public education about the Light Station and 
        its importance to the surrounding community;
            (4) a proposal for minimal administrative and public 
        facilities to be developed or improved at a level compatible 
        with achieving the resources objectives for the Outstanding 
        Natural Area as described in subsection (a) and with other 
        proposed management activities to accommodate visitors and 
        researchers to the Outstanding Natural Area; and
            (5) cultural resources management strategies for the 
        Outstanding Natural Area, prepared in consultation with 
        appropriate departments of the State of California, with 
        emphasis on the preservation of the resources of the 
        Outstanding Natural Area and the interpretive, education, and 
        long-term scientific uses of the resources, giving priority to 
        the enforcement of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act 
        of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470aa et seq.) and the National Historic 
        Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) within the Outstanding 
        Natural Area.
    (d) Cooperative Agreements.--In order to better implement the 
management plan and to continue the successful partnerships with the 
local communities and the Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument, 
administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, the 
Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements with the appropriate 
Federal, State, and local agencies pursuant to section 307(b) of the 
Federal Land Management Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 
1737(b)).
    (e) Research Activities.--In order to continue the successful 
partnership with research organizations and agencies and to assist in 
the development and implementation of the management plan, the 
Secretary may authorize within the Outstanding Natural Area appropriate 
research activities for the purposes identified in section 3(a) and 
pursuant to section 307(a) of the Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1737(a)).
    (f) Acquisition.--State and privately held lands or interests in 
lands adjacent to the Outstanding Natural Area and identified as 
appropriate for acquisition in the management plan may be acquired by 
the Secretary as part of the Outstanding Natural Area only by--
            (1) donation;
            (2) exchange with a willing party; or
            (3) purchase from a willing seller.
    (g) Additions to the Outstanding Natural Area.--Any lands or 
interest in lands adjacent to the Outstanding Natural Area acquired by 
the United States after the date of the enactment of this Act shall be 
added to and administered as part of the Outstanding Natural Area.
    (h) Overflights.--Nothing in this Act or the management plan shall 
be construed to--
            (1) restrict or preclude overflights, including low level 
        overflights, military, commercial, and general aviation 
        overflights that can be seen or heard within the Outstanding 
        Natural Area;
            (2) restrict or preclude the designation or creation of new 
        units of special use airspace or the establishment of military 
        flight training routes over the Outstanding Natural Area; or
            (3) modify regulations governing low-level overflights 
        above the adjacent Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
    (i) Law Enforcement Activities.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
construed to preclude or otherwise affect coastal border security 
operations or other law enforcement activities by the Coast Guard or 
other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security, the 
Department of Justice, or any other Federal, State, and local law 
enforcement agencies within the Outstanding Natural Area.
    (j) Native American Uses and Interests.--In recognition of the past 
use of the Outstanding Natural Area by Indians and Indian tribes for 
traditional cultural and religious purposes, the Secretary shall ensure 
access to the Outstanding Natural Area by Indians and Indian tribes for 
such traditional cultural and religious purposes. In implementing this 
section, the Secretary, upon the request of an Indian tribe or Indian 
religious community, shall temporarily close to the general public use 
of one or more specific portions of the Outstanding Natural Area in 
order to protect the privacy of traditional cultural and religious 
activities in such areas by the Indian tribe or Indian religious 
community. Any such closure shall be made to affect the smallest 
practicable area for the minimum period necessary for such purposes. 
Such access shall be consistent with the purpose and intent of Public 
Law 95-341 (42 U.S.C. 1996 et seq.; commonly referred to as the 
``American Indian Religious Freedom Act'').
    (k) No Buffer Zones.--The designation of the Outstanding Natural 
Area is not intended to lead to the creation of protective perimeters 
or buffer zones around area. The fact that activities outside the 
Outstanding Natural Area and not consistent with the purposes of this 
Act can be seen or heard within the Outstanding Natural Area shall not, 
of itself, preclude such activities or uses up to the boundary of the 
Outstanding Natural Area.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 
to carry out this Act.
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