[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4192 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4192

To designate the Stornetta Public Lands 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

                            December 3, 2009

  Mr. Thompson of California introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To designate the Stornetta Public Lands 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 ``Stornetta Public 
Lands Outstanding Natural Area Act of 2009''.
    (b) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) 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)).
            (2) Outstanding natural area.--The term ``Outstanding 
        Natural Area'' means the Stornetta Public Lands Outstanding 
        Natural Area established under section 3.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (4) Stornetta public lands.--The term ``Stornetta Public 
        Lands'' means the lands designated as such on the map referred 
        to in section 3(b).

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The publicly owned Stornetta Public Lands contains 
        significant natural resources, including important wildlife 
        habitat, several riparian corridors, extensive wetlands, ponds 
        and other water sources, cypress groves, meadows, and sand 
        dunes that should be preserved for present and future 
        generations.
            (2) The ocean and coastal ecosystems adjacent to the 
        Stornetta Public Lands are internationally recognized as 
        significant centers of coastal upwelling that support the 
        diverse, abundant and productive marine ecosystems and wildlife 
        underlying the local economy and identity of coastal 
        communities.
            (3) The Stornetta Public Lands tell 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 Stornetta Public Lands 
        was traditionally used by Indian people, including the Pomo 
        Indian tribes.
            (5) The Stornetta Public Lands are historically associated 
        with adjacent lands managed for the enjoyment of current and 
        future generations, including the Point Arena Lighthouse, 
        California Coastal National Monument, Arena Rock Marine Natural 
        Preserve and Manchester Beach State Park.
            (6) The Stornetta Public Lands represent a model 
        partnership where future management can be successfully 
        accomplished among the Federal Government, State of California, 
        Mendocino County, local communities, and private groups.
            (7) The Stornetta Public Lands 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 Stornetta Public 
        Lands to ensure that it remains a part of our historic, 
        cultural and natural heritage and a source of inspiration for 
        the people of the United States.

SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF THE STORNETTA PUBLIC LANDS 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 Stornetta Public Lands, in Mendocino County, California, 
while allowing certain recreational and research activities to 
continue, there is established, subject to valid existing rights, the 
Stornetta Public Lands Outstanding Natural Area.
    (b) Map.--The Outstanding Natural Area shall consist of the lands 
generally depicted as the Stornetta Outstanding Natural Area on the map 
titled ``Stornetta Outstanding Natural Area'' and dated December 3, 
2009. The map 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 STORNETTA PUBLIC LANDS 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, consistent 
with the requirements section of 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 funds are made 
available for this purpose, 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 shall include--
            (1) provisions designed to ensure the protection of the 
        resources and values described in section 3(a);
            (2) 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
            (3) 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 local 
communities, the California Coastal National Monument and Manchester 
State Park, 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 Gulf of the Farallones 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 a federally recognized 
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 federally 
recognized 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 the 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.
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