1.Short title and table of
contents
(a)This Act may be cited
as the Wasatch Wilderness and
Watershed Protection Act
.
(b)The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Designation of wilderness, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National
Forests, Utah.
Sec. 3. Special management area, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National
Forests, Utah.
Sec. 4. Administrative provisions related to wilderness
areas.
Sec. 5. Existing water facilities.
Sec. 6. Land exchange, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forests,
Utah.
2.Designation of
wilderness, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forests, Utah
(a)In furtherance of the purposes of the
Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the following Federal lands within the
Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forests in Salt Lake County, Utah, are designated
as wilderness and as either a new component of the National Wilderness
Preservation System or as an addition to an existing component of the National
Wilderness Preservation System:
(1)Lone Peak
Wilderness additionCertain
lands in the vicinity of the Lone Peak Wilderness comprising approximately
4,627 acres, as generally depicted on the map titled Wasatch Mountains
Wilderness and Watershed Protection and dated January 29, 2010 (in this
subsection referred to as the map), which shall be added to and
administered as part of the Lone Peak Wilderness designated by section 2(I) of
Public Law 95–237 (92 Stat. 42).
(2)Mount Olympus
Wilderness additionCertain
lands in the vicinity of the Mount Olympus Wilderness comprising approximately
3,155 acres, as generally depicted on the map, which shall be added to and
administered as part of the Mount Olympus Wilderness designated by section
102(a)(3) of Public Law 98–428 (98 Stat. 1658).
(3)Wayne Owens
Grandeur Peak/Mount Aire WildernessCertain lands comprising approximately
7,759 acres, as generally depicted on the map, which shall be known as the
Wayne Owens Grandeur Peak/Mount Aire Wilderness.
(b)
(1)As soon as
practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall file with
the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a map and legal
description of each wilderness area designated or expanded by subsection (a).
The maps and legal descriptions shall be on file and available for public
inspection in the office of the Chief of the Forest Service.
(2)The maps and legal descriptions filed under paragraph (1)
shall have the same force and effect as if included in this Act, except that
the Secretary of Agriculture may correct clerical and typographical errors in
the maps and legal descriptions.
(c)Special rule for
Lone Peak Wilderness additionNotwithstanding the wilderness designation
made by subsection (a)(1), the White Pine Reservoir, together with the ingress
and egress routes thereto in existence as of the date of the enactment of this
Act, shall continue to be operated, maintained, and upgraded as necessary,
subject to reasonable requirements to protect wilderness values.
3.Special
management area, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forests, Utah
(a)Subject to valid existing rights, the
following Federal lands in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forests are
established as special management areas:
(1)Mt. Aire Special
Management AreaCertain lands
comprising approximately 1,275 acres, as generally depicted on a map titled
Wasatch Mountains Wilderness Protection and Watershed Protection
and dated January 29, 2010 (in this subsection referred to as the
map), which shall be known as the Mt. Aire Special
Management Area.
(2)Mt. Olympus
Special Management AreaCertain lands comprising approximately
1,957 acres, as generally depicted on the map, which shall be known as the
Mt. Olympus Special Management Area.
(3)Twin Peaks
Special Management AreaCertain lands comprising approximately
5,835 acres, as generally depicted on the map, which shall be known as the
Twin Peaks Special Management Area.
(4)Lone Peak
Special Management AreaCertain lands comprising approximately
1,413 acres, as generally depicted on the map, which shall be known as the
Lone Peak Special Management Area.
(b)
(1)As soon as
practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall file with
the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a map and legal
description of each special management area established by subsection (a). The
maps and legal descriptions shall be on file and available for public
inspection in the office of the Chief of the Forest Service.
(2)The maps and legal
descriptions filed under paragraph (1) shall have the same force and effect as
if included in this Act, except that the Secretary of Agriculture may correct
typographical errors in the maps and legal descriptions.
(c)
(1)The Secretary of
Agriculture shall manage the special management area established by subsection
(a) to maintain the presently existing wilderness character of the special
management area and the potential for inclusion of the area in the National
Wilderness Preservation System.
(2)
(A)Permanent roads may not
be established in the special management areas.
(B)Temporary roads
and vehiclesExcept as
necessary to meet the minimum requirements for the administration of the
special management areas and to protect public health and safety—
(i)the use of motorized or mechanized
vehicles, except as described in paragraph (3), is prohibited in the special
management area; and
(ii)the establishment of temporary roads is
prohibited in the special management areas.
(3)The Secretary of
Agriculture may authorize commercial helicopter-assisted skiing and
snowboarding activities (known as heliskiing), as authorized on
the Federal lands included within the special management areas as of the date
of the enactment of this Act, to continue within the special management area.
Except as provided in subsection (d), upon the expiration of an authorization
in effect as of the date of enactment of this Act for heliskiing, the Secretary
may reissue such authorizations in accord with Forest Service
procedures.
(4)Any uses of the Federal
lands included within the special management area, including activities
described in paragraph (3), shall be carried out in accordance with applicable
law.
(d)Eventual
wilderness designation
(1)Within one year from the time in which all
commercial helicopter-assisted skiing and snowboarding activities within any
special management area established by subsection (a) are no longer authorized
or have otherwise terminated within the special management area, the Secretary
of Agriculture shall publish notice to that effect in the Federal
Register.
(2)Designation as
wildernessThe Federal lands
included within a special management area for which notice has been published
under paragraph (1) shall be designated as wilderness and added to the National
Wilderness Preservation System, effective on the date of the notice, as
follows:
(A)The lands included in the Mt. Aire Special
Management Area shall be added to and administered as part of the Wayne Owens
Grandeur Peak/Mount Aire Wilderness established by section 2.
(B)The lands included
in the Mt. Olympus Special Management Area shall be added to and administered
as a part of the Mount Olympus Wilderness designated by section 102(a)(3) of
Public Law 98–428 (98 Stat. 1658) and expanded by section 2.
(C)The lands included in the Twin Peaks
Special Management Area shall be added to and administered as a part of the
Twin Peaks Wilderness designated by section 102(a)(4) of Public Law 98–428 (98
Stat. 1658).
(D)The lands included in the Lone Peak Special
Management Area shall be added to and administered as part of the Lone Peak
Wilderness designated by section 2(I) of Public Law 95–237 (92 Stat. 42) and
expanded by section 2.
4.Administrative
provisions related to wilderness areas
(a)In this section, the term covered land
means—
(1)the wilderness areas designated or expanded
by sections 2 and 3; and
(2)the special management areas designated by
section 3.
(b)Subject to valid rights in existence on the date of the
enactment of this Act, land designated as wilderness by section 2 or 3 shall be
administered by the Secretary of Agriculture in accordance with—
(1)the Wilderness Act
(16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.); and
(2)this Act.
(c)Treatment of
effective date of wilderness act
(1)With respect to land
designated as wilderness by section 2, any reference in the Wilderness Act (16
U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) to the effective date of the Wilderness Act shall be
deemed to be a reference to the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2)With respect
to the lands designated as wilderness by section 3, any reference in the
Wilderness Act to the effective date of the Wilderness Act shall be deemed to
be a reference to the date of the applicable Federal Register notice referred
to in section 3(d)(1).
(d)Nothing in this Act shall affect the jurisdiction or
responsibility of the State of Utah with respect to wildlife and fish.
(e)
(1)Nothing in this Act shall create a protective perimeter
or buffer zone around covered land.
(2)Activities
outside wildernessThe fact that a nonwilderness activity or use
can be seen or heard from within covered land shall not preclude the conduct of
the activity or use outside the boundary of the covered land.
(f)Subject
to valid rights in existence on the date of the enactment of this Act, covered
land is withdrawn from all forms of—
(1)entry,
appropriation, or disposal under public land laws;
(2)location, entry,
and patent under mining laws; and
(3)disposition under
all laws pertaining to mineral and geothermal leasing or mineral
materials.
(g)Any land or interest in land located inside the boundaries
of covered land that is acquired by the United States after the date of the
enactment of this Act shall become part of the relevant wilderness or special
management area and shall be managed in accordance with this Act and other
applicable law.
(h)Fire, insects,
and diseaseIn accordance
with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)), the
Secretary of Agriculture may take such measures in the covered land as the
Secretary determines to be necessary for the control of fire, insects, and
diseases, including, as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, the
coordination of those activities with a State or local agency.
5.Existing water
facilitiesNothing in this Act
affects the ability to continue to maintain the Mount Haven, Mill D Summer
Home, Beartrap, and Cardiff water systems that exist as of the date of the
enactment of this Act (as shown on the map titled Wasatch Mountains
Wilderness and Watershed Protection and dated January 10, 2010, outside
the boundaries of the wilderness additions and special management areas
designated by this Act.
6.Land exchange,
Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forests, Utah
(a)In
this section:
(1)The term Federal land means the approximately
331 acres of National Forest System land in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National
Forest in Salt Lake County, Utah, identified as NFS Land to be
Conveyed on the map.
(2)The
term map means the map entitled Wasatch Mountains Wilderness
and Watershed Protection and dated August 31, 2010, which map shall be
on file and available for public inspection in the Office of the Chief of the
Forest Service.
(3)The term non-Federal land means the parcels of
private land identified as Land to be acquired by USFS on the map,
including—
(A)the approximately 116 acres of private land
identified as White Pine parcel on the map, which will be
incorporated into the Lone Peak Wilderness as provided in subsection
(h)(1);
(B)the approximately 266 acres of private land
identified as Superior parcels on the map, which will be
administered as a special management area as provided in subsection
(h)(2);
(C)the approximately 160 acres of private land
identified as High Uintas parcel on the map, which will be
incorporated into the High Uintas Wilderness as provided in subsection (h)(3);
and
(D)such other lands
owned by Snowbird that are acceptable to the Secretary as components of the
land exchange authorized and directed by this section, except that such lands
may not replace any of the lands identified in a preceding subparagraph.
(4)The term Secretary means the
Secretary of Agriculture.
(5)The
term Snowbird means Snowbird Ltd., a Utah Limited
Partnership.
(b)
(1)If Snowbird offers
to the Secretary the land described in paragraph (2), the Secretary
shall—
(A)accept the land
for management as provided in subsection (h); and
(B)convey and
quitclaim to Snowbird all right, title, and interest of the United States in
and to the Federal land.
(2)The private land
offered by Snowbird in the land exchange shall include, in priority order, all
right, title, and interest of Snowbird in the parcels identified in
subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of subsection (a)(3) and such other lands
agreed upon as part of the exchange to be conveyed to the United States under
subparagraph (D) of such subsection.
(3)The conveyance of the
Federal land under this section shall be subject to valid existing
rights.
(4)As a condition on the consummation of the
land exchange, title to the non-Federal land must be acceptable to the
Secretary, which shall be determined in conformity with the title standards of
the Attorney General.
(5)Compliance with
existing lawExcept as
otherwise provided in this section, the Secretary shall carry out the land
exchange under this section in accordance with section 206 of the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716).
(c)
(1)The exact acreage and legal description of the
Federal land and non-Federal land to be exchanged under this section shall be
determined by surveys approved by the Secretary.
(2)By mutual agreement,
the Secretary and Snowbird may reconfigure the land to be exchanged under this
section to facilitate management of the land or eliminate fragmented parcels
whose management is uneconomical. The use of such reconfiguration authority
shall be minimized and involve the smallest quantity of acreage practicable to
achieve the objectives of improving management of the exchanged land or
eliminating fragmented parcels.
(d)
(1)The value of the
Federal land and the non-Federal land to be exchanged under this
section—
(A)shall be equal, as
determined by appraisals conducted in accordance with subsection (e); or
(B)if not equal, shall be equalized in the
manner provided in section 206(b) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)), except that the Secretary may accept cash
equalization payments in excess of 25 percent to facilitate the land
exchange.
(2)Deposit and use
of cash equalization paymentsAny cash equalization payments received by
the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall be deposited into the account
established by Public Law 90–171 (commonly known as the Sisk Act; 16 U.S.C.
484a). The amounts deposited shall be available, in such amounts as may be
provided in advance in appropriation Acts, until expended for the acquisition
of lands and interests in lands for the National Forest System.
(e)Section 206(d) of the Federal Land Policy
and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(d)) shall apply to the appraisal of
the Federal land and non-Federal land, including the conservation easement
described in subsection (g), to be exchanged under this section, except that
the Secretary and Snowbird shall consult with the proposed recipient of the
conservation easement in the selection of the appraiser.
(f)Snowbird shall cover the costs of survey, appraisal, and
any other administrative expenses related to the land exchange under this
section.
(g)
(1)The obligation of the Secretary to
consummate the land exchange under this section is contingent upon the
execution of a binding agreement to convey a conservation easement, consistent
with the terms of this subsection, for the approximately 298 acres of private
land identified as Flagstaff parcel on the map from Snowbird
to—
(A)Utah Open Lands (a
non-profit land trust incorporated in the State of Utah); or
(B)another land trust
or the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities if Utah Open Lands is
unwilling to accept conveyance of the conservation easement.
(2)Except as determined to
be necessary by the holder of the conservation easement described in paragraph
(1) to meet the minimum requirements for the administration of the easement
area in its undeveloped state or to protect public health and safety, the
conservation easement shall contain the following prohibitions:
(A)No subdivision.
(B)No roads, other than temporary roads
constructed and used for cleanup of mining areas.
(C)No commercial enterprises.
(D)No permanent structures, except structures
associated with avalanche control that serve to mitigate avalanche hazards to
the Town of Alta, Utah, and Little Cottonwood Canyon Road.
(3)Occupancy and
use of easement areaThe conservation easement shall grant the
easement holder sole authority to regulate the occupancy and use of the
easement area including—
(A)the prohibition or
restriction of motorized vehicles and equipment; and
(B)the conduct of
avalanche control activities.
(4)Restoration and
remediationThe conservation
easement shall reserve, in the fee owner of the land encumbered by the
easement, the right to conduct restoration and remediation of hazardous
substances from past mining and related construction activities on the
land.
(5)Effect of
failure to convey easementIf
an entity described in paragraph (1) is unwilling to accept conveyance of the
conservation easement subject to the terms provided in this subsection, the
Secretary is relieved of any obligation to consummate the land exchange under
this section.
(h)Management of
land acquired by the Secretary
(1)On acquisition by the
Secretary, the parcel identified as White Pine parcel on the map
shall be—
(A)incorporated into
the Lone Peak Wilderness established by section 2(i) of Public Law 95–237 (92
Stat. 42; 16 U.S.C. 1132 note) and expanded by section 2; and
(B)administered in
accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and this
Act.
(2)On acquisition by the
Secretary, the parcel identified as Superior parcel on the map
shall be—
(A)added to the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National
Forests as a special management area; and
(B)administered in accordance with subsection
(c) of section 3, except paragraph (3) of such subsection shall not apply to
the parcel and the Secretary may allow avalanche control devices within the
parcel for the sole purpose of protecting public health and safety.
(3)On acquisition by the
Secretary, the parcel identified as High Uintas parcel on the map
shall be—
(A)incorporated into
the High Uintas Wilderness designated by section 102(a)(5) of Public Law 98–428
(98 Stat. 1658); and
(B)administered in
accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.).
(4)On acquisition by the
Secretary of any non-Federal land included in the land exchange pursuant to
subsection (a)(3)(D), the acquired land shall be added to and administered as
part of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, subject to the laws and
regulations applicable to the National Forest System.
(i)Subject
to valid existing rights, the land acquired by the Secretary in the land
exchange under this section is withdrawn from—
(1)all forms of
entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws;
(2)location, entry,
and patent under the mining laws; and
(3)disposition under
all laws relating to mineral and energy leasing.
(j)Environmental
liabilities
(1)Effect of
existence of contaminationIf
any of the non-Federal land is determined to be contaminated, including
contamination resulting from solid wastes, hazardous wastes or substances,
pollutants or contaminants, or other regulated substances, or that the
non-Federal land is in a condition that would constitute a violation of any
applicable Federal, State, or local laws or regulations related to health,
safety, or the environment, and that such contamination or violation existed
before the date of the enactment of this Act—
(A)the Secretary may require that such land,
or the contaminated portion of the land, be removed from the exchange before
consummation of the land exchange; or
(B)the Secretary may retain such land in the
land exchange, subject to the condition that Snowbird agree to indemnify the
United States or Salt Lake City, as appropriate, and pay all costs to restore
or remediate any damages caused by the past release, spill, or disposal of
hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants necessary to bring the land
into compliance with all applicable health, safety, and environmental laws, and
furthermore, for any discharges or draining from any man-made features on the
non-Federal lands which the Secretary retains, Snowbird will obtain, and
maintain, in perpetuity, any Federal or State permits that may be or become
necessary to comply with applicable health, safety, or environmental
laws.
(2)Acceptance by Utah
Open Lands, or another land trust or the Salt Lake City Department of Public
Utilities, of the conservation easement described in subsection (g) shall not
make the holder of the conservation easement either an owner or operator with
respect to the land encumbered by the easement under the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601
et seq.), nor shall the conveyance of the easement absolve the fee owner of the
land of any liability under such Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
(33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), or any other Federal, State, or local environmental
law or regulation.
(3)Snowbird shall hold
the United States harmless for any liability for the condition of the Federal
land received by Snowbird in the land exchange under this section, whether the
condition on the Federal land was caused by the negligence of the United
States, or the result of any approval by the United States of an authorized
activity on the Federal land.
(4)Exception of
federal land from certain covenantsClauses (ii) and (iii) of
section 120(h)(3)(A) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 6920(h)(3)(A)) shall not apply to the
conveyance of the Federal land under this section.