1.This Act may be cited as the
Clear Creek National Recreation Area
and Conservation Act of 2012
.
2.In this Act:
(1)The term management plan means the Plan for the
Recreation Area prepared under section 4(c).
(2)The term Recreation Area means the Clear Creek
National Recreation Area.
(3)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
(4)The
term State means the State of California.
3.Establishment of
Clear Creek National Recreation Area
(a)To promote environmentally responsible high-quality
motorized and non-motorized trail based recreation, including off-highway
vehicle use, scenic touring, access for hunting and gem collecting, while
protecting ecological, geological, scenic, cultural, and historic resources,
fish and wildlife values, and other resources of the landscape, there is
established the Clear Creek National Recreation Area in the State, to be
managed by the Secretary.
(b)The
Recreation Area shall consist of approximately 75,000 acres of Federal land in
San Benito County and Fresno County, California, as generally depicted on the
map entitled Clear Creek National Recreation Area and dated July
30, 2012.
(c)
(1)As soon as practicable, after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a map and legal description of the
Recreation Area to—
(A)the Committee on
Natural Resources of the House of Representatives; and
(B)the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.
(2)Copies
of the map submitted under paragraph (1) shall be on file and available for
public inspection in—
(A)the Office of the
Director of the Bureau of Land Management; and
(B)the appropriate
office of the Bureau of Land Management in California.
4.
(a)The Secretary shall manage the Recreation Area to further
the purposes described in section 3(a), in accordance with—
(1)this Act;
(2)the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and
(3)any other
applicable law.
(b)The
Secretary shall—
(1)allow hiking,
camping, hunting, gem collecting, and sightseeing and the use of motorized
vehicles, mountain bikes, and horses on designated roads, trails, and
areas;
(2)issue special
recreation permits for motorized and non-motorized events; and
(3)reopen the Clear
Creek Management Area to the uses described in this subsection as soon as
practicable following the enactment of this Act and in accordance with the
management guidelines outlined in this Act and other applicable law.
(c)The Secretary shall use the 2005 Clear Creek
Management Area Travel Management Plan as modified by this Act, or by the
Secretary to incorporate natural resource protection information not available
in 2005, as the basis of an interim management plan to govern motorized
recreation within the Recreation Area pending the completion of the long-term
management plan required in subsection (d).
(d)Permanent
management planNot later than 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall create a comprehensive management
plan for the Clear Creek Recreation Area that—
(1)shall describe the
appropriate uses and management of the Recreation Area in accordance with this
Act;
(2)shall be prepared
in consultation with—
(A)appropriate
Federal, State, and local agencies (including San Benito, Monterey, and Fresno
Counties);
(B)adjacent land
owners; and
(C)other stakeholders
(including conservation and recreational organizations);
(3)shall include a
hazards education program to inform people entering the Recreation Area of the
asbestos related risks associated with various activities within the Recreation
Area, including, but not limited to, off-highway vehicle recreation;
(4)shall include a
user fee program for motorized vehicle use within the Recreational Area and
guidelines for the use of the funds collected for the management and
improvement of the Recreation Area;
(5)may incorporate
any appropriate decisions, as determined by the Secretary, in accordance with
this Act, that are contained in any management or activity plan for the area
completed before the date of the enactment of this Act;
(6)may incorporate
appropriate wildlife habitat management plans or other plans prepared for the
land within or adjacent to the Recreation Area before the date of the enactment
of this Act, in accordance with this Act;
(7)may use
information developed under any studies of land within or adjacent to the
Recreation Area carried out before the date of enactment of this Act;
and
(8)may include
cooperative agreements with State or local government agencies to manage all or
a portion of the recreational activities within the Recreation Area in
accordance with an approved management plan and the requirements of this
Act.
(e)
(1)The Secretary may acquire land adjacent to the National
Recreation Area by purchase from willing sellers, donation, or exchange.
(2)Any
land acquired under paragraph (1) shall be managed in accordance with—
(A)the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.);
(B)this Act;
and
(C)any other
applicable law (including regulations).
(3)The Secretary may acquire by purchase from willing
sellers, donation, exchange, or easement, land, or interest in land to improve
public safety in providing access to the Recreation Area.
(f)
(1)Access to
private property
(A)The Secretary shall provide landowners adequate access to
inholdings within the Recreation Area.
(B)For
access purposes, private land adjacent to the Recreation Area to which there is
no other practicable access except through the Recreation Area shall be managed
as an inholding.
(2)Nothing in this Act affects the ownership, management,
or other rights relating to any non-Federal land (including any interest in any
non-Federal land).
(3)Nothing in this Act creates a protective perimeter or
buffer zone around the Recreation Area.
(4)Nothing in this Act affects any easements, rights-of-way,
and other valid rights in existence on the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(g)Nothing in this Act—
(1)shall constitute
or be construed to constitute either an express or implied reservation by the
United States of any water or water rights with respect to the Recreation Area;
or
(2)shall affect any
water rights existing on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(h)Nothing in this Act—
(1)limits hunting or
fishing; or
(2)affects the
authority, jurisdiction, or responsibility of the State to manage, control, or
regulate fish and resident wildlife under State law (including regulations),
including the regulation of hunting or fishing on public land managed by the
Bureau of Land Management.
(i)Except in cases in which motorized vehicles are needed
for administrative purposes or to respond to an emergency, the use of motorized
vehicles on public land in the Recreation Area shall be permitted only on
roads, trails, and areas designated by the management plan for the use by
motorized vehicles.
(j)In
the Recreation Area, the grazing of livestock in areas in which grazing is
allowed as of the date of the enactment of this Act shall be allowed to
continue, consistent with—
(1)this Act;
(2)the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and
(3)any regulations
promulgated by the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land
Management.
(k)Subject
to valid existing rights, all Federal land within the Recreation Area is
withdrawn from—
(1)all forms of
entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws;
(2)location, entry,
and patenting under the mining laws; and
(3)operation of the
mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.
(l)Amounts
received by the Secretary under the fee structure required by subsection
(c)(3)(G) shall be—
(1)deposited in a
special account in the Treasury of the United States; and
(2)made available
until expended, without further appropriation, to the Secretary for use in the
Recreation Area.
(m)The National Oil and
Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (40 C.F.R. 300), published
pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9605), shall not apply to
the Secretary’s management of asbestos exposure risks faced by the public when
recreating within the Clear Creek Recreation Area described in section
3(b).
5.In accordance with
the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the approximately 21,000 acres of
Federal lands located in Fresno County and San Benito County, California, and
generally depicted on a map entitled Proposed Joaquin Rocks
Wilderness and dated March 11, 2012, is designated as wilderness areas
and as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System and shall be
known as the Joaquin Rocks Wilderness.
6.Clear creek
management area wild and scenic riversSection 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers
Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following
paragraphs:
(208)The approximately 5.25 miles of Larious Canyon Creek from
its source near Idria Peak in Section 6, R12E, T18S, to the boundary of the
Clear Creek Special Recreation Management Area in Section 23, R11E,
T17S.
(209)The approximately 5.51 miles of the East Fork San Carlos
Creek from its source near San Benito Mountain in Section 10, R12E, T18S, to
the boundary of the Clear Creek Special Recreation Management Area in Section
22, R12E, T17S.
(210)The approximately 7.68 miles of Cantua Creek from its
source north of Santa Rita Peak in Section 24, R12E, T18S, to the public land
boundary in Section 3, R13E, T18S.
(211)The approximately 2.65 miles of Picacho Creek, from its
source spring in Section 20, R12E, T18S, to its confluence with the San Benito
River.
(212)White Creek
and Tributaries
(A)The approximately
5.37 miles of White Creek, from its source in Section 36, R12E, T18S, to the
boundary of the Clear Creek Special Recreation Management Area in Section 17,
R13E, T19S.
(B)The approximately
2.29 miles of the unnamed tributary of White Creek from its source just south
of Spanish Lake in Section 29, R13E, T18S, to its confluence with White
Creek.
(C)The approximately
2.45 miles of the unnamed tributary of White Creek from its source in Section
33, R13E, T18S, to its confluence with White
Creek.
.