[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4871 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4871

 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource 
   study of portions of the Los Angeles coastal area in the State of 
California to evaluate alternatives for protecting the resources of the 
                 coastal area, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 2016

     Mr. Ted Lieu of California (for himself, Ms. Maxine Waters of 
    California, Ms. Bass, Mr. Schiff, and Ms. Hahn) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource 
   study of portions of the Los Angeles coastal area in the State of 
California to evaluate alternatives for protecting the resources of the 
                 coastal area, 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 ``Santa Monica Mountains National 
Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Study Act''.

SEC. 2. RESOURCE STUDY OF THE LOS ANGELES COASTAL AREA, CALIFORNIA.

    (a) Study Required.--The Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a 
special resource study of the lands, waters, and interests of the study 
area to evaluate a range of alternatives for protecting resources of 
the study area, including--
            (1) expanding the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area 
        and redesignating the area as the ``Santa Monica Mountains and 
        Coastal Recreation Area''; or
            (2) creating a new coastal recreation area designated as 
        ``Los Angeles Coastal Recreation Area''.
    (b) Study Topics.--In conducting the study, the Secretary shall 
evaluate alternatives that accomplish, to the extent practicable, the 
following objectives:
            (1) Preserving and restoring beaches, coastal uplands, and 
        waterways.
            (2) Connecting, coordinating, and preserving State, county, 
        and local government parks and other publicly owned lands to 
        enhance the potential for public recreation use.
            (3) Developing and protecting historic sites, significant 
        landscapes, districts, sites, structures, and recreation areas 
        in connection therewith, including parks, picnic areas, scenic 
        overlooks, hiking trails, bicycle trails and equestrian trails.
            (4) Creating open spaces for parks and recreational use 
        along the coastline adjoining the Ballona Wetlands, in the City 
        of Santa Monica, adjacent to and along State and county beaches 
        of Los Angeles along the north Santa Monica Bay down through 
        Dockweiler State Beach up and around the Ballona Creek and 
        Wetlands, Baldwin Hills, and along the coastline in the San 
        Pedro section of the City of Los Angeles, excluding the Port of 
        Los Angeles north of Crescent Avenue.
            (5) Protecting wildlife populations in the designated area 
        by preserving and restoring the Ballona Creek and Wetlands.
            (6) Establishing connections along the trail systems in the 
        designated areas with the aim of creating or maintaining single 
        contiguous trails along the Santa Monica Bay coastline and 
        through Ballona Creek into the Baldwin Hills and encompassing 
        major feeder trails connecting adjoining communities and 
        regional transit to the trail system.
            (7) Preserving recreational opportunities and facilitating 
        access to open space for a variety of recreational users.
            (8) Protecting rare, threatened, or endangered plant and 
        animal species, and rare or unusual plant communities and 
        habitats.
    (c) Private Property.--The study shall include an analysis of--
            (1) the impact that establishment of all or a portion of 
        the Ballona Creek and Wetlands, Baldwin Hills, and the San 
        Pedro coastline as a unit of the Santa Monica Mountains 
        National Recreation Area is likely to have on--
                    (A) land within or bordering the area that is 
                privately owned at the time the study is conducted; and
                    (B) leaseholders of publicly owned, developed 
                lands; and
            (2) the concerns of private landowners within the existing 
        boundaries of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation 
        Area.
    (d) Consultation.--The Secretary shall conduct the study in 
consultation with the appropriate Federal, State, county and local 
government departments and entities, elected officials, community 
groups and nonprofits, including those that serve the following areas:
            (1) North Santa Monica Bay Coastline: City of Santa Monica, 
        County of Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles communities of 
        Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, and Venice.
            (2) Ballona Creek, Wetlands, and central Santa Monica Bay: 
        City of Culver City, County of Los Angeles Marina Del Rey 
        community, City of Los Angeles communities of Palms, Playa 
        Vista, Del Rey, Palms, and Westchester.
            (3) Baldwin Hills and Ballona Creek headwaters: County of 
        Los Angeles communities of Baldwin Hills, Windsor Hills and 
        Ladera Heights, and City of Los Angeles communities of View 
        Park, and Faircrest Heights.
            (4) Santa Monica Bay Coastline South: City of El Segundo, 
        City of Manhattan Beach, City of Hermosa Beach, City of Redondo 
        Beach, and City of Torrance.
            (5) Port of Los Angeles: City of Los Angeles, community of 
        City of Los Angeles, community of San Pedro.
    (e) Study Criteria.--In addition to the special considerations 
specified in this section, the Secretary shall conduct the study in 
accordance with section 100507 of title 54, United States Code.
    (f) Transmission of Study.--Not later than 3 years after funds are 
first made available for the study, the Secretary shall transmit a 
report containing the results of the study to the Committee on Natural 
Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources of the Senate.
    (g) Definitions.--For the purposes of this Act:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (2) Study.--The term ``study'' means the study required by 
        subsection (a)
            (3) Study area.--The term ``study area'' means the 
        coastline and adjacent areas to the Santa Monica Bay from the 
        City of Santa Monica from Will Rodgers Beach to Rat Beach, 
        including the areas in and around Ballona Creek and the Baldwin 
        Hills and the San Pedro section of the City of Los Angeles, 
        excluding the Port of Los Angeles north of Crescent Avenue.
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