[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1708 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1708

     To adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National 
  Recreation Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 13, 2019

Mr. Schiff (for himself, Ms. Brownley of California, Mr. Cardenas, Ms. 
  Judy Chu of California, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Ted Lieu of California, Mrs. 
Napolitano, Mr. Sherman, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Hill of California, and Mr. 
  Lowenthal) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National 
  Recreation Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, 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 ``Rim of the Valley Corridor 
Preservation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area was 
        authorized as a unit of the National Park System on November 
        10, 1978.
            (2) The Santa Monica Mountains and the Rim of the Valley 
        Corridor include--
                    (A) nationally significant resources--
                            (i) outstanding examples of geologic 
                        history, including the evolution of the 
                        Transverse Ranges Province;
                            (ii) a diversity of well-preserved marine 
                        and terrestrial paleontological resources; and
                            (iii) high biodiversity, including 
                        outstanding examples of native grasslands, 
                        coastal sage scrub, chaparral, dry coniferous 
                        forests, and alluvial fan sage scrub; and
                    (B) nationally significant cultural resources that 
                represent a wide range of themes related to human use 
                and settlement in the region--
                            (i) high concentrations of archeological 
                        resources that provide insight into more than 
                        10,000 years of Native American history; and
                            (ii) landmarks that represent topics such 
                        as architecture, recreation, and space 
                        exploration.
            (3) Expanding the Santa Monica Mountains National 
        Recreation Area would provide new opportunities for the 
        National Park Service to serve a broad range of urban 
        communities, including many that are underrepresented in 
        national parks and underserved by State and local parks.

SEC. 3. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT; LAND ACQUISITION; ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) Boundary Adjustment.--Section 507(c)(1) of the National Parks 
and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 460kk(c)(1)) is amended by 
striking ```Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Santa 
Monica Mountains Zone, California, Boundary Map', numbered 80,047-C and 
dated August 2001'' and inserting ```Rim of the Valley Unit_Santa 
Monica Mountains National Recreation Area' and dated October 2017''.
    (b) Rim of the Valley Unit.--Section 507 of the National Parks and 
Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 460kk) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(u) Rim of the Valley Unit.--(1) Not later than 3 years after the 
date of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall update 
the general management plan for the recreation area to reflect the 
boundaries designated on the map referred to in subsection (c)(1) as 
the `Rim of the Valley Unit' (hereafter in the subsection referred to 
as the `Rim of the Valley Unit'). Subject to valid existing rights, the 
Secretary shall administer the Rim of the Valley Unit and any land or 
interest in land acquired by the United States and located within the 
boundaries of the Rim of the Valley Unit, as part of the recreation 
area in accordance with the provisions of this section and applicable 
laws and regulations.
    ``(2) The Secretary may acquire non-Federal land within the 
boundaries of the Rim of the Valley Unit only through exchange, 
donation, or purchase from a willing seller. Nothing in this subsection 
authorizes the use of eminent domain to acquire land or interests in 
land.
    ``(3) Nothing in this subsection or the application of the 
management plan for the Rim of the Valley Unit shall be construed to--
            ``(A) modify any provision of Federal, State, or local law 
        with respect to public access to or use of non-Federal land;
            ``(B) create any liability, or affect any liability under 
        any other law, of any private property owner or other owner of 
        non-Federal land with respect to any person injured on private 
        property or other non-Federal land;
            ``(C) affect the ownership, management, or other rights 
        relating to any non-Federal land (including any interest in any 
        non-Federal land);
            ``(D) require any local government to participate in any 
        program administered by the Secretary;
            ``(E) alter, modify, or diminish any right, responsibility, 
        power, authority, jurisdiction, or entitlement of the State, 
        any political subdivision of the State, or any State or local 
        agency under existing Federal, State, and local law (including 
        regulations);
            ``(F) require the creation of protective perimeters or 
        buffer zones and the fact that certain activities or land can 
        be seen or heard from within the Rim of the Valley Unit shall 
        not, of itself, preclude the activities or land uses up to the 
        boundary of the Rim of the Valley Unit;
            ``(G) require or promote use of, or encourage trespass on, 
        lands, facilities, and rights-of-way owned by non-Federal 
        entities, including water resource facilities and public 
        utilities, without the written consent of the owner;
            ``(H) affect the operation, maintenance, modification, 
        construction, or expansion of any water resource facility or 
        utility facility located within or adjacent to the Rim of the 
        Valley Unit;
            ``(I) terminate the fee title to lands or customary 
        operation, maintenance, repair, and replacement activities on 
        or under such lands granted to public agencies that are 
        authorized pursuant to Federal or State statute;
            ``(J) interfere with, obstruct, hinder, or delay the 
        exercise of any right to, or access to any water resource 
        facility or other facility or property necessary or useful to 
        access any water right to operate any public water or utility 
        system; or
            ``(K) require initiation or reinitiation of consultation 
        with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under, or the 
        application of provisions of, the Endangered Species Act of 
        1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the National Environmental 
        Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), or division A of 
        subtitle III of title 54, United States Code, concerning any 
        action or activity affecting water, water rights or water 
        management or water resource facilities within the Rim of the 
        Valley Unit.
    ``(4) The activities of a utility facility or water resource 
facility shall be conducted in a manner to reasonably avoid or reduce 
the impact on the resources of the Rim of the Valley Unit.
    ``(5) For the purposes of paragraphs (4) and (5)--
            ``(A) the term `utility facility' means electric 
        substations, communication facilities, towers, poles, and 
        lines, ground wires, communications circuits, and other 
        structures, and related infrastructure; and
            ``(B) the term `water resource facility' means irrigation 
        and pumping facilities; dams and reservoirs; flood control 
        facilities; water conservation works, including debris 
        protection facilities, sediment placement sites, rain gages, 
        and stream gauges; water quality, recycled water, and pumping 
        facilities; conveyance distribution systems; water treatment 
        facilities; aqueducts; canals; ditches; pipelines; wells; 
        hydropower projects; transmission facilities; and other 
        ancillary facilities, groundwater recharge facilities, water 
        conservation, water filtration plants, and other water 
        diversion, conservation, groundwater recharge, storage, and 
        carriage structures.''.
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