[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7832-S7833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mrs. Boxer):
  S. 3927. A bill to establish the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 
National Heritage Area; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise on behalf of myself and Senator 
Boxer to introduce legislation to establish a National Heritage Area in 
the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This legislation will 
create the first Heritage Area in California. I am pleased that I have 
had the opportunity to work with Senator Boxer, Representatives John 
Garamendi, George Miller, Mike Thompson, Doris Matsui, Jerry McNerney 
and the County Supervisors from the five Delta Counties to prepare this 
legislation and support their efforts to fully partner with the State, 
the Federal agencies, and other local governments to improve and care 
for the Delta.
  This bill will establish the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as a 
National Heritage Area.
  The Delta Protection Commission, created by California law and 
responsible to the citizens of the Delta and California, will manage 
the Heritage Area. It will ensure an open and public process, working 
with all levels of Federal, State, and local government, tribes, local 
stakeholders, and private property owners as it develops and implements 
the management plan for the Heritage Area. The goal is to conserve and 
protect the Delta, its communities, its resources, and its history.
  This bill does not create any new layers of government.
  It does not infringe on private property rights. Nothing in this bill 
gives any governmental agency any more regulatory power than it already 
has.
  In short, this bill provides no additional burden on local government 
or residents. Instead, it authorizes Federal assistance to a local 
process already required by State law that will elevate the Delta, 
providing a means to conserve and protect its valued communities, 
resources, and history.
  The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the largest estuary on the West 
Coast. It is the most extensive inland delta in the world, and a unique 
national treasure.
  Today, it is a labyrinth of sloughs, wetlands, and deepwater channels 
that connect the waters of the high Sierra mountain streams to the 
Pacific Ocean through the San Francisco Bay. Its approximately 60 
islands are protected by 1,100 miles of levees, and are home to 
3,500,000 residents, including 2,500 family farmers. The Delta and its 
farmers produce some of the highest quality specialty crops in the 
United States.
  The Delta offers recreational opportunities to the two million 
Californians that visit the Delta each year for boating, fishing, 
hunting, visiting historic sites, and viewing wildlife. It provides 
habitat for more than 750 species of plants and wildlife. These include 
sand hill cranes that migrate to the Delta wetland from places as far 
away as Siberia. The Delta also provides habitat for 55 species of 
fish, including Chinook salmon--some as large as 60 pounds- that return 
each year to travel through the Delta to spawn in the tributaries.
  These same waterways also channel fresh water to the Federal and 
State-owned pumps in the South Delta that provide water to 23 million 
Californians and three million acres of irrigated agricultural land 
elsewhere in the State.
  Before the Delta was reclaimed for farmland in the 19th Century, the 
Delta flooded regularly with snow melt each spring, and provided the 
rich environment that, by 1492, supported the

[[Page S7833]]

largest settlement of Native Americans in North America.
  The Delta was the gateway to the gold fields in 1849, after which 
Chinese workers built hundreds of miles of levees throughout the 
waterways of the Delta to make its rich peat soils available for 
farming and to control flooding.
  Japanese, Italians, German, Portuguese, Dutch, Greeks, South Asians 
and other immigrants began the farming legacy, and developed 
technologies specifically adapted to the unique environment, including 
the Caterpillar Tractor, which later contributed to agriculture and 
transportation internationally.
  Delta communities created a river culture befitting their dependence 
on water transport, a culture which has attracted the attention of 
authors from Mark Twain and Jack London to Joan Didion.
  The Delta is in crisis due to many factors, including invasive 
species, urban and agricultural run-off, wastewater discharges, 
channelization, dredging, water export operations, and other stressors.
  Many of the islands of the Delta are between 10 and 20 feet below sea 
level, and the levee system is presently inadequate to provide reliable 
flood protection for historic communities, significant habitats, 
agricultural enterprises, water resources, transportation and other 
infrastructure.
  Existing levees have not been engineered to withstand earthquakes. 
Should levees fail for any reason, a rush of seawater into the interior 
of the Delta could damage the already fragile ecosystem, contaminate 
drinking water for many Californians, flood agricultural land, inundate 
towns, and damage roads, power lines, and water project infrastructure.
  The State of California has been working for decades on a resolution 
to the water supply and ecosystem crisis in the State, and has a long 
history of partnerships with Federal agencies, working together to 
resolve challenges to the Delta's historic communities, ecosystem and 
the water it supplies so many Californians.
  The Delta Protection Commission, established under state law, has 
been tasked by the California State Legislature with providing a forum 
for Delta residents to engage in decisions regarding actions to 
recognize and enhance the unique cultural, recreational, agricultural 
resources, infrastructure and legacy communities of the Delta and to 
serve as the facilitating agency for the implementation of a National 
Heritage Area in the Delta.
  This legislation authorizes the creation of the Delta Heritage Area 
and federal assistance to the Delta Protection Commission in 
implementing the Area. This legislation is just a small part of the 
commitment the Federal government must make to the Delta and to 
California's ecosystem and water supply. I look forward to continuing 
to work with my colleagues at every level of government to restore and 
sustain the ecosystem in the Delta, to provide for reliable water 
supply in the State of California, to recover the native species of the 
Delta, protect communities in the Delta from flood risk, ensure 
economic sustainability in the Delta, improve water quality in the 
Delta, and; sustain the unique cultural, historical, recreational, 
agricultural and economic values of the Delta.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3927

       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 ``Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 
     National Heritage Area Establishment Act''.

     SEC. 2. SACRAMENTO-SAN JOAQUIN DELTA NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Heritage area.--The term ``Heritage Area'' means the 
     Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Heritage Area established by 
     this section.
       (2) Heritage area management plan.--The term ``Heritage 
     Area management plan'' means the plan developed and adopted 
     by the management entity under this section.
       (3) Management entity.--The term ``management entity'' 
     means the management entity for the Heritage Area designated 
     by subsection (b)(4).
       (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (b) Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Heritage Area.--
       (1) Establishment.--There is established the ``Sacramento-
     San Joaquin Delta Heritage Area'' in the State of California.
       (2) Boundaries.--The boundaries of the Heritage Area shall 
     be in the counties of Contra Costa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, 
     Solano, and Yolo in the State of California, as generally 
     depicted on the map entitled ``Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 
     National Heritage Area Proposed Boundary'', numbered T27/
     105,030, and dated September 2010.
       (3) Availability of map.--The map described in paragraph 
     (2) shall be on file and available for public inspection in 
     the appropriate offices of the National Park Service and the 
     Delta Protection Commission.
       (4) Management entity.--The management entity for the 
     Heritage Area shall be the Delta Protection Commission 
     established by section 29735 of the California Public 
     Resources Code.
       (5) Administration; management plan.--
       (A) Administration.--For purposes of carrying out the 
     Heritage Area management plan, the Secretary, acting through 
     the management entity, may use amounts made available under 
     this section in accordance with section 8001(c) of the 
     Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-
     11; 123 Stat. 991).
       (B) Management plan.--
       (i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), the management 
     entity shall submit to the Secretary for approval a proposed 
     management plan for the Heritage Area in accordance with 
     section 8001(d) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 
     2009 (Public Law 111-11; 123 Stat. 991).
       (ii) Restrictions.--The Heritage Area management plan 
     submitted under this paragraph shall--

       (I) ensure participation by appropriate Federal, State, 
     tribal, and local agencies, including the Delta Stewardship 
     Council, special districts, natural and historical resource 
     protection and agricultural organizations, educational 
     institutions, businesses, recreational organizations, 
     community residents, and private property owners; and
       (II) not be approved until the Secretary has received 
     certification from the Delta Protection Commission that the 
     Delta Stewardship Council has reviewed the Heritage Area 
     management plan for consistency with the plan adopted by the 
     Delta Stewardship Council pursuant to State law.

       (6) Relationship to other federal agencies; private 
     property.--
       (A) Relationship to other federal agencies.--The provisions 
     of section 8001(e) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act 
     of 2009 (Public Law 111-11; 123 Stat. 991) shall apply to the 
     Heritage Area.
       (B) Private property.--
       (i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), the provisions of 
     section 8001(f) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 
     2009 (Public Law 111-11; 123 Stat. 991) shall apply to the 
     Heritage Area.
       (ii) Opt out.--An owner of private property within the 
     Heritage Area may opt out of participating in any plan, 
     project, program, or activity carried out within the Heritage 
     Area under this section, if the property owner provides 
     written notice to the management entity.
       (7) Evaluation; report.--The provisions of section 8001(g) 
     of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 
     111-11; 123 Stat. 991) shall apply to the Heritage Area.
       (8) Effect of designation.--Nothing in this section--
       (A) precludes the management entity from using Federal 
     funds made available under other laws for the purposes for 
     which those funds were authorized; or
       (B) affects any water rights or contracts.
       (9) Authorization of appropriations.--
       (A) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
     carry out this section $20,000,000, of which not more than 
     $2,000,000 may be made available for any fiscal year.
       (B) Cost-sharing requirement.--The Federal share of the 
     total cost of any activity under this section shall be 
     determined by the Secretary, but shall be not more than 50 
     percent.
       (C) Non-federal share.--The non-Federal share of the total 
     cost of any activity under this section may be in the form 
     of--
       (i) in-kind contributions of goods or services; or
       (ii) State or local government fees, taxes, or assessments.
       (10) Termination of authority.--If a proposed management 
     plan has not been submitted to the Secretary by the date that 
     is 5 years after the date of enactment of this title, the 
     Heritage Area designation shall be rescinded.
                                 ______