[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 81 (Monday, May 23, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H2892-H2894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1500
ALABAMA HILLS NATIONAL SCENIC AREA ESTABLISHMENT ACT
Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 496) to establish the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area in the
State of California, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 496
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Alabama
Hills National Scenic Area Establishment Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. Alabama Hills National Scenic Area, California.
Sec. 4. Management plan.
Sec. 5. Land taken into trust for Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone
Reservation.
Sec. 6. Transfer of administrative jurisdiction.
Sec. 7. Protection of services and recreational
opportunities.
Sec. 8. Clarification regarding funding.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Management plan.--The term ``management plan'' means
the management plan for the National Scenic Area developed
under section 4(a).
(2) Map.--The term ``Map'' means the map titled ``Proposed
Alabama Hills National Scenic Area'', dated September 8,
2014.
(3) Motorized vehicles.--The term ``motorized vehicles''
means motorized or mechanized vehicles and includes, when
used by utilities, mechanized equipment, helicopters, and
other aerial devices necessary to maintain electrical or
communications infrastructure.
(4) National scenic area.--The term ``National Scenic
Area'' means the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area
established by section 3(a).
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(6) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of
California.
(7) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Lone Pine Paiute-
Shoshone.
(8) Utility facility.--The term ``utility facility'' means
any and all existing and future water system facilities
including aqueducts, streams, ditches, and canals; water
facilities including, but not limited to, flow measuring
stations, gauges, gates, values, piping, conduits, fencing,
and electrical power and communications devices and systems;
and any and all existing and future electric generation
facilities, electric storage facilities, overhead and/or
underground electrical supply systems and communication
systems consisting of electric substations, electric lines,
poles and towers made of various materials, ``H'' frame
structures, guy wires and anchors, crossarms, wires,
underground conduits, cables, vaults, manholes, handholes,
above-ground enclosures, markers and concrete pads and other
fixtures, appliances and communication circuits, and other
fixtures, appliances and appurtenances connected therewith
necessary or convenient for the construction, operation,
regulation, control, grounding and maintenance of electric
generation, storage, lines and communication circuits, for
the purpose of transmitting intelligence and generating,
storing, distributing, regulating and controlling electric
energy to be used for light, heat, power, communication, and
other purposes.
SEC. 3. ALABAMA HILLS NATIONAL SCENIC AREA, CALIFORNIA.
(a) Establishment.--Subject to valid, existing rights,
there is established in Inyo County, California, the Alabama
Hills National Scenic Area. The National Scenic Area shall be
comprised of the approximately 18,610 acres generally
depicted on the Map as ``National Scenic Area''.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of the National Scenic Area is to
conserve, protect, and enhance for the benefit, use, and
enjoyment of present and future generations the nationally
significant scenic, cultural, geological, educational,
biological, historical, recreational, cinematographic, and
scientific resources of the National Scenic Area managed
consistent with section 302(a) of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1732(a)).
(c) Map; Legal Descriptions.--
(1) In general.--As soon as practicable after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall file a map and a
legal description of the National Scenic Area with--
(A) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Force of law.--The map and legal descriptions filed
under paragraph (1) shall have the same force and effect as
if included in this Act, except that the Secretary may
correct any clerical and typographical errors in the map and
legal descriptions.
(3) Public availability.--Each map and legal description
filed under paragraph (1) shall be on file and available for
public inspection in the appropriate offices of the Forest
Service and Bureau of Land Management.
(d) Administration.--The Secretary shall manage the
National Scenic Area--
(1) as a component of the National Landscape Conservation
System;
(2) so as not to impact the future continuing operations
and maintenance of any activities associated with valid,
existing rights, including water rights;
(3) in a manner that conserves, protects, and enhances the
resources and values of the National Scenic Area described in
subsection (b); and
(4) in accordance with--
[[Page H2893]]
(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 laws.
(e) Management.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall allow only such uses
of the National Scenic Area as the Secretary determines would
support the purposes of the National Scenic Area as described
in subsection (b).
(2) Recreational activities.--Except as otherwise provided
in this Act or other applicable law, or as the Secretary
determines to be necessary for public health and safety, the
Secretary shall allow existing recreational uses of the
National Scenic Area to continue, including hiking, mountain
biking, rock climbing, sightseeing, horseback riding,
hunting, fishing, and appropriate authorized motorized
vehicle use.
(3) Motorized vehicles.--Except as specified within this
Act and/or in cases in which motorized vehicles are needed
for administrative purposes, or to respond to an emergency,
the use of motorized vehicles in the National Scenic Area
shall be permitted only on--
(A) roads and trails designated by the Director of the
Bureau of Land Management for use of motorized vehicles as
part of a management plan sustaining a semi-primitive
motorized experience; or
(B) on county-maintained roads in accordance with
applicable State and county laws.
(f) No Buffer Zones.--
(1) In general.--Nothing in this Act creates a protective
perimeter or buffer zone around the National Scenic Area.
(2) Activities outside national scenic area.--The fact that
an activity or use on land outside the National Scenic Area
can be seen or heard within the National Scenic Area shall
not preclude the activity or use outside the boundaries of
the National Scenic Area.
(g) Access.--The Secretary shall continue to provide
private landowners adequate access to inholdings in the
National Scenic Area.
(h) Filming.--Nothing in this Act prohibits filming
(including commercial film production, student filming, and
still photography) within the National Scenic Area--
(1) subject to--
(A) such reasonable regulations, policies, and practices as
the Secretary considers to be necessary; and
(B) applicable law; and
(2) in a manner consistent with the purposes described in
subsection (b).
(i) Fish and Wildlife.--Nothing in this Act affects the
jurisdiction or responsibilities of the State with respect to
fish and wildlife.
(j) Livestock.--The grazing of livestock in the National
Scenic Area, including grazing under the Alabama Hills
allotment and the George Creek allotment, as established
before the date of enactment of this Act, shall be permitted
to continue--
(1) subject to--
(A) such reasonable regulations, policies, and practices as
the Secretary considers to be necessary; and
(B) applicable law; and
(2) in a manner consistent with the purposes described in
subsection (b).
(k) Overflights.--Nothing in this Act restricts or
precludes flights over the National Scenic Area or
overflights that can be seen or heard within the National
Scenic Area, including--
(1) transportation, sightseeing and filming flights,
general aviation planes, helicopters, hang-gliders, and
balloonists, for commercial or recreational purposes;
(2) low-level overflights of military aircraft;
(3) flight testing and evaluation; or
(4) the designation or creation of new units of special use
airspace, or the establishment of military flight training
routes, over the National Scenic Area.
(l) Withdrawal.--Subject to this Act's provisions and valid
rights in existence on the date of enactment of this Act,
including rights established by prior withdrawals, the
Federal land within the National Scenic Area is withdrawn
from all forms of--
(1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land
laws;
(2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
(3) disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral and
geothermal leasing or mineral materials.
(m) Wildland Fire Operations.--Nothing in this Act
prohibits the Secretary, in cooperation with other Federal,
State, and local agencies, as appropriate, from conducting
wildland fire operations in the National Scenic Area,
consistent with the purposes described in subsection (b).
(n) Grants; Cooperative Agreements.--The Secretary may make
grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements with, State,
tribal, and local governmental entities and private entities
to conduct research, interpretation, or public education or
to carry out any other initiative relating to the
restoration, conservation, or management of the National
Scenic Area.
(o) Air and Water Quality.--Nothing in this Act modifies
any standard governing air or water quality outside of the
boundaries of the National Scenic Area.
(p) Utility Facilities and Rights of Way.--
(1) Nothing in this Act shall--
(A) affect the existence, use, operation, maintenance
(including but not limited to vegetation control), repair,
construction, reconfiguration, expansion, inspection,
renewal, reconstruction, alteration, addition, relocation,
improvement, funding, removal, or replacement of utility
facilities or appurtenant rights of way within or adjacent to
the National Scenic Area;
(B) affect necessary or efficient access to utility
facilities or rights of way within or adjacent to the
National Scenic Area subject to subsection (e);
(C) preclude the Secretary from authorizing the
establishment of new utility facility rights of way
(including instream sites, routes, and areas) within the
National Scenic Area in a manner that minimizes harm to the
purpose of the National Scenic Area as described in
subsection (b)--
(i) with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and any other applicable law; and
(ii) subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary
determines to be appropriate.
(2) Management plan.--Consistent with this Act, the
Management Plan shall establish plans for maintenance of
public utility and other rights of way within the National
Scenic Area.
SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT PLAN.
(a) In General.--Not later than 3 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, in accordance with subsection (b), the
Secretary shall develop a comprehensive plan for the long-
term management of the National Scenic Area.
(b) Consultation.--In developing the management plan, the
Secretary shall--
(1) consult with appropriate State, tribal, and local
governmental entities, including Inyo County and the Tribe;
and
(2) seek input from--
(A) investor-owned utilities, including Southern California
Edison Company;
(B) the Alabama Hills Stewardship Group;
(C) members of the public; and
(D) the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
(c) Incorporation of Management Plan.--In developing the
management plan, in accordance with this section, the
Secretary shall allow, in perpetuity, casual-use mining
limited to the use of hand tools, metal detectors, hand-fed
dry washers, vacuum cleaners, gold pans, small sluices, and
similar items.
(d) Interim Management.--Pending completion of the
management plan, the Secretary shall manage the National
Scenic Area in accordance with section 3.
SEC. 5. LAND TAKEN INTO TRUST FOR LONE PINE PAIUTE-SHOSHONE
RESERVATION.
(a) Trust Land.--As soon as practicable after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall take the
approximately 132 acres of Federal land depicted on the Map
as ``Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Reservation Addition'' into
trust for the benefit of the Tribe, subject to the following:
(1) Conditions.--The land shall be subject to all
easements, covenants, conditions, restrictions, withdrawals,
and other matters of record on the date of the enactment of
this Act.
(2) Exclusion.--The Federal lands over which the right-of-
way for the Los Angeles Aqueduct is located, generally
described as the 250-foot-wide right-of-way granted to the
City of Los Angeles pursuant to the Act of June 30, 1906
(Chap. 3926), shall not be taken into trust for the Tribe.
(b) Reservation Land.--The land taken into trust pursuant
to subsection (a) shall be considered part of the reservation
of the Tribe.
(c) Gaming Prohibition.--Gaming under the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) shall not be allowed
on the land taken into trust pursuant to subsection (a).
SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION.
Administrative jurisdiction of the approximately 56 acres
of Federal land depicted on the Map as ``USFS Transfer to
BLM'' is hereby transferred from the Forest Service under the
Secretary of Agriculture to the Bureau of Land Management
under the Secretary.
SEC. 7. PROTECTION OF SERVICES AND RECREATIONAL
OPPORTUNITIES.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit commercial
services for existing and historic recreation uses as
authorized by the Bureau of Land Management's permit process.
Valid, existing, commercial permits to exercise guided
recreational opportunities for the public may continue as
authorized on the day before the date of the enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 8. CLARIFICATION REGARDING FUNDING.
No additional funds are authorized to carry out the
requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
Such requirements shall be carried out using amounts
otherwise authorized.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Cook) and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gallego) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
[[Page H2894]]
There was no objection.
Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I am the author of H.R. 469, which establishes the Alabama Hills
National Scenic Area, encompassing roughly 18,000 acres of Federal land
in central California, to preserve recreational and other existing uses
in the area.
The Alabama Hills are a range of hills and rock formations near the
eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and are used for a variety
of recreational activities.
The area has also served as a popular filming location for films and
television shows. ``The Gene Autry Show,'' ``The Lone Ranger,''
``Bonanza,'' and films including ``Tremors,'' ``Gladiator,'' and ``Iron
Man'' were filmed, in part, in the Alabama Hills area.
The goal of this legislation is protecting this area from the
industrial-scale renewable energy development that is occurring in
surrounding areas while also protecting existing uses.
The Alabama Hills Stewardship Group as well as off-road groups, the
local chamber of commerce, local and national conservation groups, and
many others coordinated for over 2 years to share ideas that ultimately
formed the basis of H.R. 496.
In addition to the National Scenic Area designation, the bill
preserves existing recreational and commercial uses of the area,
including grazing, filming, hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing,
hunting, fishing, and authorized off-highway vehicle use.
This is a commonsense bill that will successfully balance a wide
range of Federal land uses within the National Scenic Area and has
extensive local support.
This legislation is the culmination of the work of countless local
groups and individuals. I would especially like to thank Inyo County
Supervisor Matt Kingsley and Kevin Mazzu of the Alabama Hills
Stewardship Group for their tireless efforts to make the Alabama Hills
National Scenic Area a reality.
I strongly encourage my colleagues to support its passage.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Congressman Cook, a fellow
Marine, for crafting this bill before us.
H.R. 496 establishes the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area on
approximately 18,000 acres of Federal land in southern California.
Only a few hours' drive from Hollywood, Alabama Hills features a
unique collection of rock formations which attracted filmmakers for a
decade, as the gentleman has told us. The area's unusual landscape has
served as the backdrop for famous television and movie scenes,
including ``Bonanza'' and even now great movies like ``Iron Man.''
By incorporating the area into BLM's National Conservation Lands, the
establishment of the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area will promote
permanent protection of the area and encourage tourism and recreational
activities.
Mr. Speaker, this bill provides a model for responsible conservation
that we should seek to emulate across the country.
There are areas of Federal land throughout the United States that
deserve enhanced protection. I hope we can continue to work in a
bipartisan manner to preserve them for future generations through
locally driven conservation initiatives.
For now, I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I look forward to
working with the majority to identify additional opportunities to
protect public land.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers.
I want to thank my colleague for the Marine tag team comment.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Cook) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 496, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________