[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 5, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H4253-H4255]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CLEAR CREEK NATIONAL RECREATION AREA AND CONSERVATION ACT
Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1838) to establish the Clear Creek National Recreation Area
in San Benito and Fresno Counties, California, to designate the Joaquin
Rocks Wilderness in such counties, to designate additional components
of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes,
as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1838
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 ``Clear Creek National
Recreation Area and Conservation Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Management plan.--The term ``management plan'' means
the Plan for the Recreation Area prepared under section 4(c).
(2) Recreation area.--The term ``Recreation Area'' means
the Clear Creek National Recreation Area.
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(4) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of
California.
(5) Off highway vehicle.--The term ``off highway vehicle''
means any motorized vehicle designed for or capable of cross-
country travel on or immediately over land, water, snow, or
other natural terrain and not intended for use on public
roads.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF CLEAR CREEK NATIONAL RECREATION
AREA.
(a) In General.--To promote environmentally responsible off
highway vehicle recreation, the area generally depicted as
``Proposed Clear Creek National Recreation Area'' on the map
titled ``Proposed Clear Creek National Recreation Area'' and
dated December 15, 2015, is established as the ``Clear Creek
National Recreation Area'', to be managed by the Secretary.
(b) Other Purposes.--The Recreation Area shall also support
other public recreational uses, such as hunting, hiking, and
rock and gem collecting.
(c) Map on File.--Copies of the map referred to in
subsection (a) shall be on file and available for public
inspection in--
(1) the Office of the Director of the Bureau of Land
Management; and
(2) the appropriate office of the Bureau of Land Management
in California.
SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT.
(a) In General.--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) Uses.--The Secretary shall--
(1) prioritize environmentally responsible off highway
vehicle recreation and also facilitate hunting, hiking, gem
collecting, and the use of motorized vehicles, mountain
bikes, and horses in accordance with the management plan
described in subsection (c);
(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) Interim Management Plan.--The Secretary shall use the
2006 Clear Creek Management Area Resource Management Plan
Amendment and Route Designation Record of Decision as
modified by this Act or the Secretary to incorporate natural
resource protection information not available in 2006, as the
basis of an interim management plan to govern off highway
vehicle recreation within the Recreation Area pending the
completion of the long-term management plan required in
subsection (d).
(d) Permanent Management Plan.--Not 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;
(C) other stakeholders (including conservation and
recreational organizations); and
(D) holders of any easements, rights-of-way, and other
valid rights in the Recreation Area;
(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 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) shall designate as many previously used trails, roads,
and other areas for off highway vehicle recreation as
feasible in accordance with this in order to provide a
substantially similar recreational experience, except that
nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as precluding
the Secretary from closing any area, trail, or route from use
for the purposes of public safety or resource protection;
(6) 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;
(7) 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;
(8) 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
(9) 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) Acquisition of Property.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary may acquire land adjacent to
the National Recreation Area by purchase from willing
sellers, donation, or exchange.
(2) Management.--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) Improved access.--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) Private Property.--
(1) Access to private property.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall provide landowners
adequate access to inholdings within the Recreation Area.
(B) Inholdings.--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) Use of private property.--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) Buffer zones.--Nothing in this Act creates a protective
perimeter or buffer zone around the Recreation Area.
(4) Valid rights.--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) Water Right Exclusion.--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) Hunting and Fishing.--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.
[[Page H4254]]
(i) Motorized Vehicles.--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) Grazing.--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) Withdrawal.--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) Fees.--Amounts received by the Secretary under the fee
structure required by subsection (d)(4) shall be--
(1) deposited in a special account in the Treasury of the
United States; and
(2) made available until expended to the Secretary for use
in the Recreation Area.
(m) Risk Standard.--The National Oil and Hazardous
Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (section 300 of title
40, Code of Federal Regulations), 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).
SEC. 5. JOAQUIN ROCKS WILDERNESS.
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 January 14, 2015, is designated
as wilderness and as a component of the National Wilderness
Preservation System and shall be known as the ``Joaquin Rocks
Wilderness''.
SEC. 6. RELEASE OF SAN BENITO MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS STUDY AREA.
(a) Finding.--Congress finds that, for the purposes of
section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782), the San Benito Mountain wilderness
study area has been adequately studied for wilderness
designation.
(b) Release.--The San Benito Mountain wilderness study area
is no longer subject to section 603(c) of the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782(c)).
SEC. 7. CLARIFICATION REGARDING FUNDING.
No additional funds are authorized to carry out the
requirements of this Act. Such requirements shall be carried
out using amounts otherwise authorized.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Wyoming (Mrs. Lummis) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Wyoming.
General Leave
Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Wyoming?
There was no objection.
Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
H.R. 1838, the Clear Creek National Recreation Area and Conservation
Act, would reopen an area administratively closed by the Bureau of Land
Management to off-highway vehicle and other recreational activities,
designate new wilderness, and release a wilderness study area back into
multiple use.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1838 establishes the Clear Creek National
Recreation Area, as stated before, and the Joaquin Rocks Wilderness
Area on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management in the
Central Coast region of California in Fresno County. I am very familiar
with this. It used to be in a previous district I represented.
This area has mutual beneficial uses, from hiking and hunting to off-
highway vehicle use. Adjacent to this area are areas that have been
used for cattle grazing for families for generations. They have worked
together to ensure that we can protect those areas for appropriate uses
for cattle grazing but also, at the same time, separately provide areas
where this hiking and hunting and off-highway vehicle use can take
place.
This legislation will improve and enhance the success for a variety
of recreational activities, which is what it is intended to, and, at
the same time, try to preserve ecological sensitive and unique areas in
a way that supports the overall use.
In addition to the many ecological benefits they are providing,
including clean air and clean water, wilderness areas throughout the
country play a large role in supporting the approximately $646-billion-
per-year outdoor recreational economy. I am pleased that we are
advancing a bill that adds 21,000 acres to the National Wilderness
Preservation System.
Our colleagues in the House have introduced several bills to
designate wilderness areas. These bills are developed from the ground
up with input and support from our constituents.
This bill, in particular, has been a priority for Congressman Farr
for many years. I want to congratulate him for his hard work and
tenacity.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 2030
Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
fine gentleman from California (Mr. Denham), one of the Republican
cosponsors of this bill. These fine gentleman include all here present.
They worked together on a bipartisan basis for one of the most
economically and ecologically versatile places on Earth.
Mr. DENHAM. I thank the gentlewoman.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, Sam Farr. Together, we have
coauthored a bill that brings two valleys together. We have the Salinas
Valley and the Central Valley that come together in this beautiful spot
and bring a national forest to what its intended use is--for hikers,
for off-roaders, and for people who just want to use the beauty of this
park.
This has truly been a bipartisan effort, not only between Republicans
and Democrats, but by pulling two valleys together, a number of
different Members are wanting to see this area open back up and be
utilized by the taxpayers. This is something that is going to provide
generations to come an opportunity to spend time together--to off-road
together, to hike together, and to even take photographs, which I know
my good friend likes to do in areas like this.
I am proud to be a coauthor, and I am proud of the widespread
bipartisan support. I am proud to have worked with such a good friend
on a fine piece of legislation.
Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Farr), my good friend from California's Central Coast
area.
Mr. FARR. I thank very much Ranking Member Costa and Chairwoman
Lummis for their support of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I think this bill is more than what we just talked
about, because it is an incredible collaboration of groups that are not
necessarily friendly to each other. We have in this sponsorship the
Off-Road Vehicle Association and the Native Plant Society. Normally,
they would not be on the same legislation. Why did it all happen? It is
because we have 60,000 acres that have been shut down for nobody's use.
It was a former asbestos surface mining area.
Clear Creek has been a destination for outdoor recreation by off-road
vehicle users, hikers, bird and animal enthusiasts, and many others.
The area is home to unique habitats of plants and animals that attract
visitors, which has helped a low-income rural area economically; but in
2008, the Bureau of Land Management closed the area because of an EPA
report that said the naturally occurring asbestos may be dangerous.
Without any further thought about assuming risk in the national area,
it just closed it all down; but as long as people are aware of the
risks and know how to safely enjoy Clear Creek, it is not dangerous at
all.
For example, people climb El Capitan, which is, probably, one of the
more difficult climbs in America. You make a mistake there and you die,
yet the National Park Service allows you to climb it. The risks go on
and on. You also see the same with heli-skiing, skydiving, and many
other high-risk
[[Page H4255]]
activities. Two of my constituents--and they really deserve tremendous
credit because they really learned how to petition government--Ed
Tobin, who is with the Salinas Ramblers Motorcycle Club, and Ron
DeShazer, who is a forklift operator in Salinas and a longtime Clear
Creek rider, know about risks. They also know how to recreate safely in
Clear Creek. We should learn from them.
Clear Creek's closure not only upset the vast off-road vehicle
community, but also the California Native Plant Society, the Sierra
Club hikers, and, especially, the local community, which is suffering
the economic loss.
This is commonsense legislation that does three things:
First, the bill redesignates the Clear Creek Management Area as the
Clear Creek National Recreation Area. This allows it to be used for
off-road vehicle recreation, and it requires the Bureau of Land
Management to alert all users to the risks and to instruct people to
wash off vehicles that may be used on the roads. The wash racks are
already in place and have been there for years.
Second, it gives the Bureau of Land Management the authority to levy
a recreational user fee and apply the proceeds to the management of the
area.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. COSTA. I yield the gentleman an additional 2 minutes.
Mr. FARR. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Third, it allows the BLM to enter into joint management agreements
with the California State Parks system that manages a nearby off-road
vehicle park without asbestos surfaces, known as Hollister Hills.
Fourth, this legislation designates the adjacent Joaquin Rocks
landscape as wilderness and five BLM-identified streams as National
Wild and Scenic Rivers.
The conservation piece of this legislation protects a diverse array
of flora and fauna and several species of wildlife. In addition to
falcons, hawks, and owls, the area provides a potential nesting habitat
for the California condor, which was reintroduced in the nearby Gabilan
Range.
I thank my colleagues Jeff Denham and David Valadao for being
tremendous partners and for their leadership in bringing this bill to
the House floor today. In working with Representatives Denham and
Valadao, their staffs, and many of our constituents in central
California, we crafted a bill to support recreation, conservation, and
economic growth.
I also thank Chairman Bishop of the committee and Ranking Member
Grijalva, subcommittee Chairman McClintock and subcommittee Ranking
Member Tsongas for their support.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the legislation, and I also urge the
members of the committee to think about this when trying to solve
difficult, conflicting problems in that we can bring all parties of
interest together and end up with a win-win.
Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I think the bipartisan support is here.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I express my support for this bill and my thanks to my colleagues
from California for their hard work on this bill--on my side of the
aisle, Mr. Denham and Mr. Valadao; on the Democratic side, Mr. Farr,
with whom I served on the Appropriations Committee and who did a
wonderful job, by the way, and Mr. Costa, with whom I now serve on the
Natural Resources Committee. They are fine gentlemen, one and all, from
California.
Before I close, I must say I have a unique love for the State. My
relative, a gentleman named Charles Fletcher Lummis, walked from Ohio
to California--walked--in the 1800s, arrived in Los Angeles, and became
the assistant editor of what is now the Los Angeles Times. There were
only 14,000 people in Los Angeles, California. His home, El Alisal,
which is between Los Angeles and Pasadena, is a State historic site in
California and is a wonderful, historic place to visit.
He was the first person to photograph the Penitentes ceremony, where
they actually crucified some of their colleagues in a ceremony in New
Mexico. He was the American who chronicled the capture of Geronimo. He
was knighted by the King of Spain for being the Californian who led the
designation of national historic sites for San Juan Capistrano and
others of the great missions of southern California before they were
destroyed. He was a magnificent, flowery character in the State of
California. His friends were people like John Muir, Teddy Roosevelt,
and other famous conservationists and preservationists. I am proud to
be a relative of Charles Fletcher Lummis.
I am proud of what California has done to balance its efforts in
having a uniquely diverse culture and a fabulous agriculture and
recreation economy. This is a unique State. This is a State that has
pistachios and almonds and vegetables, which we all need to sustain
ourselves in a way that will allow America to continue to play a role
in feeding itself.
I was involved in an effort to try to make sure, for our own national
security, that we would continue to be able to feed ourselves in this
Nation, and we thought we were going to be able to feed ourselves until
around the year 2050. It has been years ago since we became a net
importer of food. That is not necessary. We can grow enough food in
America to sustain our population. To allow us to become a net importer
of food, I think, is a mistake because we have a magnificent place like
California that can outgrow almost any area of our Nation if we will
only be respectful and listen to the people who live there and to the
people who feed us, whether they are the farm owners or the
farmworkers. These are people who want to work on California and with
California so as to feed America, to support their families, and to
sustain a fabulous environment.
To the fine gentlemen from California who bring this bill forward and
who work so hard every day to try to make sure that these different
valleys and these very diverse communities come together, I offer my
full support of this bill, and I commend them for their work.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Zinke). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Lummis) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1838, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to
establish the Clear Creek National Recreation Area in San Benito and
Fresno Counties, California, to designate the Joaquin Rocks Wilderness
in such counties, and for other purposes.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________