[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 114 (Wednesday, July 10, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4414-S4415]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2174. Ms. CORTEZ MASTO submitted an amendment intended to be 
proposed by her to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for 
fiscal year 2025 for military activities of the Department of Defense, 
for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department 
of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal 
year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as 
follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. ___. DESIGNATION OF SOUTHERN PAIUTE WILDERNESS, NEVADA.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (2) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Nevada.
       (3) Wilderness area.--The term ``wilderness area'' means 
     the wilderness area designated by subsection (b)(1).
       (b) Addition to the National Wilderness Preservation 
     System.--
       (1) Designation.--In accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 
     U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), there is designated as wilderness and 
     as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System 
     the approximately 736,188 acres of Federal land managed by 
     the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
     in Clark and Lincoln Counties, Nevada, to be known as the 
     ``Southern Paiute Wilderness''.
       (2) Boundary.--The boundary of any portion of the 
     wilderness area that is bordered by a road shall be not less 
     than 50 feet from the centerline of the road.
       (3) Map and legal description.--
       (A) In general.--As soon as practicable after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare a map and 
     legal description of the wilderness area.
       (B) Effect.--The map and legal description prepared under 
     subparagraph (A) shall have the same force and effect as if 
     included in this section, except that the Secretary may 
     correct clerical and typographical errors in the map or legal 
     description.
       (C) Availability.--The map and legal description prepared 
     under subparagraph (A) shall be on file and available for 
     public inspection in the appropriate offices of the United 
     States Fish and Wildlife Service.
       (4) Withdrawal.--Subject to valid existing rights, the 
     wilderness area is withdrawn from--
       (A) all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under 
     the public land laws;
       (B) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
       (C) operation of the mineral leasing and geothermal leasing 
     laws.

[[Page S4415]]

       (c) Management.--Subject to valid existing rights, the 
     wilderness area shall be administered by the Secretary in 
     accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), 
     except that--
       (1) any reference in that Act to the effective date of that 
     Act shall be considered to be a reference to the date of 
     enactment of this Act; and
       (2) any reference in that Act to the Secretary of 
     Agriculture shall be considered to be a reference to the 
     Secretary.
       (d) Incorporation of Acquired Land and Interests in Land.--
     Any land or interest in land within the boundary of the 
     wilderness area that is acquired by the United States after 
     the date of enactment of this Act shall be added to, and 
     administered as part of, the wilderness area.
       (e) Water Rights.--
       (1) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (A) the land designated as the wilderness area--
       (i) is within the Mojave Desert;
       (ii) is arid in nature; and
       (iii) includes ephemeral streams;
       (B) the hydrology of the land designated as the wilderness 
     area is predominantly characterized by complex flow patterns 
     and alluvial fans with impermanent channels;
       (C) the subsurface hydrogeology of the region in which the 
     land designated as the wilderness area is located is 
     characterized by--
       (i) groundwater subject to local and regional flow 
     gradients; and
       (ii) unconfined and artesian conditions;
       (D) the land designated as the wilderness area is generally 
     not suitable for use or development of new water resource 
     facilities; and
       (E) because of the unique nature and hydrology of the 
     desert land in the wilderness area, it is possible to provide 
     for proper management and protection of the wilderness area 
     and other values of land in ways different from ways used in 
     other laws.
       (2) Effect.--Nothing in this section--
       (A) constitutes an express or implied reservation by the 
     United States of any water or water rights with respect to 
     the wilderness area;
       (B) affects any water rights in the State (including any 
     water rights held by the United States) in existence on the 
     date of enactment of this Act;
       (C) establishes a precedent with regard to any future 
     wilderness designations;
       (D) affects the interpretation of, or any designation made 
     under, any other Act; or
       (E) limits, alters, modifies, or amends any interstate 
     compact or equitable apportionment decree that apportions 
     water among and between the State and other States.
       (3) State water law.--The Secretary shall follow the 
     procedural and substantive requirements of State law in order 
     to obtain and hold any water rights not in existence on the 
     date of enactment of this Act with respect to the wilderness 
     area.
       (4) New projects.--
       (A) Definition of water resource facility.--
       (i) In general.--In this paragraph, the term ``water 
     resource facility'' means an irrigation or pumping facility, 
     reservoir, water conservation work, aqueduct, canal, ditch, 
     pipeline, well, hydropower project, transmission or other 
     ancillary facility, and other water diversion, storage, or 
     carriage structure.
       (ii) Exclusion.--In this paragraph, the term ``water 
     resource facility'' does not include a wildlife guzzler.
       (B) Restriction on new water resource facilities.--Except 
     as otherwise provided in this section, on and after the date 
     of enactment of this Act, neither the President nor any other 
     officer, employee, or agent of the United States shall fund, 
     assist, authorize, or issue a license or permit for the 
     development of any new water resource facility within the 
     wilderness area.
       (f) Wildfire, Insects, and Disease.--In accordance with 
     section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)), 
     the Secretary may take such measures in the wilderness area 
     as are necessary for the control of fire, insects, and 
     diseases (including, as the Secretary determines to be 
     appropriate, the coordination of the activities with a State 
     or local agency).
       (g) Data Collection.--Subject to such terms and conditions 
     as the Secretary may prescribe, nothing in this section 
     precludes the installation and maintenance of hydrologic, 
     meteorological, or climatological collection devices in the 
     wilderness area, if the Secretary determines that the devices 
     and access to the devices are essential to flood warning, 
     flood control, or water reservoir operation activities.
       (h) Military Overflights.--Nothing in this section 
     restricts or precludes--
       (1) low-level overflights of military aircraft over the 
     wilderness area, including military overflights that can be 
     seen or heard within the wilderness area;
       (2) flight testing or evaluation; or
       (3) the designation or creation of new units of special use 
     airspace or the establishment of military flight training 
     routes, over the wilderness area.
       (i) Wildlife Management.--
       (1) In general.--In accordance with section 4(d)(7) of the 
     Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(7)), nothing in this 
     section affects or diminishes the jurisdiction of the State 
     with respect to fish and wildlife management, including the 
     regulation of hunting, fishing, and trapping, in the 
     wilderness area.
       (2) Management activities.--In furtherance of the purposes 
     and principles of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 
     seq.), the Secretary may conduct any management activities in 
     the wilderness area that are necessary to maintain or restore 
     fish and wildlife populations and the habitats to support the 
     populations, if the activities are carried out--
       (A) consistent with relevant wilderness management plans or 
     comprehensive conservation plans; and
       (B) in accordance with--
       (i) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.); and
       (ii) appropriate policies, including policies authorizing 
     the occasional and temporary use of motorized vehicles, if 
     the use, as determined by the Secretary, would promote 
     healthy, viable, and more naturally distributed wildlife 
     populations that would enhance wilderness values with the 
     minimal impact necessary to reasonably accomplish those 
     tasks.
       (3) Existing activities.--In accordance with section 
     4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)), the 
     State may continue to use aircraft (including helicopters) to 
     survey, capture, transplant, monitor, and provide water for 
     wildlife populations.
       (4) Wildlife water development projects.--Subject to 
     subsection (e), the Secretary shall authorize structures and 
     facilities, including existing structures and facilities, for 
     wildlife water development projects, including guzzlers, in 
     the wilderness area if--
       (A) the structures and facilities would, as determined by 
     the Secretary, enhance wilderness values by promoting 
     healthy, viable, and more naturally distributed wildlife 
     populations; and
       (B) the visual impacts of the structures and facilities on 
     the wilderness area can reasonably be minimized.
       (5) Hunting, fishing, and trapping.--
       (A) In general.--The Secretary may designate areas in 
     which, and establish periods during which, for reasons of 
     public safety, administration, or compliance with applicable 
     laws, no hunting, fishing, or trapping will be permitted in 
     the wilderness area.
       (B) Consultation.--Except in an emergency, the Secretary 
     shall consult with the appropriate State agency and notify 
     the public before taking any action under subparagraph (A).
       (j) Preservation of Public Access.--The area depicted as 
     ``Corn Creek / Alamo Road'' on the map entitled ``Desert 
     National Wildlife Range Proposed Southern Paiute Wilderness 
     Area'' and dated September 7, 2023, shall be preserved for 
     public access.
                                 ______