[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6834-6836]
[From the U.S. 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--
       (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;

[[Page 6835]]

       (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?
  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.

[[Page 6836]]

  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.

                          ____________________