[House Report 113-506]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


113th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     113-506

======================================================================



 
     NAVAL AIR WEAPONS STATION CHINA LAKE SECURITY ENHANCEMENT ACT

                                _______
                                

 June 30, 2014.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 4458]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 4458) to make permanent the withdrawal and 
reservation of public land previously withdrawn and reserved to 
support the operations of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, 
California, and to provide for the withdrawal and reservation 
of additional public land, having considered the same, report 
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill 
as amended do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake 
Security Enhancement Act''.

SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION OF PUBLIC LAND FOR NAVAL AIR WEAPONS 
                    STATION CHINA LAKE, CALIFORNIA.

  (a) Permanent Withdrawal and Reservation.--Section 2979 of the 
Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (division 
B of Public Law 113-66; 127 Stat. 1047) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 2979. PERMANENT WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION.

  ``The withdrawal and reservation of public land made by section 2971 
shall not terminate, except pursuant to--
          ``(1) an election and determination by the Secretary of the 
        Navy to relinquish the land under section 2922; or
          ``(2) a transfer by the Secretary of the Interior of 
        permanent administrative jurisdiction over the land to the 
        Secretary of the Navy.''.
  (b) Withdrawal and Reservation of Additional Public Land.--Section 
2971(b) of the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2014 (division B of Public Law 113-66; 127 Stat. 1044) is amended--
          (1) by striking ``The public land'' and inserting the 
        following:
          ``(1) Initial withdrawal.--The public land''; and
          (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
          ``(2) Additional withdrawal.--Subject to valid existing 
        rights, the public land (including interests in land) referred 
        to in subsection (a) also includes the approximately 26,313 
        acres of public land (including interests in land) known as the 
        Cuddeback Lake Air Force Range, as described in section 2 of 
        Public Law 88-46 (77 Stat. 70), and an additional approximately 
        18,933 acres of public land in San Bernardino County, 
        California, identified as `Proposed Navy Acquisition Area' (but 
        excluding the parcel identified as `AF Fee Simple') on the map 
        entitled `Cuddeback Land Area' and dated April 1, 2014, and 
        filed in accordance with section 2912, except that the 
        withdrawal area specifically excludes any public land included 
        within the Grass Valley Wilderness and all private lands 
        otherwise located within the boundaries of the withdrawal area. 
        The Secretary of the Navy shall ensure that the owners of the 
        excluded private land continue to have reasonable access to 
        their private land.''.
  (c) Management of Additional Public Land.--Section 2973 of the 
Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (division 
B of Public Law 113-66; 127 Stat. 1045) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection:
  ``(d) Additional Management Considerations for Certain Lands.--
Subject to existing laws and to the extent possible without 
compromising mission readiness, the Secretary of the Navy shall manage 
the additional lands withdrawn by section 2971(b)(2) to protect 
existing historic, economic, cultural, recreational, hunting, and 
scientific features and uses, including access to existing roadways and 
trails.''.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of H.R. 4458 is to make permanent the 
withdrawal and reservation of public land previously withdrawn 
and reserved to support the operations of Naval Air Weapons 
Station China Lake, California, and to provide for the 
withdrawal and reservation of additional public land.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    Enacted in 1994, the California Desert Protection Act 
(CDPA) included the California Military Lands Withdrawal and 
Overflights Act of 1994. Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China 
Lake is one of several Bureau of Land Management (BLM) areas 
withdrawn for military use under the CDPA and this withdrawal 
is scheduled to expire on October 31, 2014. Due to the Navy's 
need for continued research, development, acquisition, test, 
and evaluation (RDAT&E) and operational training activities at 
NAWS China Lake, earlier in the 113th Congress, Congressman 
Kevin McCarthy introduced H.R. 1673 to permanently transfer the 
approximately 1,030,000 acres to meet those critical national 
security needs. However, the National Defense Authorization Act 
for fiscal year 2014 (Public Law 113-66) only withdrew and 
reserved the approximately 1,030,000 of BLM land at NAWS China 
Lake for a period of 25 years.
    H.R. 4458 directs the Secretary of the Interior to 
permanently withdraw and reserve the approximately 1,056,313 
acres of BLM land in Inyo, Kern and San Bernardino Counties, 
California, to support the operations of NAWS China Lake. In 
addition to the lands that are currently withdrawn and to meet 
expanded Navy training needs, H.R. 4458 withdraws an additional 
26,313 acres near the southwest corner of the South Range at 
NAWS China Lake, which includes the currently inactive 
Cuddeback Lake Air Force Range (approximately 7,379 acres). The 
Cuddeback Lake Air Force Range was used by the Air Force from 
the early 1960s to 1983 for test piloting, aerial gunnery, 
bombing and strafing. H.R. 4458 provides a logical extension of 
NAWS China Lake to meet expanding and evolving RDAT&E 
capabilities, especially anticipated RDAT&E requirements like 
the testing of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and other unmanned 
systems.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 4458 was introduced on April 10, 2014, by Congressman 
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation. On 
April 29, 2014, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On 
May 8, 2014, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider 
the bill. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental 
Regulation was discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman Rob 
Bishop (R-UT) offered an amendment designated #1 to the bill; 
the amendment was adopted by voice vote. No further amendments 
were offered, and the bill, as amended, was then adopted and 
ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by a 
bipartisan roll call vote of 24 to 13, as follows:


            Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                    Compliance with House Rule XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) 
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when 
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted 
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 3(c)(3) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has 
received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

H.R. 4458--Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake Security Enhancement 
        Act

    H.R. 4458 would make permanent the withdrawal of roughly 1 
million acres of federal land that make up the National Air 
Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake. The bill also would 
permanently withdraw an additional 26,000 acres of federal 
lands for military purposes.
    Because, under current law, the federal lands that make up 
NAWS China Lake are withdrawn through fiscal year 2039 for 
military purposes and the other affected lands are not expected 
to generate receipts over the next 10 years, CBO estimates that 
enacting H.R. 4458 would have no significant effect on the 
federal budget. Enacting H.R. 4458 would not affect direct 
spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do 
not apply.
    H.R. 4458 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The 
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.
    2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required 
by clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget 
Act of 1974, this bill does not contain any new budget 
authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase 
or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. Because, under 
current law, the federal lands that make up NAWS China Lake are 
withdrawn through fiscal year 2039 for military purposes and 
the other affected lands are not expected to generate receipts 
over the next 10 years, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4458 
would have no significant effect on the federal budget.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill is to make permanent the withdrawal and 
reservation of public land previously withdrawn and reserved to 
support the operations of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, 
California, and to provide for the withdrawal and reservation 
of additional public land.

                           Earmark Statement

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                    Compliance With Public Law 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                       Compliance With H. Res. 5

    Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that 
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any 
specific rule-making proceedings.
    Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not 
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government 
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was 
not included in any report from the Government Accountability 
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139 
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program 
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law 
98-169) as relating to other programs.

                Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

      MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014




           *       *       *       *       *       *       *
DIVISION B--MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AUTHORIZATIONS

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


 TITLE XXIX--WITHDRAWAL, RESERVATION, AND TRANSFER OF PUBLIC LANDS TO 
SUPPORT MILITARY READINESS AND SECURITY

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



      Subtitle F--Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California


SEC. 2971. WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION OF PUBLIC LAND.

  (a) Withdrawal.--Subject to valid existing rights and except 
as otherwise provided in this subtitle, the public land 
(including interests in land) described in subsection (b), and 
all other areas within the boundary of the land depicted on the 
map described in that subsection that may become subject to the 
operation of the public land laws, is withdrawn from all forms 
of appropriation under the public land laws, including the 
mining laws, the mineral leasing laws, and the geothermal 
leasing laws.
  (b) Description of Land.--[The public land]
          (1) Initial withdrawal._The public land (including 
        interests in land) referred to in subsection (a) is the 
        Federal land located within the boundaries of the Naval 
        Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, comprising 
        approximately 1,045,000 acres in Inyo, Kern, and San 
        Bernardino Counties, California, as generally depicted 
        on the maps entitled ``Naval Air Weapons Station China 
        Lake Withdrawal--Renewal'', ``North Range'', and 
        ``South Range'', dated March 18, 2013, and filed in 
        accordance with section 2912.
          (2) Additional withdrawal.--Subject to valid existing 
        rights, the public land (including interests in land) 
        referred to in subsection (a) also includes the 
        approximately 26,313 acres of public land (including 
        interests in land) known as the Cuddeback Lake Air 
        Force Range, as described in section 2 of Public Law 
        88-46 (77 Stat. 70), and an additional approximately 
        18,933 acres of public land in San Bernardino County, 
        California, identified as ``Proposed Navy Acquisition 
        Area'' (but excluding the parcel identified as ``AF Fee 
        Simple'') on the map entitled ``Cuddeback Land Area'' 
        and dated April 1, 2014, and filed in accordance with 
        section 2912, except that the withdrawal area 
        specifically excludes any public land included within 
        the Grass Valley Wilderness and all private lands 
        otherwise located within the boundaries of the 
        withdrawal area. The Secretary of the Navy shall ensure 
        that the owners of the excluded private land continue 
        to have reasonable access to their private land.
  (c) Reservation.--The land withdrawn by subsection (a) is 
reserved for use by the Secretary of the Navy for the following 
purposes:
          (1) Use as a research, development, test, and 
        evaluation laboratory.
          (2) Use as a range for air warfare weapons and weapon 
        systems.
          (3) Use as a high-hazard testing and training area 
        for aerial gunnery, rocketry, electronic warfare and 
        countermeasures, tactical maneuvering and air support, 
        and directed energy and unmanned aerial systems.
          (4) Geothermal leasing, development, and related 
        power production activities.
          (5) Other defense-related purposes that are--
                  (A) consistent with the purposes described in 
                the preceding paragraphs; and
                  (B) authorized under section 2914.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 2973. ASSIGNMENT OF MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITY TO SECRETARY OF THE 
                    NAVY.

  (a) Authority To Assign Management Responsibility.--The 
Secretary of the Interior may assign the management 
responsibility, in whole or in part, for the land withdrawn and 
reserved by section 2971 to the Secretary of the Navy.
  (b) Applicable Law.--On assignment of the management 
responsibility under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Navy 
shall manage the land in accordance with--
          (1) subtitle A and this subtitle;
          (2) title I of the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670a et 
        seq.);
          (3) the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
        1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.);
          (4) cooperative management arrangements entered into 
        by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 
        the Navy; and
          (5) any other applicable law.
  (d) Additional Management Considerations for Certain Lands.--
Subject to existing laws and to the extent possible without 
compromising mission readiness, the Secretary of the Navy shall 
manage the additional lands withdrawn by section 2971(b)(2) to 
protect existing historic, economic, cultural, recreational, 
hunting, and scientific features and uses, including access to 
existing roadways and trails.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


[SEC. 2979. DURATION OF WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION.

  [The withdrawal and reservation of public land made by 
section 2971 shall terminate on March 31, 2039.]

SEC. 2979. PERMANENT WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION.

  The withdrawal and reservation of public land made by section 
2971 shall not terminate, except pursuant to--
          (1) an election and determination by the Secretary of 
        the Navy to relinquish the land under section 2922; or
          (2) a transfer by the Secretary of the Interior of 
        permanent administrative jurisdiction over the land to 
        the Secretary of the Navy.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    H.R. 4458 makes permanent the withdrawal and reservation of 
public land associated with Naval Air Weapons Station China 
Lake in Southern California. This land was already withdrawn 
for military use by National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2014. The current withdrawal, which was approved 
last year by Congress, extended the reservation until 2039.
    In addition to making permanent the withdrawal, H.R 4458 
adds 26,349 acres to China Lake, over half of which the Navy 
testified that it does not want to manage. Forcing the 
Department of Defense to manage land that it doesn't need will 
divert critical resources that should be used to make sure our 
men and women in uniform have what they need to keep our 
country safe, not managing grazing permits or wild horses.
    Democrats support the ongoing use of public lands by our 
nation's military. In fact, Congress passed the Engle Act in 
1958 to ensure proper oversight of the military's use of public 
lands. Thanks to that oversight and periodic review, 
approximately 16 million acres of public lands are currently 
withdrawn and reserved for military purposes in joint 
cooperation with the public land agencies and the military. 
This cooperation ensures that the military mission is 
prioritized as long as needed, but allows for discussion of the 
long-term protection and potential uses of the lands in the 
future. While used by the military, the land still belongs to 
the American public.
    The Department of Defense has made suggestions about how to 
improve the way it accesses and uses public lands. These 
suggestions are ignored by this bill. There may be specific 
instances where a permanent transfer to the Defense Department 
makes sense, but this is not one of them.

                                   Peter DeFazio,
                                    Ranking Member, Committee on 
                                       Natural Resources.
                                   Raul Grijalva,
                                    Ranking Member, Subcommittee on 
                                       Public Lands and Environmental 
                                       Regulation.

                            APPENDIX I: MAP



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