[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 276 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 276
To designate the Piedras Blancas Light Station and the surrounding
public land as an Outstanding Natural Area to be administered as a part
of the National Landscape Conservation System, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 5, 2007
Mrs. Capps introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To designate the Piedras Blancas Light Station and the surrounding
public land as an Outstanding Natural Area to be administered as a part
of the National Landscape Conservation System, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITIONS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Piedras Blancas
Historic Light Station Outstanding Natural Area Act of 2007''.
(b) Definitions.--For the purposes of this Act, the following
definitions apply:
(1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(2) Light station.--The term ``Light Station'' means
Piedras Blancas Light Station.
(3) Public lands.--The term ``public lands'' has the
meaning stated in section 103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1703(e)).
(4) Outstanding natural area.--The term ``Outstanding
Natural Area'' means the Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station
Outstanding Natural Area established pursuant to section 3.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) The publicly owned Piedras Blancas Light Station has
nationally recognized historical structures that should be
preserved for present and future generations.
(2) The coastline adjacent to the Light Station is
internationally recognized as having significant wildlife and
marine habitat that provides critical information to research
institutions throughout the world.
(3) The Light Station tells an important story about
California's coastal prehistory and history in the context of
the surrounding region and communities.
(4) The coastal area surrounding the Light Station was
traditionally used by Indian people, including the Chumash and
Salinan Indian tribes.
(5) The Light Station is historically associated with the
nearby world-famous Hearst Castle (Hearst San Simeon State
Historical Monument), now administered by the State of
California.
(6) The Light Station represents a model partnership where
future management can be successfully accomplished among the
Federal Government, the State of California, San Luis Obispo
County, local communities, and private groups.
(7) Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station Outstanding
Natural Area would make a significant addition to the National
Landscape Conservation System administered by the Department of
the Interior's Bureau of Land Management.
(8) Statutory protection is needed for the Light Station
and its surrounding Federal lands to ensure that it remains a
part of our historic, cultural, and natural heritage and to be
a source of inspiration for the people of the United States.
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF THE PIEDRAS BLANCAS HISTORIC LIGHT STATION
OUTSTANDING NATURAL AREA.
(a) In General.--In order to protect, conserve, and enhance for the
benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations the unique and
nationally important historical, natural, cultural, scientific,
educational, scenic, and recreational values of certain lands in and
around the Piedras Blancas Light Station, in San Luis Obispo County,
California, while allowing certain recreational and research activities
to continue, there is established, subject to valid existing rights,
the Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station Outstanding Natural Area.
(b) Maps and Legal Descriptions.--The boundaries of the Outstanding
Natural Area as those shown on the map entitled ``Piedras Blancas
Historic Light Station: Outstanding Natural Area'', dated May 5, 2004,
which shall be on file and available for public inspection in the
Office of the Director, Bureau of Land Management, United States
Department of the Interior, and the State office of the Bureau of Land
Management in the State of California.
(c) Basis of Management.--The Secretary shall manage the
Outstanding Natural Area as part of the National Landscape Conservation
System to protect the resources of the area, and shall allow only those
uses that further the purposes for the establishment of the Outstanding
Natural Area, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), and other applicable laws.
(d) Withdrawal.--Subject to valid existing rights, and in
accordance with the existing withdrawal as set forth in Public Land
Order 7501 (Oct. 12, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 198, Federal Register 52149),
the Federal lands and interests in lands included within the
Outstanding Natural Area are hereby withdrawn from--
(1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under
the public land laws;
(2) location, entry, and patent under the public land
mining laws; and
(3) operation of the mineral leasing and geothermal leasing
laws and the mineral materials laws.
SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT OF THE PIEDRAS BLANCAS HISTORIC LIGHT STATION
OUTSTANDING NATURAL AREA.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall manage the Outstanding Natural
Area in a manner that conserves, protects, and enhances the unique and
nationally important historical, natural, cultural, scientific,
educational, scenic, and recreational values of that area, including an
emphasis on preserving and restoring the Light Station facilities,
consistent with the requirements section 3(c).
(b) Uses.--Subject to valid existing rights, the Secretary shall
only allow such uses of the Outstanding Natural Area as the Secretary
finds are likely to further the purposes for which the Outstanding
Natural Area is established as set forth in section 3(a).
(c) Management Plan.--Not later than 3 years after of the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete a comprehensive
management plan consistent with the requirements of section 202 of the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) to
provide long-term management guidance for the public lands within the
Outstanding Natural Area and fulfill the purposes for which it is
established, as set forth in section 3(a). The management plan shall be
developed in consultation with appropriate Federal, State, and local
government agencies, with full public participation, and the contents
shall include--
(1) provisions designed to ensure the protection of the
resources and values described in section 3(a);
(2) objectives to restore the historic Light Station and
ancillary buildings;
(3) an implementation plan for a continuing program of
interpretation and public education about the Light Station and
its importance to the surrounding community;
(4) a proposal for minimal administrative and public
facilities to be developed or improved at a level compatible
with achieving the resources objectives for the Outstanding
Natural Area as described in subsection (a) and with other
proposed management activities to accommodate visitors and
researchers to the Outstanding Natural Area; and
(5) cultural resources management strategies for the
Outstanding Natural Area, prepared in consultation with
appropriate departments of the State of California, with
emphasis on the preservation of the resources of the
Outstanding Natural Area and the interpretive, education, and
long-term scientific uses of the resources, giving priority to
the enforcement of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act
of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470aa et seq.) and the National Historic
Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) within the Outstanding
Natural Area.
(d) Cooperative Agreements.--In order to better implement the
management plan and to continue the successful partnerships with the
local communities and the Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument,
administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, the
Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements with the appropriate
Federal, State, and local agencies pursuant to section 307(b) of the
Federal Land Management Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.
1737(b)).
(e) Research Activities.--In order to continue the successful
partnership with research organizations and agencies and to assist in
the development and implementation of the management plan, the
Secretary may authorize within the Outstanding Natural Area appropriate
research activities for the purposes identified in section 3(a) and
pursuant to section 307(a) of the Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1737(a)).
(f) Acquisition.--State and privately held lands or interests in
lands adjacent to the Outstanding Natural Area and identified as
appropriate for acquisition in the management plan may be acquired by
the Secretary as part of the Outstanding Natural Area only by--
(1) donation;
(2) exchange with a willing party; or
(3) purchase from a willing seller.
(g) Additions to the Outstanding Natural Area.--Any lands or
interest in lands adjacent to the Outstanding Natural Area acquired by
the United States after the date of the enactment of this Act shall be
added to and administered as part of the Outstanding Natural Area.
(h) Overflights.--Nothing in this Act or the management plan shall
be construed to--
(1) restrict or preclude overflights, including low level
overflights, military, commercial, and general aviation
overflights that can be seen or heard within the Outstanding
Natural Area;
(2) restrict or preclude the designation or creation of new
units of special use airspace or the establishment of military
flight training routes over the Outstanding Natural Area; or
(3) modify regulations governing low-level overflights
above the adjacent Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
(i) Law Enforcement Activities.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to preclude or otherwise affect coastal border security
operations or other law enforcement activities by the Coast Guard or
other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security, the
Department of Justice, or any other Federal, State, and local law
enforcement agencies within the Outstanding Natural Area.
(j) Native American Uses and Interests.--In recognition of the past
use of the Outstanding Natural Area by Indians and Indian tribes for
traditional cultural and religious purposes, the Secretary shall ensure
access to the Outstanding Natural Area by Indians and Indian tribes for
such traditional cultural and religious purposes. In implementing this
section, the Secretary, upon the request of an Indian tribe or Indian
religious community, shall temporarily close to the general public use
of one or more specific portions of the Outstanding Natural Area in
order to protect the privacy of traditional cultural and religious
activities in such areas by the Indian tribe or Indian religious
community. Any such closure shall be made to affect the smallest
practicable area for the minimum period necessary for such purposes.
Such access shall be consistent with the purpose and intent of Public
Law 95-341 (42 U.S.C. 1996 et seq.; commonly referred to as the
``American Indian Religious Freedom Act'').
(k) No Buffer Zones.--The designation of the Outstanding Natural
Area is not intended to lead to the creation of protective perimeters
or buffer zones around area. The fact that activities outside the
Outstanding Natural Area and not consistent with the purposes of this
Act can be seen or heard within the Outstanding Natural Area shall not,
of itself, preclude such activities or uses up to the boundary of the
Outstanding Natural Area.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary
to carry out this Act.
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