69–006 

1 United States Environmental Protection Agency, ‘‘U.S. EPA Risk Assessment: Clear Creek 

Management Area Asbestos Increases Long-Term Cancer Risk’’, 04/30/2008, https:// 

yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/1ef7cd36224b565785257359003f533f/ 

8fa475ab3f99c22a8525743b0 07d88d1!OpenDocument. 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 115–209 

CLEAR CREEK NATIONAL RECREATION AREA AND 

CONSERVATION ACT 

JULY 11, 2017.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. BISHOP of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1913] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1913) 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, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 1913 is to establish the Clear Creek National Recreation Area in San Benito and Fresno Counties, California, and to designate the Joaquin Rocks Wilderness in such 

counties. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

In 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that 

naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) in the Clear Creak Management Area’s (CCMA) serpentine soils posed a significant public 

health risk, particularly to off-highway vehicle (OHV) users.1 Later 

that year, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) temporarily 

closed the CCMA and initiated a process to develop a long-term Resource Management Plan (RMP) governing recreational uses in the 


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2 International Environmental Research Foundation, ‘‘Preliminary Analysis of the Asbestos 

Exposures Associated with Motorcycle Riding and Hiking in the Clear Creek Management Area 

(CCMA) San Benito County, California’’, March 8, 2011, http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/pages/1140/ 

files/ierf_ccma_final_3_8_11-web.pdf. 3 Bureau of Land Management, ‘‘Clear Creek Management Area Proposed RMP/Final EIS’’, 02/ 

12/2014, https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/legacyProjectSite.do?methodName 

=renderLegacyProjectSite&projectId=68803. 

area. In 2010, the State of California’s Off Highway Motor Vehicle 

Recreation Division commissioned an independent risk assessment 

of NOA exposure within the Serpentine Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) of the CCMA. This report, completed by 

the International Environmental Research Foundation, found a 

minimal health risk to OHV users from exposure to NOA in the 

CCMA.2 Citing this report, local communities and OHV groups 

urged BLM to re-open the area to recreational use and develop a 

management strategy to properly mitigate the exposure of higher 

than acceptable levels of NOA and resultant risks to human health. 

Despite these findings, the BLM issued a Record of Decision for an 

RMP in 2014 that closed the 30,000-acre Serpentine ACEC, once 

considered a premiere OHV recreational site within the CCMA, to 

all OHV use.3

H.R. 1913 requires BLM to re-open and re-designate the CCMA 

as the Clear Creek National Recreation Area (CCNRA). The bill 

also mandates the development of a permanent RMP, in consultation with appropriate stakeholders, that specifically includes a hazards education program to inform visitors about NOA exposure and 

its associated health risks; creates a user fee program for motorized 

vehicle use and guidelines for the use of funds collected for the 

management and improvement of the CCNRA; designates trails, 

roads, and other areas for OHV use to provide a substantially-similar recreational experience prior to the closure of the CCMA; incorporates appropriate decisions from prior applicable management, 

activity, or wildlife habitat management plans; uses information 

gathered under studies of land within the CCNRA; and allows the 

Secretary of the Interior to enter into cooperative agreements with 

State or local government agencies to manage all or a portion of 

the recreational activities within the CCNRA. In addition, the bill 

also designates approximately 21,000 acres of adjacent land as the 

‘‘Joaquin Rocks Wilderness Area’’ and releases approximately 1,500 

acres known as the San Benito Wilderness Study Area back into 

multiple-use. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1913 was introduced on April 5, 2017, by Congressman 

Jimmy Panetta (D–CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 

on Federal Lands. On June 22, 2017, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged 

by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered, and the bill 

was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by 

unanimous consent on June 27, 2017. 

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 


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Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET

ACT

1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of rule XIII of 

the Rules of the House of Representatives and sections 308(a) and 

402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has 

received the following estimate for the bill from the Director of the 

Congressional Budget Office: 

U.S. CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, Washington, DC, July 10, 2017. 

Hon. ROB BISHOP, 

Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1913, the Clear Creek 

National Recreation Area and Conservation Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jeff LaFave. 

Sincerely, 

KEITH HALL, Director. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 1913—Clear Creek National Recreation Area and Conservation 

Act 

H.R. 1913 would designate about 75,000 acres of land in California as the Clear Creek National Recreation Area and 21,000 

area of adjacent land as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Under the bill, the Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM) would be required to complete a new land use plan for the 

recreation area within two years of enactment. Based on information from BLM regarding the costs of carrying out similar activities, CBO estimates that completing the land use plan would cost 

less than $500,000 over the 2018–2019 period. 

CBO expects that, under the bill, the new recreation area would 

see a significant increase in use by the public and that BLM would 

need to hire additional personnel to manage the area. Based on an 

analysis of information provided by the agency, CBO estimates that 

operating the recreation area would require 10 to 15 new employees to carry out administrative and law enforcement functions and 

that the cost of employing those individuals would total roughly $1 

million a year; such spending would be subject to the availability 

of appropriated funds. Because the lands being designated as wilderness are already being managed for conservation purposes, CBO 

estimates that so designating those lands would have no effect on 

the federal budget. 

In addition, the bill would require BLM to establish a user fee 

program for operators of motorized vehicles to offset certain costs 

of administering the recreation area; we expect that those funds 

would be used primarily to construct trails and facilities for offhighway vehicles. Based on information regarding the amount of 


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user fees collected at similar recreation areas, CBO estimates that 

fee collections and the associated spending would total less than 

$500,000 a year. 

Because enacting H.R. 1913 would increase user fees, which are 

treated as reductions in direct spending, and the associated spending of those fees, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO 

estimates that any net effects on direct spending would be negligible. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues. 

CBO estimates that enacting the bill would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 

10-year periods beginning in 2028. 

H.R. 1913 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for tins estimate is Jeff LaFave. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

2. 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 establish the Clear Creek National Recreation Area 

in San Benito and Fresno Counties, California, and to designate 

the Joaquin Rocks Wilderness in such counties. 

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. This bill does not contain any directed 

rule makings. 

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

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law. 

Æ 


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