I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9826 

To modify the boundaries of the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. GARAMENDI (for himself, Mr. HUFFMAN, and Mr. THOMPSON of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To modify the boundaries of the San Pablo Bay National 

Wildlife Refuge, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘San Pablo Bay Na5 tional Wildlife Refuge Expansion Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BOUNDARY MODIFICATION, ACQUISITION, AND AD7 MINISTRATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be included within the 

9 boundaries of the National Wildlife Refuge the approxi10 mately 5,658 acres of lands, marshes, tidal flats, salt 


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1 ponds, submerged lands, and open waters generally de2 picted on the Map as ‘‘Proposed Boundary Expansion 

3 Area’’. 

4 (b) MAP.— 

5 (1) CORRECTIONS.—The Secretary may make 

6 clerical and typographical corrections to the Map. 

7 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY; EFFECT.—The Map 

8 and any corrections made to the Map under para9 graph (1) shall— 

10 (A) be publicly available on the website of 

11 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 

12 (B) be on file and available for public in13 spection in the appropriate offices of the United 

14 States Fish and Wildlife Service, including the 

15 office located at 2100 Sears Point Road, 

16 Sonoma, California 95476; and 

17 (C) have the same force and effect as if in18 cluded in this Act. 

19 (c) ACQUISITION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire 

21 land, water, or interests therein, including conserva22 tion easements, within the boundaries of the Na23 tional Wildlife Refuge, as modified by this Act, by 

24 donation, purchase from willing sellers with donated 

25 or appropriated funds, or exchange. 


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1 (2) NO USE OF CONDEMNATION OR EMINENT

2 DOMAIN.—The Secretary may not acquire any of the 

3 land, water, or interests therein under this section or 

4 for the purposes of this Act by condemnation or emi5 nent domain. 

6 (d) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid existing 

7 rights, the Secretary shall administer the lands, waters, 

8 and interests therein acquired under this section— 

9 (1) as part of the National Wildlife Refuge; and 

10 (2) in accordance with— 

11 (A) the National Wildlife Refuge System 

12 Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd 

13 et seq.); and 

14 (B) this Act. 

15 (e) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS REGARDING NON16 FEDERAL LANDS.—The Secretary may enter into cooper17 ative agreements with the State of California or any agen18 cy or political subdivision thereof and with any other per19 son for the voluntary co-management of lands owned by 

20 such State, agency, subdivision, or person and located 

21 within or adjoining the boundaries of the National Wildlife 

22 Refuge, as modified by this Act. 

23 (f) TRANSFER FROM OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

24 Any Federal property located within or adjoining the 

25 boundaries of the National Wildlife Refuge, as modified 


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1 by this Act, that is under the administrative jurisdiction 

2 of a department or agency of the Federal Government 

3 other than the Department of the Interior may, with the 

4 mutual concurrence of the head of the administering de5 partment or agency and the Secretary, be transferred 

6 without consideration to the administrative jurisdiction of 

7 the Secretary for the purposes of this Act. 

8 (g) PRIORITY USES.—In providing opportunities for 

9 compatible fish and wildlife dependent recreation, the Sec10 retary, in accordance with paragraphs (3) and (4) of sec11 tion 4(a) of the National Wildlife Refuge System Adminis12 tration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd(a)), shall ensure 

13 that hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, photography, 

14 and environmental education and interpretation are pri15 ority public uses of the National Wildlife Refuge. 

16 (h) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that the Secretary should acquire land, water, or in18 terests therein, including conservation easements, from 

19 willing sellers within or adjoining the boundaries of the 

20 National Wildlife Refuge, as modified by this Act, includ21 ing by— 

22 (1) including in each annual budget submission 

23 of the President under section 1105(a) of title 31, 

24 United States Code, a request for funding for Fed25 eral purposes from the Land and Water ConservaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Oct 10, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9826.IH H9826

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1 tion Fund established under section 200302 of title 

2 54, United States Code, for such acquisition pur3 poses; and 

4 (2) prioritizing using such funding made avail5 able each fiscal year for such acquisition purposes. 

6 (i) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary shall 

7 provide an opportunity for public participation in devel8 oping the land protection plan for the area generally de9 picted on the Map as ‘‘Proposed Boundary Expansion 

10 Area’’, giving special consideration to public and private 

11 entities, individuals, and residential communities located 

12 within Napa, Marin, Sonoma, and Solano Counties, Cali13 fornia. 

14 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map ti16 tled ‘‘San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge 

17 Boundary Modification Act’’ and dated July 26, 

18 2024. 

19 (2) NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE.—The term 

20 ‘‘National Wildlife Refuge’’ means the San Pablo 

21 Bay National Wildlife Refuge located in Marin, 

22 Sonoma, Napa, and Solano Counties, California. 

23 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the DiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Oct 10, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9826.IH H9826

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1 rector of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv2 ice. 

3 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS. 

4 Section 3 of Public Law 92–330 (86 Stat. 399) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘he’’ each place it appears and 

7 inserting ‘‘the Secretary’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Secertary’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; and 

10 (3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘him’’ and in11 serting ‘‘the Secretary’’. 

Æ 


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