I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1691 

To provide for the transfer of certain public land currently administered 

by the Bureau of Land Management to the administrative jurisdiction 

of the Secretary of the Navy for inclusion in the Chocolate Mountain 

Aerial Gunnery Range, California, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 23, 2013 

Mr. VARGAS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Armed 

Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the transfer of certain public land currently 

administered by the Bureau of Land Management to 

the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the 

Navy for inclusion in the Chocolate Mountain Aerial 

Gunnery Range, California, 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 ‘‘Chocolate Mountain 

5 Aerial Gunnery Range Transfer Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION, 

2 CHOCOLATE MOUNTAIN AERIAL GUNNERY 

3 RANGE, CALIFORNIA. 

4 (a) TRANSFER REQUIRED.—The Secretary of the In5 terior shall transfer to the administrative jurisdiction of 

6 the Secretary of the Navy the surface estate in certain 

7 public land administered by the Bureau of Land Manage8 ment in Imperial and Riverside Counties, California, con9 sisting of approximately 226,711 acres, as generally de10 picted on the map titled ‘‘Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gun11 nery Range Proposed–Withdrawal’’ dated 1987 (revised 

12 July 1993), and identified as WESTDIV Drawing No. C– 

13 102370, which was prepared by the Naval Facilities Engi14 neering Command of the Department of the Navy and is 

15 on file with the California State Office of the Bureau of 

16 Land Management. 

17 (b) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—The transfer of ad18 ministrative jurisdiction under subsection (a) shall be sub19 ject to any valid existing rights, including any property, 

20 easements, or improvements held by the Bureau of Rec21 lamation and appurtenant to the Coachella Canal. The 

22 Secretary of the Navy shall provide for reasonable access 

23 by the Bureau of Reclamation for inspection and mainte24 nance purposes not inconsistent with military training. 

25 (c) TIME FOR CONVEYANCE.—The transfer of admin26 istrative jurisdiction under subsection (a) shall occur purVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:17 Apr 24, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1691.IH H1691

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1 suant to a schedule agreed to by the Secretary of the Inte2 rior and the Secretary of the Navy, but in no case later 

3 than the date of the completion of the boundary realign4 ment required by section 4. 

5 (d) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.— 

6 (1) PREPARATION AND PUBLICATION.—The 

7 Secretary of the Interior shall publish in the Federal 

8 Register a legal description of the public land to be 

9 transferred under subsection (a). 

10 (2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

11 of the Interior shall file with the Committee on En12 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 

13 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 

14 Representatives— 

15 (A) a copy of the legal description pre16 pared under paragraph (1); and 

17 (B) a map depicting the legal description 

18 of the transferred public land. 

19 (3) AVAILABILITY FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION.— 

20 Copies of the legal description and map filed under 

21 paragraph (2) shall be available for public inspection 

22 in the appropriate offices of— 

23 (A) the Bureau of Land Management; 

24 (B) the Office of the Commanding Officer, 

25 Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona; 


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1 (C) the Office of the Commander, Navy 

2 Region Southwest; and 

3 (D) the Office of the Secretary of the 

4 Navy. 

5 (4) FORCE OF LAW.—The legal description and 

6 map filed under paragraph (2) shall have the same 

7 force and effect as if included in this Act, except 

8 that the Secretary of the Interior may correct cler9 ical and typographical errors in the legal description 

10 or map. 

11 (5) REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS.—The transfer 

12 required by subsection (a) shall be made without re13 imbursement, except that the Secretary of the Navy 

14 shall reimburse the Secretary of the Interior for any 

15 costs incurred by the Secretary of the Interior to 

16 prepare the legal description and map under this 

17 subsection. 

18 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT AND USE OF TRANSFERRED LAND. 

19 (a) USE OF TRANSFERRED LAND.—Upon the receipt 

20 of the land under section 2, the Secretary of the Navy 

21 shall administer the land as the Chocolate Mountain Aer22 ial Gunnery Range, California, and continue to authorize 

23 use of the land for military purposes. 

24 (b) PROTECTION OF DESERT TORTOISE.—Nothing in 

25 the transfer required by section 2 shall affect the prior 


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1 designation of certain lands within the Chocolate Moun2 tain Aerial Gunnery Range as critical habitat for the 

3 desert tortoise (Gopherus Agassizii). 

4 (c) WITHDRAWAL OF MINERAL ESTATE.—Subject to 

5 valid existing rights, the mineral estate of the land to be 

6 transferred under section 2 are withdrawn from all forms 

7 of appropriation under the public land laws, including the 

8 mining laws and the mineral and geothermal leasing laws. 

9 (d) INTEGRATED NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGE10 MENT PLAN.—Not later than one year after the transfer 

11 of the land under section 2, the Secretary of the Navy, 

12 in cooperation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall pre13 pare an integrated natural resources management plan 

14 pursuant to the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670a et seq.) for 

15 the transferred land and for land that, as of the date of 

16 the enactment of this Act, is under the jurisdiction of the 

17 Secretary of the Navy underlying the Chocolate Mountain 

18 Aerial Gunnery Range. 

19 SEC. 4. REALIGNMENT OF RANGE BOUNDARY AND RE20 LATED TRANSFER OF TITLE. 

21 (a) REALIGNMENT; PURPOSE.—The Secretary of the 

22 Interior and the Secretary of the Navy shall realign the 

23 boundary of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery 

24 Range, as in effect on the date of the enactment of this 


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1 Act, to improve public safety and management of the 

2 Range, consistent with the following: 

3 (1) The northwestern boundary of the Choco4 late Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range shall be re5 aligned to the edge of the Bradshaw Trail so that 

6 the Trail is entirely on public land under the juris7 diction of the Department of the Interior. 

8 (2) The centerline of the Bradshaw Trail shall 

9 be delineated by the Secretary of the Interior in con10 sultation with the Secretary of the Navy, beginning 

11 at its western terminus at Township 8 South, Range 

12 12 East, Section 6 eastward to Township 8 South, 

13 Range 17 East, Section 32 where it leaves the Choc14 olate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range. 

15 (b) TRANSFERS RELATED TO REALIGNMENT.—The 

16 Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Navy 

17 shall make such transfers of administrative jurisdiction as 

18 may be necessary to reflect the results of the boundary 

19 realignment carried out pursuant to subsection (a). 

20 (c) APPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL

21 POLICY ACT OF 1969.—The National Environmental Pol22 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall not apply 

23 to any transfer of land made under subsection (b) or any 

24 decontamination actions undertaken in connection with 

25 such a transfer. 


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1 (d) DECONTAMINATION.—The Secretary of the Navy 

2 shall maintain, to the extent funds are available for such 

3 purpose and consistent with applicable Federal and State 

4 law, a program of decontamination of any contamination 

5 caused by defense-related uses on land transferred under 

6 subsection (b). The Secretary of Defense shall include a 

7 description of such decontamination activities in the an8 nual report required by section 2711 of title 10, United 

9 States Code. 

10 (e) TIMELINE.—The delineation of the Bradshaw 

11 Trail under subsection (a) and any transfer of land under 

12 subsection (b) shall occur pursuant to a schedule agreed 

13 to by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 

14 the Navy, but in no case later than two years after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 5. EFFECT OF TERMINATION OF MILITARY USE. 

17 (a) NOTICE AND EFFECT.—Upon a determination by 

18 the Secretary of the Navy that there is no longer a mili19 tary need for all or portions of the land transferred under 

20 section 2, the Secretary of the Navy shall notify the Sec21 retary of the Interior of such determination. Subject to 

22 subsections (b), (c), and (d), the Secretary of the Navy 

23 shall transfer the land subject to such a notice back to 

24 the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Inte25 rior. 


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1 (b) CONTAMINATION.—Before transmitting a notice 

2 under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Navy shall pre3 pare a written determination concerning whether and to 

4 what extent the land to be transferred are contaminated 

5 with explosive, toxic, or other hazardous materials. A copy 

6 of the determination shall be transmitted with the notice. 

7 Copies of the notice and the determination shall be pub8 lished in the Federal Register. 

9 (c) DECONTAMINATION.—The Secretary of the Navy 

10 shall decontaminate any contaminated land that is the 

11 subject of a notice under subsection (a) if— 

12 (1) the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 

13 with the Secretary of the Navy, determines that— 

14 (A) decontamination is practicable and 

15 economically feasible (taking into consideration 

16 the potential future use and value of the land); 

17 and 

18 (B) upon decontamination, the land could 

19 be opened to operation of some or all of the 

20 public land laws, including the mining laws; and 

21 (2) funds are appropriated for such decon22 tamination. 

23 (d) ALTERNATIVE.—The Secretary of the Interior is 

24 not required to accept land proposed for transfer under 

25 subsection (a) if the Secretary of the Interior is unable 


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1 to make the determinations under subsection (c)(1) or if 

2 Congress does not appropriate a sufficient amount of 

3 funds for the decontamination of the land. 

4 SEC. 6. TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF EXISTING WITH5 DRAWAL PERIOD. 

6 Subsection (a) of section 806 of the California Mili7 tary Lands Withdrawal and Overflights Act of 1994 (title 

8 VIII of Public Law 103–433; 108 Stat. 4505) is amended 

9 to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(a) DURATION.—The withdrawal and reservation 

11 established by subsection (a) of section 803 shall termi12 nate on October 31, 2014. The withdrawal and reservation 

13 established by subsection (b) of such section shall not ter14 minate until the date on which the land transfer required 

15 by section 2 of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery 

16 Range Transfer Act of 2013 is executed.’’. 

Æ 


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