H. R. 698

One Hundred Third Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three

An Act

To protect Lechuguilla Cave and other resources and values in and adjacent to

Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lechuguilla Cave Protection

Act of 1993’’.

SEC. 2. FINDING.

Congress finds that Lechuguilla Cave and adjacent public lands

have internationally significant scientific, environmental, and other

values, and should be retained in public ownership and protected

against adverse effects of mineral exploration and development

and other activities presenting threats to the areas.

SEC. 3. LAND WITHDRAWAL.

(a) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, all Federal

lands within the boundaries of the cave protection area described

in subsection (b) are hereby withdrawn from all forms of entry,

appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws; from location,

entry, and patent under the United States mining laws; and from

disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral and geothermal

leasing, and all amendments thereto.

(b) LAND DESCRIPTION.—The cave protection area referred to

in subsection (a) shall consist of approximately 6,280 acres of lands

in New Mexico as generally depicted on the map entitled

‘‘Lechuguilla Cave Protection Area’’ numbered 130/80,055 and dated

April 1993.

(c) PUBLICATION, FILING, CORRECTION, AND INSPECTION.—(1)

As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act,

the Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall publish in the Federal Register the legal description

of the lands withdrawn under subsection (a) and shall file such

legal description and a detailed map with the Committee on Energy

and Natural Resources of the United States Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the United States House of Representatives.

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(2) Such map and legal description shall have the same force

and effect as if included in this Act except that the Secretary

may correct clerical and typographical errors.

(3) Copies of such map and legal description shall be available

for inspection in the appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land

Management.

SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT OF EXISTING LEASES.

(a) SUSPENSION.—The Secretary shall not permit any new drilling on or involving any Federal mineral or geothermal lease within

the cave protection area referred to in section 3(a) until the effective

date of the Record of Decision for the Dark Canyon Environmental

Impact Statement, or for 12 months after the date of enactment

of this Act, whichever occurs first.

(b) AUTHORITY TO CANCEL EXISTING MINERAL OR GEOTHERMAL

LEASES.—Upon the effective date of the Record of Decision for

the Dark Canyon Environmental Impact Statement and in order

to protect Lechuguilla Cave or other cave resources, the Secretary

is authorized to—

(1) cancel any Federal mineral or geothermal lease in the

cave protection area referred to in section 3(a); or

(2) enter into negotiations with the holder of a Federal

mineral or geothermal lease in the cave protection area referred

to in section 3(a) to determine appropriate compensation, if

any, for the complete or partial termination of such lease.

SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL PROTECTION AND RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to protect Lechuguilla Cave or Federal lands within the cave protection area, the Secretary, subject

to valid existing rights, may limit or prohibit access to or across

lands owned by the United States or prohibit the removal from

such lands of any mineral, geological, or cave resources: Provided,

That existing access to private lands within the cave protection

area shall not be affected by this subsection.

(b) NO EFFECT ON PIPELINES.—Nothing in this title shall have

the effect of terminating any validly issued right-of-way, or customary operation, maintenance, repair, and replacement activities

in such right-of-way; prohibiting the upgrading of and construction

on existing facilities in such right-of-way for the purpose of increasing capacity of the existing pipeline; or prohibiting the renewal

of such right-of-way within the cave protection area referred to

in section 3(a).

(c) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this Act shall be

construed as increasing or diminishing the ability of any party

to seek compensation pursuant to other applicable law, including

but not limited to the Tucker Act (28 U.S.C. 1491), or as precluding

any defenses or claims otherwise available to the United States

in connection with any action seeking such compensation from

the United States.

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SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as

may be necessary to carry out this Act: Provided, That no funds

shall be made available except to the extent, or in such amounts

as are provided in advance in appropriation Acts.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.

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