I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1738 

To establish the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 27, 2017 

Mr. GARAMENDI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National 

Heritage Area. 

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 ‘‘Sacramento-San Joa5 quin Delta National Heritage Area Establishment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) HERITAGE AREA.—The term ‘‘Heritage 

9 Area’’ means the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 

10 Heritage Area established by section 3(a). 


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1 (2) HERITAGE AREA MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The 

2 term ‘‘Heritage Area management plan’’ means the 

3 plan developed and adopted by the local coordinating 

4 entity under this Act. 

5 (3) LOCAL COORDINATING ENTITY.—The term 

6 ‘‘local coordinating entity’’ means the local coordi7 nating entity for the Heritage Area designated by 

8 section 3(d). 

9 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of the Interior. 

11 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

12 of California. 

13 SEC. 3. SACRAMENTO-SAN JOAQUIN DELTA HERITAGE 

14 AREA. 

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 

16 ‘‘Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Heritage Area’’ in the 

17 State. 

18 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The boundaries of the Heritage 

19 Area shall be in the counties of Contra Costa, Sacramento, 

20 San Joaquin, Solano, and Yolo in the State of California, 

21 as generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Sacramento22 San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area Proposed 

23 Boundary’’, numbered T27/105,030, and dated October 

24 2012. 


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1 (c) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The map described in 

2 subsection (b) shall be on file and available for public in3 spection in the appropriate offices of the National Park 

4 Service and the Delta Protection Commission. 

5 (d) LOCAL COORDINATING ENTITY.—The local co6 ordinating entity for the Heritage Area shall be the Delta 

7 Protection Commission established by section 29735 of 

8 the California Public Resources Code. 

9 (e) ADMINISTRATION.— 

10 (1) AUTHORITIES.—For purposes of carrying 

11 out the Heritage Area management plan, the Sec12 retary, acting through the local coordinating entity, 

13 may use amounts made available under this Act 

14 to— 

15 (A) make grants to the State or a political 

16 subdivision of the State, nonprofit organiza17 tions, and other persons; 

18 (B) enter into cooperative agreements 

19 with, or provide technical assistance to, the 

20 State or a political subdivision of the State, 

21 nonprofit organizations, and other interested 

22 parties; 

23 (C) hire and compensate staff, which shall 

24 include individuals with expertise in natural, 


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1 cultural, and historical resources protection, 

2 and heritage programming; 

3 (D) obtain money or services from any 

4 source including any that are provided under 

5 any other Federal law or program; 

6 (E) contract for goods or services; and 

7 (F) undertake to be a catalyst for any 

8 other activity that furthers the Heritage Area 

9 and is consistent with the approved Heritage 

10 Area management plan. 

11 (2) DUTIES.—The local coordinating entity 

12 shall— 

13 (A) in accordance with subsection (f), pre14 pare and submit a Heritage Area management 

15 plan to the Secretary; 

16 (B) assist units of local government, re17 gional planning organizations, and nonprofit or18 ganizations in carrying out the approved Herit19 age Area management plan by— 

20 (i) carrying out programs and projects 

21 that recognize, protect, and enhance im22 portant resource values in the Heritage 

23 Area; 


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1 (ii) establishing and maintaining in2 terpretive exhibits and programs in the 

3 Heritage Area; 

4 (iii) developing recreational and edu5 cational opportunities in the Heritage 

6 Area; 

7 (iv) increasing public awareness of, 

8 and appreciation for, natural, historical, 

9 scenic, and cultural resources of the Herit10 age Area; 

11 (v) protecting and restoring historic 

12 sites and buildings in the Heritage Area 

13 that are consistent with Heritage Area 

14 themes; 

15 (vi) ensuring that clear, consistent, 

16 and appropriate signs identifying points of 

17 public access, and sites of interest are 

18 posted throughout the Heritage Area; and 

19 (vii) promoting a wide range of part20 nerships among governments, organiza21 tions, and individuals to further the Herit22 age Area; 

23 (C) consider the interests of diverse units 

24 of government, businesses, organizations, and 

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1 tion and implementation of the Heritage Area 

2 management plan; 

3 (D) conduct meetings open to the public at 

4 least semiannually regarding the development 

5 and implementation of the Heritage Area man6 agement plan; 

7 (E) for any year that Federal funds have 

8 been received under this Act— 

9 (i) submit an annual report to the 

10 Secretary that describes the activities, ex11 penses, and income of the local coordi12 nating entity (including grants to any 

13 other entities during the year that the re14 port is made); 

15 (ii) make available to the Secretary 

16 for audit all records relating to the expend17 iture of the funds and any matching funds; 

18 and 

19 (iii) require, with respect to all agree20 ments authorizing expenditure of Federal 

21 funds by other organizations, that the or22 ganizations receiving the funds make avail23 able to the Secretary for audit all records 

24 concerning the expenditure of the funds; 

25 and 


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1 (F) encourage by appropriate means eco2 nomic viability that is consistent with the Herit3 age Area. 

4 (3) PROHIBITION ON THE ACQUISITION OF

5 REAL PROPERTY.—The local coordinating entity 

6 shall not use Federal funds made available under 

7 this Act to acquire real property or any interest in 

8 real property. 

9 (4) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.—The Fed10 eral share of the cost of any activity carried out 

11 using any assistance made available under this Act 

12 shall be 50 percent. 

13 (f) HERITAGE AREA MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

15 the date of enactment of this Act, the local coordi16 nating entity shall submit to the Secretary for ap17 proval a proposed Heritage Area management plan. 

18 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Heritage Area man19 agement plan shall— 

20 (A) incorporate an integrated and coopera21 tive approach to agricultural resources and ac22 tivities, flood protection facilities, and other 

23 public infrastructure; 

24 (B) emphasize the importance of the re25 sources described in subparagraph (A); 


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1 (C) take into consideration State and local 

2 plans; 

3 (D) include— 

4 (i) an inventory of— 

5 (I) the resources located in the 

6 core area described in subsection (b); 

7 and 

8 (II) any other property in the 

9 core area that— 

10 (aa) is related to the themes 

11 of the Heritage Area; and 

12 (bb) should be preserved, re13 stored, managed, or maintained 

14 because of the significance of the 

15 property; 

16 (ii) comprehensive policies, strategies 

17 and recommendations for conservation, 

18 funding, management, and development of 

19 the Heritage Area; 

20 (iii) a description of actions that gov21 ernments, private organizations, and indi22 viduals have agreed to take to protect the 

23 natural, historical and cultural resources of 

24 the Heritage Area; 


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1 (iv) a program of implementation for 

2 the Heritage Area management plan by 

3 the local coordinating entity that includes 

4 a description of— 

5 (I) actions to facilitate ongoing 

6 collaboration among partners to pro7 mote plans for resource protection, 

8 restoration, and construction; and 

9 (II) specific commitments for im10 plementation that have been made by 

11 the local coordinating entity or any 

12 government, organization, or indi13 vidual for the first 5 years of oper14 ation; 

15 (v) the identification of sources of 

16 funding for carrying out the Heritage Area 

17 management plan; 

18 (vi) analysis and recommendations for 

19 means by which local, State, and Federal 

20 programs, including the role of the Na21 tional Park Service in the Heritage Area, 

22 may best be coordinated to carry out this 

23 Act; and 

24 (vii) an interpretive plan for the Her25 itage Area; and 


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1 (E) recommend policies and strategies for 

2 resource management that consider and detail 

3 the application of appropriate land and water 

4 management techniques, including the develop5 ment of intergovernmental and interagency co6 operative agreements to protect the natural, 

7 historical, cultural, educational, scenic, and rec8 reational resources of the Heritage Area. 

9 (3) RESTRICTIONS.—The Heritage Area man10 agement plan submitted under this subsection 

11 shall— 

12 (A) ensure participation by appropriate 

13 Federal, State, tribal, and local agencies, in14 cluding the Delta Stewardship Council, special 

15 districts, natural and historical resource protec16 tion and agricultural organizations, educational 

17 institutions, businesses, recreational organiza18 tions, community residents, and private prop19 erty owners; and 

20 (B) not be approved until the Secretary 

21 has received certification from the Delta Protec22 tion Commission that the Delta Stewardship 

23 Council has reviewed the Heritage Area man24 agement plan for consistency with the plan 


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1 adopted by the Delta Stewardship Council pur2 suant to State law. 

3 (4) DEADLINE.—If a proposed Heritage Area 

4 management plan is not submitted to the Secretary 

5 by the date that is 3 years after the date of enact6 ment of this Act, the local coordinating entity shall 

7 be ineligible to receive additional funding under this 

8 Act until the date that the Secretary receives and 

9 approves the Heritage Area management plan. 

10 (5) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF HERITAGE

11 AREA MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

13 days after the date of receipt of the Heritage 

14 Area management plan under paragraph (1), 

15 the Secretary, in consultation with the State, 

16 shall approve or disapprove the Heritage Area 

17 management plan. 

18 (B) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—In deter19 mining whether to approve the Heritage Area 

20 management plan, the Secretary shall consider 

21 whether— 

22 (i) the local coordinating entity is rep23 resentative of the diverse interests of the 

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1 nizations, educational institutions, busi2 nesses, and recreational organizations; 

3 (ii) the local coordinating entity has 

4 afforded adequate opportunity, including 

5 public hearings, for public and govern6 mental involvement in the preparation of 

7 the Heritage Area management plan; and 

8 (iii) the resource protection and inter9 pretation strategies contained in the Herit10 age Area management plan, if imple11 mented, would adequately protect the nat12 ural, historical, and cultural resources of 

13 the Heritage Area. 

14 (C) ACTION FOLLOWING DISAPPROVAL.—If 

15 the Secretary disapproves the Heritage Area 

16 management plan under subparagraph (A), the 

17 Secretary shall— 

18 (i) advise the local coordinating entity 

19 in writing of the reasons for the dis20 approval; 

21 (ii) make recommendations for revi22 sions to the Heritage Area management 

23 plan; and 

24 (iii) not later than 180 days after the 

25 receipt of any proposed revision of the 


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1 Heritage Area management plan from the 

2 local coordinating entity, approve or dis3 approve the proposed revision. 

4 (D) AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

6 approve or disapprove each amendment to 

7 the Heritage Area management plan that 

8 the Secretary determines makes a substan9 tial change to the Heritage Area manage10 ment plan. 

11 (ii) USE OF FUNDS.—The local co12 ordinating entity shall not use Federal 

13 funds authorized by this Act to carry out 

14 any amendments to the Heritage Area 

15 management plan until the Secretary has 

16 approved the amendments. 

17 (g) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER FEDERAL AGEN18 CIES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act affects 

20 the authority of a Federal agency to provide tech21 nical or financial assistance under any other law. 

22 (2) CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION.—The 

23 head of any Federal agency planning to conduct ac24 tivities that may have an impact on the Heritage 

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1 tivities with the Secretary and the local coordinating 

2 entity to the maximum extent practicable. 

3 (3) OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Nothing in 

4 this Act— 

5 (A) modifies, alters, or amends any law or 

6 regulation authorizing a Federal agency to 

7 manage Federal land under the jurisdiction of 

8 the Federal agency; 

9 (B) limits the discretion of a Federal land 

10 manager to implement an approved land use 

11 plan within the boundaries of the Heritage 

12 Area; or 

13 (C) modifies, alters, or amends any author14 ized use of Federal land under the jurisdiction 

15 of a Federal agency. 

16 (h) PRIVATE PROPERTY AND REGULATORY PROTEC17 TIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

19 nothing in this Act— 

20 (A) abridges the rights of any property 

21 owner (whether public or private), including the 

22 right to refrain from participating in any plan, 

23 project, program, or activity conducted within 

24 the Heritage Area; 


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1 (B) requires any property owner to permit 

2 public access (including access by Federal, 

3 State, or local agencies) to the property of the 

4 property owner, or to modify public access or 

5 use of property of the property owner under 

6 any other Federal, State, or local law; 

7 (C) alters any duly adopted land use regu8 lation, approved land use plan, or other regu9 latory authority of any Federal, State or local 

10 agency, or conveys any land use or other regu11 latory authority to the local coordinating entity; 

12 (D) authorizes or implies the reservation 

13 or appropriation of water or water rights; 

14 (E) diminishes the authority of the State 

15 to manage fish and wildlife, including the regu16 lation of fishing and hunting within the Herit17 age Area; or 

18 (F) creates any liability, or affects any li19 ability under any other law, of any private 

20 property owner with respect to any person in21 jured on the private property. 

22 (2) OPT OUT.—An owner of private property 

23 within the Heritage Area may opt out of partici24 pating in any plan, project, program, or activity car25 ried out within the Heritage Area under this Act, if 


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1 the property owner provides written notice to the 

2 local coordinating entity. 

3 (i) EVALUATION; REPORT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years be5 fore the date on which authority for Federal funding 

6 terminates for the Heritage Area, the Secretary 

7 shall— 

8 (A) conduct an evaluation of the accom9 plishments of the Heritage Area; and 

10 (B) prepare a report in accordance with 

11 paragraph (3). 

12 (2) EVALUATION.—An evaluation conducted 

13 under paragraph (1)(A) shall— 

14 (A) assess the progress of the local coordi15 nating entity with respect to— 

16 (i) accomplishing the purposes of this 

17 Act for the Heritage Area; and 

18 (ii) achieving the goals and objectives 

19 of the approved Heritage Area manage20 ment plan; 

21 (B) analyze the Federal, State, local, and 

22 private investments in the Heritage Area to de23 termine the leverage and impact of the invest24 ments; and 


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1 (C) review the management structure, 

2 partnership relationships, and funding of the 

3 Heritage Area for purposes of identifying the 

4 critical components for sustainability of the 

5 Heritage Area. 

6 (3) REPORT.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Based on the evalua8 tion conducted under paragraph (1)(A), the 

9 Secretary shall prepare a report that includes 

10 recommendations for the future role of the Na11 tional Park Service, if any, with respect to the 

12 Heritage Area. 

13 (B) REQUIRED ANALYSIS.—If the report 

14 prepared under subparagraph (A) recommends 

15 that Federal funding for the Heritage Area be 

16 reauthorized, the report shall include an anal17 ysis of— 

18 (i) ways in which Federal funding for 

19 the Heritage Area may be reduced or 

20 eliminated; and 

21 (ii) the appropriate time period nec22 essary to achieve the recommended reduc23 tion or elimination. 


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1 (C) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—On com2 pletion of the report, the Secretary shall submit 

3 the report to— 

4 (i) the Committee on Energy and 

5 Natural Resources of the Senate; and 

6 (ii) the Committee on Natural Re7 sources of the House of Representatives. 

8 (j) EFFECT OF DESIGNATION.—Nothing in this 

9 Act— 

10 (1) precludes the local coordinating entity from 

11 using Federal funds made available under other laws 

12 for the purposes for which those funds were author13 ized; or 

14 (2) affects any water rights or contracts. 

15 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro17 priated to carry out this Act $10,000,000, of which not 

18 more than $1,000,000 may be made available for any fis19 cal year. 

20 (b) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.—The Federal 

21 share of the total cost of any activity under this Act shall 

22 be determined by the Secretary, but shall be not more than 

23 50 percent. 


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1 (c) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal share 

2 of the total cost of any activity under this Act may be 

3 in the form of in-kind contributions of goods or services. 

4 SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—If a proposed Heritage Area man6 agement plan has not been submitted to the Secretary by 

7 the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of 

8 this Act, the Heritage Area designation shall be rescinded. 

9 (b) FUNDING AUTHORITY.—The authority of the 

10 Secretary to provide assistance under this Act terminates 

11 on the date that is 15 years after the date of enactment 

12 of this Act. 

Æ 


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