I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4871 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study 

of portions of the Los Angeles coastal area in the State of California 

to evaluate alternatives for protecting the resources of the coastal area, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 23, 2016 

Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, 

Ms. BASS, Mr. SCHIFF, and Ms. HAHN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special 

resource study of portions of the Los Angeles coastal 

area in the State of California to evaluate alternatives 

for protecting the resources of the coastal area, 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 ‘‘Santa Monica Moun5 tains National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment 

6 Study Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RESOURCE STUDY OF THE LOS ANGELES COASTAL 

2 AREA, CALIFORNIA. 

3 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of the Inte4 rior shall conduct a special resource study of the lands, 

5 waters, and interests of the study area to evaluate a range 

6 of alternatives for protecting resources of the study area, 

7 including— 

8 (1) expanding the Santa Monica Mountains 

9 Recreation Area and redesignating the area as the 

10 ‘‘Santa Monica Mountains and Coastal Recreation 

11 Area’’; or 

12 (2) creating a new coastal recreation area des13 ignated as ‘‘Los Angeles Coastal Recreation Area’’. 

14 (b) STUDY TOPICS.—In conducting the study, the 

15 Secretary shall evaluate alternatives that accomplish, to 

16 the extent practicable, the following objectives: 

17 (1) Preserving and restoring beaches, coastal 

18 uplands, and waterways. 

19 (2) Connecting, coordinating, and preserving 

20 State, county, and local government parks and other 

21 publicly owned lands to enhance the potential for 

22 public recreation use. 

23 (3) Developing and protecting historic sites, sig24 nificant landscapes, districts, sites, structures, and 

25 recreation areas in connection therewith, including 


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1 parks, picnic areas, scenic overlooks, hiking trails, 

2 bicycle trails and equestrian trails. 

3 (4) Creating open spaces for parks and rec4 reational use along the coastline adjoining the 

5 Ballona Wetlands, in the City of Santa Monica, ad6 jacent to and along State and county beaches of Los 

7 Angeles along the north Santa Monica Bay down 

8 through Dockweiler State Beach up and around the 

9 Ballona Creek and Wetlands, Baldwin Hills, and 

10 along the coastline in the San Pedro section of the 

11 City of Los Angeles, excluding the Port of Los An12 geles north of Crescent Avenue. 

13 (5) Protecting wildlife populations in the des14 ignated area by preserving and restoring the Ballona 

15 Creek and Wetlands. 

16 (6) Establishing connections along the trail sys17 tems in the designated areas with the aim of cre18 ating or maintaining single contiguous trails along 

19 the Santa Monica Bay coastline and through 

20 Ballona Creek into the Baldwin Hills and encom21 passing major feeder trails connecting adjoining 

22 communities and regional transit to the trail system. 

23 (7) Preserving recreational opportunities and 

24 facilitating access to open space for a variety of rec25 reational users. 


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1 (8) Protecting rare, threatened, or endangered 

2 plant and animal species, and rare or unusual plant 

3 communities and habitats. 

4 (c) PRIVATE PROPERTY.—The study shall include an 

5 analysis of— 

6 (1) the impact that establishment of all or a 

7 portion of the Ballona Creek and Wetlands, Baldwin 

8 Hills, and the San Pedro coastline as a unit of the 

9 Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 

10 is likely to have on— 

11 (A) land within or bordering the area that 

12 is privately owned at the time the study is con13 ducted; and 

14 (B) leaseholders of publicly owned, devel15 oped lands; and 

16 (2) the concerns of private landowners within 

17 the existing boundaries of the Santa Monica Moun18 tains National Recreation Area. 

19 (d) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall conduct 

20 the study in consultation with the appropriate Federal, 

21 State, county and local government departments and enti22 ties, elected officials, community groups and nonprofits, 

23 including those that serve the following areas: 

24 (1) North Santa Monica Bay Coastline: City of 

25 Santa Monica, County of Los Angeles, City of Los 


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1 Angeles communities of Pacific Palisades, Brent2 wood, and Venice. 

3 (2) Ballona Creek, Wetlands, and central Santa 

4 Monica Bay: City of Culver City, County of Los An5 geles Marina Del Rey community, City of Los Ange6 les communities of Palms, Playa Vista, Del Rey, 

7 Palms, and Westchester. 

8 (3) Baldwin Hills and Ballona Creek head9 waters: County of Los Angeles communities of Bald10 win Hills, Windsor Hills and Ladera Heights, and 

11 City of Los Angeles communities of View Park, and 

12 Faircrest Heights. 

13 (4) Santa Monica Bay Coastline South: City of 

14 El Segundo, City of Manhattan Beach, City of 

15 Hermosa Beach, City of Redondo Beach, and City 

16 of Torrance. 

17 (5) Port of Los Angeles: City of Los Angeles, 

18 community of City of Los Angeles, community of 

19 San Pedro. 

20 (e) STUDY CRITERIA.—In addition to the special con21 siderations specified in this section, the Secretary shall 

22 conduct the study in accordance with section 100507 of 

23 title 54, United States Code. 

24 (f) TRANSMISSION OF STUDY.—Not later than 3 

25 years after funds are first made available for the study, 


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1 the Secretary shall transmit a report containing the re2 sults of the study to the Committee on Natural Resources 

3 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

4 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate. 

5 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this Act: 

6 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of the Interior. 

8 (2) STUDY.—The term ‘‘study’’ means the 

9 study required by subsection (a) 

10 (3) STUDY AREA.—The term ‘‘study area’’ 

11 means the coastline and adjacent areas to the Santa 

12 Monica Bay from the City of Santa Monica from 

13 Will Rodgers Beach to Rat Beach, including the 

14 areas in and around Ballona Creek and the Baldwin 

15 Hills and the San Pedro section of the City of Los 

16 Angeles, excluding the Port of Los Angeles north of 

17 Crescent Avenue. 

Æ 


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