II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1372

To provide for the protection of farmland at the Point Reyes National

Seashore, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 5, 1997

Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To provide for the protection of farmland at the Point Reyes

National Seashore, 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 ‘‘Point Reyes National

5 Seashore Farmland Protection Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

7 The purposes of this Act are—

8 (1) to protect the pastoral nature of the land

9 adjacent to the Point Reyes National Seashore from

10 development that would be incompatible with the
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1 character, integrity, and visitor experience of the

2 park;

3 (2) to create a model public/private partnership

4 among the Federal, State, and local governments,

5 and as organizations and citizens that will preserve

6 and enhance the agricultural land along Tomales

7 and Bodega Bay Watersheds;

8 (3) to protect the substantial Federal invest9 ment in Point Reyes National Seashore by protect10 ing land and water resources and maintaining the

11 relatively undeveloped nature of the land surround12 ing Tomales and Bodega Bays; and

13 (4) to preserve productive uses of land and wa14 ters in Marin and Sonoma counties adjacent to

15 Point Reyes National Seashore, primarily by main16 taining the land in private ownership restricted by

17 conservation easements.

18 SEC. 3. ADDITION OF FARMLAND PROTECTION AREA TO

19 POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE AND AC20 QUISITION OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS.

21 (a) ADDITION.—Section 2 of Public Law 87–657 (16

22 U.S.C. 459c–1) is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing:

24 ‘‘(c) FARMLAND PROTECTION AREA.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Point Reyes National

2 Seashore shall include the Farmland Protection Area

3 depicted on the map numbered 612/60,163 and

4 dated July 1995, which shall be on file and available

5 for public inspection in the Offices of the National

6 Park Service of the Department of the Interior in

7 Washington, District of Columbia.

8 ‘‘(2) OBJECTIVE.—Within the Farmland Pro9 tection Area depicted on the map described in para10 graph (1), the primary objective shall be to maintain

11 agricultural land in private ownership protected

12 from nonagricultural development by conservation

13 easements.’’.

14 (b) FARMLAND ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT.—

15 Section 3 of Public Law 97–657 (16 U.S.C. 459c–2) is

16 amended by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(d) FARMLAND ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sub19 sections (a) through (c), the Secretary, to encourage

20 continued agricultural use, may acquire land or in21 terests in land from the owners of the land within

22 the Farmland Protection Area depicted on the map

23 described in section 2(c).

24 ‘‘(2) METHOD OF ACQUISITION.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

2 paragraph (4), land and interests in land may

3 be acquired under this subsection only by dona4 tion, purchase with donated or appropriated

5 funds, or exchange.

6 ‘‘(B) LAND ACQUIRED BY EXCHANGE.—

7 Land acquired under this subsection by ex8 change may be exchanged for land outside the

9 State of California, notwithstanding section

10 206(b) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage11 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)).

12 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—

13 ‘‘(A) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give

14 priority to—

15 ‘‘(i) acquiring interests in land

16 through the purchase of development

17 rights and conservation easements;

18 ‘‘(ii) acquiring land and interests in

19 land from nonprofit corporations operating

20 primarily for conservation purposes; and

21 ‘‘(iii) acquiring land and interests in

22 land by donation or exchange.

23 ‘‘(B) CONSERVATION EASEMENTS.—The

24 Secretary shall not acquire any conservation

25 easement on land within the Farmland Protec-
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1 tion Area from a nonprofit organization that

2 was acquired by the nonprofit organizations be3 fore January 1, 1997.

4 ‘‘(C) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—For

5 the purpose of managing, in the most cost-ef6 fective manner, interests in land acquired under

7 this subsection, and for the purpose of main8 taining continuity with land that has an ease9 ment on the date of enactment of this sub10 section, the Secretary shall enter into coopera11 tive agreements with public agencies or non12 profit organizations having substantial experi13 ence holding, monitoring, and managing con14 servation easements on agricultural land in the

15 region, such as the Marin Agricultural Land

16 Trust, the Sonoma County Agricultural Preser17 vation and Open Space District, and the

18 Sonoma Land Trust.

19 ‘‘(4) REGULATION.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Within the boundaries

21 of the Farmland Protection Area depicted on

22 the map described in section 2(c)—

23 ‘‘(i) absent an acquisition of privately

24 owned land or an interest in land by the

25 United States, nothing in this Act author-
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1 izes any Federal agency or official to regu2 late the use or enjoyment of privately

3 owned land, including land that, on the

4 date of enactment of this subsection, is

5 subject to an easement held by the Marin

6 Agricultural Land Trust, the Sonoma

7 County Agricultural Preservation and

8 Open Space District, or the Sonoma Land

9 Trust; and

10 ‘‘(ii) such privately owned land shall

11 continue under the jurisdiction of the State

12 and political subdivisions within which the

13 land is located.

14 ‘‘(B) PERMITS AND LEASES.—

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary

16 may permit øWhat does this mean?¿,

17 or lease, land acquired in fee under this

18 subsection.

19 ‘‘(ii) CONSISTENCY.—Any such permit

20 or lease shall be consistent with the pur21 poses of the Point Reyes National Sea22 shore Farmland Protection Act of 1997.

23 ‘‘(iii) USE OF REVENUES.—Notwith24 standing any other provision of law, reve-
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1 nues derived from any such permit or

2 lease—

3 ‘‘(I) may be retained by the Sec4 retary; and

5 ‘‘(II) shall be available, without

6 further appropriation, for expenditure

7 to further the goals and objectives of

8 agricultural preservation within the

9 boundaries of the area depicted on the

10 map described to in section 2(c).

11 ‘‘(C) LAND OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN12 MENTS.—Land or an interest in land, within

13 the area depicted on the map described in sec14 tion 2(c) that is owned by the State of Califor15 nia or a political subdivision of the State of

16 California, may be acquired only by donation or

17 exchange.

18 ‘‘(5) OWNER’S RESERVATION OF RIGHT.—Sec19 tion 5 shall not apply with respect to land and or

20 an interest in land acquired under this subsection.’’.

21 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

22 9 of Public Law 87–657 (16 U.S.C. 459c–7) is amended—

23 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before

24 ‘‘There are authorized’’; and

25 (2) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(b) LAND ACQUISITION.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the sums au3 thorized to be appropriated by this section before the

4 enactment of the Point Reyes National Seashore

5 Farmland Protection Act of 1997, there is author6 ized to be appropriated $30,000,000 to be used on

7 a matching basis to acquire land and interests in

8 land under section 3(d).

9 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of

10 the costs for acquiring land and interests in land

11 under section 3(d) shall be 50 percent of the total

12 costs of the acquisition.

13 ‘‘(3) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—

14 ‘‘(A) FORM.—The non-Federal share of

15 the acquisition costs may be paid in the form

16 of property, moneys, services, or in-kind con17 tributions, fairly valued.

18 ‘‘(B) LAND OF STATE AND LOCAL GOV19 ERNMENTS.—For the purpose of determining

20 the non-Federal share of the costs, any land or

21 interests in land that is within the boundaries

22 of the area depicted on the map described in

23 section 2(c), that, on the date of enactment of

24 this subsection, is held under a conservation

25 easement by the Marin Agricultural Land
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1 Trust, the Sonoma County Agricultural Preser2 vation and Open Space District, the Sonoma

3 Land Trust, or any other land protection agen4 cy or by the State of California or any political

5 subdivision of the State, shall be considered to

6 be a matching contribution from non-Federal

7 sources in an amount that is equal to the fair

8 market value of the land or interests in land, as

9 determined by the Secretary.’’.

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