IB 

Union Calendar No. 309 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1708 

[Report No. 116–386] 

To adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation 

Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2019 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. 

JUDY CHU of California, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. HILL of California, 

and Mr. LOWENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Natural Resources 

FEBRUARY 4, 2020 

Additional sponsors: Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. BASS, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ROUDA, 

Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, and Ms. SA ́NCHEZ

FEBRUARY 4, 2020 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 13, 2019] 


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•HR 1708 RH

A BILL 

To adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains 

National Recreation Area to include the Rim of the 

Valley Corridor, and for other purposes. 


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•HR 1708 RH

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 ‘‘Rim of the Valley Cor5 ridor Preservation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT; LAND ACQUISITION; AD7 MINISTRATION. 

8 (a) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—Section 507(c)(1) of 

9 the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 

10 460kk(c)(1)) is amended in the first sentence by striking 

11 ‘‘, which shall’’ and inserting ‘‘and generally depicted as 

12 ‘Rim of the Valley Unit Proposed Addition’ on the map 

13 entitled ‘Rim of the Valley Unit—Santa Monica Mountains 

14 National Recreation Area’, numbered 638/147,723, and 

15 dated September 2018. Both maps shall’’. 

16 (b) RIM OF THE VALLEY UNIT.—Section 507 of the 

17 National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 

18 460kk) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(u) RIM OF THE VALLEY UNIT.—(1) Not later than 

20 3 years after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

21 the Secretary shall update the general management plan for 

22 the recreation area to reflect the boundaries designated on 

23 the map referred to in subsection (c)(1) as the ‘Rim of the 

24 Valley Unit’ (hereafter in the subsection referred to as the 

25 ‘Rim of the Valley Unit’). Subject to valid existing rights, 


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•HR 1708 RH

1 the Secretary shall administer the Rim of the Valley Unit 

2 and any land or interest in land acquired by the United 

3 States and located within the boundaries of the Rim of the 

4 Valley Unit, as part of the recreation area in accordance 

5 with the provisions of this section and applicable laws and 

6 regulations. 

7 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may acquire non-Federal land 

8 within the boundaries of the Rim of the Valley Unit only 

9 through exchange, donation, or purchase from a willing sell10 er. Nothing in this subsection authorizes the use of eminent 

11 domain to acquire land or interests in land. 

12 ‘‘(3) Nothing in this subsection or the application of 

13 the management plan for the Rim of the Valley Unit shall 

14 be construed to— 

15 ‘‘(A) modify any provision of Federal, State, or 

16 local law with respect to public access to or use of 

17 non-Federal land; 

18 ‘‘(B) create any liability, or affect any liability 

19 under any other law, of any private property owner 

20 or other owner of non-Federal land with respect to 

21 any person injured on private property or other non22 Federal land; 

23 ‘‘(C) affect the ownership, management, or other 

24 rights relating to any non-Federal land (including 

25 any interest in any non-Federal land); 


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•HR 1708 RH

1 ‘‘(D) require any local government to participate 

2 in any program administered by the Secretary; 

3 ‘‘(E) alter, modify, or diminish any right, re4 sponsibility, power, authority, jurisdiction, or entitle5 ment of the State, any political subdivision of the 

6 State, or any State or local agency under existing 

7 Federal, State, and local law (including regulations); 

8 ‘‘(F) require the creation of protective perimeters 

9 or buffer zones and the fact that certain activities or 

10 land can be seen or heard from within the Rim of the 

11 Valley Unit shall not, of itself, preclude the activities 

12 or land uses up to the boundary of the Rim of the 

13 Valley Unit; 

14 ‘‘(G) require or promote use of, or encourage 

15 trespass on, lands, facilities, and rights-of-way owned 

16 by non-Federal entities, including water resource fa17 cilities and public utilities, without the written con18 sent of the owner; 

19 ‘‘(H) affect the operation, maintenance, modi20 fication, construction, or expansion of any water re21 source facility or utility facility located within or ad22 jacent to the Rim of the Valley Unit; 

23 ‘‘(I) terminate the fee title to lands or customary 

24 operation, maintenance, repair, and replacement ac25 tivities on or under such lands granted to public 


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•HR 1708 RH

1 agencies that are authorized pursuant to Federal or 

2 State statute; 

3 ‘‘(J) interfere with, obstruct, hinder, or delay the 

4 exercise of any right to, or access to any water re5 source facility or other facility or property necessary 

6 or useful to access any water right to operate any 

7 public water or utility system; 

8 ‘‘(K) require initiation or reinitiation of con9 sultation with the United States Fish and Wildlife 

10 Service under, or the application of provisions of, the 

11 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

12 seq.), the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

13 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), or division A of subtitle III 

14 of title 54, United States Code, concerning any action 

15 or activity affecting water, water rights or water 

16 management or water resource facilities within the 

17 Rim of the Valley Unit; or 

18 ‘‘(L) limit the Secretary’s ability to update ap19 plicable fire management plan, which may consider 

20 fuels management strategies including managed nat21 ural fire, prescribed fires, non-fire mechanical haz22 ardous fuel reduction activities, or post-fire remedi23 ation of damage to natural and cultural resources. 

24 ‘‘(4) The activities of a utility facility or water re25 source facility shall take into consideration ways to reasonVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Feb 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1708.RH H1708

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•HR 1708 RH

1 ably avoid or reduce the impact on the resources of the Rim 

2 of the Valley Unit. 

3 ‘‘(5) For the purpose of paragraph (4)— 

4 ‘‘(A) the term ‘utility facility’ means electric 

5 substations, communication facilities, towers, poles, 

6 and lines, ground wires, communications circuits, 

7 and other structures, and related infrastructure; and 

8 ‘‘(B) the term ‘water resource facility’ means ir9 rigation and pumping facilities; dams and reservoirs; 

10 flood control facilities; water conservation works, in11 cluding debris protection facilities, sediment place12 ment sites, rain gages, and stream gauges; water 

13 quality, recycled water, and pumping facilities; con14 veyance distribution systems; water treatment facili15 ties; aqueducts; canals; ditches; pipelines; wells; hy16 dropower projects; transmission facilities; and other 

17 ancillary facilities, groundwater recharge facilities, 

18 water conservation, water filtration plants, and other 

19 water diversion, conservation, groundwater recharge, 

20 storage, and carriage structures.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 309 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1708 

[Report No. 116–386] 

A BILL 

To adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mounposes. Rim of the Valley Corridor, and for other pur- tains National Recreation Area to include the 

FEBRUARY 4, 2020 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS