106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 15

AN ACT

To designate a portion of the Otay Mountain region

of California as wilderness.
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 15

AN ACT

To designate a portion of the Otay Mountain region of

California as wilderness.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Otay Mountain Wilder3 ness Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds and declares the following:

6 (1) The public lands within the Otay Mountain

7 region of California are one of the last remaining

8 pristine locations in western San Diego County,

9 California.

10 (2) This rugged mountain adjacent to the

11 United States-Mexico border is internationally

12 known for its diversity of unique and sensitive

13 plants.

14 (3) This area plays a critical role in San

15 Diego’s multi-species conservation plan, a national

16 model made for maintaining biodiversity.

17 (4) Due to its proximity to the international

18 border, this area is the focus of important law en19 forcement and border interdiction efforts necessary

20 to curtail illegal immigration and protect the area’s

21 wilderness values.

22 (5) The illegal immigration traffic, combined

23 with the rugged topography, also presents unique

24 fire management challenges for protecting lives and

25 resources.
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1 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION.

2 In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act

3 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain public lands in the Cali4 fornia Desert District of the Bureau of Land Manage5 ment, California, comprising approximately 18,500 acres

6 as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Otay Mountain

7 Wilderness’’ and dated May 7, 1998, are hereby des8 ignated as wilderness and therefore as a component of the

9 National Wilderness Preservation System, which shall be

10 known as the Otay Mountain Wilderness.

11 SEC. 4. MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the

13 date of enactment of this Act, a map and a legal descrip14 tion for the Wilderness Area shall be filed by the Secretary

15 with the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of

16 the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the House

17 of Representatives. Such map and legal description shall

18 have the same force and effect as if included in this Act,

19 except that the Secretary, as appropriate, may correct

20 clerical and typographical errors in such legal description

21 and map. Such map and legal description for the Wilder22 ness Area shall be on file and available for public inspec23 tion in the offices of the Director and California State Di24 rector, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the

25 Interior.
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1 (b) UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER.—In carrying

2 out this section, the Secretary shall ensure that the south3 ern boundary of the Wilderness Area is 100 feet north

4 of the trail depicted on the map referred to in subsection

5 (a) and is at least 100 feet from the United States-Mexico

6 international border.

7 SEC. 5. WILDERNESS REVIEW.

8 The Congress hereby finds and directs that all the

9 public lands not designated wilderness within the bound10 aries of the Southern Otay Mountain Wilderness Study

11 Area (CA–060–029) and the Western Otay Mountain Wil12 derness Study Area (CA–060–028) managed by the Bu13 reau of Land Management and reported to the Congress

14 in 1991, have been adequately studied for wilderness des15 ignation pursuant to section 603 of the Federal Land Pol16 icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782), and

17 are no longer subject to the requirements contained in sec18 tion 603(c) of that Act pertaining to the management of

19 wilderness study areas in a manner that does not impair

20 the suitability of such areas for preservation as wilderness.

21 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION OF WILDERNESS AREA.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights

23 and to subsection (b), the Wilderness Area shall be admin24 istered by the Secretary in accordance with the provisions
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1 of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), except

2 that—

3 (1) any reference in such provisions to the ef4 fective date of the Wilderness Act is deemed to be

5 a reference to the effective date of this Act; and

6 (2) any reference in such provisions to the Sec7 retary of Agriculture is deemed to be a reference to

8 the Secretary of the Interior.

9 (b) BORDER ENFORCEMENT, DRUG INTERDICTION,

10 AND WILDLAND FIRE PROTECTION.—Because of the

11 proximity of the Wilderness Area to the United States12 Mexico international border, drug interdiction, border op13 erations, and wildland fire management operations are

14 common management actions throughout the area encom15 passing the Wilderness Area. This Act recognizes the need

16 to continue such management actions so long as such

17 management actions are conducted in accordance with the

18 Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and are subject

19 to such conditions as the Secretary considers appropriate.

20 SEC. 7. FURTHER ACQUISITIONS.

21 Any lands within the boundaries of the Wilderness

22 Area that are acquired by the United States after the date

23 of enactment of this Act shall become part of the Wilder24 ness Area and shall be managed in accordance with all
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1 the provisions of this Act and other laws applicable to such

2 a wilderness.

3 SEC. 8. NO BUFFER ZONES.

4 The Congress does not intend for the designation of

5 the Wilderness Area by this Act to lead to the creation

6 of protective perimeters or buffer zones around the Wil7 derness Area. The fact that nonwilderness activities or

8 uses can be seen or heard from areas within the Wilder9 ness Area shall not, of itself, preclude such activities or

10 uses up to the boundary of the Wilderness Area.

11 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

12 As used in this Act:

13 (1) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’

14 has the same meaning as that term has in section

15 103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Management

16 Act of 1976.

17 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

18 the Secretary of the Interior.
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1 (3) WILDERNESS AREA.—The term ‘‘Wilderness

2 Area’’ means the Otay Mountain Wilderness des3 ignated by section 3.

Passed the House of Representatives April 12, 1999.

Attest:

Clerk.