H. R. 15

One Hundred Sixth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,

the sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine

An Act

To designate a portion of the Otay Mountain region of California as wilderness.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Otay Mountain Wilderness Act

of 1999’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds and declares the following:

(1) The public lands within the Otay Mountain region

of California are one of the last remaining pristine locations

in western San Diego County, California.

(2) This rugged mountain adjacent to the United StatesMexico border is internationally known for its diversity of

unique and sensitive plants.

(3) This area plays a critical role in San Diego’s multispecies conservation plan, a national model made for

maintaining biodiversity.

(4) Due to its proximity to the international border, this

area is the focus of important law enforcement and border

interdiction efforts necessary to curtail illegal immigration and

protect the area’s wilderness values.

(5) The illegal immigration traffic, combined with the

rugged topography, also presents unique fire management challenges for protecting lives and resources.

SEC. 3. DESIGNATION.

In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C.

1131 et seq.), certain public lands in the California Desert District

of the Bureau of Land Management, California, comprising approximately 18,500 acres as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Otay

Mountain Wilderness’’ and dated May 7, 1998, are hereby designated as wilderness and therefore as a component of the National

Wilderness Preservation System, which shall be known as the Otay

Mountain Wilderness.

SEC. 4. MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.

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

enactment of this Act, a map and a legal description for the Wilderness Area shall be filed by the Secretary with the Committee

on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee

on Resources of the House of Representatives. Such map and legal

description shall have the same force and effect as if included
H. R. 15—2

in this Act, except that the Secretary, as appropriate, may correct

clerical and typographical errors in such legal description and map.

Such map and legal description for the Wilderness Area shall be

on file and available for public inspection in the offices of the

Director and California State Director, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior.

(b) UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall ensure that the southern boundary of

the Wilderness Area is 100 feet north of the trail depicted on

the map referred to in subsection (a) and is at least 100 feet

from the United States-Mexico international border.

SEC. 5. WILDERNESS REVIEW.

The Congress hereby finds and directs that all the public lands

not designated wilderness within the boundaries of the Southern

Otay Mountain Wilderness Study Area (CA–060–029) and the

Western Otay Mountain Wilderness Study Area (CA–060–028) managed by the Bureau of Land Management and reported to the

Congress in 1991, have been adequately studied for wilderness

designation pursuant to section 603 of the Federal Land Policy

and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782), and are no longer

subject to the requirements contained in section 603(c) of that

Act pertaining to the management of wilderness study areas in

a manner that does not impair the suitability of such areas for

preservation as wilderness.

SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION OF WILDERNESS AREA.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights and to subsection (b), the Wilderness Area shall be administered by the Secretary in accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act

(16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), except that—

(1) any reference in such provisions to the effective date

of the Wilderness Act is deemed to be a reference to the effective

date of this Act; and

(2) any reference in such provisions to the Secretary of

Agriculture is deemed to be a reference to the Secretary of

the Interior.

(b) BORDER ENFORCEMENT, DRUG INTERDICTION, AND WILDLAND

FIRE PROTECTION.—Because of the proximity of the Wilderness

Area to the United States-Mexico international border, drug interdiction, border operations, and wildland fire management operations

are common management actions throughout the area encompassing

the Wilderness Area. This Act recognizes the need to continue

such management actions so long as such management actions

are conducted in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C.

1131 et seq.) and are subject to such conditions as the Secretary

considers appropriate.

SEC. 7. FURTHER ACQUISITIONS.

Any lands within the boundaries of the Wilderness Area that

are acquired by the United States after the date of the enactment

of this Act shall become part of the Wilderness Area and shall

be managed in accordance with all the provisions of this Act and

other laws applicable to such a wilderness.

SEC. 8. NO BUFFER ZONES.

The Congress does not intend for the designation of the Wilderness Area by this Act to lead to the creation of protective perimeters
H. R. 15—3

or buffer zones around the Wilderness Area. The fact that nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or heard from areas

within the Wilderness Area shall not, of itself, preclude such activities or uses up to the boundary of the Wilderness Area.

SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

As used in this Act:

(1) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ has the same

meaning as that term has in section 103(e) of the Federal

Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.

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

of the Interior.

(3) WILDERNESS AREA.—The term ‘‘Wilderness Area’’ means

the Otay Mountain Wilderness designated by section 3.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.