I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4166 

To transfer recreational management authority for Lake Berryessa in the 

State of California from the Bureau of Reclamation to the Bureau 

of Land Management, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2014 

Mr. THOMPSON of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To transfer recreational management authority for Lake 

Berryessa in the State of California from the Bureau 

of Reclamation to the Bureau of Land Management, 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Lake Berryessa Recreation Enhancement Act of 2014’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings; purposes. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 


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Sec. 4. Transfer of administrative jurisdiction. 

Sec. 5. Management of Recreation Area. 

Sec. 6. Continued authorities of Commissioner of Reclamation. 

Sec. 7. Existing authorizations. 

Sec. 8. Recreation and concession fees. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

3 (1) the Monticello Dam— 

4 (A) was authorized by the Reclamation 

5 Project Act of 1939 (53 Stat. 1187); 

6 (B) resulted in the formation of Lake 

7 Berryessa; and 

8 (C) is operated by the Bureau of Reclama9 tion; 

10 (2) Lake Berryessa— 

11 (A) covers approximately 28,915 acres of 

12 surface water and land; 

13 (B) has 165 miles of shoreline; 

14 (C) has a 2,000 acre wildlife area on the 

15 east side; 

16 (D) is located less than 100 miles from 

17 both Sacramento, California and San Fran18 cisco, California; and 

19 (E) has become an important regional 

20 recreation destination; and 

21 (3) the recreational use at Lake Berryessa gen22 erates tourism that is important to local economies. 

23 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 


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1 (1) to provide diverse, high quality recreational 

2 facilities and services on the water and land sur3 rounding Lake Berryessa; 

4 (2) to conserve the natural, scenic, scientific, 

5 historic, and other resource values contributing to 

6 the public use and enjoyment of that land and 

7 water; 

8 (3) to promote cooperation between the Federal 

9 Government and private entities to manage that ex10 ceptional resource; 

11 (4) to authorize the Secretary to manage cer12 tain resources under the Bureau of Land Manage13 ment; and 

14 (5) to transfer to the Secretary, without consid15 eration, administrative jurisdiction over certain Fed16 eral land for management as a unit of the Bureau 

17 of Land Management. 

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) DAM.—The term ‘‘Dam’’ means— 

21 (A) the Monticello Dam; and 

22 (B) any facility relating to the Monticello 

23 Dam. 


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1 (2) RECREATION AREA.—The term ‘‘Recreation 

2 Area’’ means the Lake Berryessa Recreation Area 

3 designated by section 4(a). 

4 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of the Interior. 

6 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

7 of California. 

8 SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Administrative jurisdiction over 

10 the Federal land described in subsection (b) is transferred 

11 from the Bureau of Reclamation to the Bureau of Land 

12 Management for administration as the Lake Berryessa 

13 Recreation Area. 

14 (b) DESCRIPTION OF LAND.—The land referred to in 

15 subsection (a) is the approximately lll acres of water 

16 and land administered by the Bureau of Reclamation that 

17 is within or adjacent to Lake Berryessa and is identified 

18 as ‘‘lll’’ on the map dated lll. 

19 SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT OF RECREATION AREA. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the authority of the 

21 Secretary under section 6, the Secretary shall manage the 

22 Recreation Area in accordance with sections 601 through 

23 604 of Public Law 93–483. 

24 (b) APPLICABLE LAW.—Subject to valid existing 

25 rights, the Secretary shall administer the Recreation Area 


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1 in accordance with laws (including regulations) applicable 

2 to units of the public lands of the Bureau of Land Man3 agement. 

4 (c) WATERS.—Nothing in this Act— 

5 (1) affects the use or allocation, in existence on 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, of any water, 

7 water right, or interest in water; 

8 (2) affects any vested absolute or decreed condi9 tional water right in existence on the date of the en10 actment of this Act, including any water right held 

11 by the United States; 

12 (3) affects any interstate water compact in ex13 istence on the date of the enactment of this Act; 

14 (4) authorizes or imposes any new reserved 

15 Federal water rights; 

16 (5) relinquishes or reduces any water rights re17 served or appropriated by the United States in the 

18 State on or before the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act; 

20 (6) impairs the ability of the Bureau of Rec21 lamation and its managing partners to operate, 

22 maintain, or manage Monticello Dam and other So23 lano Project facilities in accordance with the pur24 poses of such project; or 


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1 (7) modifies, changes, or supersedes any water 

2 contract or agreements approved or administered by 

3 the Bureau of Reclamation or Solano County Water 

4 Agency or Solano Irrigation District. 

5 (d) EXISTING AGREEMENTS.—To benefit the inter6 ests of the public, the Secretary shall act in accordance 

7 with any agreement in existence on the date of the enact8 ment of this Act with any organization for the manage9 ment of— 

10 (1) campgrounds located in the Recreation 

11 Area; and 

12 (2) marinas located in the Recreation Area. 

13 (e) COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

14 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.—The Secretary 

15 may develop a management plan under paragraph 

16 (1)— 

17 (A) as a new document; or 

18 (B) by adopting the recreational use plan 

19 adopted by the Bureau of Reclamation on June 

20 2, 2006. 

21 (2) APPLICABILITY.—Nothing in this Act re22 quires an immediate revision or amendment to any 

23 plan for any public land of the Bureau of Land 

24 Management. 


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1 (3) USE OF PLANNING DOCUMENTS.—Until the 

2 date on which the Secretary develops a management 

3 plan, the Secretary may use planning documents 

4 prepared by the Bureau of Reclamation without fur5 ther administrative action. 

6 SEC. 6. CONTINUED AUTHORITIES OF COMMISSIONER OF 

7 RECLAMATION. 

8 Nothing in this Act or any subsequent management 

9 plan shall impair the ability of the Bureau of Reclamation 

10 and its managing partners to operate, maintain, or man11 age Monticello Dam, Lake Berryessa, and other Solano 

12 Project facilities in accordance with that project’s author13 ized purposes. The Commissioner of Reclamation shall 

14 continue to administer and operate— 

15 (1) the Dam; and 

16 (2) any power facility relating to the Dam. 

17 SEC. 7. EXISTING AUTHORIZATIONS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsections 

19 (b) and (c), nothing in this Act affects any authorization 

20 in effect as of the date of the enactment of this Act made 

21 by any department or agency of the Federal Government 

22 for the use of land or water located within the Recreation 

23 Area (referred to in this section as an ‘‘existing authoriza24 tion’’). 


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1 (b) ASSUMPTION OF EXISTING AUTHORIZATION.— 

2 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 

3 this Act, the Secretary shall assume the administration 

4 of any existing authorization, with such revisions as nec5 essary to align the authorization with existing law and 

6 policies of the Bureau of Land Management. 

7 (c) RENEWAL OF EXISTING AUTHORIZATION.—The 

8 renewal of any existing authorization shall be made in ac9 cordance with such terms and conditions as the Secretary 

10 may prescribe. 

11 SEC. 8. RECREATION AND CONCESSION FEES. 

12 (a) FEES AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may estab13 lish, modify, charge, and collect recreation or concession 

14 fees at the Recreation Area in accordance with section 803 

15 of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 

16 U.S.C. 6802). The amount of the fee shall be commensu17 rate with the benefits and services provided to the visitor 

18 or with the recovery of the anticipated costs associated 

19 with management of the Recreation Area, including costs 

20 of maintaining or operating facilities and visitor services. 

21 (b) USE OF FEES.—The Secretary may retain fees 

22 collected under subsection (a) for the purposes of man23 aging the Recreation Area. 

Æ 


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