II 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3514 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 7, 2016 

Mrs. BOXER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

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. 

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. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the Santa Monica Mountains National 

9 Recreation Area was authorized as a unit of the Na10 tional Park System on November 10, 1978; 


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1 (2) the Santa Monica Mountains and the Rim 

2 of the Valley Corridor include a diverse range of na3 tionally significant natural and cultural resources; 

4 (3) expanding the Santa Monica Mountains Na5 tional Recreation Area would provide new opportuni6 ties for the National Park Service to serve a broad 

7 range of urban communities, including many com8 munities that are— 

9 (A) underrepresented in units of the Na10 tional Park System; and 

11 (B) underserved by State and local parks; 

12 (4) the Santa Susana Field Laboratory is lo13 cated in the Simi Hills in southeastern Ventura 

14 County, California, within the external boundaries of 

15 the Rim of the Valley Corridor; 

16 (5) activities at the Santa Susana Field Lab17 oratory have— 

18 (A) included rocket engine testing and re19 search and development of fuels, propellants, 

20 nuclear power, and lasers; and 

21 (B) resulted in releases of radioactive and 

22 hazardous substances into the environment that 

23 require cleanup; 

24 (6) in 2010, the California Department of Toxic 

25 Substances Control, the Department of Energy, and 


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1 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

2 entered into administrative orders on consent for the 

3 cleanup of contamination in soil to background levels 

4 on the portions of the Santa Susana Field Labora5 tory covered by the orders, with certain limited spec6 ified exceptions; and 

7 (7) Congress expects that a comparable cleanup 

8 will occur on the remaining portion of the Santa 

9 Susana Field Laboratory, such that the cleanup on 

10 the remaining portion will be protective of all allow11 able uses under Ventura County, California, zoning 

12 and general plan designations for the Santa Susana 

13 Field Laboratory in effect as of December 7, 2016. 

14 SEC. 3. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT; LAND ACQUISITION; AD15 MINISTRATION. 

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

17 the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 

18 U.S.C. 460kk(c)(1)) is amended, in the first sentence, by 

19 striking ‘‘ ‘Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation 

20 Area and Santa Monica Mountains Zone, California, 

21 Boundary Map’, numbered 80,047–C and dated August 

22 2001’’ and inserting ‘‘ ‘Rim of the Valley UnitlSanta 

23 Monica Mountains National Recreation Area’ and dated 

24 June 2016’’. 


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

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

3 460kk) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(u) RIM OF THE VALLEY UNIT.— 

5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

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

7 State of California. 

8 ‘‘(B) UNIT.—The term ‘Unit’ means the 

9 Rim of the Valley Unit included within the 

10 boundaries of the recreation area, as depicted 

11 on the map described in subsection (c)(1). 

12 ‘‘(C) UTILITY FACILITY.—The term ‘utility 

13 facility’ means— 

14 ‘‘(i) electric substations, communica15 tion facilities, towers, poles, and lines; 

16 ‘‘(ii) ground wires; 

17 ‘‘(iii) communications circuits; 

18 ‘‘(iv) other utility structures; and 

19 ‘‘(v) related infrastructure. 

20 ‘‘(D) WATER RESOURCE FACILITY.—The 

21 term ‘water resource facility’ means— 

22 ‘‘(i) irrigation and pumping facilities; 

23 ‘‘(ii) dams and reservoirs; 

24 ‘‘(iii) flood control facilities; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) water conservation works, in2 cluding debris protection facilities, sedi3 ment placement sites, rain gauges, and 

4 stream gauges; 

5 ‘‘(v) water quality, recycled water, and 

6 pumping facilities; 

7 ‘‘(vi) conveyance distribution systems; 

8 ‘‘(vii) water treatment facilities; 

9 ‘‘(viii) aqueducts; 

10 ‘‘(ix) canals; 

11 ‘‘(x) ditches; 

12 ‘‘(xi) pipelines; 

13 ‘‘(xii) wells; 

14 ‘‘(xiii) hydropower projects; 

15 ‘‘(xiv) transmission facilities; and 

16 ‘‘(xv) other ancillary facilities, ground17 water recharge facilities, water conserva18 tion, water filtration plants, and other 

19 water diversion, conservation, groundwater 

20 recharge, storage, and carriage structures. 

21 ‘‘(2) BOUNDARY REVISION.—Not later than 3 

22 years after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

23 the Secretary shall update the general management 

24 plan for the recreation area to reflect the boundaries 

25 designated on the map referred to in subsection 


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1 (c)(1) to include the area known as the ‘Rim of the 

2 Valley Unit’. 

3 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid exist4 ing rights, the Secretary shall administer the Unit 

5 and any land or interest in land acquired by the 

6 United States and located within the boundaries of 

7 the Unit— 

8 ‘‘(A) as part of the recreation area; and 

9 ‘‘(B) in accordance with— 

10 ‘‘(i) this section; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) applicable laws (including regula12 tions). 

13 ‘‘(4) ACQUISITION OF LAND.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

15 acquire non-Federal land within the boundaries 

16 of the Unit only through exchange, donation, or 

17 purchase from a willing seller. 

18 ‘‘(B) USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN.—Nothing 

19 in this subsection authorizes the use of eminent 

20 domain to acquire land or interests in land 

21 within the boundaries of the Unit. 

22 ‘‘(5) OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES.—The fact that cer23 tain activities or land uses can be seen or heard 

24 from within the Unit shall not preclude the activities 

25 or land uses outside the boundary of the Unit. 


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1 ‘‘(6) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN LAND.—Notwith2 standing any other provision of law, no portion of 

3 the Santa Susana Field Laboratory shall be consid4 ered for inclusion in the Unit until the later of the 

5 date on which— 

6 ‘‘(A) cleanup of soil at the Santa Susana 

7 Field Laboratory has been completed in full 

8 compliance with the cleanup standards specified 

9 in the administrative orders on consent entered 

10 into by the California Department of Toxic 

11 Substances Control, the Department of Energy, 

12 and the National Aeronautics and Space Ad13 ministration on December 6, 2010, as the 

14 cleanup standards are defined in the orders on 

15 that date, such that all contamination in soil is 

16 cleaned up to background levels; and 

17 ‘‘(B) cleanup of soil for any portion of the 

18 Santa Susana Field Laboratory not covered by 

19 the orders described in subparagraph (A) that 

20 is comparable to the cleanup required for the 

21 portions of the laboratory under the orders has 

22 been completed in a manner that meets the 

23 cleanup standards for all allowable uses in the 

24 Ventura County, California, zoning and general 

25 plan land use designations for the Santa 


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1 Susana Field Laboratory in effect as of Decem2 ber 7, 2016. 

3 ‘‘(7) EFFECT OF SUBSECTION.—Nothing in this 

4 subsection or the application of the applicable man5 agement plan to the Unit— 

6 ‘‘(A) modifies any provision of Federal, 

7 State, or local law with respect to public access 

8 to, or use of, non-Federal land; 

9 ‘‘(B) creates any liability, or affects any li10 ability under any other law, of any private 

11 property owner or other owner of non-Federal 

12 land with respect to any person injured on pri13 vate property or other non-Federal land; 

14 ‘‘(C) allows for the creation of protective 

15 perimeters or buffer zones outside of the Unit; 

16 ‘‘(D) affects the ownership, management, 

17 or other rights relating to any non-Federal land 

18 (including any interest in any non-Federal 

19 land); 

20 ‘‘(E) requires any unit of local government 

21 to participate in any program administered by 

22 the Secretary; 

23 ‘‘(F) alters, modifies, or diminishes any 

24 right, responsibility, power, authority, jurisdic25 tion, or entitlement of the State, any political 


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1 subdivision of the State, or any State or local 

2 agency under existing Federal, State, or local 

3 law (including regulations); 

4 ‘‘(G) requires or promotes the use of, or 

5 encourages trespass on, land, facilities, and 

6 rights-of-way owned by non-Federal entities, in7 cluding water resource facilities and public utili8 ties, without the written consent of the owner 

9 of the land; 

10 ‘‘(H) affects the operation, maintenance, 

11 modification, construction, or expansion of any 

12 water resource facility or utility facility located 

13 within or adjacent to the Unit; 

14 ‘‘(I) terminates the fee title to land, or the 

15 customary operation, maintenance, repair, and 

16 replacement activities on or under the land, 

17 granted to public agencies that are authorized 

18 under Federal or State law; or 

19 ‘‘(J) interferes with, obstructs, hinders, or 

20 delays the exercise of any right to or access to 

21 any water resource facility or other facility or 

22 property necessary or useful to access any 

23 water right to operate any public water or util24 ity system. 


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1 ‘‘(8) UTILITY FACILITIES; WATER RESOURCE

2 FACILITIES.—A utility facility or water resource fa3 cility shall conduct activities in a manner that rea4 sonably avoids or reduces the impact of the activities 

5 on the resources of the Unit.’’. 

Æ 


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