IB 
Union Calendar No. 89 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1691 
[Report No. 113–124, Part I] 
To provide for the transfer of certain public land currently administered 
by the Bureau of Land Management to the administrative jurisdiction 
of the Secretary of the Navy for inclusion in the Chocolate Mountain 
Aerial Gunnery Range, California, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 23, 2013 
Mr. VARGAS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Armed 
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
JUNE 24, 2013 
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
JUNE 24, 2013 
The Committee on Armed Services discharged; committed to the Committee 
of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
[For text of the introduced bill, see bill as introduced on April 23, 2013] 
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A BILL 
To provide for the transfer of certain public land currently 
administered by the Bureau of Land Management to 
the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the 
Navy for inclusion in the Chocolate Mountain Aerial 
Gunnery Range, California, and for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chocolate Mountain Aer-
ial Gunnery Range Transfer Act of 2013’’. 
SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION, 
CHOCOLATE MOUNTAIN AERIAL GUNNERY 
RANGE, CALIFORNIA. 
(a) TRANSFER REQUIRED.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior shall transfer to the administrative jurisdiction of the 
Secretary of the Navy certain public land administered by 
the Bureau of Land Management in Imperial and Riverside 
Counties, California, consisting of approximately 226,711 
acres, as generally depicted on the map titled ‘‘Chocolate 
Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range Proposed–Withdrawal’’ 
dated 1987 (revised July 1993), and identified as 
WESTDIV Drawing No. C–102370, which was prepared by 
the Naval Facilities Engineering Command of the Depart-
ment of the Navy and is on file with the California State 
Office of the Bureau of Land Management. 
(b) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—The transfer of admin-
istrative jurisdiction under subsection (a) shall be subject 
to any valid existing rights, including any property, ease-
ments, or improvements held by the Bureau of Reclamation 
and appurtenant to the Coachella Canal. The Secretary of 
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the Navy shall provide for reasonable access by the Bureau 
of Reclamation for inspection and maintenance purposes 
not inconsistent with military training. 
(c) TIME FOR CONVEYANCE.—The transfer of adminis-
trative jurisdiction under subsection (a) shall occur pursu-
ant to a schedule agreed to by the Secretary of the Interior 
and the Secretary of the Navy, but in no case later than 
the date of the completion of the boundary realignment re-
quired by section 4. 
(d) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.— 
(1) PREPARATION AND PUBLICATION.—The Sec-
retary of the Interior shall publish in the Federal 
Register a legal description of the public land to be 
transferred under subsection (a). 
(2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 
of the Interior shall file with the Committee on En-
ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep-
resentatives— 
(A) a copy of the legal description prepared 
under paragraph (1); and 
(B) a map depicting the legal description of 
the transferred public land. 
(3) AVAILABILITY
FOR
PUBLIC
INSPECTION.— 
Copies of the legal description and map filed under 
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paragraph (2) shall be available for public inspection 
in the appropriate offices of— 
(A) the Bureau of Land Management; 
(B) the Office of the Commanding Officer, 
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona; 
(C) the Office of the Commander, Navy Re-
gion Southwest; and 
(D) the Office of the Secretary of the Navy. 
(4) FORCE OF LAW.—The legal description and 
map filed under paragraph (2) shall have the same 
force and effect as if included in this Act, except that 
the Secretary of the Interior may correct clerical and 
typographical errors in the legal description or map. 
(5) REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS.—The transfer 
required by subsection (a) shall be made without re-
imbursement, except that the Secretary of the Navy 
shall reimburse the Secretary of the Interior for any 
costs incurred by the Secretary of the Interior to pre-
pare the legal description and map under this sub-
section. 
SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT AND USE OF TRANSFERRED LAND. 
(a) USE OF TRANSFERRED LAND.—Upon the receipt 
of the land under section 2, the Secretary of the Navy shall 
administer the land as the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gun-
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nery Range, California, and continue to authorize use of 
the land for military purposes. 
(b) PROTECTION OF DESERT TORTOISE.—Nothing in 
the transfer required by section 2 shall affect the prior des-
ignation of certain lands within the Chocolate Mountain 
Aerial Gunnery Range as critical habitat for the desert tor-
toise (Gopherus Agassizii). 
(c) WITHDRAWAL OF MINERAL ESTATE.—Subject to 
valid existing rights, the mineral estate of the land to be 
transferred under section 2 are withdrawn from all forms 
of appropriation under the public land laws, including the 
mining laws and the mineral and geothermal leasing laws, 
for as long as the land is under the administrative jurisdic-
tion of the Secretary of the Navy. 
(d) INTEGRATED NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 
PLAN.—Not later than one year after the transfer of the 
land under section 2, the Secretary of the Navy, in coopera-
tion with the Secretary of the Interior, shall prepare an 
integrated natural resources management plan pursuant to 
the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670a et seq.) for the transferred 
land and for land that, as of the date of the enactment of 
this Act, is under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the 
Navy underlying the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery 
Range. 
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SEC. 4. REALIGNMENT OF RANGE BOUNDARY AND RELATED 
TRANSFER OF TITLE. 
(a) REALIGNMENT; PURPOSE.—The Secretary of the 
Interior and the Secretary of the Navy shall realign the 
boundary of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery 
Range, as in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
to improve public safety and management of the Range, 
consistent with the following: 
(1) The northwestern boundary of the Chocolate 
Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range shall be realigned to 
the edge of the Bradshaw Trail so that the Trail is 
entirely on public land under the jurisdiction of the 
Department of the Interior. 
(2) The centerline of the Bradshaw Trail shall be 
delineated by the Secretary of the Interior in con-
sultation with the Secretary of the Navy, beginning at 
its western terminus at Township 8 South, Range 12 
East, Section 6 eastward to Township 8 South, Range 
17 East, Section 32 where it leaves the Chocolate 
Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range. 
(b) TRANSFERS RELATED
TO REALIGNMENT.—The 
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Navy shall 
make such transfers of administrative jurisdiction as may 
be necessary to reflect the results of the boundary realign-
ment carried out pursuant to subsection (a). 
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(c) APPLICABILITY
OF NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL 
POLICY ACT OF 1969.—The National Environmental Pol-
icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall not apply 
to any transfer of land made under subsection (b) or any 
decontamination actions undertaken in connection with 
such a transfer. 
(d) DECONTAMINATION.—The Secretary of the Navy 
shall maintain, to the extent funds are available for such 
purpose and consistent with applicable Federal and State 
law, a program of decontamination of any contamination 
caused by defense-related uses on land transferred under 
subsection (b). The Secretary of Defense shall include a de-
scription of such decontamination activities in the annual 
report required by section 2711 of title 10, United States 
Code. 
(e) TIMELINE.—The delineation of the Bradshaw Trail 
under subsection (a) and any transfer of land under sub-
section (b) shall occur pursuant to a schedule agreed to by 
the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Navy, 
but in no case later than two years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 5. EFFECT OF TERMINATION OF MILITARY USE. 
(a) NOTICE AND EFFECT.—Upon a determination by 
the Secretary of the Navy that there is no longer a military 
need for all or portions of the land transferred under section 
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2, the Secretary of the Navy shall notify the Secretary of 
the Interior of such determination. Subject to subsections 
(b), (c), and (d), the Secretary of the Navy shall transfer 
the land subject to such a notice back to the administrative 
jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior. 
(b) CONTAMINATION.—Before transmitting a notice 
under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Navy shall pre-
pare a written determination concerning whether and to 
what extent the land to be transferred are contaminated 
with explosive, toxic, or other hazardous materials. A copy 
of the determination shall be transmitted with the notice. 
Copies of the notice and the determination shall be pub-
lished in the Federal Register. 
(c) DECONTAMINATION.—The Secretary of the Navy 
shall decontaminate any contaminated land that is the sub-
ject of a notice under subsection (a) if— 
(1) the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 
with the Secretary of the Navy, determines that— 
(A) decontamination is practicable and eco-
nomically feasible (taking into consideration the 
potential future use and value of the land); and 
(B) upon decontamination, the land could 
be opened to operation of some or all of the pub-
lic land laws, including the mining laws; and 
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(2) funds are appropriated for such decon-
tamination. 
(d) ALTERNATIVE.—The Secretary of the Interior is 
not required to accept land proposed for transfer under sub-
section (a) if the Secretary of the Interior is unable to make 
the determinations under subsection (c)(1) or if Congress 
does not appropriate a sufficient amount of funds for the 
decontamination of the land. 
SEC. 6. TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF EXISTING WITH-
DRAWAL PERIOD. 
Notwithstanding subsection (a) of section 806 of the 
California Military Lands Withdrawal and Overflights Act 
of 1994 (title VIII of Public Law 103–433; 108 Stat. 4505), 
the withdrawal and reservation of the land transferred 
under section 2 of this Act shall not terminate until the 
date on which the land transfer required by section 2 is 
executed. 
SEC. 7. WATER RIGHTS. 
(a) WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act shall be con-
strued— 
(1) to establish a reservation in favor of the 
United States with respect to any water or water 
right on lands transferred by this Act; or 
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(2) to authorize the appropriation of water on 
lands transferred by this Act except in accordance 
with applicable State law. 
(b) EFFECT ON PREVIOUSLY ACQUIRED OR RESERVED 
WATER RIGHTS.—This section shall not be construed to af-
fect any water rights acquired or reserved by the United 
States before the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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Union Calendar No. 89 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 1691 
[Report No. 113–124, Part I] 
A BILL 
To provide for the transfer of certain public land 
currently administered by the Bureau of Land 
Management to the administrative jurisdiction of 
the Secretary of the Navy for inclusion in the 
Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, Cali-
fornia, and for other purposes. 
JUNE 24, 2013 
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with 
an amendment 
JUNE 24, 2013 
The Committee on Armed Services discharged; committed 
to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
the Union and ordered to be printed 
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