I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1708 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 13, 2019 
Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. 
JUDY CHU of California, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. HILL of California, 
and Mr. LOWENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on 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. 
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 ‘‘Rim of the Valley Cor-
ridor Preservation Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) The Santa Monica Mountains National 
Recreation Area was authorized as a unit of the Na-
tional Park System on November 10, 1978. 
(2) The Santa Monica Mountains and the Rim 
of the Valley Corridor include— 
(A) nationally significant resources— 
(i) outstanding examples of geologic 
history, including the evolution of the 
Transverse Ranges Province; 
(ii) a diversity of well-preserved ma-
rine and terrestrial paleontological re-
sources; and 
(iii) high biodiversity, including out-
standing examples of native grasslands, 
coastal sage scrub, chaparral, dry conif-
erous forests, and alluvial fan sage scrub; 
and 
(B) nationally significant cultural re-
sources that represent a wide range of themes 
related to human use and settlement in the re-
gion— 
(i) high concentrations of archeo-
logical resources that provide insight into 
more than 10,000 years of Native Amer-
ican history; and 
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(ii) landmarks that represent topics 
such as architecture, recreation, and space 
exploration. 
(3) Expanding the Santa Monica Mountains 
National Recreation Area would provide new oppor-
tunities for the National Park Service to serve a 
broad range of urban communities, including many 
that are underrepresented in national parks and un-
derserved by State and local parks. 
SEC. 3. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT; LAND ACQUISITION; AD-
MINISTRATION. 
(a) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—Section 507(c)(1) of 
the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 
U.S.C. 460kk(c)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘ ‘Santa 
Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Santa 
Monica Mountains Zone, California, Boundary Map’, 
numbered 80,047–C and dated August 2001’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘ ‘Rim of the Valley UnitlSanta Monica Mountains 
National Recreation Area’ and dated October 2017’’. 
(b) RIM OF THE VALLEY UNIT.—Section 507 of the 
National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 
460kk) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(u) RIM OF THE VALLEY UNIT.—(1) Not later than 
3 years after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 
the Secretary shall update the general management plan 
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for the recreation area to reflect the boundaries designated 
on the map referred to in subsection (c)(1) as the ‘Rim 
of the Valley Unit’ (hereafter in the subsection referred 
to as the ‘Rim of the Valley Unit’). Subject to valid exist-
ing rights, the Secretary shall administer the Rim of the 
Valley Unit and any land or interest in land acquired by 
the United States and located within the boundaries of 
the Rim of the Valley Unit, as part of the recreation area 
in accordance with the provisions of this section and appli-
cable laws and regulations. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary may acquire non-Federal land 
within the boundaries of the Rim of the Valley Unit only 
through exchange, donation, or purchase from a willing 
seller. Nothing in this subsection authorizes the use of 
eminent domain to acquire land or interests in land. 
‘‘(3) Nothing in this subsection or the application of 
the management plan for the Rim of the Valley Unit shall 
be construed to— 
‘‘(A) modify any provision of Federal, State, or 
local law with respect to public access to or use of 
non-Federal land; 
‘‘(B) create any liability, or affect any liability 
under any other law, of any private property owner 
or other owner of non-Federal land with respect to 
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any person injured on private property or other non- 
Federal land; 
‘‘(C) affect the ownership, management, or 
other rights relating to any non-Federal land (in-
cluding any interest in any non-Federal land); 
‘‘(D) require any local government to partici-
pate in any program administered by the Secretary; 
‘‘(E) alter, modify, or diminish any right, re-
sponsibility, power, authority, jurisdiction, or entitle-
ment of the State, any political subdivision of the 
State, or any State or local agency under existing 
Federal, State, and local law (including regulations); 
‘‘(F) require the creation of protective perim-
eters or buffer zones and the fact that certain activi-
ties or land can be seen or heard from within the 
Rim of the Valley Unit shall not, of itself, preclude 
the activities or land uses up to the boundary of the 
Rim of the Valley Unit; 
‘‘(G) require or promote use of, or encourage 
trespass on, lands, facilities, and rights-of-way 
owned by non-Federal entities, including water re-
source facilities and public utilities, without the writ-
ten consent of the owner; 
‘‘(H) affect the operation, maintenance, modi-
fication, construction, or expansion of any water re-
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source facility or utility facility located within or ad-
jacent to the Rim of the Valley Unit; 
‘‘(I) terminate the fee title to lands or cus-
tomary operation, maintenance, repair, and replace-
ment activities on or under such lands granted to 
public agencies that are authorized pursuant to Fed-
eral or State statute; 
‘‘(J) interfere with, obstruct, hinder, or delay 
the exercise of any right to, or access to any water 
resource facility or other facility or property nec-
essary or useful to access any water right to operate 
any public water or utility system; or 
‘‘(K) require initiation or reinitiation of con-
sultation with the United States Fish and Wildlife 
Service under, or the application of provisions of, the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.), the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), or division A of sub-
title III of title 54, United States Code, concerning 
any action or activity affecting water, water rights 
or water management or water resource facilities 
within the Rim of the Valley Unit. 
‘‘(4) The activities of a utility facility or water re-
source facility shall be conducted in a manner to reason-
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ably avoid or reduce the impact on the resources of the 
Rim of the Valley Unit. 
‘‘(5) For the purposes of paragraphs (4) and (5)— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘utility facility’ means electric 
substations, communication facilities, towers, poles, 
and lines, ground wires, communications circuits, 
and other structures, and related infrastructure; and 
‘‘(B) the term ‘water resource facility’ means 
irrigation and pumping facilities; dams and res-
ervoirs; flood control facilities; water conservation 
works, including debris protection facilities, sediment 
placement sites, rain gages, and stream gauges; 
water quality, recycled water, and pumping facilities; 
conveyance distribution systems; water treatment fa-
cilities; aqueducts; canals; ditches; pipelines; wells; 
hydropower projects; transmission facilities; and 
other ancillary facilities, groundwater recharge facili-
ties, water conservation, water filtration plants, and 
other water diversion, conservation, groundwater re-
charge, storage, and carriage structures.’’. 
Æ 
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