I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1838 
To establish the Clear Creek National Recreation Area in San Benito and 
Fresno Counties, California, to designate the Joaquin Rocks Wilderness 
in such counties, to designate additional components of the National 
Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 16, 2015 
Mr. FARR (for himself, Mr. VALADAO, and Mr. DENHAM) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To establish the Clear Creek National Recreation Area in 
San Benito and Fresno Counties, California, to designate 
the Joaquin Rocks Wilderness in such counties, to des-
ignate additional components of the National Wild and 
Scenic Rivers System, 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 ‘‘Clear Creek National 
Recreation Area and Conservation Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage-
ment plan’’ means the Plan for the Recreation Area 
prepared under section 4(c). 
(2) RECREATION AREA.—The term ‘‘Recreation 
Area’’ means the Clear Creek National Recreation 
Area. 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
(4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 
of California. 
(5) OFF HIGHWAY VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘off 
highway vehicle’’ means any motorized vehicle de-
signed for or capable of cross-country travel on or 
immediately over land, water, snow, or other natural 
terrain and not intended for use on public roads. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF CLEAR CREEK NATIONAL 
RECREATION AREA. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—To promote environmentally re-
sponsible off highway vehicle recreation, there is estab-
lished the ‘‘Clear Creek National Recreation Area’’, to be 
managed by the Secretary. 
(b) OTHER PURPOSES.—The Recreation Area shall 
also support other public recreational uses, such as hunt-
ing, hiking, and rock and gem collecting. 
(c) MAP.— 
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall submit a map and legal description of 
the Recreation Area to— 
(A) the Committee on Natural Resources 
of the House of Representatives; and 
(B) the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources of the Senate. 
(2) AVAILABILITY.—Copies of the map sub-
mitted under paragraph (1) shall be on file and 
available for public inspection in— 
(A) the Office of the Director of the Bu-
reau of Land Management; and 
(B) the appropriate office of the Bureau of 
Land Management in California. 
SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall manage the 
Recreation Area to further the purposes described in sec-
tion 3(a), in accordance with— 
(1) this Act; 
(2) the Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and 
(3) any other applicable law. 
(b) USES.—The Secretary shall— 
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(1) prioritize environmentally responsible off 
highway vehicle recreation and also facilitate hunt-
ing, hiking, gem collecting, and the use of motorized 
vehicles, mountain bikes, and horses in accordance 
with the management plan described in subsection 
(c); 
(2) issue special recreation permits for motor-
ized and non-motorized events; and 
(3) reopen the Clear Creek Management Area 
to the uses described in this subsection as soon as 
practicable following the enactment of this Act and 
in accordance with the management guidelines out-
lined in this Act and other applicable law. 
(c) INTERIM MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The Secretary 
shall use the 2005 Clear Creek Management Area Travel 
Management Plan as modified by this Act or the Secretary 
to incorporate natural resource protection information not 
available in 2005, as the basis of an interim management 
plan to govern off highway vehicle recreation within the 
Recreation Area pending the completion of the long-term 
management plan required in subsection (d). 
(d) PERMANENT MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Not later 
than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary shall create a comprehensive management 
plan for the Clear Creek Recreation Area that— 
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(1) shall describe the appropriate uses and 
management of the Recreation Area in accordance 
with this Act; 
(2) shall be prepared in consultation with— 
(A) appropriate Federal, State, and local 
agencies (including San Benito, Monterey, and 
Fresno Counties); 
(B) adjacent land owners; and 
(C) other stakeholders (including conserva-
tion and recreational organizations); 
(3) shall include a hazards education program 
to inform people entering the Recreation Area of the 
asbestos related risks associated with various activi-
ties within the Recreation Area, including off-high-
way vehicle recreation; 
(4) shall include a user fee program for motor-
ized vehicle use within the Recreational Area and 
guidelines for the use of the funds collected for the 
management and improvement of the Recreation 
Area; 
(5) shall designate as many previously used 
trails, roads, and other areas for off highway vehicle 
recreation as feasible in accordance with this in 
order to provide a substantially similar recreational 
experience, except that nothing in this paragraph 
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shall be construed as precluding the Secretary from 
closing any area, trail, or route from use for the 
purposes of public safety or resource protection; 
(6) may incorporate any appropriate decisions, 
as determined by the Secretary, in accordance with 
this Act, that are contained in any management or 
activity plan for the area completed before the date 
of the enactment of this Act; 
(7) may incorporate appropriate wildlife habitat 
management plans or other plans prepared for the 
land within or adjacent to the Recreation Area be-
fore the date of the enactment of this Act, in accord-
ance with this Act; 
(8) may use information developed under any 
studies of land within or adjacent to the Recreation 
Area carried out before the date of enactment of this 
Act; and 
(9) may include cooperative agreements with 
State or local government agencies to manage all or 
a portion of the recreational activities within the 
Recreation Area in accordance with an approved 
management plan and the requirements of this Act. 
(e) ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire 
land adjacent to the National Recreation Area by 
purchase from willing sellers, donation, or exchange. 
(2) MANAGEMENT.—Any land acquired under 
paragraph (1) shall be managed in accordance 
with— 
(A) the Federal Land Policy and Manage-
ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); 
(B) this Act; and 
(C) any other applicable law (including 
regulations). 
(3) IMPROVED ACCESS.—The Secretary may ac-
quire by purchase from willing sellers, donation, ex-
change, or easement, land, or interest in land to im-
prove public safety in providing access to the Recre-
ation Area. 
(f) PRIVATE PROPERTY.— 
(1) ACCESS TO PRIVATE PROPERTY.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
provide landowners adequate access to in-
holdings within the Recreation Area. 
(B) INHOLDINGS.—For access purposes, 
private land adjacent to the Recreation Area to 
which there is no other practicable access ex-
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cept through the Recreation Area shall be man-
aged as an inholding. 
(2) USE OF PRIVATE PROPERTY.—Nothing in 
this Act affects the ownership, management, or 
other rights relating to any non-Federal land (in-
cluding any interest in any non-Federal land). 
(3) BUFFER ZONES.—Nothing in this Act cre-
ates a protective perimeter or buffer zone around the 
Recreation Area. 
(4) VALID RIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act affects 
any easements, rights-of-way, and other valid rights 
in existence on the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
(g) WATER RIGHT EXCLUSION.—Nothing in this 
Act— 
(1) shall constitute or be construed to con-
stitute either an express or implied reservation by 
the United States of any water or water rights with 
respect to the Recreation Area; or 
(2) shall affect any water rights existing on the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
(h) HUNTING AND FISHING.—Nothing in this Act— 
(1) limits hunting or fishing; or 
(2) affects the authority, jurisdiction, or respon-
sibility of the State to manage, control, or regulate 
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fish and resident wildlife under State law (including 
regulations), including the regulation of hunting or 
fishing on public land managed by the Bureau of 
Land Management. 
(i) MOTORIZED VEHICLES.—Except in cases in which 
motorized vehicles are needed for administrative purposes 
or to respond to an emergency, the use of motorized vehi-
cles on public land in the Recreation Area shall be per-
mitted only on roads, trails, and areas designated by the 
management plan for the use by motorized vehicles. 
(j) GRAZING.—In the Recreation Area, the grazing 
of livestock in areas in which grazing is allowed as of the 
date of the enactment of this Act shall be allowed to con-
tinue, consistent with— 
(1) this Act; 
(2) the Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and 
(3) any regulations promulgated by the Sec-
retary, acting through the Director of the Bureau of 
Land Management. 
(k) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 
all Federal land within the Recreation Area is withdrawn 
from— 
(1) all forms of entry, appropriation, and dis-
posal under the public land laws; 
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(2) location, entry, and patenting under the 
mining laws; and 
(3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 
materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 
(l) FEES.—Amounts received by the Secretary under 
the fee structure required by subsection (c)(3)(G) shall 
be— 
(1) deposited in a special account in the Treas-
ury of the United States; and 
(2) made available until expended, without fur-
ther appropriation, to the Secretary for use in the 
Recreation Area. 
(m) RISK STANDARD.—The National Oil and Haz-
ardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (section 
300 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations), published 
pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environ-
mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 
1980 (42 U.S.C. 9605), shall not apply to the Secretary’s 
management of asbestos exposure risks faced by the public 
when recreating within the Clear Creek Recreation Area 
described in section 3(b). 
SEC. 5. JOAQUIN ROCKS WILDERNESS. 
In accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 
1131 et seq.), the approximately 21,000 acres of Federal 
lands located in Fresno County and San Benito County, 
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California, and generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Pro-
posed Joaquin Rocks Wilderness’’ and dated January 14, 
2015, is designated as wilderness and as a component of 
the National Wilderness Preservation System and shall be 
known as the ‘‘Joaquin Rocks Wilderness’’. 
SEC. 6. CLEAR CREEK MANAGEMENT AREA WILD AND SCE-
NIC RIVERS. 
Section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 
U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing paragraphs: 
‘‘(ll) LARIOUS CANYON.—The approximately 
5.25 miles of Larious Canyon Creek from its source 
near Idria Peak in Section 6, R12E, T18S, to the 
boundary of the Clear Creek Special Recreation 
Management Area in Section 23, R11E, T17S. 
‘‘(ll) SAN
CARLOS
CREEK.—The approxi-
mately 5.51 miles of the East Fork San Carlos 
Creek from its source near San Benito Mountain in 
Section 10, R12E, T18S, to the boundary of the 
Clear Creek Special Recreation Management Area in 
Section 22, R12E, T17S. 
‘‘(ll) CANTUA
CREEK.—The approximately 
7.68 miles of Cantua Creek from its source north of 
Santa Rita Peak in Section 24, R12E, T18S, to the 
public land boundary in Section 3, R13E, T18S. 
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‘‘(ll) PICACHO CREEK.—The approximately 
2.65 miles of Picacho Creek, from its source spring 
in Section 20, R12E, T18S, to its confluence with 
the San Benito River. 
‘‘(ll) WHITE CREEK AND TRIBUTARIES.— 
‘‘(A) The approximately 5.37 miles of 
White Creek, from its source in Section 36, 
R12E, T18S, to the boundary of the Clear 
Creek Special Recreation Management Area in 
Section 17, R13E, T19S. 
‘‘(B) The approximately 2.29 miles of the 
unnamed tributary of White Creek from its 
source just south of Spanish Lake in Section 
29, R13E, T18S, to its confluence with White 
Creek. 
‘‘(C) The approximately 2.45 miles of the 
unnamed tributary of White Creek from its 
source in Section 33, R13E, T18S, to its con-
fluence with White Creek.’’. 
SEC. 7. RELEASE OF SAN BENITO MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS 
STUDY AREA. 
(a) FINDING.—Congress finds that, for the purposes 
of section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-
ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782), the San Benito 
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Mountain wilderness study area has been adequately stud-
ied for wilderness designation. 
(b) RELEASE.—The San Benito Mountain wilderness 
study area is no longer subject to section 603(c) of the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
U.S.C. 1782(c)). 
Æ 
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