I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3946 
To amend section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, to protect private 
property rights and water rights from infringement as a result of the 
creation of national monuments, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 5, 2015 
Mr. GOSAR (for himself, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. BUCK, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. COOK, 
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. JONES, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mrs. LUMMIS, 
Mr. NUGENT, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. SALMON, Mr. STEWART, Mr. ZINKE, Mr. 
HARDY, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. HUELSKAMP, Mr. LAMALFA, 
Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. MCHENRY, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. 
NEWHOUSE, Mr. LABRADOR, Mr. BABIN, and Mr. RUSSELL) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Re-
sources 
A BILL 
To amend section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, 
to protect private property rights and water rights from 
infringement as a result of the creation of national 
monuments, 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 ‘‘Protecting Local Com-
munities from Executive Overreach Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON DECLARATIONS OF NATIONAL 
MONUMENTS. 
Section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.—The President 
may not designate lands to be a new or expanded national 
monument under this section unless, not more than 1 year 
before such designation, the Secretary of the Interior— 
‘‘(1) consulted with each community, county, 
municipality, city, town, or township created pursu-
ant to State law with boundaries within or adjacent 
to lands affected by the designation; and 
‘‘(2) obtained the concurrence for the designa-
tion from— 
‘‘(A) the governing body of each commu-
nity, county, municipality, city, town, or town-
ship described in paragraph (1); and 
‘‘(B) the wildlife management and land 
management authorities and governor of each 
State in which all or part of the new or ex-
panded national monument would be located. 
‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS ON DECLARATIONS.—A declara-
tion under this section shall not— 
‘‘(1) include private property without the in-
formed written consent of the owner of that private 
property; 
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‘‘(2) be construed to increase the amount of 
funds that are authorized to be appropriated for any 
fiscal year; 
‘‘(3) apply to more than 5,000 acres; or 
‘‘(4) be used to create or expand a national 
monument located, in part or in whole, in the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) The counties of Coconino, Mohave, 
and Yavapai in the State of Arizona. 
‘‘(B) The counties of Modoc and Siskiyou 
in the State of California. 
‘‘(C) The counties of Chaffee, Moffat, and 
Park in the State of Colorado. 
‘‘(D) The counties of Lincoln, Clark, and 
Nye in the State of Nevada. 
‘‘(E) The county of Otero in the State of 
New Mexico. 
‘‘(F) The counties of Jackson, Josephine, 
and Malheur in the State of Oregon. 
‘‘(G) The counties of Wayne, Garfield, and 
Kane in the State of Utah. 
‘‘(g) WATER RIGHTS.—Water rights associated with 
a national monument created or expanded by a declaration 
under this section— 
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‘‘(1) may not be reserved expressly or by impli-
cation by a declaration under this section; and 
‘‘(2) may be acquired for a national monument 
created or expanded by declaration under this sub-
section only in accordance with the laws of the 
States in which the water rights are based.’’. 
Æ 
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