I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 276 
To designate the Piedras Blancas Light Station and the surrounding public 
land as an Outstanding Natural Area to be administered as a part 
of the National Landscape Conservation System, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 5, 2007 
Mrs. CAPPS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To designate the Piedras Blancas Light Station and the 
surrounding public land as an Outstanding Natural Area 
to be administered as a part of the National Landscape 
Conservation 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; DEFINITIONS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station Outstanding 
Natural Area Act of 2007’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this Act, the 
following definitions apply: 
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(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
(2) LIGHT
STATION.—The term ‘‘Light Sta-
tion’’ means Piedras Blancas Light Station. 
(3) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 
has the meaning stated in section 103(e) of the Fed-
eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
U.S.C. 1703(e)). 
(4) OUTSTANDING NATURAL AREA.—The term 
‘‘Outstanding Natural Area’’ means the Piedras 
Blancas Historic Light Station Outstanding Natural 
Area established pursuant to section 3. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The publicly owned Piedras Blancas Light 
Station has nationally recognized historical struc-
tures that should be preserved for present and fu-
ture generations. 
(2) The coastline adjacent to the Light Station 
is internationally recognized as having significant 
wildlife and marine habitat that provides critical in-
formation to research institutions throughout the 
world. 
(3) The Light Station tells an important story 
about California’s coastal prehistory and history in 
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the context of the surrounding region and commu-
nities. 
(4) The coastal area surrounding the Light Sta-
tion was traditionally used by Indian people, includ-
ing the Chumash and Salinan Indian tribes. 
(5) The Light Station is historically associated 
with the nearby world-famous Hearst Castle (Hearst 
San Simeon State Historical Monument), now ad-
ministered by the State of California. 
(6) The Light Station represents a model part-
nership where future management can be success-
fully accomplished among the Federal Government, 
the State of California, San Luis Obispo County, 
local communities, and private groups. 
(7) Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station 
Outstanding Natural Area would make a significant 
addition to the National Landscape Conservation 
System administered by the Department of the Inte-
rior’s Bureau of Land Management. 
(8) Statutory protection is needed for the Light 
Station and its surrounding Federal lands to ensure 
that it remains a part of our historic, cultural, and 
natural heritage and to be a source of inspiration for 
the people of the United States. 
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SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF THE PIEDRAS BLANCAS HISTORIC 
LIGHT 
STATION 
OUTSTANDING 
NATURAL 
AREA. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to protect, conserve, and 
enhance for the benefit and enjoyment of present and fu-
ture generations the unique and nationally important his-
torical, natural, cultural, scientific, educational, scenic, 
and recreational values of certain lands in and around the 
Piedras Blancas Light Station, in San Luis Obispo Coun-
ty, California, while allowing certain recreational and re-
search activities to continue, there is established, subject 
to valid existing rights, the Piedras Blancas Historic Light 
Station Outstanding Natural Area. 
(b) MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—The bound-
aries of the Outstanding Natural Area as those shown on 
the map entitled ‘‘Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station: 
Outstanding Natural Area’’, dated May 5, 2004, which 
shall be on file and available for public inspection in the 
Office of the Director, Bureau of Land Management, 
United States Department of the Interior, and the State 
office of the Bureau of Land Management in the State 
of California. 
(c) BASIS OF MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary shall 
manage the Outstanding Natural Area as part of the Na-
tional Landscape Conservation System to protect the re-
sources of the area, and shall allow only those uses that 
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further the purposes for the establishment of the Out-
standing Natural Area, the Federal Land Policy and Man-
agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), and other 
applicable laws. 
(d) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 
and in accordance with the existing withdrawal as set 
forth in Public Land Order 7501 (Oct. 12, 2001, Vol. 66, 
No. 198, Federal Register 52149), the Federal lands and 
interests in lands included within the Outstanding Natural 
Area are hereby withdrawn from— 
(1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal 
under the public land laws; 
(2) location, entry, and patent under the public 
land mining laws; and 
(3) operation of the mineral leasing and geo-
thermal leasing laws and the mineral materials laws. 
SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT OF THE PIEDRAS BLANCAS HIS-
TORIC LIGHT STATION OUTSTANDING NAT-
URAL AREA. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall manage the 
Outstanding Natural Area in a manner that conserves, 
protects, and enhances the unique and nationally impor-
tant historical, natural, cultural, scientific, educational, 
scenic, and recreational values of that area, including an 
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emphasis on preserving and restoring the Light Station 
facilities, consistent with the requirements section 3(c). 
(b) USES.—Subject to valid existing rights, the Sec-
retary shall only allow such uses of the Outstanding Nat-
ural Area as the Secretary finds are likely to further the 
purposes for which the Outstanding Natural Area is estab-
lished as set forth in section 3(a). 
(c) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Not later than 3 years 
after of the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall complete a comprehensive management plan 
consistent with the requirements of section 202 of the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
U.S.C. 1712) to provide long-term management guidance 
for the public lands within the Outstanding Natural Area 
and fulfill the purposes for which it is established, as set 
forth in section 3(a). The management plan shall be devel-
oped in consultation with appropriate Federal, State, and 
local government agencies, with full public participation, 
and the contents shall include— 
(1) provisions designed to ensure the protection 
of the resources and values described in section 3(a); 
(2) objectives to restore the historic Light Sta-
tion and ancillary buildings; 
(3) an implementation plan for a continuing 
program of interpretation and public education 
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about the Light Station and its importance to the 
surrounding community; 
(4) a proposal for minimal administrative and 
public facilities to be developed or improved at a 
level compatible with achieving the resources objec-
tives for the Outstanding Natural Area as described 
in subsection (a) and with other proposed manage-
ment activities to accommodate visitors and re-
searchers to the Outstanding Natural Area; and 
(5) cultural resources management strategies 
for the Outstanding Natural Area, prepared in con-
sultation with appropriate departments of the State 
of California, with emphasis on the preservation of 
the resources of the Outstanding Natural Area and 
the interpretive, education, and long-term scientific 
uses of the resources, giving priority to the enforce-
ment of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act 
of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470aa et seq.) and the National 
Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) 
within the Outstanding Natural Area. 
(d) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—In order to better 
implement the management plan and to continue the suc-
cessful partnerships with the local communities and the 
Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument, adminis-
tered by the California Department of Parks and Recre-
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ation, the Secretary may enter into cooperative agree-
ments with the appropriate Federal, State, and local agen-
cies pursuant to section 307(b) of the Federal Land Man-
agement Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 
1737(b)). 
(e) RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.—In order to continue the 
successful partnership with research organizations and 
agencies and to assist in the development and implementa-
tion of the management plan, the Secretary may authorize 
within the Outstanding Natural Area appropriate research 
activities for the purposes identified in section 3(a) and 
pursuant to section 307(a) of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1737(a)). 
(f) ACQUISITION.—State and privately held lands or 
interests in lands adjacent to the Outstanding Natural 
Area and identified as appropriate for acquisition in the 
management plan may be acquired by the Secretary as 
part of the Outstanding Natural Area only by— 
(1) donation; 
(2) exchange with a willing party; or 
(3) purchase from a willing seller. 
(g) ADDITIONS
TO
THE OUTSTANDING NATURAL 
AREA.—Any lands or interest in lands adjacent to the 
Outstanding Natural Area acquired by the United States 
after the date of the enactment of this Act shall be added 
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to and administered as part of the Outstanding Natural 
Area. 
(h) OVERFLIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act or the man-
agement plan shall be construed to— 
(1) restrict or preclude overflights, including 
low level overflights, military, commercial, and gen-
eral aviation overflights that can be seen or heard 
within the Outstanding Natural Area; 
(2) restrict or preclude the designation or cre-
ation of new units of special use airspace or the es-
tablishment of military flight training routes over 
the Outstanding Natural Area; or 
(3) modify regulations governing low-level over-
flights above the adjacent Monterey Bay National 
Marine Sanctuary. 
(i) LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES.—Nothing in 
this Act shall be construed to preclude or otherwise affect 
coastal border security operations or other law enforce-
ment activities by the Coast Guard or other agencies with-
in the Department of Homeland Security, the Department 
of Justice, or any other Federal, State, and local law en-
forcement agencies within the Outstanding Natural Area. 
(j) NATIVE AMERICAN USES AND INTERESTS.—In 
recognition of the past use of the Outstanding Natural 
Area by Indians and Indian tribes for traditional cultural 
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and religious purposes, the Secretary shall ensure access 
to the Outstanding Natural Area by Indians and Indian 
tribes for such traditional cultural and religious purposes. 
In implementing this section, the Secretary, upon the re-
quest of an Indian tribe or Indian religious community, 
shall temporarily close to the general public use of one 
or more specific portions of the Outstanding Natural Area 
in order to protect the privacy of traditional cultural and 
religious activities in such areas by the Indian tribe or In-
dian religious community. Any such closure shall be made 
to affect the smallest practicable area for the minimum 
period necessary for such purposes. Such access shall be 
consistent with the purpose and intent of Public Law 95– 
341 (42 U.S.C. 1996 et seq.; commonly referred to as the 
‘‘American Indian Religious Freedom Act’’). 
(k) NO BUFFER ZONES.—The designation of the 
Outstanding Natural Area is not intended to lead to the 
creation of protective perimeters or buffer zones around 
area. The fact that activities outside the Outstanding Nat-
ural Area and not consistent with the purposes of this Act 
can be seen or heard within the Outstanding Natural Area 
shall not, of itself, preclude such activities or uses up to 
the boundary of the Outstanding Natural Area. 
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SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 
as are necessary to carry out this Act. 
Æ 
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