I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 880
To withdraw certain Federal lands in the State of California for military
purposes, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 4, 1993
Mr. VENTO (for himself, Mr. LEHMAN, and Mr. MILLER of California) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on
Armed Services and Natural Resources
A BILL
To withdraw certain Federal lands in the State of California
for military purposes, 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 AND FINDINGS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘California Military Lands Withdrawal and Overflights
Act of 1993’’.
(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) the Federal lands within the desert regions
of California have provided essential opportunities
for military training, research, and development for
the Armed Forces of the United States and allied
nations;
(2) alternative sites for military training and
other military activities carried out on Federal lands
in the California desert area are not readily avail-
able;
(3) while changing world conditions have less-
ened to some extent the immediacy of military
threats to the national security of the United States
and its allies, there remains a need for military
training, research, and development activities of the
types that have been carried out on Federal lands in
the California desert area; and
(4) continuation of existing military training,
research, and development activities, under appro-
priate terms and conditions, is not incompatible with
the protection and proper management of the natu-
ral, environmental, cultural, and other resources and
values of the Federal lands in the California desert
area.
SEC. 2. WITHDRAWALS.
(a) CHINA LAKE.—(1) Subject to valid existing rights
and except as otherwise provided in this Act, the Federal
lands referred to in paragraph (2), and all other areas
within the boundary of such lands as depicted on the map
specified in such paragraph which may become subject to
the operation of the public land laws, are hereby with-
drawn from all forms of appropriation under the public
land laws (including the mining laws and the mineral leas-
ing laws). Such lands are reserved for use by the Secretary
of the Navy for—
(A) use as a research, development, test, and
evaluation laboratory;
(B) use as a range for air warfare weapons and
weapon systems;
(C) use as a high hazard training area for aer-
ial gunnery, rocketry, electronic warfare and coun-
termeasures, tactical maneuvering and air support;
and
(D) subject to the requirements of section 4(f),
other defense-related purposes consistent with the
purposes specified in this paragraph.
(2) The lands referred to in paragraph (1) are the
Federal lands, located within the boundaries of the China
Lake Naval Weapons Center, comprising approximately
1,100,000 acres in Inyo, Kern, and San Bernardino Coun-
ties, California, as generally depicted on a map entitled
‘‘China Lake Naval Weapons Center Withdrawal—Pro-
posed’’, dated January 1985, and filed in accordance with
section 3.
(b) CHOCOLATE MOUNTAIN.—(1) Subject to valid ex-
isting rights and except as otherwise provided in this Act,
the Federal lands referred to in paragraph (2), and all
other areas within the boundary of such lands as depicted
on the map specified in such paragraph which may become
subject to the operation of the public land laws, are hereby
withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the pub-
lic land laws (including the mining laws and the mineral
leasing and the geothermal leasing laws). Such lands are
reserved for use by the Secretary of the Navy for—
(A) testing and training for aerial bombing,
missile firing, tactical maneuvering and air support;
and
(B) subject to the provisions of section 4(f),
other defense-related purposes consistent with the
purposes specified in this paragraph.
(2) The lands referred to in paragraph (1) are the
Federal lands comprising approximately 226,711 acres in
Imperial County, California, as generally depicted on a
map entitled ‘‘Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range
Proposed—Withdrawal’’ dated November 1991 and filed
in accordance with section 3.
SEC. 3. MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.
(a) PUBLICATION AND FILING REQUIREMENT.—As
soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of the Interior shall—
(1) publish in the Federal Register a notice
containing the legal description of the lands with-
drawn and reserved by this Act; and
(2) file maps and the legal description of the
lands withdrawn and reserved by this Act with the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
United States Senate and with the Committee on
Natural Resources of the United States House of
Representatives.
(b) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Such maps and
legal descriptions shall have the same force and effect as
if they were included in this Act except that the Secretary
of the Interior may correct clerical and typographical er-
rors in such maps and legal descriptions.
(c) AVAILABILITY FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION.—Copies
of such maps and legal descriptions shall be available for
public inspection in the Office of the Director of the Bu-
reau of Land Management, Washington, District of Co-
lumbia; the Office of the Director, California State Office
of the Bureau of Land Management, Sacramento, Califor-
nia; the office of the commander of the Naval Weapons
Center, China Lake, California; the office of the com-
manding officer, Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Ari-
zona; and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washing-
ton, District of Columbia.
(d) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Secretary of Defense
shall reimburse the Secretary of the Interior for the cost
of implementing this section.
SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT OF WITHDRAWN LANDS.
(a) MANAGEMENT BY THE SECRETARY OF THE INTE-
RIOR.—(1) Except as provided in subsection (g), during
the period of the withdrawal the Secretary of the Interior
shall manage the lands withdrawn under section 2 pursu-
ant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) and other applicable law,
including this Act.
(2) To the extent consistent with applicable law and
Executive orders, the lands withdrawn under section 2
may be managed in a manner permitting—
(A) the continuation of grazing pursuant to ap-
plicable law and Executive orders where permitted
on the date of enactment of this Act;
(B) protection of wildlife and wildlife habitat;
(C) control of predatory and other animals;
(D) recreation (but only on lands withdrawn by
section 2(a) (relating to China Lake));
(E) the prevention and appropriate suppression
of brush and range fires resulting from nonmilitary
activities; and
(F) geothermal leasing on the lands withdrawn
under section 2(a) (relating to China Lake).
(3)(A) All nonmilitary use of such lands, including
the uses described in paragraph (2), shall be subject to
such conditions and restrictions as may be necessary to
permit the military use of such lands for the purposes
specified in or authorized pursuant to this Act.
(B) The Secretary of the Interior may issue any
lease, easement, right-of-way, or other authorization with
respect to the nonmilitary use of such lands only with the
concurrence of the Secretary of the Navy.
(b) CLOSURE TO PUBLIC.—(1) If the Secretary of the
Navy determines that military operations, public safety,
or national security require the closure to public use of
any road, trail, or other portion of the lands withdrawn
by this Act, the Secretary may take such action as the
Secretary determines necessary or desirable to effect and
maintain such closure.
(2) Any such closure shall be limited to the minimum
areas and periods which the Secretary of the Navy deter-
mines are required to carry out this subsection.
(3) Before and during any closure under this sub-
section, the Secretary of the Navy shall—
(A) keep appropriate warning notices posted;
and
(B) take appropriate steps to notify the public
concerning such closures.
(c) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior (after consultation with the Secretary of the Navy)
shall develop a plan for the management of each area with-
drawn under section 2 during the period of such with-
drawal. Each plan shall—
(1) be consistent with applicable law;
(2) be subject to conditions and restrictions
specified in subsection (a)(3);
(3) include such provisions as may be necessary
for proper management and protection of the re-
sources and values of such area; and
(4) be developed not later than three years after
the date of enactment of this Act.
(d) BRUSH AND RANGE FIRES.—The Secretary of
the Navy shall take necessary precautions to prevent and
suppress brush and range fires occurring within and out-
side the lands withdrawn under section 2 as a result of
military activities and may seek assistance from the Bu-
reau of Land Management in the suppression of such
fires. The memorandum of understanding required by sub-
section (e) shall provide for Bureau of Land Management
assistance in the suppression of such fires, and for a
transfer of funds from the Department of the Navy to the
Bureau of Land Management as compensation for such
assistance.
(e) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—(1) The
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Navy
shall (with respect to each land withdrawal under section
2) enter into a memorandum of understanding to imple-
ment the management plan developed under subsection
(c). Any such memorandum of understanding shall provide
that the Director of the Bureau of Land Management
shall provide assistance in the suppression of fires result-
ing from the military use of lands withdrawn under section
2 if requested by the Secretary of the Navy.
(2) The duration of any such memorandum shall be
the same as the period of the withdrawal of the lands
under section 2.
(f) ADDITIONAL MILITARY USES.—(1) Lands with-
drawn by section 2 may be used for defense-related uses
other than those specified in such section. The Secretary
of Defense shall promptly notify the Secretary of the Inte-
rior in the event that the lands withdrawn by this Act will
be used for defense-related purposes other than those
specified in section 2. Such notification shall indicate the
additional use or uses involved, the proposed duration of
such uses, and the extent to which such additional military
uses of the withdrawn lands will require that additional
or more stringent conditions or restrictions be imposed on
otherwise-permitted nonmilitary uses of the withdrawn
land or portions thereof.
(g) MANAGEMENT OF CHINA LAKE.—(1) The Sec-
retary of the Interior may assign the management respon-
sibility for the lands withdrawn under section 2(a) to the
Secretary of the Navy who shall manage such lands, and
issue leases, easements, rights-of-way, and other author-
izations, in accordance with this Act and cooperative man-
agement arrangements between the Secretary of the Inte-
rior and the Secretary of the Navy. In the case that the
Secretary of the Interior assigns such management re-
sponsibility to the Secretary of the Navy before the devel-
opment of the management plan under subsection (c), the
Secretary of the Navy (after consultation with the Sec-
retary of the Interior) shall develop such management
plan.
(2) The Secretary of the Interior shall be responsible
for the issuance of any lease, easement, right-of-way, and
other authorization with respect to any activity which in-
volves both the lands withdrawn under section 2(a) and
any other lands. Any such authorization shall be issued
only with the consent of the Secretary of the Navy and,
to the extent that such activity involves lands withdrawn
under section 2(a), shall be subject to such conditions as
the Secretary of the Navy may prescribe.
(3) The Secretary of the Navy shall prepare and sub-
mit to the Secretary of the Interior an annual report on
the status of the natural and cultural resources and values
of the lands withdrawn under section 2(a). The Secretary
of the Interior shall transmit such report to the Committee
on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
Senate.
(4) The Secretary of the Navy shall be responsible
for the management of wild horses and burros located on
the lands withdrawn under section 2(a) and may utilize
helicopters and motorized vehicles for such purposes. Such
management shall be in accordance with laws applicable
to such management on public lands and with an appro-
priate memorandum of understanding between the Sec-
retary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Navy.
(5) Neither this Act nor any other provision of law
shall be construed to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior
from issuing and administering any lease for the develop-
ment and utilization of geothermal steam and associated
geothermal resources on the lands withdrawn under sec-
tion 2(a) pursuant to the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970
(30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) and other applicable law, but
no such lease shall be issued without the concurrence of
the Secretary of the Navy.
(6) This Act shall not affect the geothermal explo-
ration and development authority of the Secretary of the
Navy under section 2689 of title 10, United States Code,
except that the Secretary of the Navy shall obtain the con-
currence of the Secretary of the Interior before taking ac-
tion under that section with respect to the lands with-
drawn under section 2(a).
SEC. 5. DURATION OF WITHDRAWALS.
(a) DURATION.—The withdrawal and reservation es-
tablished by this Act shall terminate 15 years after the
date of enactment of this Act.
(b) DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.—
No later than 12 years after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of the Navy shall publish a draft envi-
ronmental impact statement concerning continued or re-
newed withdrawal of any portion of the lands withdrawn
by this Act for which that Secretary intends to seek such
continued or renewed withdrawal. Such draft environ-
mental impact statement shall be consistent with the re-
quirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) applicable to such a draft
environmental impact statement. Prior to the termination
date specified in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Navy
shall hold a public hearing on any draft environmental im-
pact statement published pursuant to this subsection.
Such hearing shall be held in the State of California in
order to receive public comments on the alternatives and
other matters included in such draft environmental impact
statement.
(c) EXTENSIONS OR RENEWALS.—The withdrawals
established by this Act may not be extended or renewed
except by an Act or joint resolution.
SEC. 6. ONGOING DECONTAMINATION.
(a) PROGRAM.—Throughout the duration of the with-
drawals made by this Act, the Secretary of the Navy, to
the extent funds are made available, shall maintain a pro-
gram of decontamination of lands withdrawn by this Act
at least at the level of decontamination activities per-
formed on such lands in fiscal year 1986.
(b) REPORTS.—At the same time as the President
transmits to the Congress the President’s proposed budget
for the first fiscal year beginning after the date of enact-
ment of this Act and for each subsequent fiscal year, the
Secretary of the Navy shall transmit to the Committees
on Appropriations, Armed Services, and Energy and Nat-
ural Resources of the Senate and to the Committees on
Appropriations, Armed Services, and Natural Resources
of the House of Representatives a description of the de-
contamination efforts undertaken during the previous fis-
cal year on such lands and the decontamination activities
proposed for such lands during the next fiscal year
including:
(1) amounts appropriated and obligated or ex-
pended for decontamination of such lands;
(2) the methods used to decontaminate such
lands;
(3) amount and types of contaminants removed
from such lands;
(4) estimated types and amounts of residual
contamination on such lands; and
(5) an estimate of the costs for full decon-
tamination of such lands and the estimate of the
time to complete such decontamination.
SEC. 7. REQUIREMENTS FOR RENEWAL.
(a) NOTICE AND FILING.—(1) No later than three
years prior to the termination of the withdrawal and res-
ervation established by this Act, the Secretary of the Navy
shall advise the Secretary of the Interior as to whether
or not the Secretary of the Navy will have a continuing
military need for any of the lands withdrawn under section
2 after the termination date of such withdrawal and res-
ervation.
(2) If the Secretary of the Navy concludes that there
will be a continuing military need for any of such lands
after the termination date, the Secretary shall file an ap-
plication for extension of the withdrawal and reservation
of such needed lands in accordance with the regulations
and procedures of the Department of the Interior applica-
ble to the extension of withdrawals of lands for military
uses.
(3) If, during the period of withdrawal and reserva-
tion, the Secretary of the Navy decides to relinquish all
or any of the lands withdrawn and reserved by this Act,
the Secretary shall file a notice of intention to relinquish
with the Secretary of the Interior.
(b) CONTAMINATION.—(1) Before transmitting a no-
tice of intention to relinquish pursuant to subsection (a),
the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Department
of Navy, shall prepare a written determination concerning
whether and to what extent the lands that are to be relin-
quished are contaminated with explosive, toxic, or other
hazardous materials.
(2) A copy of such determination shall be transmitted
with the notice of intention to relinquish.
(3) Copies of both the notice of intention to relinquish
and the determination concerning the contaminated state
of the lands shall be published in the Federal Register by
the Secretary of the Interior.
(c) DECONTAMINATION.—If any land which is the
subject of a notice of intention to relinquish pursuant to
subsection (a) is contaminated, and the Secretary of the
Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy,
determines that decontamination is practicable and eco-
nomically feasible (taking into consideration the potential
future use and value of the land) and that upon decon-
tamination, the land could be opened to operation of some
or all of the public land laws, including the mining laws,
the Secretary of the Navy shall decontaminate the land
to the extent that funds are appropriated for such
purpose.
(d) ALTERNATIVES.—If the Secretary of the Interior,
after consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, con-
cludes that decontamination of any land which is the sub-
ject of a notice of intention to relinquish pursuant to sub-
section (a) is not practicable or economically feasible, or
that the land cannot be decontaminated sufficiently to be
opened to operation of some or all of the public land laws,
or if Congress does not appropriate a sufficient amount
of funds for the decontamination of such land, the Sec-
retary of the Interior shall not be required to accept the
land proposed for relinquishment.
(e) STATUS OF CONTAMINATED LANDS.—If, because
of their contaminated state, the Secretary of the Interior
declines to accept jurisdiction over lands withdrawn by
this Act which have been proposed for relinquishment, or
if at the expiration of the withdrawal made by this Act
the Secretary of the Interior determines that some of the
lands withdrawn by this Act are contaminated to an extent
which prevents opening such contaminated lands to oper-
ation of the public land laws—
(1) the Secretary of the Navy shall take appro-
priate steps to warn the public of the contaminated
state of such lands and any risks associated with
entry onto such lands;
(2) after the expiration of the withdrawal, the
Secretary of the Navy shall undertake no activities
on such lands except in connection with decon-
tamination of such lands; and
(3) the Secretary of the Navy shall report to
the Secretary of the Interior and to the Congress
concerning the status of such lands and all actions
taken in furtherance of this subsection.
(f) REVOCATION AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the Secretary of the Interior, upon
deciding that it is in the public interest to accept jurisdic-
tion over lands proposed for relinquishment pursuant to
subsection (a), is authorized to revoke the withdrawal and
reservation established by this Act as it applies to such
lands. Should the decision be made to revoke the with-
drawal and reservation, the Secretary of the Interior shall
publish in the Federal Register an appropriate order
which shall—
(1) terminate the withdrawal and reservation;
(2) constitute official acceptance of full jurisdic-
tion over the lands by the Secretary of the Interior;
and
(3) state the date upon which the lands will be
opened to the operation of some or all of the public
lands laws, including the mining laws.
SEC. 8. DELEGABILITY.
(a) DEFENSE.—The functions of the Secretary of De-
fense or the Secretary of the Navy under this Act may
be delegated.
(b) INTERIOR.—The functions of the Secretary of the
Interior under this Act may be delegated, except that an
order described in section 7(f) may be approved and
signed only by the Secretary of the Interior, the Under
Secretary of the Interior, or an Assistant Secretary of the
Department of the Interior.