Clear Creek National Recreation Area and Conservation Act of 2012 - Establishes the Clear Creek National Recreation Area in California to promote environmentally responsible high-quality motorized and non-motorized trail based recreation, including off-highway vehicle use, scenic touring, and access for hunting and gem collecting, while protecting landscape resources.
Instructs the Secretary to use the 2005 Clear Creek Management Area Travel Management Plan as modified by this Act or by the Secretary to incorporate natural resource protection information unavailable in 2005 as the basis for an interim management plan to govern motorized recreation in the Recreation Area.
Requires the Secretary to create a comprehensive management plan for the Recreation Area within two years of enactment of this Act.
Requires landowners to be provided with adequate access to inholdings within the Recreation Area.
Permits livestock grazing to be allowed to continue in areas in which it is allowed.
Designates specified federal lands in Fresno and San Benito Counties, California, to be known as the Joaquin Rocks Wilderness, as wilderness areas and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to add the Larious Canyon, San Carlos Creek, Cantua Creek, Picacho Creek, and White Creek and its tributaries as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6286 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6286
To establish the Clear Creek National Recreation Area in the State of
California, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 2, 2012
Mr. Farr introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the Clear Creek National Recreation Area in the State of
California, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 of 2012''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Management plan.--The term ``management 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.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF CLEAR CREEK NATIONAL RECREATION AREA.
(a) In General.--To promote environmentally responsible high-
quality motorized and non-motorized trail based recreation, including
off-highway vehicle use, scenic touring, access for hunting and gem
collecting, while protecting ecological, geological, scenic, cultural,
and historic resources, fish and wildlife values, and other resources
of the landscape, there is established the Clear Creek National
Recreation Area in the State, to be managed by the Secretary.
(b) Boundaries.--The Recreation Area shall consist of approximately
75,000 acres of Federal land in San Benito County and Fresno County,
California, as generally depicted on the map entitled ``Clear Creek
National Recreation Area'' and dated July 30, 2012.
(c) Map.--
(1) In general.--As soon as practicable, after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 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 submitted under
paragraph (1) shall be on file and available for public
inspection in--
(A) the Office of the Director of the Bureau 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 section 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--
(1) allow hiking, camping, hunting, gem collecting, and
sightseeing and the use of motorized vehicles, mountain bikes,
and horses on designated roads, trails, and areas;
(2) issue special recreation permits for motorized 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 outlined 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 by the Secretary to incorporate natural resource protection
information not available in 2005, as the basis of an interim
management plan to govern motorized 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--
(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 conservation 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 activities within the Recreation
Area, including, but not limited to, off-highway vehicle
recreation;
(4) shall include a user fee program for motorized 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) 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;
(6) may incorporate appropriate wildlife habitat management
plans or other plans prepared for the land within or adjacent
to the Recreation Area before the date of the enactment of this
Act, in accordance with this Act;
(7) 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
(8) 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.--
(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 Management 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 acquire by purchase
from willing sellers, donation, exchange, or easement, land, or
interest in land to improve public safety in providing access
to the Recreation Area.
(f) Private Property.--
(1) Access to private property.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall provide
landowners adequate access to inholdings within the
Recreation Area.
(B) Inholdings.--For access purposes, private land
adjacent to the Recreation Area to which there is no
other practicable access except through the Recreation
Area shall be managed 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 (including any interest in any non-Federal land).
(3) Buffer zones.--Nothing in this Act creates 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 constitute 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 responsibility
of the State to manage, control, or regulate 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 vehicles on public land in the
Recreation Area shall be permitted 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 continue, 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 Secretary, 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 disposal under
the public land laws;
(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 Treasury of the
United States; and
(2) made available until expended, without further
appropriation, to the Secretary for use in the Recreation Area.
(m) Risk Standard.--The National Oil and Hazardous Substances
Pollution Contingency Plan (40 C.F.R. 300), published pursuant to
section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental 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, California, and generally depicted on a map
entitled ``Proposed Joaquin Rocks Wilderness'' and dated March 11,
2012, is designated as wilderness areas and as components of the
National Wilderness Preservation System and shall be known as the
``Joaquin Rocks Wilderness''.
SEC. 6. CLEAR CREEK MANAGEMENT AREA WILD AND SCENIC 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 following paragraphs:
``(208) 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.
``(209) San carlos creek.--The approximately 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.
``(210) 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.
``(211) 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.
``(212) 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 confluence with White Creek.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.
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