H.R. 1691 — Introduced in House

I 113th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1691 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 23, 2013 Mr. Vargas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for the transfer of certain public land currently administered by the Bureau of Land Management to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy for inclusion in the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, California, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range Transfer Act of 2013. 2. Transfer of administrative jurisdiction, Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, California (a) Transfer required The Secretary of the Interior shall transfer to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy the surface estate in certain public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management in Imperial and Riverside Counties, California, consisting of approximately 226,711 acres, as generally depicted on the map titled Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range Proposed–Withdrawal dated 1987 (revised July 1993), and identified as WESTDIV Drawing No. C–102370, which was prepared by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command of the Department of the Navy and is on file with the California State Office of the Bureau of Land Management. (b) Valid existing rights The transfer of administrative jurisdiction under subsection (a) shall be subject to any valid existing rights, including any property, easements, or improvements held by the Bureau of Reclamation and appurtenant to the Coachella Canal. The Secretary of the Navy shall provide for reasonable access by the Bureau of Reclamation for inspection and maintenance purposes not inconsistent with military training. (c) Time for conveyance The transfer of administrative jurisdiction under subsection (a) shall occur pursuant to a schedule agreed to by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Navy, but in no case later than the date of the completion of the boundary realignment required by section 4. (d) Map and legal description (1) Preparation and publication The Secretary of the Interior shall publish in the Federal Register a legal description of the public land to be transferred under subsection (a). (2) Submission to congress The Secretary of the Interior shall file with the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives— (A) a copy of the legal description prepared under paragraph (1); and (B) a map depicting the legal description of the transferred public land. (3) Availability for public inspection Copies of the legal description and map filed under paragraph (2) shall be available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of— (A) the Bureau of Land Management; (B) the Office of the Commanding Officer, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona; (C) the Office of the Commander, Navy Region Southwest; and (D) the Office of the Secretary of the Navy. (4) Force of law The legal description and map filed under paragraph (2) shall have the same force and effect as if included in this Act, except that the Secretary of the Interior may correct clerical and typographical errors in the legal description or map. (5) Reimbursement of costs The transfer required by subsection (a) shall be made without reimbursement, except that the Secretary of the Navy shall reimburse the Secretary of the Interior for any costs incurred by the Secretary of the Interior to prepare the legal description and map under this subsection. 3. Management and use of transferred land (a) Use of transferred land Upon the receipt of the land under section 2, the Secretary of the Navy shall administer the land as the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, California, and continue to authorize use of the land for military purposes. (b) Protection of desert tortoise Nothing in the transfer required by section 2 shall affect the prior designation of certain lands within the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range as critical habitat for the desert tortoise (Gopherus Agassizii). (c) Withdrawal of Mineral Estate Subject to valid existing rights, the mineral estate of the land to be transferred under section 2 are withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the public land laws, including the mining laws and the mineral and geothermal leasing laws. (d) Integrated natural resources management plan Not later than one year after the transfer of the land under section 2, the Secretary of the Navy, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall prepare an integrated natural resources management plan pursuant to the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670a et seq.) for the transferred land and for land that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, is under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy underlying the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range. 4. Realignment of range boundary and related transfer of title (a) Realignment; purpose The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Navy shall realign the boundary of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, as in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, to improve public safety and management of the Range, consistent with the following: (1) The northwestern boundary of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range shall be realigned to the edge of the Bradshaw Trail so that the Trail is entirely on public land under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. (2) The centerline of the Bradshaw Trail shall be delineated by the Secretary of the Interior in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, beginning at its western terminus at Township 8 South, Range 12 East, Section 6 eastward to Township 8 South, Range 17 East, Section 32 where it leaves the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range. (b) Transfers related to realignment The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Navy shall make such transfers of administrative jurisdiction as may be necessary to reflect the results of the boundary realignment carried out pursuant to subsection (a). (c) Applicability of national environmental policy act of 1969 The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall not apply to any transfer of land made under subsection (b) or any decontamination actions undertaken in connection with such a transfer. (d) Decontamination The Secretary of the Navy shall maintain, to the extent funds are available for such purpose and consistent with applicable Federal and State law, a program of decontamination of any contamination caused by defense-related uses on land transferred under subsection (b). The Secretary of Defense shall include a description of such decontamination activities in the annual report required by section 2711 of title 10, United States Code. (e) Timeline The delineation of the Bradshaw Trail under subsection (a) and any transfer of land under subsection (b) shall occur pursuant to a schedule agreed to by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Navy, but in no case later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 5. Effect of termination of military use (a) Notice and effect Upon a determination by the Secretary of the Navy that there is no longer a military need for all or portions of the land transferred under section 2, the Secretary of the Navy shall notify the Secretary of the Interior of such determination. Subject to subsections (b), (c), and (d), the Secretary of the Navy shall transfer the land subject to such a notice back to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior. (b) Contamination Before transmitting a notice under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Navy shall prepare a written determination concerning whether and to what extent the land to be transferred are contaminated with explosive, toxic, or other hazardous materials. A copy of the determination shall be transmitted with the notice. Copies of the notice and the determination shall be published in the Federal Register. (c) Decontamination The Secretary of the Navy shall decontaminate any contaminated land that is the subject of a notice under subsection (a) if— (1) the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, determines that— (A) decontamination is practicable and economically feasible (taking into consideration the potential future use and value of the land); and (B) upon decontamination, the land could be opened to operation of some or all of the public land laws, including the mining laws; and (2) funds are appropriated for such decontamination. (d) Alternative The Secretary of the Interior is not required to accept land proposed for transfer under subsection (a) if the Secretary of the Interior is unable to make the determinations under subsection (c)(1) or if Congress does not appropriate a sufficient amount of funds for the decontamination of the land. 6. Temporary extension of existing withdrawal period Subsection (a) of section 806 of the California Military Lands Withdrawal and Overflights Act of 1994 (title VIII of Public Law 103–433; 108 Stat. 4505) is amended to read as follows: (a) Duration The withdrawal and reservation established by subsection (a) of section 803 shall terminate on October 31, 2014. The withdrawal and reservation established by subsection (b) of such section shall not terminate until the date on which the land transfer required by section 2 of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range Transfer Act of 2013 is executed. .