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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-12-12 - AGENDA REPORTS - FEDERAL LEGISLATION S. 1993 & H.R. 4086 (2)O Agenda Item: 5 CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT CONSENT CALENDAR 14) CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: 41� DATE: December 12, 2017 SUBJECT: FEDERAL LEGISLATION: S. 1993 & H.R. 4086 DEPARTMENT: City Manager's Office PRESENTER: Michael Murphy RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council: 1. Adopt the Legislative Committee's recommendation to support S. 1993 (Feinstein) and H.R. 4086 (Knight). 2. Transmit position statements to Senator Dianne Feinstein, Representative Adam Schiff, Representative Steve Knight, Senator Kamala Harris, members of applicable congressional committees, other Members of Congress, administration officials and interested organizations, as appropriate. BACKGROUND United States Senator Dianne Feinstein (D -CA) has introduced S. 1993, the Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act. United States Representative Adam Schiff (D -CA -28) has introduced House Resolution 4086, a companion bill to S. 1993. The bills propose to expand the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) to include portions of the Rim of the Valley Corridor. In 2008, Congress passed the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-229). This bill directed the National Park Service to conduct a special resource study of the Rim of the Valley Corridor, which includes the mountains encircling the Santa Clarita, San Fernando, La Crescenta, Simi, and Conejo Valleys. The study sought to determine the suitability and feasibility of designating all or a portion of the Rim of the Valley Corridor as a unit of the existing SMMNRA, and how these areas could be better managed and preserved. The National Park Service began the study in 2010 and transmitted its final report to Congress and the public in February 2016. In this study, the National Park Service recommended to Congress to more than double the size of SMMNRA to include a very significant portion of the Rim of the Valley Page 1 Packet Pg. 32 study area. The current size of SMMNRA is approximately 154,000 acres. The Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act proposes to add more than 191,000 acres of the Rim of the Valley Corridor to SMMNRA. The bills will enable the National Park Service to better protect natural resources and habitats, and provide members of the community with improved access to nature for recreational and educational purposes. Specifically, the bills will provide the National Park Service the authority to do the following: • Implement capital improvements (i.e. trails, roads, facilities for public enjoyment) • Monitor and study wildlife and ecosystems • Participate in cooperative conservation and recreation planning with local communities • Provide technical assistance for resource protection and recreation planning • Contribute financially to projects that protect important natural resources • Acquire land through donation, exchange, or purchase from willing sellers The current version of these bills preserves private property rights and existing local land use authorities. The bills do not require a land owner to participate in any conservation or recreation activities, and does not propose any additional restrictions on property owners. Additionally, the bills do not allow for land acquisition through eminent domain. S. 1993 was introduced in the Senate on October 19, 2017, and referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. No date has been set for a hearing on this bill. H.R. 4086 was introduced in the House of Representatives, also, on October 19, 2017, and referred to the House Subcommittee on Federal Lands on October 24, 2017. No date has been set for a hearing on this bill. The City Council Legislative Committee met on November 21, 2017, and recommends that the City Council adopt a "support" position for S. 1993 and H.R. 4086. ALTERNATIVE ACTION 1. Adopt a "neutral" position on S. 1993 and H.R. 4086 2. Adopt an "oppose" position on S. 1993 and H.R. 4086 3. Take no action on S. 1993 and H.R. 4086 4. Refer S. 1993 and H.R. 4086 back to the Legislative Committee 5. Other action, as determined by the City Council O Page 2 Packet Pg. 33 FISCAL IMPACT No additional resources beyond those contained within the approved City budget are required for implementation of the recommended action. ATTACHMENTS S. 1993 (Feinstein) H.R. 4086 (Schiff) Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act Map O Page 3 Packet Pg. 34 .AUTHENnc-..>rED 774 - GOVERN_NT iNror.M anoN GPO II 115 TII CONGRESS S*1993 IST SESSION To adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 19, 2017 Mrs. FEINSTEIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Enemy and Natural Resources A BILL To adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the "Rim of the Valley Cor - 5 ridor Preservation Act". 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds as follows: 8 (1) The Santa Monica Mountains National 9 Recreation Area was authorized as a unit of the Na - 10 tional Park System on November 10, 1978. 5.a Packet Pg. 35 a 00 0 v M Cn cn c 0 r c� m J M Cn Cn vi a� E c� a 2 1 (2) The Santa Monica Mountains and the Rim 2 of the Valley Corridor include - 3 (A) nationally significant resources - 4 (i) outstanding examples of geologic 5 history, including the evolution of the 6 Transverse Ranges Province; 7 (ii) a diversity of well-preserved ma - 8 rine and terrestrial paleontological re- g sources; and 10 (iii) high biodiversity, including out - 11 standing examples of native grasslands, 12 coastal sage scrub, chaparral, dry conif- 13 erous forests, and alluvial fan sage scrub; 14 and 15 (b) nationally significant cultural re - 16 sources that represent a wide range of themes 17 related to human use and settlement in the re - 18 gion- 19 (i) high concentrations of archeo- 20 logical resources that provide insight into 21 more than 10,000 years of Native Amer - 22 ican history; and 23 (ii) landmarks that represent topics 24 such as architecture, recreation, and space 25 exploration. •S 1993 IS Packet Pg. 36 a 3 1 (3) Expanding the Santa Monica Mountains 2 National Recreation Area would provide new oppor- 3 tunities for the National Park Service to serve a 4 broad range of urban communities, including many 5 that are underrepresented in national parks and un - 6 derserved by State and local parks. W 7 SEC. 3. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT; LAND ACQUISITION; AD- v 8 MINISTRATION. _ c 9 (a) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—Section 507(c)(1) of M 10 the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 vi 11 U.S.C. 460kk(c)(1)) is amended by striking "`Santa o 12 Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Santa a� J 13 Monica Mountains Gone, California, Boundary Map', L a� 14 numbered 80,047–C and dated August 2001" and insert - 15 ing "'Rim of the Valley Unit—Santa Monica Mountains c c 16 National Recreation Area' and dated October 2017". LL 17 (b) RIM OF THE VALLEY UNIT.—Section 507 of the M 18 National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. `•"• 19 460kk) is amended by adding at the end the following: E 20 "(u) RIM OF THE VALLEY UNIT.—(1) Not later than a 21 3 years after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 22 the Secretary shall update the general management plan 23 for the recreation area to reflect the boundaries designated 24 on the map referred to in subsection (c)(1) as the `Rim 25 of the Valley Unit' (hereafter in the subsection referred •S 1993 IS Packet Pg. 37 0 4 1 to as the `Rim of the Valley Unit') . Subject to valid exist - 2 ing rights, the Secretary shall administer the Rim of the 3 Valley Unit and any land or interest in land acquired by 4 the United States and located within the boundaries of 5 the Rim of the Valley Unit, as part of the recreation area 6 in accordance with the provisions of this section and appli W 7 cable laws and regulations. CO 8 "(2) The Secretary may acquire non -Federal land i C 9 within the boundaries of the Rim of the Valley Unit only M 10 through exchange, donation, or purchase from a willing vi 11 seller. Nothing in this subsection authorizes the use of o 12 eminent domain to acquire land or interests in land. a� J 13 "(3) Nothing in this subsection or the application of L a� 14 the management plan for the Rim of the Valley Unit shall 15 be construed to— c 16 "(A) modify any provision of Federal, State, or LL M 17 local law with respect to public access to or use of 18 non -Federal land; a� 19 "(b) create any liability, or affect any liability 20 under any other law, of any private property owner a 21 or other owner of non -Federal land with respect to 22 any person injured on private property or other non - 23 Federal land; •S 1993 IS Packet Pg. 38 5 1 "(C) affect the ownership, management, or 2 other rights relating to any non -Federal land (in - 3 eluding any interest in any non -Federal land); 4 "(D) require any local government to partici- 5 pate in any program administered by the Secretary; 6 "(E) alter, modify, or diminish any right, re - 1 sponsibility, power, authority, jurisdiction, or entitle - 8 ment of the State, any political subdivision of the 9 State, or any State or local agency under existing 10 Federal, State, and local law (including regulations); 11 "(F) require the creation of protective perim- 12 eters or buffer zones and the fact that certain activi- 13 ties or land can be seen or heard from within the 14 Rim of the Valley Unit shall not, of itself, preclude 15 the activities or land uses up to the boundary of the 16 Rim of the Valley Unit; 17 "(G) require or promote use of, or encourage 18 trespass on, lands, facilities, and rights-of-way 19 owned by non -Federal entities, including water re - 20 source facilities and public utilities, without the writ - 21 ten consent of the owner; 22 "(H) affect the operation, maintenance, modi- 23 fication, construction, or expansion of any water re - 24 source facility or utility facility located within or ad - 25 j acent to the Rim of the Valley Unit; •S 1993 IS Packet Pg. 39 a I 1 "(I) terminate the fee title to lands or cus- 2 tomary operation, maintenance, repair, and replace - 3 ment activities on or under such lands granted to 4 public agencies that are authorized pursuant to Fed - 5 er it or State statute; 6 "(J) interfere with, obstruct, hinder, or delay 7 the exercise of any right to, or access to any water 8 resource facility or other facility or property nec- 9 essary or useful to access any water right to operate 10 any public water or utility system; or 11 "(K) require initiation or reinitiation of con - 12 snitation with the United States Fish and Wildlife 13 Service under, or the application of provisions of, the 14 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 15 seq.), the National Environmental Policy Act of 16 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), or division A of sub - 17 title III of title 541 United States Code, concerning 18 any action or activity affecting water, water rights 19 or water management or water resource facilities 20 within the Rim of the Valley Unit. 21 "(4) The activities of a utility facility or water re - 22 source facility shall be conducted in a manner to reason - 23 ably avoid or reduce the impact on the resources of the 24 Rim of the Valley Unit. 25 "(5) For the purposes of paragraphs (4) and (5)— •S 1993 IS Packet Pg. 40 a 7 1 "(A) the term `utility facility' means electric 2 substations, communication facilities, towers, poles, 3 and lines, ground wires, communications circuits, 4 and other structures, and related infrastructure; and 5 "(b) the term `water resource facility' means 6 irrigation and pumping facilities; dams and res - 7 ervoirs; flood control facilities; water conservation 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 works, including debris protection facilities, sediment placement sites, rain gauges, and stream gauges; water quality, recycled water, and pumping facilities; conveyance distribution systems; water treatment fa- cilities; aqueducts; canals; ditches; pipelines; wells; hydropower projects; transmission facilities; and other ancillary facilities, groundwater recharge facili- ties, water conservation, water filtration plants, and other water diversion, conservation, groundwater re- charge, storage, and carriage structures.". •S 1993 IS L Packet Pg. 41 a CO 0 d i C M M Cn Cn vi c a� J a� d c M r r C d t v ca r r Q .AUTHENnc-..>rED 774 - GOVERN_NT iNror.M anoN GPO I 115TIICONGRESS H. R. 4086 IST SESSION To adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 19, 2017 Mr. SCmFF (for himself, Ms. L'ROwNLEY of California, Mr. CARDENAS, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mrs. NAYOi,rrANO, and Mr. SIIERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and Honse of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the "Rim of the Valley Cor - 5 ridor Preservation Act". 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds as follows: 5.b Packet Pg. 42 a 00 0 v x c� M Q1 cn c 0 r c� m J t4 L 00 0 le d x a� E r Q 2 1 (1) The Santa Monica Mountains National 2 Recreation Area was authorized as a unit of the Na - 3 tional Park System on November 10, 1978. 4 (2) The Santa Monica Mountains and the Rim 5 of the Valley Corridor include - 6 (A) nationally significant resources - 7 (i) outstanding examples of geologic 8 history, including the evolution of the 9 Transverse Ranges Province; 10 (ii) a diversity of well-preserved ma- ll rine and terrestrial paleontological re - 12 sources; and 13 (iii) high biodiversity, including out - 14 standing examples of native grasslands, 15 coastal sage scrub, chaparral, dry conif- 16 Brous forests, and alluvial fan sage scrub; 17 and 18 (B) nationally significant cultural re - 19 sources that represent a wide range of themes 20 related to human use and settlement in the re - 21 gion- 22 (i) high concentrations of archeo- 23 logical resources that provide insight into 24 more than 10,000 years of Native Amer - 25 ican history; and *HR 4086 IH Packet Pg. 43 a CO 0 le d x M Q1 vi 0 r c� a� J a� a� CO 0 le d x c a� E r a 0 3 1 (ii) landmarks that represent topics 2 such as architecture, recreation, and space 3 exploration. 4 (3) Expanding the Santa Monica Mountains 5 National Recreation Area would provide new oppor- 6 tunities for the National Park Service to serve a 7 broad range of urban communities, including many to o 8 that are underrepresented in national parks and un - 9 derserved by State and local parks. 10 SEC. 3. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT; LAND ACQUISITION; AD - M Q1 vi 11 MINISTRATION. c 12 (a) BOUNDARY ADjuSTMENT.—Section 507(c)(1) of r c� 13 the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 L 14 U.S.C. 460kk(e)(1)) is amended by striking "`Santa a 15 Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Santa 16 Monica Mountains Zone, California, Boundary Map', 17 numbered 80,047–C and dated August 2001" and insert - 00 0 18 ing "'Rim of the Valley Unit—Santa Monica Mountains 19 National Recreation Area' and dated October 2017". a 20 (b) RIM OF THE VALLEY UNIT.—Section 507 of the r a 21 National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 22 460kk) is amended by adding at the end the following: 23 "(u) RIM OF THE VALLEY UNIT.—(1) Not later than 24 3 years after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 25 the Secretary shall update the general management plan *HR 4086 IH Packet Pg. 44 5.b 4 1 for the recreation area to reflect the boundaries designated 2 on the map referred to in subsection (c)(1) as the `Rim 3 of the Valley Unit' (hereafter in the subsection referred 4 to as the `Rim of the Valley Unit') . Subject to valid exist- s ing rights, the Secretary shall administer the Rim of the 6 Valley Unit and any land or interest in land acquired by 7 the United States and located within the boundaries of CO 8 the Rim of the Valley Unit, as part of the recreation area 9 in accordance with the provisions of this section and appli- M Q1 10 cable laws and regulations. vi 11 "(2) The Secretary may acquire non -Federal land c 12 within the boundaries of the Rim of the Valley Unit only a� J 13 through exchange, donation, or purchase from a willing L 14 seller. Nothing in this subsection authorizes the use of 15 eminent domain to acquire land or interests in land. 16 "(3) Nothing in this subsection or the application of CO 0 17 the management plan for the Rim of the Valley Unit shall x 18 be constnied to— C W 19 "(A) modify any provision of Federal, State, or r 20 local law with respect to public access to or use of a 21 non -Federal land; 22 "(b) create any liability, or affect any liability 23 under any other law, of any private property owner 24 or other owner of non -Federal land with respect to *HR 4086 IH Packet Pg. 45 5 1 any person injured on private property or other non - 2 Federal land; 3 "(C) affect the ownership, management, or 4 other rights relating to any non -Federal land (in - 5 eluding any interest in any non -Federal land); 6 "(D) require any local government to partici- 7 pate in any program administered by the Secretary; 8 "(E) alter, modify, or diminish any right, re- g sponsibility, power, authority, jurisdiction, or entitle - 10 ment of the State, any political subdivision of the 11 State, or any State or local agency under existing 12 Federal, State, and local law (including regulations); 13 "(F) require the creation of protective perim- 14 eters or buffer zones and the fact that certain activi- 15 ties or land can be seen or heard from within the 16 Rim of the Valley Unit shall not, of itself, preclude 17 the activities or land uses up to the boundary of the 18 Rim of the Valley Unit; 19 "(G) require or promote use of, or encourage 20 trespass on, lands, facilities, and rights-of-way 21 owned by non -Federal entities, including water re - 22 source facilities and public utilities, without the writ - 23 ten consent of the owner; 24 "(H) affect the operation, maintenance, modi- 25 fication, construction, or expansion of any water re - •HR 4086 IH S.b Packet Pg. 46 E; CO 0 v x C M M Q1 vi 0 r c� a� J a� a� CO 0 le d x C W E r a I 1 source facility or utility facility located within or ad - 2 j acent to the Rim of the Valley Unit; 3 "(I) terminate the fee title to lands or cus- 4 tomary operation, maintenance, repair, and replace- s ment activities on or under such lands granted to 6 public agencies that are authorized pursuant to Fed - 7 eral or State statute; 8 "(J) interfere with, obstruct, hinder, or delay 9 the exercise of any right to, or access to any water 10 resource facility or other facility or property nec- 11 essary or usefirl to access any water right to operate 12 any public water or utility system; or 13 "(K) require initiation or reinitiation of con - 14 snitation with the United States Fish and Wildlife 15 Service under, or the application of provisions of, the 16 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 17 seq.), the National Environmental Policy Act of 18 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), or division A of snb- 19 title III of title 541 United States Code, concerning 20 any action or activity affecting water, water rights 21 or water management or water resource facilities 22 within the Rim of the Valley Unit. 23 "(4) The activities of a utility facility or water re - 24 source facility shall be conducted in a manner to reason - •11R 4086 IH 5.b Packet Pg. 47 a CO 0 v x M Q1 vi c 0 r c� a� J a� a� CO 0 le d x r a 7 1 ably avoid or reduce the impact on the resources of the 2 Rim of the Valley Unit. 3 "(5) For the purposes of paragraphs (4) and (5)- 4 "(A) the term `utility facility' means electric 5 substations, communication facilities, towers, poles, 6 and lines, ground wires, communications circuits, 7 and other structures, and related infrastructure; and to CO 8 "(b) the term `water resource facility' means 9 irrigation and pumping facilities; dams and res - 10 ervoirs; flood control facilities; water conservation M Q1 vi 11 works, including debris protection facilities, sediment c 12 placement sites, rain gauges, and stream gauges; 13 water quality, recycled water, and pumping facilities; a� J L 14 conveyance distribution systems; water treatment fa - 15 cilities; aqueducts; canals; ditches; pipelines; wells; 16 hydropower projects; transmission facilities; and 17 other ancillary facilities, groundwater recharge facili- CO 0 18 ties, water conservation, water filtration plants, and x 19 other water diversion, conservation, groundwater re - C W 20 charge, storage, and carriage structures.". a C *HR 4086 IH Packet Pg. 48 Ai••R• r g t M1 F ,i Tk J 1 C a� ti 0 o 0 ID l0 U 7 a 3 y ro N O r ' L N N a v IC1 0° ro O 0 m p Ai••R• r g t M1 F ,i Tk ti 0 o 0 ID l0 U 7 a 3 y ro N O r ' L N N a v IC1 0° ro O 0 m p 7• .^ en ID ll: J vi _ ID ID C n2 z Q ID ID J CIO v c i � v O U C v ro � O ID C Q m d N ?• Y i N W {n O1 a N w 0 �% :I Z axi N a w Ai••R• r g t M1 F ,i Tk l0 U 7 ro N O r ' >W H N N a N V N N Z m O 0 C m A U p n2 z 3 v m CIO s° c i v ro C Q m d N ?• Y ice-+ N W {n O1 a N w 0 �% :I Z axi N a w 0 E 5.c Packet Pg. 49