[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5660 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5660
To provide for the protection of natural and cultural resources, Tribal
collaborative management, sustainable economic development, enhanced
recreation, and equitable access on Federal lands in eastern Imperial
and Riverside counties, California, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 21, 2023
Mr. Ruiz introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the protection of natural and cultural resources, Tribal
collaborative management, sustainable economic development, enhanced
recreation, and equitable access on Federal lands in eastern Imperial
and Riverside counties, 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 ``Chuckwalla National Monument
Establishment and Joshua Tree National Park Expansion Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. CHUCKWALLA NATIONAL MONUMENT TRIBAL COMMISSION.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a commission, to
be known as the ``Chuckwalla National Monument Tribal Commission''.
(b) Membership.--
(1) Makeup.--The Commission shall include a representative
from each culturally affiliated Tribe.
(2) Process.--The Secretary shall conduct government-to-
government consultation with each culturally affiliated tribe
to determine the membership of the Commission.
(c) Duties.--
(1) Duties of the commission.--The Commission shall inform
and provide input to the development and implementation of the
management plan alongside federal agencies.
(2) Duties of the secretary.--The Secretary shall--
(A) ensure the Commission is equitably involved in
the development and implementation of the management
plan and the subsequent management of the Monument;
(B) incorporate into the management plan--
(i) the traditional and historical
knowledge and special expertise of the
Commission; and
(ii) public education and interpretation
for traditional place names and the cultural
significance of lands within the Monument, as
the Secretary and the Commission determine to
be appropriate; and
(iii) address funding, capacity building,
infrastructure for Tribes.
(d) Procedures.--The Commission shall establish such rules and
procedures for the Commission as the Commission determines to be
necessary or desirable.
SEC. 3. CHUCKWALLA NATIONAL MONUMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) Establishment.--Not less than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish an advisory
council, to be known as the ``Chuckwalla National Monument Advisory
Council''.
(b) Duties.--The advisory council shall advise the Secretary with
respect to the preparation of the management plan for the Monument.
(c) Applicable Law.--The advisory council shall be subject to--
(1) the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.);
(2) the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and
(3) all other applicable law.
(d) Members.--The advisory council shall include 19 members, to be
appointed by the Secretary, of whom, to the extent practicable--
(1) one member shall be appointed after considering the
recommendations of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors;
(2) one member shall be appointed after considering the
recommendations of the Imperial County Board of Supervisors;
(3) one member shall be appointed after considering the
recommendations of the Secretary of the California Natural
Resources Agency; and
(4) nine members shall reside in, or within reasonable
proximity to, Riverside or Imperial counties with backgrounds
that reflect--
(A) the purposes specified in section 4(b); and
(B) the interest of persons affected by the
planning and management of the National Monument,
including persons representing private land-ownership,
non-governmental organizations managing lands for
conservation purposes, and environmental, recreational,
tourism, or other non-Federal land interests.
(e) Representation.--The Secretary shall ensure that the membership
of the advisory council is fairly balanced in terms of the points of
view represented and the functions to be performed by the advisory
council.
(f) Terms.--
(1) Staggered terms.--Members of the advisory council shall
be appointed for terms of three years, except that, of the
members first appointed, five of the members shall be appointed
for a term of one year and five of the members shall be
appointed for a term of two years.
(2) Reappointment.--A member may be reappointed to serve on
the advisory council upon the expiration of the member's
current term.
(3) Vacancy.--A vacancy on the advisory council shall be
filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
(g) Quorum.--A quorum shall be eight members of the advisory
council. The operations of the advisory council shall not be impaired
by the fact that a member has not yet been appointed as long as a
quorum has been attained.
(h) Chairperson and Procedures.--The advisory council shall elect a
chairperson and establish such rules and procedures as it deems
necessary or desirable.
(i) Service Without Compensation.--Members of the advisory council
shall serve without pay.
(j) Termination.--The advisory committee shall cease to exist on
the date that the management plan is officially adopted by the
Secretary unless the Secretary determines to extend the advisory
committee.
SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK.
Section 402 of the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 (Public
Law 103-433) is amended by inserting ``and the approximately 20,005
acres on the map entitled `Proposed Chuckwalla National Monunment' and
dated September 20, 2023,'' after ``October 1991 or prior,''.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(2) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of
California.
(3) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' means the
governing body of any Indian tribe, band, nation, pueblo,
village, community, component band, or component reservation
individually identified (including parenthetically) on the list
published by the Secretary under section 104 of the Federally
Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131).
(4) Management plan.--The term ``management plan'' means
the management plan prepared under section 4(c)(10).
(5) Map.--The term ``Map'' means the map titled ``Proposed
Chuckwalla National Monument'' and dated September 20, 2023.
(6) Monument.--The term ``Monument'' means the Chuckwalla
National Monument established by section 4(a).
(7) Commission.--The term ``commission'' means the
Chuckwalla National Monument Tribal Commission established by
section 6(a).
(8) Advisory council.--The term ``advisory council'' means
the Chuckwalla National Monument Advisory Council established
by section 7(a).
(9) Desert renewable energy conservation plan.--The term
``desert renewable energy conservation plan'' means the Record
of Decision for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan
Land Use Plan Amendment to the California Desert Conservation
Plan, Bishop Resource Management Plan, and Bakersfield Resource
Management Plan by the Bureau of Land Management, dated
September 2016, as amended.
SEC. 6. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that the lands designated as the Chuckwalla National
Monument--
(1) are the ancestral homelands of numerous Tribes
including the Iviatim, Kwatsaan, Maara'yam, Nuwu, and Pipa Aha
Macav peoples, which include today's Cahuilla, Chemehuevi,
Mojave, Quechan, and Serrano nations and--
(A) continue to be regularly accessed and utilized
by these same Tribes today;
(B) will continue to be used by the Tribes in the
future;
(C) contain a complex trail system established by
Native Americans for various uses including spiritual
travel, trade, communication, and which connects to
regions outside of the Monument boundaries, including
Avi Kwa Ame;
(D) include sacred sites, historic properties,
traditional cultural places and cultural landscapes,
sacred items, objects of cultural patrimony, human
remains, religious sites, geoglyphs, petroglyphs, and
pictographs with significant value to the survival and
well-being of Tribal people and their knowledge
systems;
(E) plants, wildlife, water sources, and minerals
which are connected together as part of a greater
cultural landscape; and
(F) the associated Indian Tribes have a
longstanding relationship to the area, acting as its
stewards since time immemorial, with obligations to
care for the cultural, spiritual, and natural resources
provided to them by the land including sacred places,
plants, wildlife, water sources, and minerals;
(2) have nationally significant biodiversity, given that
they are located in the transitional zone where the Sonoran and
Mojave Deserts come together;
(3) are home to a wide variety of topography and elevation,
leading to distinct microclimates and ecosystems;
(4) are largely intact, undeveloped, and adjacent to other
federally protected areas such as Joshua Tree National Park,
Indian Pass Wilderness, and the Palen/McCoy Wilderness;
(5) are a refuge for over 150 plant species, many found
nowhere else, including--
(A) Munz's cholla, California's largest endemic
cacti, located on the Chuckwalla Bench;
(B) California fan palm, a plant managed and used
extensively by Tribal people for thousands of years
found in oases at Corn Springs, Mecca Hills Wilderness,
and elsewhere where tectonic movements allow
groundwater to seep up; and
(C) the triple-ribbed milk-vetch, listed as
endangered under the Endangered Species Act, as well as
other sensitive species including Emory's crucifixion
thorn and Mecca-aster;
(6) host some of the most extensive microphyll woodlands
(small-leaf trees like ironwood and palo verde) in California
in places like Milpitas Wash, a habitat critical to the
survival of Tribal people, as well as many species including
the burro deer and migrating birds;
(7) offer core habitat and essential migration pathways for
wildlife, including over 50 sensitive animal species,
including--
(A) critical habitat for the Agassiz's desert
tortoise, which is listed as threatened under the
Endangered Species Act;
(B) critical habitat for the desert bighorn sheep,
an iconic species with declining numbers;
(C) habitat in microphyll woodlands for large
numbers of resident and migratory birds, which is
crucial amid the otherwise major declines in bird
numbers recorded in North America over the last 50
years; and
(D) former habitat for the endangered Sonoran
pronghorn in the Chuckwalla Bench, the site of a multi-
year reintroduction effort that is already underway;
(8) offer important glimpses into key periods in regional
history, such as--
(A) the gold seekers who used an existing
Indigenous route to establish what is now the Bradshaw
Trail in the 1870s; and
(B) the invaluable training of more than one
million soldiers from across the United States when
these lands were part of the California-Arizona
Maneuver Area from 1942-1944;
(9) provide outstanding outdoor recreation opportunities to
local communities and visitors alike, including hiking,
horseback riding, motorized vehicle use and mountain biking on
designated routes of travel, wildlife viewing, hunting,
climbing, rockhounding, picnicking, and camping; and
(10) offer inexpensive access to public lands for
disadvantaged communities, including the farming and farm
laboring communities of the eastern Coachella Valley and Blythe
regions.
SEC. 7. DESIGNATION OF CHUCKWALLA NATIONAL MONUMENT.
(a) Establishment.--Subject to valid existing rights, there is
established the Chuckwalla National Monument in the State, consisting
of approximately 661,000 acres of Federal land administered by the
Bureau of Land Management, as generally depicted on the Map.
(b) Purposes.--The purpose of the Monument is to--
(1) conserve, protect, and enhance for the benefit and
enjoyment of present and future generations the ecological,
scenic, wildlife, recreational, cultural, historical, natural,
educational, and scientific resources of the Monument; and
(2) provide for collaborative management with culturally
affiliated Tribes of Monument resources.
(c) Management.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall manage the Monument--
(A) in a manner that conserves, protects, and
enhances the resources of the Monument;
(B) in accordance with--
(i) the Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.);
(ii) this section; and
(iii) any other applicable law (including
regulations);
(C) in collaboration with culturally affiliated
Tribes; and
(D) as a component of the National Landscape
Conservation System.
(2) Uses.--The Secretary shall only allow uses of the
Monument that the Secretary determines would further the
purposes described in subsection (b).
(3) Native american access and use.--
(A) Access.--The Secretary shall ensure access to
the Monument by members of an Indian tribe for
traditional cultural purposes and activities.
(B) Use.--In implementing this paragraph, the
Secretary, upon the request of an Indian tribe, may
temporarily close to the general public use of one or
more specific portions of the Monument in order to
protect the privacy of traditional cultural activities
in such areas by members of the Indian tribe. The
access and use provided under this paragraph shall be
consistent with the purpose and intent of Public Law
95-341 (42 U.S.C. 1996), commonly referred to as the
American Indian Religious Freedom Act.
(4) Recreation.--The Secretary shall continue to authorize,
maintain, and enhance recreation in the Monument, including,
but not limited to, camping, hiking, backpacking, sightseeing,
nature study, horseback riding, hunting, hang gliding,
climbing, mountain biking and motorized recreation on
authorized routes, and the noncommercial collecting of rocks,
minerals, and semi-precious gemstones, so long as such
recreational use is consistent with the purposes specified in
section 4(b), this section, other applicable law (including
regulations), applicable management plans, and input from the
Commission regarding potential impacts to culturally sensitive
sites and resources.
(5) Motorized vehicles.--
(A) In general.--Except in cases in which motorized
vehicles are needed for administrative purposes, or to
respond to an emergency, the use of motorized vehicles
in the Monument shall be permitted only on routes
designated by the management plan for the use of
motorized vehicles.
(B) Interim management.--
(i) Except as provided in clauses (ii) and
(iii), until the completion of the management
plan, the use of motorized vehicles in the
Monument shall be permitted only on the routes
displayed on the map entitled ``Chuckwalla
National Monument Establishment and Joshua Tree
National Park Expansion''.
(ii) Nothing in clause (i) prevents the
Secretary from closing roads, trails, or areas
to motorized vehicles to protect natural or
cultural resources, or for public safety.
(6) Grazing.--The Secretary shall not establish any new
allotments for livestock grazing that include any Monument land
(whether leased or not leased for grazing on the date of
enactment of this Act).
(7) Existing easements and rights-of-way.--Nothing in this
Act shall be construed to preclude the renewal or assignment
of, or interfere with the operation, maintenance, replacement,
modification, upgrade, or access to, existing flood control,
utility, pipeline, and telecommunications facilities; roads or
highway corridors; seismic monitoring facilities; or other
water infrastructure, including wildlife water developments or
water district facilit