[House Report 113-122]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress Rept. 113-122
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session Part 1
======================================================================
NAVAL AIR WEAPONS STATION CHINA LAKE SECURITY ENHANCEMENT ACT
_______
June 24, 2013.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1673]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 1673) 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 Naval Air Weapons Station China
Lake, California, and for other purposes, having considered the
same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend
that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake
Security Enhancement Act''.
SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION, NAVAL AIR WEAPONS
STATION CHINA LAKE, CALIFORNIA.
(a) Transfer Required.--Not later than September 30, 2014, the
Secretary of the Interior shall transfer to the administrative
jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy certain public land
administered by the Bureau of Land Management in Inyo, Kern, and San
Bernardino Counties, California, consisting of approximately 1,045,000
acres in Inyo, Kern, and San Bernardino Counties, California, as
generally depicted on the map titled ``Naval Air Weapons Station China
Lake Withdrawal - Renewal'' and dated 2012.
(b) Use of Transferred Land.--Upon the receipt of the land under
subsection (a), the Secretary of the Navy shall include the land as
part of the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, and
authorize use of the land for military purposes.
(c) Legal Description and Map.--
(1) Preparation and publication.--The Secretary of the
Interior shall publish in the Federal Register a legal
description and map of the public land to be transferred under
subsection (a).
(2) Force of law.--The legal description and map filed under
paragraph (1) shall have the same force and effect as if
included in this Act, except that the Secretary of the Interior
may correct errors in the legal description and map.
(d) 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 subsection (c).
SEC. 3. WATER RIGHTS.
(a) Water Rights.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed--
(1) to establish a reservation in favor of the United States
with respect to any water or water right on lands transferred
by this Act; or
(2) to authorize the appropriation of water on lands
transferred by this Act except in accordance with applicable
State law.
(b) Effect on Previously Acquired or Reserved Water Rights.--This
section shall not be construed to affect any water rights acquired or
reserved by the United States before the date of the enactment of this
Act.
SEC. 4. WITHDRAWAL.
Subject to valid existing rights, the public land to be transferred
under section 2 is withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the
public land laws, including the mining laws and geothermal leasing
laws, so long as the lands remain under the administrative jurisdiction
of the Secretary of the Army.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 1673, as ordered reported, is 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 Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
H.R. 1673 directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer
approximately 1,030,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land
in Inyo, Kern and San Bernardino Counties, California to the
Secretary of the Navy for the Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS)
China Lake, California.
Enacted in 1994, the California Desert Protection Act
(CDPA) included the California Military Lands Withdrawal and
Overflights Act of 1994. NAWS China Lake is one of several
areas withdrawn for military use under the CDPA and scheduled
to expire on October 31, 2014. Due to the Navy's need for
continued research, development, acquisition, test, and
evaluation and operational training activities for the
withdrawn lands at NAWS China Lake, H.R. 1673 will permanently
transfer the approximately 1,030,000 acres to meet those
critical national security needs.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 1673 was introduced on April 23, 2013, by Congressman
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation. The
bill was also referred to the Committee on Armed Services. On
April 26, 2013, the Subcommittee on Public Lands and
Environmental Regulation held a hearing on the bill. On May 15,
2013, the Full Natural Resources Committee met to consider the
bill. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental
Regulation was discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman Rob
Bishop (R-UT) offered an amendment designated #1 to the bill;
the amendment was adopted by voice vote. Congressman Raul
Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an amendment in the nature of a
substitute to the bill; the amendment was not adopted by voice
vote. No further amendments were offered, and the bill, as
amended, was then adopted and ordered favorably reported to the
House of Representatives by voice vote.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 3(c)(3) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section
403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has
received the following cost estimate for this bill from the
Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
H.R. 1673--Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake Security Enhancement
Act
H.R. 1673 would require the Secretary of the Interior to
transfer administrative jurisdiction over 1 million acres of
land to the Secretary of the Navy. Those lands would be used by
the Navy for military purposes. Based on information provided
by the Bureau of Land Management, CBO estimates that
implementing the legislation would have no significant impact
on the federal budget. Enacting H.R. 1673 would not affect
direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go
procedures do not apply.
Under current law, the affected lands are temporarily
withdrawn for military use. H.R. 1673 would prohibit certain
activities that could generate receipts on the affected lands
in the future; however, because CBO expects that those lands
would not generate any receipts over the next 10 years, we
estimate that enacting the bill would not affect direct
spending. In addition, because those lands are already managed
by the federal government, we estimate that implementing the
legislation would not affect the costs of managing the lands.
Finally, CBO estimates that any additional costs to prepare the
legal description of the affected lands, as required under the
bill, would total less than $5,000.
H.R. 1673 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required
by clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974, this bill does not contain any new budget
authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase
or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. Based on
information provided by the Bureau of Land Management, CBO
estimates that implementing the legislation would have no
significant impact on the federal budget.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill, as ordered reported, is 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
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California.
EARMARK STATEMENT
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5
Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any
specific rule-making proceedings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.