California Coastal National Monument Expansion Act of 2013

Provisions of the bill

This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Research Service, a public domain source.

The California Coastal National Monument Expansion Act of 2013 would expand the boundary of the California Coastal National Monument, established by Presidential Proclamation 7264, to include the Point Arena-Stornetta public lands in Mendocino County, California. The bill would require management of such lands: (1) in accordance with the Presidential Proclamation, and (2) as part of the Monument. The bill would instruct the Secretary of the Interior to finalize an amendment to the Monument's management plan for the long-term protection and management of the lands added to the Monument under this Act. Finally, the bill would require management of the Monument as part of the National Landscape Conservation System.

Congressional Budget Office report

H.R. 1411 would expand the boundary of the California Coastal National Monument to include 1,255 acres of federal land known as the Point Arena-Stornetta public lands; the new land is currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The bill would require the BLM to manage that land as part of the National Landscape Conservation System.

Based on information provided by the BLM, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing the legislation would have no significant impact on the federal budget. The BLM currently has a management plan for the Point Arena-Stornetta public lands, and that plan would not be altered under the bill. Thus, the CBO expects that implementing the legislation would not significantly affect the BLM’s operating costs. Enacting H.R. 1411 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. H.R. 1411 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.

House

The California Coastal National Monument Expansion Act of 2013 was introduced by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) on April 9, 2013. It was referred to the United States House Committee on Natural Resources and the United States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation, which held hearings about the bill on May 9, 2013. On July 8, 2013, the bill was reported (amended) alongside House Report 113-139.

On Friday, July 19, 2013, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced that H.R. 1411 would be on the schedule for Monday, July 22, 2013. H.R. 1411 was considered under a suspension of the rules. The bill passed by a voice vote. The bill was freshman Congressman Huffman's first bill to be passed.

Debate and discussion

Rep. Huffman argued in favor of passage of the bill because it would protect a "spectacular stretch of coastline" and would "provide an accessible way for visitors to see all that the Mendocino coast has to offer." According to a Press Release from Huffman's office, his bill was supported by the following organizations: "Point Arena Mayor Lloyd Cross, the Mendocino Coast Chamber of Commerce, Visit Mendocino County, Inc., the Manchester-Point Arena Band of Pomo Indians, the Sierra Club, the Trust for Public Land, Mendocino Land Trust, Redwood Coast Conservancy, the Conservation Lands Foundation, the Wilderness Society, the Northcoast Environmental Center, local business and civic leaders, and the local community." Representatives of some of these groups joined Huffman on March 29, 2013 to discuss the bill and listen to him announce that he would soon be introducing it in Congress.

Arguments in favor of the bill included that it would help the regional tourism economy, help protect the habitat for several endangered species (the Point Arena mountain beaver and the Behren's Silverspot butterfly), and maintain current research use of the land.