Bill Details
View committees (1)
AI Summary This summary was generated by AI from the bill text. AI can get information wrong.
This bill would make it easier for the public to use the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Lake Eleanor Basin areas for recreation. It tells the National Park Service to manage these areas more for public enjoyment while still protecting their scenic, historic, and scientific value. The bill would allow activities like swimming, non-motorized boating, camping in certain areas, and picnicking, as long as they do not interfere with the main use of the areas. It would also increase the yearly payment linked to these lands, require that the amount rise with inflation, and set rules for how those costs are handled. In addition, the Interior Department would have to report to Congress on how access and funding have been managed and how to make recreation access fairer for the public.
- The bill raises the annual rental payment from $30,000 to $2 million and ties future increases to inflation.
- It says the City of San Francisco may not pass these costs on to its wholesale water or power customers.
- It directs the National Park Service to manage the areas for public recreation, while also protecting their natural and historic features.
- It allows certain activities, including swimming, non-motorized watercraft, camping above the ordinary high-water marks, picnicking, and other approved recreation.
- Within one year, the Interior Department must report to Congress on whether the original law’s goal of public access has been followed and how funding can better support recreation, trail work, road improvements, and wildfire prevention.
Official Summaries
Yosemite National Park Equal Access and Fairness Act
This bill modifies the Raker Act, which allowed San Francisco to dam the Hetch Hetchy Valley within Yosemite National Park, to (1) increase the annual rent San Francisco pays to the National Park Service (NPS), and (2) direct the NPS to expand public access to the reservoir and lake created by the dam.
Specifically, the bill increases rent paid by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for the use of the park from $30,000 to $2 million per year. That amount must be adjusted annually to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. The commission may not recoup such sums from wholesale water or power customers. The bill allows collected rent to be used by the Department of the Interior for wildfire mitigation activities in the park and other national parks in California.
The bill also requires the NPS to administer the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Lake Eleanor Basin areas for public recreation, benefit, and use in a manner that will preserve scenic, historic, scientific, or otherwise important features.
Current Full Text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 177 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 177
To amend the Act of December 19, 1913 (38 Stat. 242), to expand access
to the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Lake Eleanor Basin areas for
recreational purposes, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 3, 2025
Mr. McClintock (for himself, Mr. Calvert, Mr. LaMalfa, and Mr. Valadao)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Act of December 19, 1913 (38 Stat. 242), to expand access
to the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Lake Eleanor Basin areas for
recreational purposes, 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 ``Yosemite National Park Equal Access
and Fairness Act''.
SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF ACCESS TO HETCH HETCHY RESERVOIR AND LAKE ELEANOR
BASIN AREAS FOR RECREATIONAL PURPOSES.
(a) In General.--The Act of December 19, 1913 (38 Stat. 242), is
amended--
(1) in section 7--
(A) in the first sentence--
(i) by striking ``$30,000'' and inserting
``$2,000,000''; and
(ii) by inserting ``and adjusted annually
to reflect increases in the Consumer Price
Index for All Urban Consumers'' after ``July of
each year'';
(B) by inserting ``The grantee may not recoup said
sums from wholesale water or power customers of the
grantee.'' after the first sentence; and
(C) in the second sentence, by inserting ``and
wildfire mitigation activities'' after ``other
improvements''; and
(2) by inserting after section 11 the following:
``SEC. 12. RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting through
the Director of the National Park Service (in this section referred to
as the `Secretary'), shall administer the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and
Lake Eleanor Basin areas--
``(1) for public recreation, benefit, and use;
``(2) to the extent practicable, in a manner that will
preserve, develop, and enhance the public recreation capacity
of each such area; and
``(3) in a manner that will preserve the features of each
such area that are scenic, historic, scientific, or otherwise
important.
``(b) Recreational Activities.--Subject to such limitations,
conditions, and regulations as the Secretary determines necessary, the
following activities shall be allowed within the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir
and Lake Eleanor Basin areas for recreational purposes if such
activities are not inconsistent with the designated primary or
recreational use of each such area:
``(1) Swimming.
``(2) Use of non-motorized watercraft.
``(3) Camping in and around each such area if such camping
is not below the respective ordinary high-water marks of each
such area.
``(4) Picnicking in and around each such area.
``(5) Other recreational activities the Secretary
determines appropriate.
``(6) Use by motorized and non-motorized vehicles of roads
required to access each such area to conduct activities
described in this subsection if such use has no negative effect
on the operation or maintenance of any facility associated with
a dam within each such area.''.
(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment
of this section, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the
Director of the National Park Service, shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report that includes the following:
(1) An analysis of whether the original intent in the Act
of December 19, 1913 (38 Stat. 242), regarding access to the
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Lake Eleanor Basin areas for
recreational purposes has been followed since such areas were
created.
(2) An analysis of how revenue collection and the
allocation of funds related to the administration of the Hetch
Hetchy Reservoir and Lake Eleanor Basin areas can be carried
out to best provide equitable access to such areas for
recreational purposes by the public, including consideration
of--
(A) maintenance and support costs of such areas,
including--
(i) trail maintenance;
(ii) road improvements; and
(iii) wildfire prevention and suppression;
and
(B) ways to mitigate such costs, including--
(i) adjusting the prices charged for water
and power generated by the Hetch Hetchy Water
and Power System created by the Act of December
19, 1913 (38 Stat. 242);
(ii) treating the City of San Francisco as
a concessioner; and
(iii) adding to the annual rental fee
charged to the City of San Francisco by section
7 of the Act of December 19, 1913 (38 Stat.
242), the annual monetary value of the benefits
that would be lost if such areas had not been
created, including consideration of--
(I) recreational activities; and
(II) flood control.
<all>