To ensure the continued availability of the Utah Test and Training Range to support the readiness and training needs of the Armed Forces.

July 25, 2003

Mr. BISHOP of Utah (for himself, Mr. CANNON, and Mr. MATHESON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

To ensure the continued availability of the Utah Test and Training Range to support the readiness and training needs of the Armed Forces.

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 `Utah Test and Training Range Protection Act'.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) The term `Utah Test and Training Range' means those portions of the military operating area of the Utah Test and Training Area located solely in the State of Utah. The term includes the Dugway Proving Ground.

(2) The term `covered wilderness' means the wilderness area designated by this Act and wilderness study areas located near lands withdrawn for military use and beneath special use airspace critical to the support of military test and training missions at the Utah Test and Training Range, including the Deep Creek, Fish Springs, Swasey Mountain, Howell Peak, Notch Peak, King Top, Wah Wah Mountain, and Conger Mountain units designated by the Department of the Interior.

SEC. 3. MILITARY OPERATIONS AND OVERFLIGHTS, UTAH TEST AND TRAINING RANGE.

(a) FINDINGS- The Congress finds the following:

(1) The testing and development of military weapons systems and the training of military forces are critical to ensuring the national security of the United States.

(2) The Utah Test and Training Range in the State of Utah is a unique and irreplaceable national asset at the core of the test and training mission of the Department of Defense.

(3) The Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area designated by section 5, as well as several wilderness study areas, are located near lands withdrawn for military use or are beneath special use airspace critical to the support of military test and training missions at the Utah Test and Training Range.

(4) The Utah Test and Training Range and special use airspace withdrawn for military uses create unique management circumstances for the covered wilderness in this Act, and it is not the intent of Congress that passage of this Act shall be construed as establishing a precedent with respect to any future national conservation area or wilderness designation.

(5) Continued access to the special use airspace and lands that comprise the Utah Test and Training Range, under the terms and conditions described in this section, is a national security priority and is not incompatible with the protection and proper management of the natural, environmental, cultural, and other resources of such lands.

(b) OVERFLIGHTS- Nothing in this Act or the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) shall preclude low-level overflights and operations of military aircraft, helicopters, missiles, or unmanned aerial vehicles over the covered wilderness, including military overflights and operations that can be seen or heard within the covered wilderness.

(c) SPECIAL USE AIRSPACE AND TRAINING ROUTES- Nothing in this Act or the Wilderness Act shall preclude the designation of new units of special use airspace, the expansion of existing units of special use airspace, or the use or establishment of military training routes over the covered wilderness.

(d) COMMUNICATIONS AND TRACKING SYSTEMS- Nothing in this Act or the Wilderness Act shall prevent any required maintenance of existing communications, instrumentation, or electronic tracking systems (or infrastructure supporting such systems) in the covered wilderness or prevent the installation of new communication, instrumentation, or other equipment necessary for effective testing and training to meet military requirements so long as the Secretary of the Interior, after consultation with the Secretary of the Air Force, determines that the installation and maintenance of such systems, when considered both individually and collectively--

(1) create a similar or lesser impact on the environment;

(2) do not expand the size or significantly expand the number of such systems, as in existence on the date of the enactment of this Act; and

(3) do not require construction of any roads in the covered wilderness.

(e) EMERGENCY ACCESS AND RESPONSE- Nothing in this Act or the Wilderness Act shall preclude the continuation of the memorandum of understanding in existence as of the date of enactment of this Act between the Department of the Interior and the Department of the Air Force with respect to emergency access and response.

(f) PROHIBITION ON GROUND MILITARY OPERATIONS- Except as provided in subsections (d) and (e), nothing in this section shall be construed to permit military operations to be conducted on the ground in covered wilderness in the Utah Test and Training Range.

SEC. 4. PLANNING PROCESS FOR FEDERAL LANDS IN UTAH TEST AND TRAINING RANGE.

(a) ANALYSIS OF MILITARY READINESS AND OPERATIONAL IMPACTS- The Secretary of the Interior shall develop, maintain, and revise land use plans pursuant to section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S. C. 1712) for Federal lands located in the Utah Test and Training Range in consultation with the Secretary of Defense. As part of the required consultation in connection with a proposed revision of a land use plan, the Secretary of Defense shall prepare and transmit to the Secretary of the Interior an analysis of the military readiness and operational impacts of the proposed revision within six months of a request from the Secretary of Interior.

(b) LIMITATION ON RIGHTS-OF-WAYS- The Secretary of the Interior shall not grant or issue any authorizations pursuant to section 501(a)(6) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761(a)(6)) upon Federal lands identified as inventory units UTU-020-086, UTU-020-088, UTU-020-095, UTU-020-096, UTU-020-100, UTU-020-101, UTU-020-103, UTU-020-104, UTU-020-105, and UTU-020-110 as generally depicted on the map entitled `Wilderness Inventory, State of Utah', dated August 1979, until the later of the following:

(1) The completion of a full revision of the Pony Express Area Resource Management Plan, dated January 12, 1990, by the Salt Lake Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management.

(2) January 1, 2015.

SEC. 5. DESIGNATION AND MANAGEMENT OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS, UTAH.

(a) DESIGNATION- Certain Federal lands in Tooele County, Utah, as generally depicted on the map entitled `Cedar Mountain Wilderness' and dated XXXXXX are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System to be known as the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area.

(b) WITHDRAWAL- Subject to valid existing rights, the Federal lands in the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area are hereby withdrawn from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws, from location, entry, and patent under the United States mining laws, and from disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral and geothermal leasing, and mineral materials, and all amendments to such laws.

(c) MAP AND DESCRIPTION- (1) As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall transmit a map and legal description of the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area to the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.

(2) The map and legal description shall have the same force and effect as if included in this Act, except that the Secretary of the Interior may correct clerical and typographical errors in the map and legal description.

(3) The map and legal description shall be on file and available for public inspection in the office of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management and the office of the State Director of the Bureau of Land Management in the State of Utah.

(d) ADMINISTRATION- Subject to valid existing rights and this Act, the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area shall be administered by the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), except that any reference in such provisions to the effective date of the Wilderness Act (or any similar reference) shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of the enactment of this Act.

(e) LAND ACQUISITION- Any lands or interest in lands within the boundaries of the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area acquired by the United States after the date of the enactment of this Act shall be added to and administered as part of the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area.

(f) FISH AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT- As provided in section 4(d)(7) of the Wilderness Act, nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the jurisdiction of the State of Utah with respect to fish and wildlife on the Federal lands located in that State.

(g) GRAZING- Within the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area, the grazing of livestock, where established before the date of the enactment of this Act, shall be permitted to continue subject to such reasonable regulations, policies, and practices as the Secretary of the Interior considers necessary, as long as such regulations, policies, and practices fully conform with and implement the intent of Congress regarding grazing in such areas, as such intent is expressed in the Wilderness Act, section 101(f) of Public Law 101-628 (104 Stat. 4473), and appendix A of the Report of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs to accompany H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress (H. Rept. 101-405).

(h) BUFFER ZONES- Congress does not intend for the designation of the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area to lead to the creation of protective perimeters or buffer zones around the wilderness area. The fact that nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or heard within the wilderness area shall not, of itself, preclude such activities or uses up to the boundary of the wilderness area.

SEC. 6. RELATION TO OTHER LANDS AND LAWS.

(a) OTHER LANDS- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect any Federal lands located outside of the covered wilderness or the management of such lands.

(b) OTHER LAWS- Section 2815(d) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Law 106-65; 113 Stat. 852) shall not apply to the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area.

END