National Monument Creation And Protection Act or the National Monument CAP Act
This bill allows the President to declare by public proclamation an object or objects of antiquity (currently, historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest) that are situated on lands owned or controlled by the federal government to be national monuments. "Objects of antiquity" means relics, artifacts, human or animal skeletal remains, fossils, and certain buildings constructed before enactment of this bill.
The bill prescribes limits on land that may be declared to be a national monument based on acreage, proximity to other national monuments, whether it has been reviewed by the Department of the Interior or Agriculture (USDA) under the National Environmental Policy Act, and whether it has been approved by each county and state within whose boundaries it will be located.
Such limitation shall not apply to a designation made to prevent imminent and irreparable harm to the object or objects of antiquity to be protected. Such exception shall end after one year and may be used only once.
The President may reduce the size of any declared national monument: (1) by 85,000 acres or less; or (2) by more than 85,000 acres only if the reduction has been approved by each county and state within whose boundaries the monument will be located and reviewed by Interior or USDA under the National Environmental Policy Act.
The bill prohibits any land from being declared as a national monument in a configuration that would place nonfederally owned property within the monument without first obtaining the owners' written consent.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1664 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1664
To amend title 54, United States Code, to reform the Antiquities Act of
1906, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 11, 2019
Mr. Bishop of Utah (for himself, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Stewart, Mr.
Gosar, Mr. Westerman, and Mr. Curtis) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 54, United States Code, to reform the Antiquities Act of
1906, 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 ``National Monument Creation And
Protection Act'' or the ``National Monument CAP Act''.
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON SIZE; CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE OBJECTS.
Section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``historic landmarks,
historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of
historic or scientific interest'' and inserting ``object or
objects of antiquity'';
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ``confined to the
smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of
the objects to be protected'' and inserting ``in accordance
with the limitations outlined in subsections (e), (f), (g), and
(h)''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Limitation on Size of National Monuments.--Except as provided
by subsections (f), (g), and (h), after the date of the enactment of
this subsection, land may not be declared under this section in a
configuration that would create a national monument--
``(1) that is more than 640 acres; and
``(2) whose exterior boundary is less than 50 miles from
the closest exterior boundary of another national monument
declared under this section.
``(f) Exception for Monuments of Less Than 5,000 Acres.--Subsection
(e) shall not apply to the designation of a national monument under
this section if the national monument so designated--
``(1) would be less than 5,000 acres;
``(2) would have all exterior boundaries 50 miles or more
from the closest exterior boundary of another national monument
declared under this section; and
``(3) has been reviewed under the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) by the Secretary of
the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as appropriate.
``(g) Exception for Monuments of 5,000 Acres and up to 10,000
Acres.--
``(1) In general.--Subsection (e) shall not apply to the
designation of a national monument under this section if the
national monument so designated--
``(A) would be at least 5,000 acres but not more
than 10,000 acres; and
``(B) would have all exterior boundaries 50 miles
or more from the closest exterior boundary of another
national monument declaration under this section.
``(2) Other requirement.--A monument described in this
subsection shall be subject to the preparation of an
environmental assessment or environmental impact statement as
part of a review under the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The choice of environmental
review document shall be within the discretion of the Secretary
of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as
appropriate.
``(h) Exception for Monuments 10,000 Acres and up to 85,000
Acres.--Subsection (e) shall not apply to the designation of a national
monument under this section if the national monument so designated--
``(1) would be at least 10,000 acres but not more than
85,000 acres;
``(2) would have all exterior boundaries 50 miles or more
from the closest exterior boundary of another national monument
declaration under this section; and
``(3) has been approved by the elected governing body of
each county (or county equivalent), the legislature of each
State, and the Governor of each State within whose boundaries
the national monument will be located (and the Governor of each
such State has transmitted a copy of each such approval to the
President).
``(i) Exception for Emergency Designation.--
``(1) In general.--Subsection (e) shall not apply to the
designation under this section of a national monument of any
acreage amount if designation is made to prevent imminent and
irreparable harm to the object or objects of antiquity to be
protected by the designation.
``(2) One-year limitation.--A national monument designation
under this subsection shall terminate on the date that is one
calendar year after the date of the designation.
``(3) One-time designation.--Land designated as a national
monument under this subsection--
``(A) may only be so designated one time; and
``(B) may not also be permanently designated as a
national monument under this section.
``(4) Rights and uses.--Land designated as a national
monument under this subsection shall remain subject to--
``(A) valid existing rights; and
``(B) uses allowed on the day before such
designation under an applicable Resource Management
Plan or Forest Plan.
``(j) Limitation on Presidential Authority To Reduce Size of
Declared Monuments.--The President may--
``(1) reduce the size of any national monument declared
under this section by 85,000 acres or less; or
``(2) reduce the size of any national monument declared
under this section by more than 85,000 acres only if the
reduction--
``(A) has been approved by the elected governing
body of each county (or county equivalent), the
legislature of each State, and the Governor of each
State within whose boundaries the national monument
will be located (and the Governor of each such State
has transmitted a copy of each such approval to the
President); and
``(B) has been reviewed under the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.) by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary
of Agriculture, as appropriate.
``(k) Disclosure, Consultation, Survey, and Evaluation
Requirement.--On a date not later than 45 days before the declaration
of any national monument or reduction in size of a declared monument
under this section, and excluding such designations under subsection
(i), the President shall--
``(1) keep records of all lobbying activity as defined
under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et
seq.) and received by the President or the Secretary of the
Interior or Secretary of Agriculture for the purposes of
influencing the declaration of or adjustment to boundaries of
such monument, including a record of--
``(A) identities and affiliations of petitioning
registered lobbyists;
``(B) date of such lobbying activity;
``(C) duration of all meetings between registered
lobbyists and the President or the Secretary of the
Interior or Secretary of Agriculture;
``(D) topics of all meetings between registered
lobbyists and the President or the Secretary of the
Interior or Secretary of Agriculture; and
``(E) requests by registered lobbyists or other
persons who made requests to the President or the
Secretary of the Interior or Secretary of Agriculture
pertaining to the declaration or modification of the
boundaries of a monument;
``(2) solicit from the chief executive or designee of
impacted governments information and advice regarding the
declaration or adjustment to boundaries of such monument;
``(3) produce a record of any significant economic,
recreational, cultural, geologic, artifactual, scientific, and
other relevant objects or interests within the boundary of the
planned monument or monument boundary adjustment, or which
would otherwise be substantially impacted by such monument
declaration or monument boundary adjustment;
``(4) designate any qualifying object as found in the
record under paragraph (3) as an object of antiquity, and
include in the record under such clause any information showing
that such designation meets the definition of object or objects
of antiquity under this section;
``(5) conduct an analysis of economic impact of such
monument declaration or boundary adjustment, including impacts
to--
``(A) tourism;
``(B) grazing;
``(C) hunting and recreation;
``(D) forestry;
``(E) mineral and other resource extraction; and
``(F) other economic activity;
``(6) produce an evaluation of anticipated impacts to
protection, management, and use of objects designated as
``objects of antiquity'' under paragraph (4) which would be
subject to protection under such monument declaration or
boundary adjustment;
``(7) compile and present to the Chair and Ranking Member
or the staff designees of the Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee and the House Committee on Natural
Resources a report which includes all information as produced
or received under paragraphs (1) through (6); and
``(8) establish and maintain an online portal on the
website of the Department of the Interior accessible by the
public that allows the public to view such report under
paragraph (7) after the presentation of such report under such
paragraph.
``(l) Non-Federally Owned Property.--After the date of the
enactment of this subsection, land may not be declared as a national
monument under this section in a configuration that would place non-
federally owned property within the exterior boundaries of the national
monument without the express written consent of the owners of that non-
federally owned property.
``(m) Effect of Declaration on Federal Funds.--No declaration under
this section shall be construed to increase the amount of Federal funds
that are authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year.
``(n) Water Rights Associated With a Declaration.--Water rights
associated with a declaration under this section--
``(1) may not be reserved expressly or by implication by a
declaration under this section; and
``(2) may be acquired for a declaration under this section
only in accordance with the laws of the State in which the
water rights are based.
``(o) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section:
``(1) Declaration; declared.--The terms `declaration' and
`declared' shall only include the creation or expansion of a
national monument under this section.
``(2) Impacted governments.--The term `impacted
governments' means any of the following that contain a monument
or reduced monument declared within its jurisdiction or which
would otherwise have a significant economic or culture interest
in such declared monument:
``(A) County.
``(B) City.
``(C) Federally recognized Indian Tribe.
``(D) State.
``(E) State legislature.
``(3) Land.--The term `land' shall not include submerged
land or water.
``(4) Object or objects of antiquity.--
``(A) The term `object or objects of antiquity'
means--
``(i) relics;
``(ii) artifacts;
``(iii) human or animal skeletal remains;
``(iv) fossils (other than fossil fuels);
and
``(v) certain buildings constructed before
the date of the enactment of this subsection.
``(B) The term `object or objects of antiquity'
does not include--
``(i) natural geographic features; and
``(ii) objects not made by humans, except
fossils (other than fossil fuels) or human or
animal skeletal remains.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands.
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