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Bill
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Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake Security Enhancement Act

H.R. 1673 · 113th Congress · Apr 23, 2013 · Lineage

A BILL

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.

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the “Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake Security Enhancement Act”.

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).

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.

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.