PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Congressional Research Service
Version 81 · Passed House without amendment · Jul 11, 2017
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
Clear Creek National Recreation Area and Conservation Act
(Sec. 3) This bill establishes the Clear Creek National Recreation Area in California to promote environmentally responsible off-highway vehicle recreation and support other public recreational uses, including hunting, hiking, and rock and gem collecting.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
(Sec. 4) The Department of the Interior shall:
prioritize environmentally responsible off-highway vehicle recreation and also facilitate hunting, hiking, gem collecting, and the use of motorized vehicles, mountain bikes, and horses;
issue special recreation permits for motorized and nonmotorized events; and
reopen the Clear Creek Management Area to such uses.
Interior shall use the 2006 Clear Creek Management Area Resource Management Plan Amendment and Route Designation Record of Decision, as modified by this bill or by Interior, to incorporate natural resource protection information unavailable in 2006 as the basis for an interim management plan to govern off-highway vehicle recreation in the recreation area.
Interior shall create a comprehensive management plan for the recreation area, which shall include:
a hazards education program to inform people entering the recreation area of the asbestos-related risks associated with various activities within the recreation area, including off-highway vehicle recreation; and
a user fee program for motorized vehicle use and guidelines for the use of the funds collected for the management and improvement of the recreation area.
Interior may acquire by purchase from willing sellers, donation, or exchange:
lands adjacent to the recreation area, and
lands or interests in land to improve public safety in allowing access to the recreation area.
Landowners must be given adequate access to inholdings within the recreation area. Private land adjacent to the recreation area to which there is no practicable access except through the recreation area shall be managed as an inholding.
Nothing in this bill:
creates a protective perimeter or buffer zone around the recreation area,
constitutes a reservation by the United States of any water or water rights,
limits hunting or fishing, or
affects state authority to manage or regulated fish and resident wildlife.
The use of motorized vehicles on public land in the recreation area shall be permitted only on roads, trails, and areas designated by the management plan.
Livestock grazing shall be allowed to continue in certain parts of the recreation area.
The bill withdraws all federal land within the recreation area from: (1) all forms of entry, appropriations, and disposal under the public land laws; (2) location, entry, and patenting under the mining laws; and (3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.
The National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan shall not apply to Interior's management of asbestos exposure risks faced by the public when recreating within the recreation area.
(Sec. 5) The bill designates approximately 21,000 acres of identified federal lands in Fresno and San Benito Counties, California, as the Joaquin Rocks Wilderness and as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
(Sec. 6) The bill also releases the San Benito Mountain Wilderness Study Area from specified requirements applicable to public lands subject to a wilderness review.
(Sec. 7) No additional funds are authorized to carry out this bill's requirements, and those requirements shall be carried out using amounts otherwise authorized.
People & committees
Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-20] · D–CA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5409-5410)
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR H5409-5410)
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 1913.
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5409-5411)
Mr. LaHood moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 146.
Reported by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 115-209.
Reported by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 115-209.
Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.1913 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.1913 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.1913 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.1913 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.