Bill Text: AZ HB2314 | 2015 | Fifty-second Legislature 1st Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Arizona wilderness protection
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-01-28 - Referred to House AWL Committee [HB2314 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2015-HB2314-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: Arizona wilderness protection |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-second Legislature First Regular Session 2015
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HB 2314 |
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Introduced by Representatives Barton: Bowers, Thorpe
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AN ACT
Amending title 37, chapter 5, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding article 2; Amending title 41, chapter 27, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 41-3025.01; relating to the PUBLIC LANDS POLICY COORDINATION OFFICE.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 37, chapter 5, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding article 2, to read:
ARTICLE 2. PUBLIC LANDS POLICY COORDINATION OFFICE
37-911. Purpose; applicability
A. The purpose of this article is to:
1. Secure for the people of and visitors to this state, both present and future generations, the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness on designated lands owned by this state.
2. Provide a window into the natural world, into which our pioneer forebears ventured and formed our collective story and character.
3. Recognize that the preservation of wilderness is part of a balanced pattern of multiple land uses.
4. Demonstrate the proper stewardship of certain primitive lands by providing the protection to allow natural forces to operate.
5. Create a wilderness preservation system in this state.
B. land owned by this state may not be designated as a protected wilderness area except as provided in this article.
C. This article does not apply to lands held in trust by the state land department.
37-912. Definitions
In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Acquisition date" means the day on which this state received title to land.
2. "Conservation area" means an area that potentially has wilderness characteristics.
3. "Office" means the public lands policy coordination office established by this article.
4. "Protected wilderness area" means an area of wilderness that has been designated under this article as part of the wilderness preservation system.
5. "Wilderness" means an area of undeveloped land that is owned by this state, other than land owned or held in trust by the state land department, and that:
(a) Is acquired by this state from the federal government through purchase, exchange, grant or any other means of conveyance of title after the effective date of this article.
(b) Retains its primeval character and influence and is without permanent improvements or human habitation.
(c) Generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with minimal human impact.
(d) Is at least five thousand contiguous acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition.
(e) Has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation.
(f) May contain ecological, geological or other features of scientific, educational, scenic or historical value.
6. "Wilderness preservation system" means all land that is owned by this state and that is designated as a protected wilderness area pursuant to this article.
37-913. Public lands policy coordination office; director; duties; conservation areas
A. The public lands policy coordination office is established.
b. The governor shall appoint a full-time director of the office pursuant to section 38-211.
c. The director of the office shall:
1. Within one year after the acquisition date of a parcel of land, identify within that parcel any conservation areas. Before identifying a parcel of land as a conservation area, the director of the office shall inform the state land department that a parcel is being considered for designation as a conservation area.
2. File a map and legal description of each identified conservation area with the governor, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives.
3. Maintain and make available to the public records pertaining to identified conservation areas, including:
(a) Maps.
(b) Legal descriptions.
(c) Copies of proposed regulations governing the conservation area.
(d) Copies of public notices and reports submitted to the legislature regarding pending additions, eliminations or modifications to a conservation area.
4. Review each identified conservation area for its suitability for classification as a protected wilderness area and make a recommendation to the legislature pursuant to section 37-914.
5. on or before November 30 of each year, Report to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the chairperson of the senate natural resources committee, or its successor committee, and the chairperson of the house of representatives agriculture, water and lands committee, or its successor committee, on the following:
(a) The status of the wilderness preservation system.
(b) Regulations in effect.
(c) Other necessary information as determined by the office.
D. The records described in subsection C of this section shall be available for inspection at the office, the state land department, the Arizona state parks board and the office of the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county in which the conservation area is located.
E. A conservation area identified under subsection C of this section shall be managed by the state land department, in coordination with the county government in which the conservation area is located, without the conservation area being designated as a protected wilderness area unless otherwise provided by the legislature pursuant to section 37-914.
37-914. Designation of protected wilderness areas; report and recommendation; modification of boundaries
A. Within five years after the acquisition date of a parcel of land, the director of the office shall review all conservation areas and submit a report and recommendation to the legislature on the suitability of each conservation area for designation as a protected wilderness area.
B. Before making a recommendation, the director of the office shall:
1. Give notice of the proposed recommendation in a newspaper having general circulation in the vicinity of the affected land.
2. Hold a public hearing at a location convenient to citizens who live in the affected area.
3. At least thirty days before the date of the hearing, invite local authorities to submit comments on the proposed action at the hearing or to the director of the office, in writing, no later than thirty days after the day on which the hearing is held. Any comments submitted to the director of the office shall be included with the recommendation to the legislature.
C. After receiving the report and recommendation from the director of the office, the legislature may authorize the designation of a conservation area as a protected wilderness area by a concurrent resolution approved by the legislature. The resolution shall include:
1. The legal description of the proposed protected wilderness area.
2. Any special conditions that are placed on the protected wilderness area.
3. The name of the agency that will manage and administer the area designated as a protected wilderness area.
D. after public notice and a hearing as prescribed in subsection B of this section, The director of the office shall recommend modification or adjustment to the boundaries of a protected wilderness area. Any modification or adjustment to the boundaries is official after the adoption of a concurrent resolution by the legislature pursuant to subsection C of this section.
37-915. Protected wilderness areas; management and administration; use; surveys; mining and mineral leasing; rules
A. Except as otherwise provided in this article, each agency managing and administering a protected wilderness area is responsible for preserving the wilderness character of the area and shall manage and administer the area according to the purposes for which it was established. The agency managing and administering a protected wilderness area may adopt rules to govern the protection of the area.
B. Except as otherwise provided in this article, a protected wilderness area shall be devoted to the following public purposes:
1. Recreation, including hunting, trapping and fishing.
2. Conservation.
3. Scenic, scientific, educational and historical uses.
C. Commercial services may be performed within a protected wilderness area only to the extent necessary to support the activities described in subsection B of this section.
D. Subject to rules established by the agency managing and administering a protected wilderness area and to valid existing rights, the use of a motor vehicle, aircraft or motorboat within a protected wilderness area is authorized only if the use of a motor vehicle, aircraft or motorboat is:
1. Already established.
2. Used by the Arizona game and fish department in furtherance of its duties pursuant to title 17.
3. Necessary to meet the minimum requirements for the management and administration of the protected wilderness area for the purposes of this article, including measures required in emergencies involving the health and safety of persons within the protected wilderness area.
4. Necessary for other emergency services or law enforcement purposes.
E. Within a protected wilderness area, measures may be taken, under the direction of the commissioner of the state land department or the state forester, as necessary to manage fire, insects, habitat and diseases.
F. this article does not prevent, any activity, including prospecting within a protected wilderness area if the activity is conducted in a manner compatible with the preservation of the wilderness environment, subject to any conditions that the agency managing and administering the protected wilderness area considers desirable.
G. The agency managing and administering a protected wilderness area shall coordinate with the Arizona geological survey to develop and conduct surveys of a protected wilderness area on a planned, recurring basis in order to determine the mineral values, if any, that may be present in the protected wilderness area. The surveys must be taken in a manner that is consistent with wildlife management and preservation principles. A copy of a completed survey shall be made available to the public, the governor and the legislature.
H. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, from and after january 1, 2035:
1. State laws pertaining to mining and mineral leasing, to the extent applicable before the effective date of this article, shall extend to protected wilderness areas, subject to reasonable regulation governing ingress and egress established by the agency managing and administering the protected wilderness area, consistent with the use of the land for:
(a) Mineral location and development.
(b) Exploration, drilling and production.
(c) The establishment of transmission lines, waterlines, telephone lines or facilities necessary in exploring, drilling, producing, mining and processing operations, including the use of mechanized ground or air equipment when necessary, if restoration of the disturbed land is practicable and performed as soon as the land has served its purpose.
2. Mining locations lying within the boundaries of a protected wilderness area that existed as of the date of acquisition shall be held and used solely for mining or processing operations and uses that are reasonably related to an underlying mining or processing operation.
I. Any newly issued lease, permit or license for land within a protected wilderness area shall contain stipulations, as determined by the agency managing and administering the protected wilderness area in consultation with the state land department and the Arizona geological survey, for the protection of the wilderness character of the land, consistent with the use of the land for the purpose for which it is leased, permitted or licensed.
J. Subject to valid rights then existing, beginning January 1, 2016, the minerals in all protected wilderness areas are withdrawn from disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral leasing.
K. New Mineral leases may not be issued within protected wilderness areas after the date on which the protected wilderness area is designated.
L. The agency managing and administering the protected wilderness area may authorize, within the protected wilderness area:
1. Prospecting for water resources.
2. The establishment and maintenance of reservoirs, water-conservation works, power projects, transmission lines and other facilities needed in developing water resources, including road construction and essential maintenance.
3. Subject to subsection M of this section, the grazing of livestock if the practice of grazing livestock was established as of the effective date of this article.
M. The state land department may adopt rules necessary to govern the grazing of livestock on a protected wilderness area.
37-916. Lands within protected wilderness areas; access; exchange
A. If privately owned land is completely surrounded by a protected wilderness area, the owner shall be given rights as necessary to ensure adequate access to the land by the owner and any successors in interest or the land may be exchanged for other land owned by this state that is not state trust land and that is of approximately equal value.
B. If state trust land is completely surrounded by a protected wilderness area, the state land department shall be given rights as necessary to ensure adequate access to the land by the state land department and any successors in interest or the land owned may be exchanged for other land owned by the state subject to the requirements of article X, section 12, constitution of Arizona.
C. If a valid mining claim or other valid occupancy is located wholly within a protected wilderness area, the agency managing and administering the protected wilderness area, by reasonable rules consistent with the preservation of the area as wilderness, shall allow ingress and egress to the surrounding areas by means that are customarily enjoyed with respect to other similarly situated areas.
D. Subject to available monies, the office may acquire land or interest in land through purchase from a private landowner.
37-917. Protected wilderness area lands; donations
A. The agency managing and administering a protected wilderness area may accept a gift or bequest of land within or adjacent to a protected wilderness area for preservation if sixty days' notice is provided to the director of the office and the legislature.
B. Land accepted by the agency managing and administering a protected wilderness area pursuant to this section becomes part of the protected wilderness area in which it is located or to which it is adjacent and is subject to the rules established pursuant to this article and any conditions made at the time of the gift or bequest. Conditions made at the time of the gift or bequest must be consistent with the rules established pursuant to this article.
Sec. 2. Title 41, chapter 27, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 41-3025.01, to read:
41-3025.01. Public lands policy coordination office; termination July 1, 2025
A. The public lands policy coordination office terminates on July 1, 2025.
B. Title 37, chapter 5, article 2 is repealed on January 1, 2026.
Sec. 3. Purpose
Pursuant to section 41-2955, subsection E, Arizona Revised Statutes, the legislature establishes the public lands policy coordination office to create a wilderness preservation system in this state and to work with other state agencies to secure wilderness resources in this state.
Sec. 4. Short title
Title 37, chapter 5, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, may be cited as the "Arizona Wilderness Protection Act".
