Bill to allow off-highway vehicles back onto BLM land in Calif. picks up support at hearing

E&E News
By Jessica Estepa
May 21, 2014

For several years, Steve Koretoff traversed the trails of California's Clear Creek Management Area on off-highway vehicles.

That came to a halt in May 2008, when the Bureau of Land Management, overseer of the land, issued an emergency shutdown of the area after U.S. EPA raised concerns about public health risks. Officials contended that people who spent time in the area could be exposed to carcinogens and increase their chances for cancer.

But here's the thing, Koretoff said. In all the years that Clear Creek was open for OHV use, not one person reported becoming ill.

That's why Koretoff -- a Fresno, Calif., farmer and a member of BLM's Central California Resource Advisory Council -- appeared before the House Natural Resources Committee yesterday. He testified in favor of H.R. 1776, legislation that would allow OHV use in Clear Creek to begin again.

To Koretoff, the area, a boon for outdoor recreation in general, is prime for vehicle use. He noted the area, once home to timber and open mining sites, is considered highly disturbed and is relatively remote, with no development in a 35-mile radius of the area.

Rather than take OHV recreation elsewhere to a spot where the surrounding environment could be damaged, BLM should keep it where it already works and where trails are already established, Koretoff said.

"There are a lot of other areas that are really sensitive where motorized recreation doesn't work," he said after the hearing.

The legislation was also supported by former Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.), now vice president for government relations at the American Motorcyclist Association.

Allard contended that the concerns over public health risks are overblown. He discussed a 2011 study conducted by the International Environmental Research Foundation that analyzed asbestos exposure in the area.

The study called EPA's own assessment of the risks "pessimistic."

According to the study, if a motorcycle rider were to ride through the area five days in one year, the risk for developing cancer would be equal to smoking less than one cigarette over that same time period.

"Other recreational activities, such as swimming, hiking and snow skiing are over 100-fold more dangerous," the study says.

Still, Carl Rountree, assistant director of BLM's National Landscape Conservation System, said it is the agency's policy to defer to EPA and its findings.

While testifying on the measure, Rountree emphasized that the bill could not actually reduce the risks to the public.

"The agency opposes any provision that could increase the risk of exposure to asbestos and pose significant potential risks to the public and employees," he said.

But the bill sponsor, Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.), much like the study cited by the American Motorcyclist Association, said risk is a part of outdoor recreation.

"You assume the risks," Farr said in an interview after the hearing. "You climb El Capitan, you fall, you die. You take a lot of risk when you go swimming and boating and all of these things that lead to serious accidents. Some of these accidents lead to death."

His bill, co-sponsored by California Republican Reps. David Valadao and Jeff Denham, asks that BLM develop procedures to both reduce the risk and still allow access to the land, he said. Further, the state has created a park nearby that does allow for OHV use and uses the fees it charges for access to manage the land.

The federal government should try to do the same, Farr said.

"I know it's a problem, but let's fix it," he said.

The committee also examined:

• H.R. 2175, sponsored by Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), to direct the Interior secretary to install a plaque or inscription with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's prayer from D-Day at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Interior Department did not take a position on the bill, but it noted the importance of following the Commemorative Works Act at the monument and said it would work to find a proper location for the plaque if the legislation were enacted.
• H.R. 2489, sponsored by full committee ranking member Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), to modify the boundary of the Oregon Caves National Monument by adding 4,000 acres of what is currently Forest Service land to the monument. The move would help reduce hazardous fuels for wildfires, DeFazio said. The legislation was supported by the Interior Department. The Forest Service noted a number of impacts that would happen if the boundary were adjusted, such as the jurisdiction of grazing permits. The agencies said they would work together and with the committee to ensure that management of the land would continue to be efficient.
• H.R. 3806, sponsored by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), to authorize payment of funds in accordance with the agreement entered into by the Tennessee Valley Authority; North Carolina; Swain County, N.C.; and the Interior Department. Interior supported the measure.