H.R. 177 — Yosemite National Park Equal Access and Fairness Act

This section amends section 7 of the Act of December 19, 1913 (which granted the City of San Francisco rights to develop the Hetch Hetchy water and power system in Yosemite National Park), by (1) increasing the annual rental payment to $2 million (from $30,000) payable by July of each year with annual adjustments for increases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers; (2) prohibiting the grantee from recouping those sums from wholesale water or power customers; and (3) authorizing use of the payment for wildfire mitigation activities in addition to other improvements. The section further adds a new section 12 directing the Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service, to administer the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Lake Eleanor Basin areas for public recreation—preserving, developing, and enhancing recreational capacity while protecting scenic, historic, scientific, or other important features—and, subject to necessary limitations, to allow swimming, non-motorized watercraft, camping above ordinary high-water marks, picnicking, other appropriate activities, and vehicle access on roads if it does not affect dam operations or maintenance. Finally, the section requires the Secretary, not later than one year after enactment, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report analyzing (1) compliance with the 1913 Act's original intent for recreational access to those areas and (2) options for revenue collection and fund allocation to ensure equitable public access, including maintenance costs for trails, roads, and wildfire prevention/suppression and mitigation strategies such as adjusting water/power prices, treating San Francisco as a concessioner, or increasing the annual fee to account for lost recreational and flood control benefits.