text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Otay Mountain Wilderness Act of 
  1998''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      The Congress finds and declares the following:
              (1) The public lands within the Otay Mountain region of 
          California are one of the last remaining pristine locations in 
          western San Diego County, California.
              (2) This rugged mountain adjacent to the United States-
          Mexico border is internationally known for its diversity of 
          unique and sensitive plants.
              (3) This area plays a critical role in San Diego's multi-
          species conservation plan, a national model made for 
          maintaining biodiversity.
              (4) Due to its proximity to the international border, this 
          area is the focus of important law enforcement and border 
          interdiction efforts necessary to curtail illegal immigration 
          and protect the area's wilderness values.
              (5) The illegal immigration traffic, combined with the 
          rugged topography, also presents unique fire management 
          challenges for protecting lives and resources.
  
  SEC. 3. DESIGNATION.
  
      In furtherance of the purposes of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 
  1131 et seq.), certain public lands in the California Desert District 
  of the Bureau of Land Management, California, comprising approximately 
  18,500 acres as generally depicted on a map entitled ``Otay Mountain 
  Wilderness'' and dated May 7, 1998, are hereby designated as wilderness 
  and therefore as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation 
  System, which shall be known as the Otay Mountain Wilderness.
  
  SEC. 4. MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.
  
      (a) In General.--As soon as practicable after the date of enactment 
  of this Act, a map and a legal description for the Wilderness Area 
  shall be filed by the Secretary with the Committee on Energy and 
  Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the 
  House of Representatives. Such map and legal description shall have the 
  same force and effect as if included in this Act, except that the 
  Secretary, as appropriate, may correct clerical and typographical 
  errors in such legal description and map. Such map and legal 
  description for the Wilderness Area shall be on file and available for 
  public inspection in the offices of the Director and California State 
  Director, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior.
      (b) United States-Mexico Border.--In carrying out this section, the 
  Secretary shall ensure that the southern boundary of the Wilderness 
  Area is 100 feet north of the trail depicted on the map referred to in 
  subsection (a) and is at least 100 feet from the United States-Mexico 
  international border.
  
  SEC. 5. WILDERNESS REVIEW.
  
      The Congress hereby finds and directs that all the public lands not 
  designated wilderness within the boundaries of the Southern Otay 
  Mountain Wilderness Study Area (CA-060-029) and the Western Otay 
  Mountain Wilderness Study Area (CA-060-028) managed by the Bureau of 
  Land Management and reported to the Congress in 1991, have been 
  adequately studied for wilderness designation pursuant to section 603 
  of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1782), 
  and are no longer subject to the requirements contained in section 
  603(c) of that Act pertaining to the management of wilderness study 
  areas in a manner that does not impair the suitability of such areas 
  for preservation as wilderness.
  
  SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION OF WILDERNESS AREA.
  
      (a) In General.--Subject to valid existing rights and to subsection 
  (b), the Wilderness Area shall be administered by the Secretary in 
  accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 
  seq.), except that--
              (1) any reference in such provisions to the effective date 
          of the Wilderness Act is deemed to be a reference to the 
          effective date of this Act; and
              (2) any reference in such provisions to the Secretary of 
          Agriculture is deemed to be a reference to the Secretary of the 
          Interior.
      (b) Border Enforcement, Drug Interdiction, and Wildland Fire 
  Protection.--Nothing in this Act or the Wilderness Act may be construed 
  to preclude Federal, State, and local agencies from conducting within 
  the Wilderness Area, in accordance with appropriate conditions 
  determined by the Secretary--
              (1) drug interdiction and border operations, including the 
          installation of electronic sensors and other surveillance 
          equipment; and
              (2) wildland fire management operations, including 
          prescribed burns.
  
  SEC. 7. FURTHER ACQUISITIONS.
  
      Any lands within the boundaries of the Wilderness Area that are 
  acquired by the United States after the date of enactment of this Act 
  shall become part of the Wilderness Area and shall be managed in 
  accordance with all the provisions of this Act and other laws 
  applicable to such a wilderness.
  
  SEC. 8. NO BUFFER ZONES.
  
      The Congress does not intend for the designation of the Wilderness 
  Area by this Act to lead to the creation of protective perimeters or 
  buffer zones around the Wilderness Area. The fact that nonwilderness 
  activities or uses can be seen or heard from areas within the 
  Wilderness Area shall not, of itself, preclude such activities or uses 
  up to the boundary of the Wilderness Area.
  
  SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.
  
      As used in this Act:
              (1) Public lands.--The term ``public lands'' has the same 
          meaning as that term has in section 103(e) of the Federal Land 
          Policy and Management Act of 1976.
              (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
          of the Interior.
              (3) Wilderness area.--The term ``Wilderness Area'' means 
          the Otay Mountain Wilderness designated by section 3.
target: Otay Mountain Wilderness Act of 1998 - Designates specified public lands in the California Desert District of the Bureau of Land Management as the Otay Mountain Wilderness. 
  Declares that such designation:  (1) shall not preclude Federal, State, or local government drug interdiction and border operations or wildland fire management operations within the Wilderness; and (2) is not intended to lead to the creation of protective buffer zones around the Wilderness.
feat_title: Otay Mountain Wilderness Act of 1998