Limitation on size of national monuments; clarification of eligible objects

Section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (a), by striking historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest and inserting object or objects of antiquity; (2) in subsection (b), by striking confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected and inserting in accordance with the limitations outlined in subsections (f), (g), (h), and (i); and (3) by adding at the end the following: (e) Limitation on size of national monuments Except as provided by subsections (g) and (h), after the date of the enactment of the Legislative Approval for National Designations Act, land may not be designated under this section in a configuration that would create a national monument— (1) that is more than 640 acres; and (2) the exterior boundary of which is less than 50 miles from the closest exterior boundary of another national monument designated under this section. (f) Exception for emergency designation (1) In general Subsection (e) shall not apply to the designation under this section of a national monument of any acreage amount if designation is made to prevent imminent and irreparable harm to the object or objects of antiquity to be protected by the designation. (2) One year limitation A national monument designation under this subsection shall terminate on the date that is one calendar year after the date of the designation. (3) One time designation Land designated as a national monument under this subsection— (A) may only be so designated one time; and (B) may not also be permanently designated as a national monument under this section. (4) Rights and uses Land designated as a national monument under this subsection shall remain subject to— (A) valid existing rights; and (B) uses allowed on the day before such designation under an applicable land management plan, resource management plan, or forest plan. (g) Non-Federally owned property After the date of the enactment of the Legislative Approval for National Designations Act, land may not be designated as a national monument under this section in a configuration that would place non-federally owned property within the exterior boundaries of the national monument without the express written consent of the owners of that non-federally owned property. (h) Effect of designated on federal funds No designation under this section shall be construed to increase the amount of Federal funds that are authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year. (i) Water rights associated with a designation Water rights associated with a designation under this section— (1) may not be reserved expressly or by implication by a designation under this section; and (2) may be acquired for a designation under this section only in accordance with the laws of the State in which the water rights are based. (j) Definitions For the purposes of this section: (1) Designated; designation The terms designate and designation shall be construed to include declare and declaration, proclaim and proclamation, establish and establishment, extend and extension, and similar terms used in Federal statutes, regulations, or executive documents to refer to the creation or expansion of a national monument by the President. (2) Imminent and irreparable harm The term imminent and irreparable harm does not include generalized, speculative, or cumulative environmental conditions, including long-term ecological or climatological changes, unless an immediate threat is identified with respect to a specific object or objects of antiquity. (3) Land The term land shall not include submerged land or water. (4) Object or objects of antiquity The term object or objects of antiquity — (A) means— (i) relics; (ii) artifacts; (iii) human remains; (iv) fossils (other than fossil fuels); and (v) certain buildings constructed before the date of the enactment of the Legislative Approval for National Designations Act; and (B) does not include, among other things— (i) natural geographic features; (ii) objects not made by humans, except fossils (other than fossil fuels) or human remains; (iii) landscapes or ecosystems; or (iv) values..