Sponsors (4)
The bill expands public recreation and places conservation under NPS while protecting wholesale customers from certain rate increases, but it shifts significant costs and administrative burdens to local government and taxpayers and poses environmental management risks that must be managed.
Wholesale water and power customers (and thus many ratepayers) are protected from direct rate increases because the grantee cannot recoup certain new expenditures from them.
Local residents and visitors gain expanded public recreation access at Hetch Hetchy and Lake Eleanor (swimming, camping, non-motorized boating, picnicking), increasing outdoor opportunities for nearby communities.
Placing administration with the National Park Service (NPS) is likely to improve preservation of scenic, historic, and scientific resources and professional visitor management.
Residents and taxpayers could face higher public costs (via taxes or utility bills) if maintenance, safety, or wildfire mitigation costs are shifted onto the public or onto water/power rates.
The City of San Francisco would face a higher statutory payment (multi‑million increase), raising costs for local government and potentially affecting municipal budgets or services.
Treating the City as a concessioner or adding monetized 'lost benefits' to rental fees may prompt complex legal disputes and higher administrative costs for the City and federal agencies.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Moves management of Hetch Hetchy and Lake Eleanor to the National Park Service, authorizes specified public recreation, limits certain cost pass-throughs, raises a statutory dollar figure, and requires a one-year report on access and funding options.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Tom McClintock · Last progress January 3, 2025
Transfers administration of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Lake Eleanor Basin to the National Park Service and opens those waters and surrounding areas for specified public recreation (swimming, non-motorized boating, camping above high-water marks, picnicking, limited vehicle use on access roads, and other Secretary‑approved activities). It also changes a statutory dollar figure, forbids the grantee from recouping certain sums from wholesale water or power customers, and directs the Interior Secretary to produce a report within one year analyzing historical access, maintenance needs, and options to fund and allocate revenue so public access is equitable.