Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area Establishment Act
Key claim: This Senate bill would create a Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area in California, with the Delta Protection Commission writing a management plan that Interior may approve only after the state’s Delta Stewardship Council certifies it matches the state’s own Delta plan.
Abstract
(S228 · 113th Congress) Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area Establishment Act - Establishes the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area in California. Designates the Delta Protection Commission as the management entity for the Heritage Area. Requires the Commission to submit a proposed management plan for the Heritage Area to the Secretary of the Interior for approval. Bars approval of the management plan until the Secretary has received certification from the Commission that the Delta Stewardship Council has reviewed such plan for consistency with the plan adopted by the Council pursuant to state law. Latest action (2013-04-23): Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 113-27.
Why this matters
National Heritage Area designations layer a federal recognition and planning framework onto working landscapes without transferring land or altering water rights, but they can channel Interior funding and coordination through a designated local entity. In the Delta’s case, the bill’s requirement that the state Delta Stewardship Council certify consistency with the state Delta Plan would tie the federal heritage program directly to California’s existing water and land-use governance, an unusually explicit state-federal linkage for this program.