National Discovery Trails Act of 1999

Summary: Requires the appropriate Secretary for each national discovery trail to administer the trail in cooperation with a competent trailwide nonprofit organization.
Prohibits a trail from being considered feasible and desirable for designation as a national discovery trail unless it: (1) links to one or more areas within the boundaries of a metropolitan area and joins with other trails, tying the National Trails System to significant recreation and resources areas; (2) is supported by a competent trailwide volunteer-based organization and has extensive local and trailwide support by the public, user groups, and affected State and local governments; and (3) extends and passes through more than one State and, at a minimum, is a continuous, walkable route.
Requires the responsible Secretary, within three complete fiscal years after enactment of legislation designating a national discovery trail, to submit to specified congressional committees a comprehensive plan: (1) for the protection, management, development, and use of the Federal portions of the trail; and (2) for technical assistance to States, local governments, and private landowners, as requested, for non-Federal portions of the trail.
Designates as a national discovery trail the 6,000-mile American Discovery Trail which shall extend from Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware to Point Reyes National Seashore in California, traveling northern and southern routes from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Denver, Colorado.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Discovery Trails Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAILS COMPONENT OF 
              NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM.

    (a) Additional Component of System.--Section 3(a) of the National 
Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1242(a)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(4) National discovery trails, established as provided in 
        section 5 and subject to the special requirements of section 
        7A, which will be extended, continuous, interstate trails so 
        located as to--
                    ``(A) provide for outstanding outdoor recreation 
                and travel and the conservation and enjoyment of 
                significant natural, cultural, and historic resources 
                associated with the trail; and
                    ``(B) connect representative examples of America's 
                trails and metropolitan, urban, rural, and backcountry 
                regions of the Nation.''.
    (b) Special Requirements for National Discovery Trails.--The 
National Trails System Act is amended by inserting after section 7 (16 
U.S.C. 1246) the following new section:

``SEC. 7A. SPECIAL ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS 
              APPLICABLE TO NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAILS.

    ``(a) Cooperative Administration.--The appropriate Secretary for 
each national discovery trail shall administer the trail in cooperation 
with a competent trailwide volunteer-based organization.
    ``(b) Relation to Other Trails.--Where national discovery trails 
are congruent with other local, State, national scenic, or national 
historic trails, the designation of the national discovery trail shall 
not in any way diminish the values and significance for which these 
trails were established.''.
    (c) Conditions on Conduct of Feasibility Studies.--Section 5(b) of 
the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(b)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (10) as 
        subparagraphs (A) through (J), respectively;
            (2) by striking ``the'' at the beginning of each of 
        subparagraphs (A) through (J), as so redesignated, and 
        inserting ``The'';
            (3) by striking the semicolon at the end of each of 
        subparagraphs (A) through (I), as so redesignated, and 
        inserting a period;
            (4) in subparagraph (J), as so redesignated, by striking 
        ``; and'' and inserting a period;
            (5) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(b)'' at the beginning of 
        the subsection;
            (6) by redesignating paragraph (11) as paragraph (2) and 
        conforming the margins to paragraph (1); and
            (7) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(3)(A) For purposes of this subsection, a trail shall not be 
considered feasible and desirable for designation as a national 
discovery trail unless it meets all of the following criteria:
            ``(i) The trail must link to one or more areas within the 
        boundaries of a metropolitan area (as those boundaries are 
        determined under section 134(c) of title 23, United States 
        Code), and the trail should also join with other trails, 
        thereby tying the National Trails System to significant 
        recreation and resources areas.
            ``(ii) The trail must be supported by at least one 
        competent trailwide volunteer-based organization, and must have 
        extensive local and trailwide support by the public, by user 
        groups, and by affected State and local governments.
            ``(iii) The trail must be extended and pass through more 
        than one State. At a minimum, it should be a continuous, 
        walkable route.
    ``(B) National discovery trails are specifically exempted from the 
provisions of sections 7(g) of this Act.
    ``(C) The appropriate Secretary shall obtain written consent from 
affected landowners prior to entering nonpublic lands for the purposes 
of conducting any surveys or studies of nonpublic lands relating to 
designating or administering national discovery trails.''.
    (d) Comprehensive National Discovery Trail Plan.--Section 5 of the 
National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection:
    ``(g) Comprehensive National Discovery Trail Plan.--
            ``(1) Preparation and submission.--Within three complete 
        fiscal years after the date of enactment of legislation 
        designating a national discovery trail, the responsible 
        Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Resources of the 
        House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and 
        Natural Resources of the Senate a comprehensive plan for the 
        protection, management, development, and use of the Federal 
        portions of the trail and for the provision of technical 
assistance to States and local units of government and private 
landowners, as requested, for non-Federal portions of the trail.
            ``(2) Cooperation and consultation.--In developing a 
        comprehensive management plan for a national discovery trail, 
        the responsible Secretary shall cooperate to the fullest 
        practicable extent with the organizations sponsoring the trail. 
        The responsible Secretary shall ensure that the comprehensive 
        plan does not conflict with existing agency direction and shall 
        consult with the affected land managing agencies, the Governors 
        of the affected States, affected county and local political 
        jurisdictions, and local organizations maintaining components 
        of the trail.
            ``(3) Special requirements of plan.--Components of the 
        comprehensive management plan for a national discovery trail 
        shall include the following:
                    ``(A) Policies, objectives, and practices to be 
                observed in the administration and management of the 
                trail, including the identification of all significant 
                natural, historical, and cultural resources to be 
                preserved, model agreements necessary for joint trail 
                administration among and between interested parties, 
                and an identified carrying capacity for critical 
                segments of the trail, and procedures for 
                implementation, where appropriate.
                    ``(B) Strategies for trail protection to retain the 
                values for which the trail is being established and 
                recognized by the Federal Government.
                    ``(C) General and site-specific trail-related 
                development, including anticipated costs.
                    ``(D) The process to be followed to implement the 
                trail marking authorities in section 7(c) conforming to 
                approved trail logo or emblem requirements.''.
    (e) Conforming Amendments to Reflect New Category of National 
Trail.--The National Trails System Act is amended--
            (1) in section 2(b) (16 U.S.C. 1241(b)), by striking 
        ``scenic and historic'' and inserting ``scenic, historic, and 
        discovery'';
            (2) in section 5 (16 U.S.C. 1244)--
                    (A) by striking the section heading and ``Sec. 5. 
                (a)'' and inserting the following:

``SEC. 5. NATIONAL SCENIC, NATIONAL HISTORIC, AND NATIONAL DISCOVERY 
              TRAILS.

    ``(a) Congressionally Authorized Trails.--'';
                    (B) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 
                paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``and national historic'' 
                        and inserting ``, national historic, and 
                        national discovery''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``and National Historic'' 
                        and inserting ``, National Historic, and 
                        National Discovery''; and
                    (C) in subsection (b)(1) (as amended by subsection 
                (c) of this section)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                        (A), by striking ``or national historic'' and 
                        inserting ``, national historic, or national 
                        discovery''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``or 
                        national historic'' and inserting ``, national 
                        historic, or national discovery''; and
            (3) in section 7 (16 U.S.C. 1246)--
                    (A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ``and 
                national historic'' and inserting ``, national 
                historic, and national discovery'';
                    (B) in subsection (b), by striking ``or national 
                historic'' each place such term appears and inserting 
                ``, national historic, or national discovery'';
                    (C) in subsection (c)--
                            (i) by striking ``scenic or national 
                        historic'' each place it appears and inserting 
                        ``scenic, national historic, or national 
                        discovery'';
                            (ii) in the second proviso, by striking 
                        ``scenic, or national historic'' and inserting 
                        ``scenic, national historic, or national 
                        discovery''; and
                            (iii) by striking ``, and national 
                        historic'' and inserting ``, national historic, 
                        and national discovery'';
                    (D) in subsection (d), by striking ``or national 
                historic'' and inserting ``national historic, or 
                national discovery'';
                    (E) in subsection (e), by striking ``or national 
                historic'' each place such term appears and inserting 
                ``, national historic, or national discovery'';
                    (F) in subsection (f)(2), by striking ``National 
                Scenic or Historic Trail'' and inserting ``national 
                scenic, historic, or discovery trail'';
                    (G) in subsection (h)(1), by striking ``or national 
                historic'' and inserting ``national historic, or 
                national discovery''; and
                    (H) in subsection (i), by striking ``or national 
                historic'' and inserting ``national historic, or 
                national discovery''.

SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF AMERICAN DISCOVERY TRAIL AS A NATIONAL DISCOVERY 
              TRAIL.

    (a) Designation.--Section 5(a) of National Trails System Act (16 
U.S.C. 1244(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
    ``(21) The American Discovery Trail, a trail of approximately 6,000 
miles extending from Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware to Point 
Reyes National Seashore in California, extending westward through 
Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, West Virginia, Ohio, and 
Kentucky, where near Cincinnati it splits into two routes. The Northern 
Midwest route traverses Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and 
Colorado, and the Southern Midwest route traverses Indiana, Illinois, 
Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado. After the two routes rejoin in Denver, 
Colorado, the route continues through Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and 
California. The trail is generally described in Volume 2 of the 
National Park Service feasibility study dated June 1995 which shall be 
on file and available for public inspection in the office of the 
Director of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. The 
American Discovery Trail shall be administered by the Secretary of the 
Interior in cooperation with at least one competent trailwide 
volunteer-based organization, affected land managing agencies and State 
and local governments as appropriate. No lands or interests outside the 
exterior boundaries of federally administered areas may be acquired by 
the Federal Government solely for the American Discovery Trail. The 
American Discovery Trail is specifically exempted from the provisions 
of subsection (e), (f), and (g) of section 7.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendments.--Such section is further amended--
            (1) by designating the paragraph relating to the California 
        National Historic Trail as paragraph (18);
            (2) by designating the paragraph relating to the Pony 
        Express National Historic Trail as paragraph (19); and
            (3) by designating the paragraph relating to the Selma to 
        Montgomery National Historic Trail as paragraph (20).