II

Calendar No. 132

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 109

[Report No. 106–62]

To improve protection and management of the Chattahoochee River National

Recreation Area in the State of Georgia.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Mr. COVERDELL (for himself and Mr. CLELAND) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

JUNE 7, 1999

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with amendments

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To improve protection and management of the Chattahoochee

River National Recreation Area in the State of Georgia.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the Chattahoochee River National Recre2 ation Area in the State of Georgia is a nationally

3 significant resource;

4 (2) the Chattahoochee River National Recre5 ation Area has been adversely affected by land use

6 changes occurring inside and outside the recreation

7 area;

8 (3) the population of the metropolitan Atlanta

9 area continues to expand northward, leaving dwin10 dling opportunities to protect the scenic, rec11 reational, natural, and historical values of the 2,000-

12 foot-wide corridor adjacent to each bank of the

13 Chattahoochee River and its impoundments in the

14 48-mile segment known as the ‘‘area of national con15 cern’’;

16 (4) the State of Georgia has enacted the Metro17 politan River Protection Act to ensure protection of

18 the corridor located within 2,000 feet of each bank

19 of the Chattahoochee River, or the corridor located

20 within the 100-year floodplain, whichever is larger;

21 (5) the corridor located within the 100-year

22 floodplain includes the area of national concern;

23 (6) since establishment of the Chattahoochee

24 River National Recreation Area, visitor use of the
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1 recreation area has shifted dramatically from water2 borne to water-related and land-based activities;

3 (7) the State of Georgia and political subdivi4 sions of the State along the Chattahoochee River

5 have indicated willingness to join in a cooperative ef6 fort with the United States to link existing units of

7 the recreation area through a series of linear cor8 ridors to be established within the area of national

9 concern and elsewhere on the river; and

10 (8) if Congress appropriates funds in support of

11 the cooperative effort described in paragraph (7),

12 funding from the State, political subdivisions of the

13 State, private foundations, corporate entities, private

14 individuals, and other sources will be available to

15 fund more than half the estimated cost of the coop16 erative effort.

17 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

18 (1) to increase the level of protection of the

19 open spaces within the area of national concern

20 along the Chattahoochee River and to enhance vis21 itor enjoyment of the open spaces by adding land22 based linear corridors to link existing units of the

23 recreation area;

24 (2) to ensure that the Chattahoochee River Na25 tional Recreation Area is managed to standardize
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1 acquisition, planning, design, construction, and oper2 ation of the linear corridors; and

3 (3) to authorize the appropriation of Federal

4 funds to cover a portion of the costs of the Federal,

5 State, local, and private cooperative effort to add ad6 ditional areas to the recreation area so as to estab7 lish a series of linear corridors linking existing units

8 of the recreation area and to protect other open

9 spaces of the Chattahoochee River corridor.

10 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER NA11 TIONAL RECREATION AREA ACT.

12 (a) BOUNDARIES.—Section 101 of the Act entitled

13 ‘‘An Act to authorize the establishment of the Chattahoo14 chee River National Recreation Area in the State of Geor15 gia, and for other purposes’’, approved August 15, 1978

16 (16 U.S.C. 460ii), is amended—

17 (1) in the third sentence, by inserting after

18 ‘‘numbered CHAT–20,003, and dated September

19 1984,’’ the following: ‘‘and on the maps entitled

20 ‘Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area In21 terim Boundary Map #1’, ‘Chattahoochee River Na22 tional Recreation Area Interim Boundary Map #2’,

23 and ‘Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

24 Interim Boundary Map #3’, and dated August 6,

25 1998,’’;
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1 (2) by striking the fourth sentence and insert2 ing the following: ‘‘After July 1, 1999, the Secretary

3 of the Interior (referred to in this Act as the ‘Sec4 retary’) may modify the boundaries of the recreation

5 area to include other land within the river corridor

6 of the Chattahoochee River by submitting a revised

7 map or other boundary description to Congress. The

8 revised boundaries shall take effect on the date that

9 is 180 days after the date of submission unless,

10 within the 180-day period, Congress enacts a Joint

11 Resolution disapproving the revised boundaries. The

12 revised map or other boundary description shall be

13 prepared by the Secretary after consultation with af14 fected landowners, the State of Georgia, and af15 fected political subdivisions of the State.’’; and

16 (2) by striking the fourth sentence and inserting

17 the following: ‘‘No sooner than 180 days after the date

18 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior

19 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Secretary’) may modify

20 the boundaries of the recreation area to include other

21 land within the Chattahoochee River corridor by sub22 mitting a revised map or other boundary description

23 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

24 of the United States Senate and the Committee on Re25 sources of the United States House of Representatives.
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1 The revised map or other boundary description shall

2 be prepared by the Secretary after consultation with

3 affected landowners, the State of Georgia, and affected

4 political subdivisions of the State. The revised bound5 aries shall take effect 180 days after the date of sub6 mission unless, within the 180-day period, Congress

7 enacts a joint resolution disapproving the revised

8 boundaries.’’; and

9 (3) in the next-to-last sentence, by striking

10 ‘‘may not exceed approximately 6,800 acres.’’ and

11 inserting ‘‘may not exceed 10,000 acres.’’.

12 (b) ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY.—Section 102 of the

13 Act entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize the establishment of the

14 Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in the

15 State of Georgia, and for other purposes’’, approved Au16 gust 15, 1978 (16 U.S.C. 460ii–1), is amended—

17 (1) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by in18 serting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘,

19 except that land and interests in land within the Ad20 dition Area depicted on a map described in section

21 101 may not be acquired without the consent of the

22 owner’’; and

23 (2) by striking subsection (f). is amended by

24 striking subsection (f).
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1 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—Section 103 of the

2 Act entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize the establishment of the

3 Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in the

4 State of Georgia, and for other purposes’’, approved Au5 gust 15, 1978 (16 U.S.C. 460ii–2), is amended by striking

6 subsection (b) and inserting the following:

7 ‘‘(b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary

8 may enter into cooperative agreements with the State of

9 Georgia, political subdivisions of the State, and other enti10 ties to ensure standardized acquisition, planning, design,

11 construction, and operation of the recreation area.’’.

12 (d) FUNDING.—Section 105 of the Act entitled ‘‘An

13 Act to authorize the establishment of the Chattahoochee

14 River National Recreation Area in the State of Georgia,

15 and for other purposes’’, approved August 15, 1978 (16

16 U.S.C. 460ii–4), is amended—

17 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the

18 following:

19 ‘‘(a) FUNDING.—

20 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In

21 addition to funding and the donation of land and in22 terests in land by the State of Georgia, local govern23 ment authorities, private foundations, corporate enti24 ties, and individuals, and funding that may be made

25 available as a result of the settlement of litigation,
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1 there is authorized to be appropriated for land ac2 quisition for the recreation area $25,000,000 for fis3 cal years after fiscal year 1998.

4 ‘‘(2) DONATIONS.—The Secretary may accept a

5 donation of funds or land or an interest in land to

6 carry out this Act.’’; and

7 (2) in subsection (c)—

8 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1)

9 through (3) as subparagraphs (A) through (C),

10 respectively, and indenting appropriately;

11 (B) by striking ‘‘(c) Within’’ and inserting

12 the following:

13 ‘‘(c) GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

14 ‘‘(1) INITIAL PLAN.—Within’’;

15 (C) in paragraph (1) (as designated by

16 subparagraph (B)), by striking ‘‘transmit to’’

17 and all that follows through ‘‘Representatives’’

18 and inserting ‘‘transmit to the Committee on

19 Resources of the House of Representatives’’;

20 and

21 (D) by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(2) REVISED PLAN.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years

24 after the date of enactment of this subpara25 graph, Within 3 years after the date funds are
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1 made available, the Secretary shall submit to

2 the committees specified in paragraph (1) a re3 vised general management plan to provide for

4 the protection, enhancement, enjoyment, devel5 opment, and use of areas added to the recre6 ation area after the date of submission of the

7 initial general management plan. area.

8 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—In pre9 paring the revised plan, the Secretary shall en10 courage the participation of the State of Geor11 gia and affected political subdivisions of the

12 State, private landowners, interested citizens,

13 public officials, groups, agencies, educational in14 stitutions, and other entities.’’.
Calendar No. 132

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 109

[Report No. 106–62]

A BILL

To improve protection and management of the

the State of Georgia.Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in

JUNE 7, 1999

Reported with amendments