II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 491 

To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain river segments 

in the York River watershed in the State of Maine as components 

of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 1, 2021 

Mr. KING (for himself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate 

certain river segments in the York River watershed in 

the State of Maine as components of the National Wild 

and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘York River Wild and 

5 Scenic River Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF YORK WILD AND SCENIC RIVER, 

2 MAINE. 

3 Section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 

4 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(231) YORK RIVER, MAINE.—The following 

7 segments of the main stem and tributaries (includ8 ing portions of Bass Cove Creek, Cider Hill Creek, 

9 Cutts Ridge Brook, Dolly Gordon Brook, Libby 

10 Brook, Rogers Brook, and Smelt Brook) in the 

11 State of Maine, totaling approximately 30.8 miles, to 

12 be administered by the Secretary of the Interior, as 

13 a recreational river: 

14 ‘‘(A) The approximately 0.95-mile segment 

15 of Bass Cove Creek from the outlet of Boulter 

16 Pond in York, Maine, and extending down17 stream to the confluence with the York River in 

18 York, Maine. 

19 ‘‘(B) The approximately 3.77-mile segment 

20 of Cider Hill Creek from the Middle Pond dam 

21 in York, Maine, and extending downstream to 

22 the confluence with the York River in York, 

23 Maine. 

24 ‘‘(C) The approximately 2.15-mile segment 

25 of Cutts Ridge Brook from the headwaters in 

26 Kittery, Maine, and extending downstream to 


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1 the confluence with the York River in York, 

2 Maine. 

3 ‘‘(D) The approximately 3.17-mile segment 

4 of Dolly Gordon Brook from the headwaters in 

5 York, Maine, and extending downstream to the 

6 confluence with the York River in York, Maine. 

7 ‘‘(E) The approximately 1.65-mile segment 

8 of Libby Brook from the headwaters in Kittery, 

9 Maine, and extending downstream to the con10 fluence with Dolly Gordon Brook in York, 

11 Maine. 

12 ‘‘(F) The approximately 2.43-mile segment 

13 of Rogers Brook from the headwaters in Eliot, 

14 Maine, and extending downstream to the con15 fluence with the York River in York, Maine. 

16 ‘‘(G) The approximately 4.54-mile segment 

17 of Smelt Brook from the Bell Marsh Reservoir 

18 dam in York, Maine, and extending downstream 

19 to the confluence with the York River in York, 

20 Maine. 

21 ‘‘(H) The approximately 12.14-mile seg22 ment of the York River from the outlet of York 

23 Pond in Eliot, Maine, and extending down24 stream to the Route 103 Bridge in York, 


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1 Maine, including Barrell Mill Pond in York, 

2 Maine.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT OF YORK WILD AND SCENIC RIVER, 

4 MAINE. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) COVERED SEGMENT.—The term ‘‘covered 

7 segment’’ means a river segment designated by para8 graph (231) of section 3(a) of the of the Wild and 

9 Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) (as added by 

10 section 2). 

11 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of the Interior. 

13 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

14 of Maine. 

15 (4) STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE.—The term 

16 ‘‘Stewardship Committee’’ means the York River 

17 Stewardship Committee. 

18 (5) STEWARDSHIP PLAN.—The term ‘‘steward19 ship plan’’ means the plan entitled the ‘‘York River 

20 Watershed Stewardship Plan’’, dated August 2018, 

21 and developed pursuant to the study described in 

22 section 5(b)(21) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 

23 (16 U.S.C. 1276(b)(21)). 

24 (b) STEWARDSHIP PLAN.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall manage 

2 the covered segments in accordance with— 

3 (A) the stewardship plan; and 

4 (B) any amendments to the stewardship 

5 plan that— 

6 (i) the Secretary determines are con7 sistent with this section; and 

8 (ii) are approved by the Stewardship 

9 Committee. 

10 (2) COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

11 The stewardship plan shall be considered to satisfy 

12 the requirements for a comprehensive management 

13 plan under section 3(d) of the Wild and Scenic Riv14 ers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(d)). 

15 (c) COORDINATION WITH COMMITTEE.—The Sec16 retary shall coordinate the management responsibilities of 

17 the Secretary under this Act and the amendments made 

18 by this Act with the Stewardship Committee, as provided 

19 in the stewardship plan. 

20 (d) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—To provide for the long-term 

22 protection, preservation, and enhancement of the 

23 covered segments, the Secretary may enter into co24 operative agreements pursuant to sections 10(e) and 


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1 11(b)(1) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 

2 U.S.C. 1281(e), 1282(b)(1)) with— 

3 (A) the State; 

4 (B) the towns of Eliot, Kittery, South Ber5 wick, and York in the State; and 

6 (C) appropriate local, regional, or State 

7 planning, environmental, or recreational organi8 zations. 

9 (2) CONSISTENCY.—Each cooperative agree10 ment entered into under this subsection— 

11 (A) shall be consistent with the steward12 ship plan; and 

13 (B) may include provisions for Federal fi14 nancial or other assistance. 

15 (e) LAND MANAGEMENT.— 

16 (1) ZONING ORDINANCES.—For the purposes of 

17 the covered segments, the zoning ordinances adopted 

18 by the towns described in subsection (d)(1)(B), in19 cluding any provisions for the conservation of 

20 floodplains, wetlands, and watercourses associated 

21 with the covered segments, shall be considered to 

22 satisfy the requirements of section 6(c) of the Wild 

23 and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1277(c)). 


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1 (2) ACQUISITION OF LAND.—The authority of 

2 the Secretary to acquire land for the purposes of the 

3 covered segments shall be— 

4 (A) limited to acquisition by donation or 

5 acquisition with the consent of the owner of the 

6 land; and 

7 (B) subject to the additional criteria pro8 vided in the stewardship plan. 

9 (3) NO CONDEMNATION.—No land or interest 

10 in land within the watersheds of the covered seg11 ments may be acquired by condemnation. 

12 (f) RELATION TO THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.— 

13 Notwithstanding section 10(c) of the Wild and Scenic Riv14 ers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(c)), the covered segments shall 

15 not be— 

16 (1) administered as a unit of the National Park 

17 System; or 

18 (2) subject to the laws (including regulations) 

19 applicable to the National Park System. 

Æ 


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