In the Senate of the United States,

October 10, 2004.

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 1964) entitled ‘‘An Act to assist the States of

Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania in

conserving priority lands and natural resources in the Highlands region, and for other purposes.’’, do pass with the following

AMENDMENT:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Highlands Conservation

3 Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

2 The purposes of this Act are—

3 (1) to recognize the importance of the water, for4 est, agricultural, wildlife, recreational, and cultural

5 resources of the Highlands region, and the national

6 significance of the Highlands region to the United

7 States;

8 (2) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to

9 work in partnership with the Secretary of Agriculture

10 to provide financial assistance to the Highlands

11 States to preserve and protect high priority conserva12 tion land in the Highlands region; and

13 (3) to continue the ongoing Forest Service pro14 grams in the Highlands region to assist the High15 lands States, local units of government, and private

16 forest and farm landowners in the conservation of

17 land and natural resources in the Highlands region.

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

19 In this Act:

20 (1) HIGHLANDS REGION.—The term ‘‘Highlands

21 region’’ means the area depicted on the map entitled

22 ‘‘The Highlands Region’’, dated June 2004, including

23 the list of municipalities included in the Highlands

24 region, and maintained in the headquarters of the

25 Forest Service in Washington, District of Columbia.
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1 (2) HIGHLANDS STATE.—The term ‘‘Highlands

2 State’’ means—

3 (A) the State of Connecticut;

4 (B) the State of New Jersey;

5 (C) the State of New York; and

6 (D) the State of Pennsylvania.

7 (3) LAND CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP

8 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘land conservation partnership

9 project’’ means a land conservation project—

10 (A) located in the Highlands region;

11 (B) identified by the Forest Service in the

12 Study, the Update, or any subsequent Pennsyl13 vania and Connecticut Update as having high

14 conservation value; and

15 (C) in which a non-Federal entity acquires

16 land or an interest in land from a willing seller

17 to permanently protect, conserve, or preserve the

18 land through a partnership with the Federal

19 Government.

20 (4) NON-FEDERAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘non-Fed21 eral entity’’ means—

22 (A) any Highlands State; or

23 (B) any agency or department of any High24 lands State with authority to own and manage
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1 land for conservation purposes, including the

2 Palisades Interstate Park Commission.

3 (5) STUDY.—The term ‘‘Study’’ means the New

4 York-New Jersey Highlands Regional Study con5 ducted by the Forest Service in 1990.

6 (6) UPDATE.—The term ‘‘Update’’ means the

7 New York-New Jersey Highlands Regional Study:

8 2002 Update conducted by the Forest Service.

9 (7) PENNSYLVANIA AND CONNECTICUT UP10 DATE.—The term ‘‘Pennsylvania and Connecticut

11 Update’’ means a report to be completed by the Forest

12 Service that identifies areas having high conservation

13 values in the States of Connecticut and Pennsylvania

14 in a manner similar to that utilized in the Study

15 and Update.

16 SEC. 4. LAND CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS IN

17 THE HIGHLANDS REGION.

18 (a) SUBMISSION OF PROPOSED PROJECTS.—Each

19 year, the governors of the Highlands States, with input

20 from pertinent units of local government and the public,

21 may—

22 (1) jointly identify land conservation partner23 ship projects in the Highlands region from land iden24 tified as having high conservation values in the

25 Study, the Update, or the Pennsylvania and Con-
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1 necticut Update that shall be proposed for Federal fi2 nancial assistance; and

3 (2) submit a list of those projects to the Sec4 retary of the Interior.

5 (b) CONSIDERATION OF PROJECTS.—Each year, the

6 Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary

7 of Agriculture, shall submit to Congress a list of the land

8 conservation partnership projects submitted under sub9 section (a)(2) that are eligible to receive financial assistance

10 under this section.

11 (c) ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS.—To be eligible for fi12 nancial assistance under this section for a land conserva13 tion partnership project, a non-Federal entity shall enter

14 into an agreement with the Secretary of the Interior that—

15 (1) identifies the non-Federal entity that shall

16 own or hold and manage the land or interest in land;

17 (2) identifies the source of funds to provide the

18 non-Federal share under subsection (d);

19 (3) describes the management objectives for the

20 land that will ensure permanent protection and use

21 of the land for the purpose for which the assistance

22 will be provided;

23 (4) provides that, if the non-Federal entity con24 verts, uses, or disposes of the land conservation part25 nership project for a purpose inconsistent with the
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1 purpose for which the assistance was provided, as de2 termined by the Secretary of the Interior, the United

3 States—

4 (A) may seek specific performance of the

5 conditions of financial assistance in accordance

6 with paragraph (3) in Federal court; and

7 (B) shall be entitled to reimbursement from

8 the non-Federal entity in an amount that is, as

9 determined at the time of conversion, use, or dis10 posal, the greater of—

11 (i) the total amount of the financial

12 assistance provided for the project by the

13 Federal Government under this section; or

14 (ii) the amount by which the financial

15 assistance increased the value of the land or

16 interest in land; and

17 (5) provides that land conservation partnership

18 projects will be consistent with areas identified as

19 having high conservation value in—

20 (A) the Important Areas portion of the

21 Study;

22 (B) the Conservation Focal Areas portion of

23 the Update;

24 (C) the Conservation Priorities portion of

25 the Update;
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1 (D) land identified as having higher or

2 highest resource value in the Conservation Values

3 Assessment portion of the Update; and

4 (E) land identified as having high conserva5 tion value in the Pennsylvania and Connecticut

6 Update.

7 (d) NON-FEDERAL SHARE REQUIREMENT.—The Fed8 eral share of the cost of carrying out a land conservation

9 partnership project under this section shall not exceed 50

10 percent of the total cost of the land conservation partnership

11 project.

12 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

13 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Inte14 rior $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2014,

15 to remain available until expended.

16 SEC. 5. FOREST SERVICE AND USDA PROGRAMS IN THE

17 HIGHLANDS REGION.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—To meet the land resource goals of,

19 and the scientific and conservation challenges identified in,

20 the Study, Update, and any future study that the Forest

21 Service may undertake in the Highlands region, the Sec22 retary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest

23 Service and in consultation with the Chief of the National

24 Resources Conservation Service, shall continue to assist the

25 Highlands States, local units of government, and private
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1 forest and farm landowners in the conservation of land and

2 natural resources in the Highlands region.

3 (b) DUTIES.—The Forest Service shall—

4 (1) in consultation with the Highlands States,

5 undertake other studies and research in the Highlands

6 region consistent with the purposes of this Act, in7 cluding a Pennsylvania and Connecticut Update;

8 (2) communicate the findings of the Study and

9 Update and maintain a public dialogue regarding

10 implementation of the Study and Update; and

11 (3) assist the Highland States, local units of gov12 ernment, individual landowners, and private organi13 zations in identifying and using Forest Service and

14 other technical and financial assistance programs of

15 the Department of Agriculture.

16 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

17 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Agri18 culture to carry out this section $1,000,000 for each of fiscal

19 years 2005 through 2014.

20 SEC. 6. PRIVATE PROPERTY PROTECTION AND LACK OF

21 REGULATORY EFFECT.

22 (a) ACCESS TO PRIVATE PROPERTY.—Nothing in this

23 Act—
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1 (1) requires a private property owner to permit

2 public access (including Federal, State, or local gov3 ernment access) to private property; or

4 (2) modifies any provision of Federal, State, or

5 local law with regard to public access to, or use of,

6 private land.

7 (b) LIABILITY.—Nothing in this Act creates any liabil8 ity, or has any effect on liability under any other law, of

9 a private property owner with respect to any persons in10 jured on the private property.

11 (c) RECOGNITION OF AUTHORITY TO CONTROL LAND

12 USE.—Nothing in this Act modifies any authority of Fed13 eral, State, or local governments to regulate land use.

14 (d) PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY OWN15 ERS.—Nothing in this Act requires the owner of any private

16 property located in the Highlands region to participate in

17 the land conservation, financial, or technical assistance or

18 any other programs established under this Act.

19 (e) PURCHASE OF LAND OR INTERESTS IN LAND FROM

20 WILLING SELLERS ONLY.—Funds appropriated to carry
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1 out this Act shall be used to purchase land or interests in

2 land only from willing sellers.

Attest:

Secretary.
108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1964

AMENDMENT