I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2569 

To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate segments of the 

Missisquoi River and the Trout River in the State of Vermont, as 

components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2013 

Mr. WELCH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate 

segments of the Missisquoi River and the Trout River 

in the State of Vermont, as components of the National 

Wild and Scenic Rivers System. 

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 ‘‘Upper Missisquoi and 

5 Trout Wild and Scenic Rivers Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF WILD AND SCENIC RIVER SEG2 MENTS. 

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 ‘‘(208) MISSISQUOI RIVER AND TROUT RIVER, 

7 VERMONT.—The following segments in the State of 

8 Vermont, to be administered by the Secretary of the 

9 Interior as a recreational river: 

10 ‘‘(A) The 20.5-mile segment of the 

11 Missisquoi River from the Lowell/Westfield 

12 town line to the Canadian border in North 

13 Troy, excluding the property and project bound14 ary of the Troy and North Troy hydroelectric 

15 facilities. 

16 ‘‘(B) The 14.6-mile segment of the 

17 Missisquoi River from the Canadian border in 

18 Richford to the upstream project boundary of 

19 the Enosburg Falls hydroelectric facility in 

20 Sampsonville. 

21 ‘‘(C) The 11-mile segment of the Trout 

22 River from the confluence of the Jay and Wade 

23 Brooks in Montgomery to where the Trout 

24 River joins the Missisquoi River in East Berk25 shire.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT. 

2 (a) MANAGEMENT.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The river segments des4 ignated by paragraph (208) of section 3(a) of the 

5 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) 

6 shall be managed in accordance with— 

7 (A) the Upper Missisquoi and Trout Rivers 

8 Management Plan developed during the study 

9 described in section 5(b)(19) of the Wild and 

10 Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1276(b)(19)) (re11 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘management 

12 plan’’); and 

13 (B) such amendments to the management 

14 plan as the Secretary determines are consistent 

15 with this Act and as are approved by the Upper 

16 Missisquoi and Trout Rivers Wild and Scenic 

17 Committee (referred to in this section as the 

18 ‘‘Committee’’). 

19 (2) COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

20 The management plan, as finalized in March 2013, 

21 and as amended, shall be considered to satisfy the 

22 requirements for a comprehensive management plan 

23 pursuant to section 3(d) of the Wild and Scenic Riv24 ers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(d)). 

25 (b) COMMITTEE.—The Secretary shall coordinate 

26 management responsibility of the Secretary of the Interior 


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1 under this Act with the Committee, as specified in the 

2 management plan. 

3 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to provide for the 

5 long-term protection, preservation, and enhancement 

6 of the river segments designated by paragraph (208) 

7 of section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 

8 (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)), the Secretary of the Interior 

9 may enter into cooperative agreements pursuant to 

10 sections 10(e) and 11(b)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1281(e), 

11 1282(b)(1)) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 

12 with— 

13 (A) the State of Vermont; 

14 (B) the municipalities of Berkshire, 

15 Enosburg Falls, Enosburgh, Montgomery, 

16 North Troy, Richford, Troy, and Westfield; and 

17 (C) appropriate local, regional, statewide, 

18 or multi-state planning, environmental, or rec19 reational organizations. 

20 (2) CONSISTENCY.—Each cooperative agree21 ment entered into under this section shall be con22 sistent with the management plan and may include 

23 provisions for financial or other assistance from the 

24 United States. 


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1 (d) EFFECT ON EXISTING HYDROELECTRIC FACILI2 TIES.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The designation of the river 

4 segments by paragraph (208) of section 3(a) of the 

5 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)), 

6 does not— 

7 (A) preclude the Federal Energy Regu8 latory Commission from licensing, relicensing, 

9 or otherwise authorizing the operation or con10 tinued operation of the Troy Hydroelectric, 

11 North Troy, or Enosburg Falls hydroelectric 

12 project under the terms of licenses or exemp13 tions in effect on the date of enactment of this 

14 Act; or 

15 (B) limit modernization, upgrade, or other 

16 changes to the projects described in paragraph 

17 (1) subject to written determination by the Sec18 retary of the Interior that the changes are con19 sistent with the purposes of the designation. 

20 (2) HYDROPOWER PROCEEDINGS.—Resource 

21 protection, mitigation, or enhancement measures re22 quired by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

23 hydropower proceedings— 

24 (A) shall not be considered to be project 

25 works for purposes of this Act; and 


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1 (B) may be located within the river seg2 ments designated by paragraph (208) of section 

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

4 U.S.C. 1274(a)), subject to a written deter5 mination by the Secretary that the measures 

6 are consistent with the purposes of the designa7 tion. 

8 (e) LAND MANAGEMENT.— 

9 (1) ZONING ORDINANCES.—For the purpose of 

10 the segments designated in paragraph (208) of sec11 tion 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 

12 U.S.C. 1274(a)), the zoning ordinances adopted by 

13 the towns of Berkshire, Enosburg Falls, Enosburgh, 

14 Montgomery, North Troy, Richford, Troy, and West15 field in the State of Vermont, including provisions 

16 for conservation of floodplains, wetlands, and water17 courses associated with the segments, shall be con18 sidered to satisfy the standards and requirements of 

19 section 6(c) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 

20 U.S.C. 1277(c)). 

21 (2) ACQUISITIONS OF LAND.—The authority of 

22 the Secretary to acquire land for the purposes of the 

23 segments designated in paragraph (208) of section 

24 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 

25 1274(a)) shall be— 


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1 (A) limited to acquisition by donation or 

2 acquisition with the consent of the owner of the 

3 land; and 

4 (B) subject to the additional criteria set 

5 forth in the management plan. 

6 (f) RELATION TO NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.—Not7 withstanding section 10(c) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers 

8 Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(c)), the Missisquoi and Trout Rivers 

9 shall not be administered as part of the National Park 

10 System or be subject to regulations that govern the Na11 tional Park System. 

12 (g) DESIGNATION OF ADDITIONAL SEGMENT.— 

13 (1) DEFINITION OF ADDITIONAL SEGMENT.—In 

14 this subsection, the term ‘‘additional segment’’ 

15 means the 3.8-mile segment of the Missisquoi River 

16 extending from the confluence of the Burgess 

17 Branch and East Branch of the Missisquoi River in 

18 Lowell to the Lowell/Westfield town line. 

19 (2) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that the addi20 tional segment is eligible and suitable for designa21 tion as a recreational river if the Secretary of the 

22 Interior determines that there is adequate local sup23 port for the designation in accordance with para24 graph (4). 


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1 (3) DESIGNATION AND ADMINISTRATION.—If 

2 the Secretary of the Interior determines that there 

3 is adequate local support for the designation of the 

4 additional segment in accordance with paragraph 

5 (4)— 

6 (A) the Secretary shall publish in the Fed7 eral Register notice of the designation of the 

8 additional segment; 

9 (B) the additional segment shall be des10 ignated as a recreational river in accordance 

11 with the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 

12 1271 et seq.); and 

13 (C) the Secretary shall administer the ad14 ditional segment as a recreational river. 

15 (4) DETERMINATION OF LOCAL SUPPORT.—The 

16 Secretary of the Interior shall determine that there 

17 is adequate local support for the designation of the 

18 additional segment as a recreational river if the legal 

19 voters of the town of Lowell, Vermont, express by a 

20 majority vote a desire for the designation. 

Æ 


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