I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1096 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 17, 2005 

Referred to the Committee on Resources 

AN ACT 

To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate 

portions of the Musconetcong River in the State of New 

Jersey as a component 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 ‘‘Musconetcong Wild 

5 and Scenic Rivers Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation 

4 and consultation with appropriate Federal, State, re5 gional, and local agencies, is conducting a study of 

6 the eligibility and suitability of the Musconetcong 

7 River in the State of New Jersey for inclusion in the 

8 Wild and Scenic Rivers System; 

9 (2) the Musconetcong Wild and Scenic River 

10 Study Task Force, with assistance from the Na11 tional Park Service, has prepared a river manage12 ment plan for the study area entitled ‘‘Musconetcong 

13 River Management Plan’’ and dated April 2003 that 

14 establishes goals and actions to ensure long-term 

15 protection of the outstanding values of the river and 

16 compatible management of land and water resources 

17 associated with the Musconetcong River; and 

18 (3) 13 municipalities and 3 counties along seg19 ments of the Musconetcong River that are eligible 

20 for designation have passed resolutions in which the 

21 municipalities and counties— 

22 (A) express support for the Musconetcong 

23 River Management Plan; 

24 (B) agree to take action to implement the 

25 goals of the management plan; and 
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1 (C) endorse designation of the 

2 Musconetcong River as a component of the 

3 Wild and Scenic Rivers System. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ADDITIONAL RIVER SEGMENT.—The term 

7 ‘‘additional river segment’’ means the approximately 

8 4.3-mile Musconetcong River segment designated as 

9 ‘‘C’’ in the management plan, from Hughesville Mill 

10 to the Delaware River Confluence. 

11 (2) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage12 ment plan’’ means the river management plan pre13 pared by the Musconetcong River Management Com14 mittee, the National Park Service, the Heritage Con15 servancy, and the Musconetcong Watershed Associa16 tion entitled ‘‘Musconetcong River Management 

17 Plan’’ and dated April 2003 that establishes goals 

18 and actions to— 

19 (A) ensure long-term protection of the out20 standing values of the river segments; and 

21 (B) compatible management of land and 

22 water resources associated with the river seg23 ments. 

24 (3) RIVER SEGMENT.—The term ‘‘river seg25 ment’’ means any segment of the Musconetcong 
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1 River, New Jersey, designated as a scenic river or 

2 recreational river by section 3(a)(167) of the Wild 

3 and Scenic Rivers Act (as added by section 4). 

4 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of the Interior. 

6 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF PORTIONS OF MUSCONETCONG 

7 RIVER, NEW JERSEY, AS SCENIC AND REC8 REATIONAL RIVERS. 

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

10 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(167) MUSCONETCONG RIVER, NEW JERSEY.— 

13 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION.—The 24.2 miles of river 

14 segments in New Jersey, consisting of— 

15 ‘‘(i) the approximately 3.5-mile segment 

16 from Saxton Falls to the Route 46 bridge, to be 

17 administered by the Secretary of the Interior as 

18 a scenic river; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the approximately 20.7-mile segment 

20 from the Kings Highway bridge to the railroad 

21 tunnels at Musconetcong Gorge, to be adminis22 tered by the Secretary of the Interior as a rec23 reational river. 

24 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATION.—Notwithstanding sec25 tion 10(c), the river segments designated under sub-
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1 paragraph (A) shall not be administered as part of 

2 the National Park System.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT. 

4 (a) MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

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

6 the river segments in accordance with the manage7 ment plan. 

8 (2) SATISFACTION OF REQUIREMENTS FOR

9 PLAN.—The management plan shall be considered to 

10 satisfy the requirements for a comprehensive man11 agement plan for the river segments under section 

12 3(d) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 

13 1274(d)). 

14 (3) RESTRICTIONS ON WATER RESOURCE

15 PROJECTS.—For purposes of determining whether a 

16 proposed water resources project would have a direct 

17 and adverse effect on the values for which a river 

18 segment is designated as part of the Wild and Sce19 nic Rivers System under section 7(a) of the Wild 

20 and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1278(a)), the Sec21 retary shall consider the extent to which the pro22 posed water resources project is consistent with the 

23 management plan. 

24 (4) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary may 

25 provide technical assistance, staff support, and fund-
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1 ing to assist in the implementation of the manage2 ment plan. 

3 (b) COOPERATION.— 

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

5 the river segments in cooperation with appropriate 

6 Federal, State, regional, and local agencies, includ7 ing— 

8 (A) the Musconetcong River Management 

9 Committee; 

10 (B) the Musconetcong Watershed Associa11 tion; 

12 (C) the Heritage Conservancy; 

13 (D) the National Park Service; and 

14 (E) the New Jersey Department of Envi15 ronmental Protection. 

16 (2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—Any coopera17 tive agreement entered into under section 10(e) of 

18 the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(e)) 

19 relating to a river segment— 

20 (A) shall be consistent with the manage21 ment plan; and 

22 (B) may include provisions for financial or 

23 other assistance from the United States to fa24 cilitate the long-term protection, conservation, 

25 and enhancement of the river segment. 
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1 (c) LAND MANAGEMENT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide 

3 planning, financial, and technical assistance to local 

4 municipalities and nonprofit organizations to assist 

5 in the implementation of actions to protect the nat6 ural and historic resources of the river segments. 

7 (2) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—After adoption of 

8 recommendations made in section IV of the manage9 ment plan, the zoning ordinances of the municipali10 ties bordering the segments shall be considered to 

11 satisfy the standards and requirements under sec12 tion 6(c) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 

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

14 (d) DESIGNATION OF ADDITIONAL RIVER SEG15 MENT.— 

16 (1) FINDING.—Congress finds that the addi17 tional river segment is suitable for designation as a 

18 recreational river if the Secretary determines that 

19 there is adequate local support for the designation of 

20 the additional river segment in accordance with 

21 paragraph (3). 

22 (2) DESIGNATION AND ADMINISTRATION.—If 

23 the Secretary determines that there is adequate local 

24 support for designating the additional river segment 

25 as a recreational river— 
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1 (A) the Secretary shall publish in the Fed2 eral Register notice of the designation of the 

3 segment; 

4 (B) the segment shall be designated as a 

5 recreational river in accordance with the Wild 

6 and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.); 

7 and 

8 (C) the Secretary shall administer the ad9 ditional river segment as a recreational river. 

10 (3) CRITERIA FOR LOCAL SUPPORT.—In deter11 mining whether there is adequate local support for 

12 the designation of the additional river segment, the 

13 Secretary shall consider the preferences of local gov14 ernments expressed in resolutions concerning des15 ignation of the additional river segment. 

16 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec18 essary to carry out this Act and the amendments made 

19 by this Act. 

Passed the Senate December 16, 2005. 

Attest: EMILY J. REYNOLDS, 

Secretary.