109TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1310

AN ACT

A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to allow

the Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation to increase

the diameter of a natural gas pipeline located in the

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, to allow

certain commercial vehicles to continue to use Route

209 within Delaware Water Gap National Recreation

Area, and to extend the termination date of the National

Park System Advisory Board to January 1, 2007.

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 ‘‘Delaware Water Gap

5 National Recreation Area Improvement Act’’.
 †

2

S 1310 ES

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) CORPORATION.—The term ‘‘Corporation’’

4 means the Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation.

5 (2) PIPELINE.—The term ‘‘pipeline’’ means

6 that portion of the pipeline of the Corporation num7 bered 1278 that is—

8 (A) located in the Recreation Area; and

9 (B) situated on 2 tracts designated by the

10 Corporation as ROW No. 16405 and No.

11 16413.

12 (3) RECREATION AREA.—The term ‘‘Recreation

13 Area’’ means the Delaware Water Gap National

14 Recreation Area in the Commonwealth of Pennsyl15 vania.

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

17 the Secretary of the Interior.

18 (5) SUPERINTENDENT.—The term ‘‘Super19 intendent’’ means the Superintendent of the Recre20 ation Area.

21 SEC. 3. EASEMENT FOR EXPANDED NATURAL GAS PIPE22 LINE.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter into an

24 agreement with the Corporation to grant to the Corpora25 tion an easement to enlarge the diameter of the pipeline

26 from 14 inches to not more than 20 inches.
†

3

S 1310 ES

1 (b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The easement au2 thorized under subsection (a) shall—

3 (1) be consistent with—

4 (A) the recreational values of the Recre5 ation Area; and

6 (B) protection of the resources of the

7 Recreation Area;

8 (2) include provisions for the protection of re9 sources in the Recreation Area that ensure that only

10 the minimum and necessary amount of disturbance,

11 as determined by the Secretary, shall occur during

12 the construction or maintenance of the enlarged

13 pipeline;

14 (3) be consistent with the laws (including regu15 lations) and policies applicable to units of the Na16 tional Park System; and

17 (4) be subject to any other terms and condi18 tions that the Secretary determines to be necessary;

19 (c) PERMITS.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Superintendent may

21 issue a permit to the Corporation for the use of the

22 Recreation Area in accordance with subsection (b)

23 for the temporary construction and staging areas re24 quired for the construction of the enlarged pipeline.
†

4

S 1310 ES

1 (2) PRIOR TO ISSUANCE.—The easement au2 thorized under subsection (a) and the permit author3 ized under paragraph (1) shall require that before

4 the Superintendent issues a permit for any clearing

5 or construction, the Corporation shall—

6 (A) consult with the Superintendent;

7 (B) identify natural and cultural resources

8 of the Recreation Area that may be damaged or

9 lost because of the clearing or construction; and

10 (C) submit to the Superintendent for ap11 proval a restoration and mitigation plan that—

12 (i) describes how the land subject to

13 the easement will be maintained; and

14 (ii) includes a schedule for, and de15 scription of, the specific activities to be

16 carried out by the Corporation to mitigate

17 the damages or losses to, or restore, the

18 natural and cultural resources of the

19 Recreation Area identified under subpara20 graph (B).

21 (d) PIPELINE REPLACEMENT REQUIREMENTS.—The

22 enlargement of the pipeline authorized under subsection

23 (a) shall be considered to meet the pipeline replacement

24 requirements required by the Research and Special Pro-
†

5

S 1310 ES

1 grams Administration of the Department of Transpor2 tation (CPF No. 1–2002–1004–H).

3 (e) FERC CONSULTATION.—The Corporation shall

4 comply with all other requirements for certification by the

5 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that are nec6 essary to permit the increase in pipeline size.

7 (f) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not grant any

8 additional increases in the diameter of, or easements for,

9 the pipeline within the boundary of the Recreation Area

10 after the date of enactment of this Act.

11 (g) EFFECT ON RIGHT-OF-WAY EASEMENT.—Noth12 ing in this Act increases the 50-foot right-of-way easement

13 for the pipeline.

14 (h) PENALTIES.—On request of the Secretary, the

15 Attorney General may bring a civil action against the Cor16 poration in United States district court to recover dam17 ages and response costs under Public Law 101–337 (16

18 U.S.C. 19jj et seq.) or any other applicable law if—

19 (1) the Corporation—

20 (A) violates a provision of—

21 (i) an easement authorized under sub22 section (a); or

23 (ii) a permit issued under subsection

24 (c); or
†

6

S 1310 ES

1 (B) fails to submit or timely implement a

2 restoration and mitigation plan approved under

3 subsection (c)(2)(C); and

4 (2) the violation or failure destroys, results in

5 the loss of, or injures any park system resource (as

6 defined in section 1 of Public Law 101–337 (16

7 U.S.C. 19jj)).

8 SEC. 4. USE OF CERTAIN ROADS WITHIN DELAWARE WATER

9 GAP.

10 Section 702 of Division I of the Omnibus Parks and

11 Public Lands Management Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–

12 333; 110 Stat. 4185) is amended—

13 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘at noon on

14 September 30, 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘on the earlier

15 of the date on which a feasible alternative is avail16 able or noon of September 30, 2015’’; and

17 (2) in subsection (c)—

18 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Sep19 tember 30, 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘on the earlier

20 of the date on which a feasible alternative is

21 available or September 30, 2015’’; and

22 (B) in paragraph (2)—

23 (i) by striking ‘‘noon on September

24 30, 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘the earlier of the

25 date on which a feasible alternative is
†

7

S 1310 ES

1 available or noon of September 30, 2015’’;

2 and

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘not exceed $25 per

4 trip’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘be es5 tablished at a rate that would cover the

6 cost of collection of the commercial use fee,

7 but not to exceed $40 per trip’’.

8 SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM ADVI9 SORY BOARD.

10 Effective on January 1, 2006, section 3(f) of the Act

11 of August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 463(f)) is amended in the

12 first sentence by striking ‘‘2006’’ and inserting ‘‘2007’’.

Passed the Senate December 16, 2005.

Attest:

Secretary.
109TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1310

AN ACT

A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to

1, 2007.tional Park System Advisory Board to Januaryand to extend the termination date of the NaDelaware Water Gap National Recreation Area,cial vehicles to continue to use Route 209 withintional Recreation Area, to allow certain commerpipeline located in the Delaware Water Gap Nation to increase the diameter of a natural gasallow the Columbia Gas Transmission Corpora-