II 

Calendar No. 396 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1252 

[Report No. 113–170] 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 27, 2013 

Mr. SANDERS (for himself and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; 

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

MAY 22, 2014 

Reported by Ms. LANDRIEU, without amendment 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Upper Missisquoi and 

3 Trout Wild and Scenic Rivers Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF WILD AND SCENIC RIVER SEG5 MENTS. 

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

7 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(208) MISSISQUOI RIVER AND TROUT RIVER, 

10 VERMONT.—The following segments in the State of 

11 Vermont, to be administered by the Secretary of the 

12 Interior as a recreational river: 

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

14 Missisquoi River from the Lowell/Westfield 

15 town line to the Canadian border in North 

16 Troy, excluding the property and project bound17 ary of the Troy and North Troy hydroelectric 

18 facilities. 

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

20 Missisquoi River from the Canadian border in 

21 Richford to the upstream project boundary of 

22 the Enosburg Falls hydroelectric facility in 

23 Sampsonville. 

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

25 River from the confluence of the Jay and Wade 

26 Brooks in Montgomery to where the Trout 


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1 River joins the Missisquoi River in East Berk2 shire.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT. 

4 (a) MANAGEMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The river segments des6 ignated by paragraph (208) of section 3(a) of the 

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

8 shall be managed in accordance with— 

9 (A) the Upper Missisquoi and Trout Rivers 

10 Management Plan developed during the study 

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

12 Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1276(b)(19)) (re13 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘management 

14 plan’’); and 

15 (B) such amendments to the management 

16 plan as the Secretary determines are consistent 

17 with this Act and as are approved by the Upper 

18 Missisquoi and Trout Rivers Wild and Scenic 

19 Committee (referred to in this section as the 

20 ‘‘Committee’’). 

21 (2) COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

22 The management plan, as finalized in March 2013, 

23 and as amended, shall be considered to satisfy the 

24 requirements for a comprehensive management plan 


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1 pursuant to section 3(d) of the Wild and Scenic Riv2 ers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(d)). 

3 (b) COMMITTEE.—The Secretary shall coordinate 

4 management responsibility of the Secretary of the Interior 

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

6 management plan. 

7 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

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

9 long-term protection, preservation, and enhancement 

10 of the river segments designated by paragraph (208) 

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

12 (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)), the Secretary of the Interior 

13 may enter into cooperative agreements pursuant to 

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

15 1282(b)(1)) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 

16 with— 

17 (A) the State of Vermont; 

18 (B) the municipalities of Berkshire, 

19 Enosburg Falls, Enosburgh, Montgomery, 

20 North Troy, Richford, Troy, and Westfield; and 

21 (C) appropriate local, regional, statewide, 

22 or multi-state planning, environmental, or rec23 reational organizations. 

24 (2) CONSISTENCY.—Each cooperative agree25 ment entered into under this section shall be conVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:17 May 23, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1252.RS S1252

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1 sistent with the management plan and may include 

2 provisions for financial or other assistance from the 

3 United States. 

4 (d) EFFECT ON EXISTING HYDROELECTRIC FACILI5 TIES.— 

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

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

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

9 does not— 

10 (A) preclude the Federal Energy Regu11 latory Commission from licensing, relicensing, 

12 or otherwise authorizing the operation or con13 tinued operation of the Troy Hydroelectric, 

14 North Troy, or Enosburg Falls hydroelectric 

15 project under the terms of licenses or exemp16 tions in effect on the date of enactment of this 

17 Act; or 

18 (B) limit modernization, upgrade, or other 

19 changes to the projects described in paragraph 

20 (1) subject to written determination by the Sec21 retary of the Interior that the changes are con22 sistent with the purposes of the designation. 

23 (2) HYDROPOWER PROCEEDINGS.—Resource 

24 protection, mitigation, or enhancement measures reVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:17 May 23, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1252.RS S1252

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1 quired by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

2 hydropower proceedings— 

3 (A) shall not be considered to be project 

4 works for purposes of this Act; and 

5 (B) may be located within the river seg6 ments designated by paragraph (208) of section 

7 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 

8 U.S.C. 1274(a)), subject to a written deter9 mination by the Secretary that the measures 

10 are consistent with the purposes of the designa11 tion. 

12 (e) LAND MANAGEMENT.— 

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

14 the segments designated in paragraph (208) of sec15 tion 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 

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

17 the towns of Berkshire, Enosburg Falls, Enosburgh, 

18 Montgomery, North Troy, Richford, Troy, and West19 field in the State of Vermont, including provisions 

20 for conservation of floodplains, wetlands, and water21 courses associated with the segments, shall be con22 sidered to satisfy the standards and requirements of 

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

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


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

2 the Secretary to acquire land for the purposes of the 

3 segments designated in paragraph (208) of section 

4 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 

5 1274(a)) shall be— 

6 (A) limited to acquisition by donation or 

7 acquisition with the consent of the owner of the 

8 land; and 

9 (B) subject to the additional criteria set 

10 forth in the management plan. 

11 (f) RELATION TO NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.—Not12 withstanding section 10(c) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers 

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

14 shall not be administered as part of the National Park 

15 System or be subject to regulations that govern the Na16 tional Park System. 

17 (g) DESIGNATION OF ADDITIONAL SEGMENT.— 

18 (1) DEFINITION OF ADDITIONAL SEGMENT.—In 

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

20 means the 3.8-mile segment of the Missisquoi River 

21 extending from the confluence of the Burgess 

22 Branch and East Branch of the Missisquoi River in 

23 Lowell to the Lowell/Westfield town line. 

24 (2) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that the addi25 tional segment is eligible and suitable for designaVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:17 May 23, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1252.RS S1252

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1 tion as a recreational river if the Secretary of the 

2 Interior determines that there is adequate local sup3 port for the designation in accordance with para4 graph (4). 

5 (3) DESIGNATION AND ADMINISTRATION.—If 

6 the Secretary of the Interior determines that there 

7 is adequate local support for the designation of the 

8 additional segment in accordance with paragraph 

9 (4)— 

10 (A) the Secretary shall publish in the Fed11 eral Register notice of the designation of the 

12 additional segment; 

13 (B) the additional segment shall be des14 ignated as a recreational river in accordance 

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

16 1271 et seq.); and 

17 (C) the Secretary shall administer the ad18 ditional segment as a recreational river. 

19 (4) DETERMINATION OF LOCAL SUPPORT.—The 

20 Secretary of the Interior shall determine that there 

21 is adequate local support for the designation of the 

22 additional segment as a recreational river if the legal 

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

24 majority vote a desire for the designation. 


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Calendar No. 396 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1252 

[Report No. 113–170] 

A BILL 

To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to desSystem. nents of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Trout River in the State of Vermont, as compo- ignate segments of the Missisquoi River and the 

MAY 22, 2014 

Reported without amendment 


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