II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1805

To provide for the management of Voyageurs National Park, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 23, 1996

Mr. GRAMS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To provide for the management of Voyageurs National Park,

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 ‘‘Voyageurs National

5 Park Accessibility and Partnership Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) Voyageurs National Park serves as a unique

9 Federal park unit in one of the Nation’s distin10 guished natural ecosystems;
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1 (2) Voyageurs National Park shall serve as a

2 year-round multiple-use recreational unit as man3 dated under Public Law 91–661;

4 (3) current management of Voyageurs National

5 Park has unilaterally restricted use and accessibility

6 within certain portions of the park;

7 (4) intergovernmental cooperation that respects

8 and emphasizes the role of State, local, and tribal

9 governments in land management decision-making

10 processes is essential to optimize the protection and

11 development of social, historical, cultural, and rec12 reational resources; and

13 (5) the national interest is served by—

14 (A) improving the management and protec15 tion of Voyageurs National Park;

16 (B) ensuring appropriate public access, en17 joyment, and use throughout Voyageurs Na18 tional Park; and

19 (C) allowing Federal, State, local, and trib20 al governments to engage in an innovative man21 agement partnership in Federal land manage22 ment decisionmaking processes.

23 SEC. 3. PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT COUNCIL.

24 Public Law 91–661 (16 U.S.C. 160 et seq.) is amend25 ed—
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1 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 (16

2 U.S.C. 160i and 160j) as sections 306 and 307, re3 spectively; and

4 (2) by inserting after section 303 (16 U.S.C.

5 160h) the following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 304. PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT COUNCIL.

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the

8 Voyageurs National Park Intergovernmental Council (re9 ferred to in this Act as the ‘Council’).

10 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL.—The Council shall

11 develop and monitor a comprehensive management plan

12 for the park in accordance with section 305.

13 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Council shall be composed

14 of 11 members, appointed by the Secretary, of whom—

15 ‘‘(1) 1 member shall be the Assistant Secretary

16 for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, or a designee;

17 ‘‘(2) 3 members shall be appointed, from rec18 ommendations by the Governor of Minnesota, to rep19 resent the Department of Natural Resources, the

20 Office of Tourism, and the Environmental Quality

21 Board, of the State of Minnesota;

22 ‘‘(3) 1 member shall be a commissioner from

23 each of the counties of Koochiching and Saint Louis,

24 appointed from recommendations by each of the

25 county boards of commissioners;
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1 ‘‘(4) 1 member shall be a representative from

2 the cities of International Falls and Orr, appointed

3 from recommendations by each of the city councils;

4 ‘‘(5) 1 member shall be a State senator who

5 represents a legislative district that contains a por6 tion of the park, appointed from a recommendation

7 by the Governor of Minnesota;

8 ‘‘(6) 1 member shall be a State representative

9 who represents a legislative district that contains a

10 portion of the park, appointed from a recommenda11 tion by the Governor of Minnesota;

12 ‘‘(7) 1 member shall be an elected official from

13 the Northern Counties Land-Use Coordinating

14 Board, appointed from recommendations by the

15 Board; and

16 ‘‘(8) 1 member shall be an elected official of the

17 Native American community to represent the 1854

18 Treaty Authority, appointed from recommendations

19 by the Authority.

20 ‘‘(d) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Council may establish

22 1 or more advisory committees for consultation, in23 cluding committees consisting of members of con24 servation, sportsperson, business, professional, civic,

25 and citizen organizations.
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1 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—An advisory committee estab2 lished under paragraph (1) may not receive any

3 amounts made available to carry out this Act.

4 ‘‘(e) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the

5 Council shall constitute a quorum.

6 ‘‘(f) CHAIRPERSON.—

7 ‘‘(1) ELECTION.—The members of the Council

8 shall elect a chairperson of the Council from among

9 the members of the Council.

10 ‘‘(2) TERMS.—The chairperson shall serve not

11 more than 2 terms of 2 years each.

12 ‘‘(g) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet at the call

13 of the chairperson or a majority of the members of the

14 Council.

15 ‘‘(h) STAFF AND SERVICES.—

16 ‘‘(1) STAFF OF THE COUNCIL.—The Council

17 may appoint and fix the compensation of such staff

18 as the Council considers necessary to carry out this

19 Act.

20 ‘‘(2) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY SERV21 ICES.—The Council may procure temporary and

22 intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title

23 5, United States Code.

24 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—

25 The Administrator of General Services shall provide
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1 to the Council, on a reimbursable basis, such admin2 istrative support services as the Council requests.

3 ‘‘(4) PROVISION BY THE SECRETARY.—On a re4 quest by the Council, the Secretary shall provide

5 personnel, information, and services to the Council

6 to carry out this Act.

7 ‘‘(5) PROVISION BY OTHER FEDERAL DEPART8 MENTS AND AGENCIES.—A Federal agency shall pro9 vide to the Council, on a reimbursable basis, such in10 formation and services as the Council requests.

11 ‘‘(6) PROVISION BY THE GOVERNOR.—The Gov12 ernor of Minnesota may provide to the Council, on

13 a reimbursable basis, such personnel and informa14 tion as the Council may request.

15 ‘‘(7) SUBPOENAS.—The Council may not issue

16 a subpoena nor exercise any subpoena authority.

17 ‘‘(i) PROCEDURAL MATTERS.—

18 ‘‘(1) GUIDELINES FOR CONDUCT OF BUSI19 NESS.—The following guidelines apply with respect

20 to the conduct of business at meetings of the Coun21 cil:

22 ‘‘(A) OPEN MEETINGS.—Each meeting

23 shall be open to the public.

24 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Timely public no25 tice of each meeting, including the time, place,
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1 and agenda of the meeting, shall be published

2 in local newspapers and such notice may be

3 given by such other means as will result in wide

4 publicity.

5 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Interested

6 persons shall be permitted to give oral or writ7 ten statements regarding the matters on the

8 agenda at meetings.

9 ‘‘(D) MINUTES.—Minutes of each meeting

10 shall be kept and shall contain a record of the

11 persons present, an accurate description of all

12 proceedings and matters discussed and conclu13 sions reached, and copies of all statements filed.

14 ‘‘(E) PUBLIC INSPECTION OF RECORD.—

15 The administrative record, including minutes

16 required under subparagraph (D), of each meet17 ing, and records or other documents that were

18 made available to or prepared for or by the

19 Council incident to the meeting, shall be avail20 able for public inspection and copying at a sin21 gle location.

22 ‘‘(2) NEW INFORMATION.—At any time when

23 the Council determines it appropriate to consider

24 new information from a Federal, State, or local

25 agency or from a Council advisory body, the Council
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1 shall give full consideration to new information of2 fered at that time by interested members of the pub3 lic. Interested parties shall have a reasonable oppor4 tunity to respond to new data or information before

5 the Council takes final action on management meas6 ures.

7 ‘‘(j) COMPENSATION.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Council

9 who is not an officer or employee of the Federal gov10 ernment shall serve without pay when carrying out

11 duties pursuant to this Act.

12 ‘‘(2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from the

13 home or regular place of business of the member in

14 the performance of services for the Council, a mem15 ber of the Council shall be allowed travel expenses,

16 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the

17 same manner as persons employed intermittently in

18 Federal Government service are allowed expenses

19 under section 5703 of title 5, United States Code.

20 ‘‘(k) FUNDING.—Of amounts appropriated to the Na21 tional Park Service for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall

22 make available such amounts as the Council shall request,

23 not to exceed $150,000 for the fiscal year.
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1 ‘‘(l) TERMINATION OF COUNCIL.—The Council shall

2 terminate on the date that is 10 years after the date of

3 enactment of this subsection.

4 ‘‘SEC. 305. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

5 ‘‘(a) SCHEDULE.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years

7 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the

8 Council shall submit to the Secretary and the Gov9 ernor of Minnesota a comprehensive management

10 plan (referred to in this section as the ‘plan’) for the

11 park, to be developed and implemented by the re12 sponsible Federal agencies, the State of Minnesota,

13 and local political subdivisions.

14 ‘‘(2) PRELIMINARY REPORT.—Not later than 1

15 year after the date of the first meeting of the Coun16 cil, the Council shall submit a preliminary report to

17 the Secretary describing the process to be used to

18 develop the plan.

19 ‘‘(b) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In developing the plan, the

21 Council shall examine all relevant issues, including—

22 ‘‘(A) appropriate public access and rec23 reational use, including—

24 ‘‘(i) snowmobiling opportunities;

25 ‘‘(ii) campsites and trails;
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1 ‘‘(iii) the management policies of har2 vesting fish and wildlife;

3 ‘‘(iv) aircraft access throughout the

4 park;

5 ‘‘(v) policies affecting hiking, bicy6 cling, snowshoeing, skiing, current

7 watercraft opportunities, and other rec8 reational activities the Council considers

9 appropriate for the park; and

10 ‘‘(vi) visitation and services at the

11 Kettle Falls facilities;

12 ‘‘(B) the proper distribution of visitors in

13 the park;

14 ‘‘(C) a comprehensive visitor education

15 program; and

16 ‘‘(D) the need for wilderness management

17 for certain areas of the park.

18 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—In carrying out subpara19 graphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (1), the Coun20 cil shall—

21 ‘‘(A) be subject to relevant environmental

22 law;

23 ‘‘(B) consult on a regular basis with ap24 propriate officials of each international, Fed-
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1 eral, or State agency or local government that

2 has jurisdiction over land or water in the park;

3 ‘‘(C) consult with interested conservation,

4 sportsperson, business, professional, civic, and

5 citizen organizations; and

6 ‘‘(D) conduct public meetings at appro7 priate places to provide interested persons the

8 opportunity to comment on matters to be ad9 dressed by the plan.

10 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITED CONSIDERATIONS.—The

11 Council may not consider—

12 ‘‘(A) removing park designation; or

13 ‘‘(B) allowing mining, logging, or commer14 cial or residential development.

15 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—The Council shall report to the

16 International Joint Commission on water levels in

17 the Rainy Lake Watershed, pursuant to the Conven18 tion Providing for Emergency Regulation of the

19 Level of Rainy Lake and of Certain Other Boundary

20 Waters, signed at Ottawa September 15, 1938 (54

21 Stat. 1800).

22 ‘‘(c) APPROVAL OF PLAN.—

23 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION TO SECRETARY AND GOV24 ERNOR.—The Council shall submit the plan to the

25 Secretary and the Governor of Minnesota for review.
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1 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL BY SEC2 RETARY.—

3 ‘‘(A) REVIEW BY THE GOVERNOR.—The

4 Governor may comment on the plan not later

5 than 60 days after receipt of the plan from the

6 Council.

7 ‘‘(B) SECRETARY.—

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary

9 shall approve or disapprove the plan not

10 later than 90 days after receipt of the plan

11 from the Council.

12 ‘‘(ii) CRITERIA FOR REVIEW.—In re13 viewing the plan, the Secretary shall con14 sider—

15 ‘‘(I) the adequacy of public par16 ticipation;

17 ‘‘(II) assurances of plan imple18 mentation from State and local offi19 cials in Minnesota;

20 ‘‘(III) the adequacy of regulatory

21 and financial tools that are in place to

22 implement the plan;

23 ‘‘(IV) provisions of the plan for

24 continuing oversight by the Council of

25 implementation of the plan; and
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1 ‘‘(V) the consistency of the plan

2 with Federal law.

3 ‘‘(iii) NOTIFICATION OF DIS4 APPROVAL.—If the Secretary disapproves

5 the plan, the Secretary shall, not later

6 than 30 days after the date of disapproval,

7 notify the Council in writing of the reasons

8 for the disapproval and provide rec9 ommendations for revision of the plan.

10 ‘‘(C) REVISION AND RESUBMISSION.—Not

11 later than 60 days after receipt of a notice of

12 disapproval under subparagraph (B) or (D), the

13 Council shall revise and resubmit the plan to

14 the Secretary for review.

15 ‘‘(D) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF RE16 VISION.—The Secretary shall approve or dis17 approve a plan submitted under subparagraph

18 (C) not later than 30 days after receipt of the

19 plan from the Council.

20 ‘‘(d) REVIEW AND MODIFICATION OF IMPLEMENTA21 TION OF PLAN.—The Council—

22 ‘‘(1) shall review and monitor the implementa23 tion of the plan; and

24 ‘‘(2) may, after providing for public comment

25 and after approval by the Secretary, modify the
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1 plan, if the Council and the Secretary determine

2 that the modification is necessary to carry out this

3 Act.

4 ‘‘(e) INTERIM PROGRAM.—Before the approval of the

5 plan, the Council shall advise and cooperate with appro6 priate Federal, State, local, and tribal governmental enti7 ties to minimize adverse impacts on the park.

8 ‘‘(f) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE REGULATIONS.—Dur9 ing the period beginning on the date of enactment of this

10 subsection and ending on the date a management plan is

11 approved by the Secretary under subsection (c)(2), the

12 Secretary may not issue any regulation that relates to the

13 park, except for—

14 ‘‘(1) regulations required for routine business,

15 such as maintenance, visitor education, and law en16 forcement; and

17 ‘‘(2) emergency regulations.

18 ‘‘(g) STATE AND LOCAL JURISDICTION.—Nothing in

19 this Act diminishes, enlarges, or modifies any right of the

20 State of Minnesota or any political subdivision of the State

21 to—

22 ‘‘(1) exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction;

23 ‘‘(2) carry out State fish and wildlife laws in

24 the park; or
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1 ‘‘(3) tax persons, corporations, franchises, or

2 private property on land and water included in the

3 park.’’.

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