II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1738

To provide for improved access to and use of the Boundary Waters Canoe

Area Wilderness, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 8, 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 improved access to and use of the Boundary

Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, 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 ‘‘Boundary Waters

5 Canoe Area Wilderness Accessibility and Partnership Act

6 of 1996’’.

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

8 Congress finds that—

9 (1) the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilder10 ness, located amidst the scenic splendor of the Min-
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1 nesota-Ontario border, is and always will be a

2 unique lakeland-based Federal wilderness unit that

3 serves as 1 of the Nation’s great natural ecosystems;

4 (2) the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilder5 ness is a special wilderness area dedicated to appro6 priate public access and use through recognized mo7 torized and nonmotorized recreational activities

8 under protections and commitments in the Wilder9 ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and Public Law

10 95–495 (92 Stat. 1649);

11 (3) intergovernmental cooperation that respects

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

13 governments in land management decisionmaking

14 processes is essential to optimize the preservation

15 and development of social, historical, cultural, and

16 recreational resources; and

17 (4) the national interest is served by—

18 (A) improving the management and protec19 tion of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wil20 derness;

21 (B) allowing Federal, State, local, and

22 tribal governments to engage in an innovative

23 management partnership in Federal land man24 agement decisionmaking processes; and
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1 (C) ensuring adequate public access, enjoy2 ment, and use of the Boundary Waters Canoe

3 Area Wilderness through nonmotorized and lim4 ited motorized means.

5 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT CHANGES.

6 (a) USE OF MOTORBOATS.—

7 (1) LAC LA CROIX.—Section 4(c)(1) of Public

8 Law 95–495 (92 Stat. 1650; 16 U.S.C. 1132 note)

9 is amended by inserting ‘‘Lac La Croix, Saint Louis

10 County;’’ after ‘‘Saint Louis County;’’.

11 (2) BASSWOOD, BIRCH, AND SAGANAGA

12 LAKES.—Section 4(c) of Public Law 95–495 (92

13 Stat. 1650; 16 U.S.C. 1132 note) is amended—

14 (A) in paragraph (1)—

15 (i) by striking ‘‘except that portion

16 generally’’ and all that follows through

17 ‘‘Washington Island’’ and inserting ‘‘Lake

18 County; Birch, Lake County’’; and

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘, except for that por20 tion west of American Point’’; and

21 (B) by striking paragraph (4).

22 (3) SEA GULL LAKE.—Section 4(c) of Public

23 Law 95–495 (92 Stat. 1650; 16 U.S.C. 1132 note)

24 is amended—
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1 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘that

2 portion generally east of Threemile Island,’’;

3 and

4 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘Sea

5 Gull, Cook County, that portion generally west

6 of Threemile Island, until January 1, 1999;’’.

7 (b) DEFINITION OF GUEST.—The second proviso of

8 section 4(f) of Public Law 95–495 (92 Stat. 1651; 16

9 U.S.C. 1132 note) is amended—

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘day and overnight’’ after

11 ‘‘lake homeowners and their’’;

12 (2) by inserting ‘‘who buy or rent goods and

13 services’’ after ‘‘resort owners and their guests’’; and

14 (3) by inserting ‘‘or chain of lakes’’ after ‘‘shall

15 have access to that particular lake’’.

16 (c) MOTORIZED PORTAGES.—Section 4 of Public

17 Law 95–495 (92 Stat. 1651; 16 U.S.C. 1132 note) is

18 amended by striking subsection (g) and inserting the fol19 lowing:

20 ‘‘(g) MOTORIZED PORTAGES.—Nothing in this Act

21 shall prevent the operation of motorized vehicles and asso22 ciated equipment to assist in the transport of a boat across

23 the portages from the Moose Lake chain to Basswood

24 Lake, from Fall Lake to Basswood Lake, and from Lake

25 Vermilion to Trout Lake.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT COUNCIL.

2 Section 4 of Public Law 95–495 (92 Stat. 1650; 16

3 U.S.C. 1132 note) is amended by adding at the end the

4 following:

5 ‘‘(j) PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT COUNCIL.—

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established

7 the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Inter8 governmental Council (referred to in this Act as the

9 ‘Council’).

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

11 shall develop and monitor a comprehensive manage12 ment plan for the wilderness in accordance with sec13 tion 20.

14 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Council shall be com15 posed of 11 members, appointed by the Secretary, of

16 whom—

17 ‘‘(A) 1 member shall be the Under Sec18 retary for Natural Resources and Environment

19 of the Department of Agriculture, or a des20 ignee;

21 ‘‘(B) 3 members shall be appointed, from

22 recommendations by the Governor of Min23 nesota, to represent the Department of Natural

24 Resources, the Office of Tourism, and the Envi25 ronmental Quality Board, of the State of Min26 nesota;
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1 ‘‘(C) 1 member shall be a commissioner

2 from each of the counties of Lake, Cook, and

3 Saint Louis from recommendations by each of

4 the county board of commissioners;

5 ‘‘(D) 1 member shall be an elected official

6 from the Northern Counties Land-Use Coordi7 nating Board from recommendations by the

8 Board;

9 ‘‘(E) 1 member shall be the State senator

10 who represents the legislative district that con11 tains a portion of the wilderness;

12 ‘‘(F) 1 member shall be the State rep13 resentative who represents the legislative dis14 trict that contains a portion of the wilderness;

15 and

16 ‘‘(G) 1 member shall be an elected official

17 of the Native American community to represent

18 the 1854 Treaty Authority, from recommenda19 tions of the Authority.

20 ‘‘(4) ADVISORY COUNCILS.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Council may es22 tablish 1 or more advisory councils for consulta23 tion, including councils consisting of members

24 of conservation, sportsperson, business, profes25 sional, civic, and citizen organizations.
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1 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—An advisory council es2 tablished under subparagraph (A) may not re3 ceive any amounts made available to carry out

4 this Act.

5 ‘‘(5) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of

6 the Council shall constitute a quorum.

7 ‘‘(6) CHAIRPERSON.—

8 ‘‘(A) ELECTION.—The members of the

9 Council shall elect a chairperson of the Council

10 from among the members of the Council.

11 ‘‘(B) TERMS.—The chairperson shall serve

12 not more than 2 terms of 2 years each.

13 ‘‘(7) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet at

14 the call of the chairperson or a majority of the mem15 bers of the Council.

16 ‘‘(8) STAFF AND SERVICES.—

17 ‘‘(A) STAFF OF THE COUNCIL.—The Coun18 cil may appoint and fix the compensation of

19 such staff as the Council considers necessary to

20 carry out this Act.

21 ‘‘(B) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY

22 SERVICES.—The Council may procure tem23 porary and intermittent services under section

24 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code.
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1 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERV2 ICES.—The Administrator of General Services

3 shall provide to the Council, on a reimbursable

4 basis, such administrative support services as

5 the Council requests.

6 ‘‘(D) PROVISION BY THE SECRETARY.—On

7 a request by the Council, the Secretary shall

8 provide personnel, information, and services to

9 the Council to carry out this Act.

10 ‘‘(E) PROVISION BY OTHER FEDERAL DE11 PARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—A Federal agency

12 shall provide to the Council, on a reimbursable

13 basis, such information and services as the

14 Council requests.

15 ‘‘(F) PROVISION BY THE GOVERNOR.—The

16 Governor of Minnesota may provide to the

17 Council, on a reimbursable basis, such person18 nel and information as the Council may request.

19 ‘‘(G) SUBPOENAS.—The Council may not

20 issue a subpoena nor exercise any subpoena au21 thority.

22 ‘‘(9) PROCEDURAL MATTERS.—

23 ‘‘(A) GUIDELINES FOR CONDUCT OF BUSI24 NESS.—The following guidelines apply with re-
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1 spect to the conduct of business at meetings of

2 the Council:

3 ‘‘(i) OPEN MEETINGS.—Each meeting

4 shall be open to the public.

5 ‘‘(ii) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Timely public

6 notice of each meeting, including the time,

7 place, and agenda of the meeting, shall be

8 published in local newspapers and such no9 tice may be given by such other means as

10 will result in wide publicity.

11 ‘‘(iii) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Inter12 ested persons shall be permitted to give

13 oral or written statements regarding the

14 matters on the agenda at meetings.

15 ‘‘(iv) MINUTES.—Minutes of each

16 meeting shall be kept and shall contain a

17 record of the persons present, an accurate

18 description of all proceedings and matters

19 discussed and conclusions reached, and

20 copies of all statements filed.

21 ‘‘(v) PUBLIC INSPECTION OF

22 RECORD.—The administrative record, in23 cluding minutes required under clause (iv),

24 of each meeting, and records or other doc25 uments that were made available to or pre-
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1 pared for or by the Council incident to the

2 meeting, shall be available for public in3 spection and copying at a single location.

4 ‘‘(B) NEW INFORMATION.—At any time

5 when the Council determines it appropriate to

6 consider new information from a Federal or

7 State agency or from a Council advisory body,

8 the Council shall give full consideration to new

9 information offered at that time by interested

10 members of the public. Interested parties shall

11 have a reasonable opportunity to respond to

12 new data or information before the Council

13 takes final action on management measures.

14 ‘‘(10) COMPENSATION.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the

16 Council who is not an officer or employee of the

17 Federal government shall serve without pay.

18 ‘‘(B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away

19 from the home or regular place of business of

20 the member in the performance of services for

21 the Council, a member of the Council shall be

22 allowed travel expenses, including per diem in

23 lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as per24 sons employed intermittently in Federal Gov-
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1 ernment service are allowed expenses under sec2 tion 5703 of title 5, United States Code.

3 ‘‘(11) FUNDING.—Of amounts appropriated to

4 the Forest Service for a fiscal year, the Secretary

5 shall make available such amounts as the Council

6 shall request, not to exceed $150,000 for the fiscal

7 year.

8 ‘‘(12) TERMINATION OF COUNCIL.—The Coun9 cil shall terminate on the date that is 10 years after

10 the date of enactment of this subsection.’’.

11 SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

12 Section 20 of Public Law 95–495 (92 Stat. 1659; 16

13 U.S.C. 1132 note) is amended to read as follows:

14 ‘‘SEC. 20. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

15 ‘‘(a) SCHEDULE.—

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

17 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the

18 Council shall submit to the Secretary and the Gov19 ernor of Minnesota a comprehensive management

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

21 Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, to be de22 veloped and implemented by the responsible Federal

23 agencies, the State of Minnesota, and local political

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

2 year after the date of the first meeting of the Coun3 cil, the Council shall submit a preliminary report to

4 the Secretary describing the process to be used to

5 develop the plan.

6 ‘‘(b) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.—

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

8 Council shall examine all relevant issues, including—

9 ‘‘(A) year-round visitation consistent with

10 the use levels established under this Act, includ11 ing—

12 ‘‘(i) reform and simplification of the

13 current day use and overnight use permit

14 system;

15 ‘‘(ii) resolving discrepancies between

16 actual permit use and absences; and

17 ‘‘(iii) defining the need for special per18 mit policies for commercial uses;

19 ‘‘(B) the appropriate distribution of visi20 tors in the wilderness; and

21 ‘‘(C) a comprehensive visitor education

22 program.

23 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—In carrying out subpara24 graphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (1), the Coun25 cil shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) be subject to relevant environmental

2 law;

3 ‘‘(B) consult on a regular basis with ap4 propriate officials of each Federal or State

5 agency or local government that has jurisdiction

6 over land or water in the wilderness;

7 ‘‘(C) consult with interested conservation,

8 sportsperson, business, professional, civic, and

9 citizen organizations; and

10 ‘‘(D) conduct public meetings at appro11 priate places to provide interested persons the

12 opportunity to comment on matters to be ad13 dressed by the plan.

14 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITED CONSIDERATIONS.—The

15 Council may not consider—

16 ‘‘(A) removing wilderness designation;

17 ‘‘(B) allowing mining, logging, or commer18 cial or residential development; or

19 ‘‘(C) allowing new types of motorized uses

20 in the wilderness, except as provided in this

21 Act.

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 THE 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 values described

8 in section 2.

9 ‘‘(f) FOREST SERVICE REGULATIONS.—During the

10 period beginning on the date of enactment of this sub11 section and ending on the date a management plan is ap12 proved by the Secretary under subsection (c)(2), the Sec13 retary may not issue any regulation that relates to the

14 Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, except for—

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

16 such as issuing permits, visitor education, mainte17 nance, and law enforcement; and

18 ‘‘(2) emergency regulations.

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

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

21 State of Minnesota or any political subdivision of the State

22 to—

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

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

25 the wilderness; or
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1 ‘‘(3) tax persons, corporations, franchises, or

2 private property on land and water included in the

3 wilderness.’’.

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