I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1584

To provide for the further conservation of certain unique and nationally

significant river segments in the State of West Virginia.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 1, 1993

Mr. RAHALL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To provide for the further conservation of certain unique

and nationally significant river segments in the State

of West Virginia.

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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘West Virginia Rivers Conservation Act of 1993’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.

TITLE I—BOUNDARY MODIFICATIONS

Sec. 101. New River Gorge National River.

Sec. 102. Gauley River National Recreation Area.

Sec. 103. Bluestone National Scenic River.
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TITLE II—UPPER NEW NATIONAL WILD AND SCENIC RIVER

Sec. 201. Designation of upper New River, West Virginia.

TITLE III—ELK RIVER

Sec. 301. Designation of Elk River as a study river.

TITLE IV—GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 401. Consolidated management.

Sec. 402. Miscellaneous amendments.

Sec. 403. Gauley access.

Sec. 404. Visitor center.

Sec. 405. Extension.

1 TITLE I—BOUNDARY

2 MODIFICATIONS

3 SEC. 101. NEW RIVER GORGE NATIONAL RIVER.

4 Section 1101 of the National Parks and Recreation

5 Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 460m–15) is amended by striking

6 out ‘‘NERI–80,023, dated January 1987’’ and inserting

7 ‘‘NERI–80,028, dated January 1993’’.

8 SEC. 102. GAULEY RIVER NATIONAL RECREATION AREA.

9 Section 201(b) of the West Virginia National Interest

10 River Conservation Act of 1987 (16 U.S.C. 460ww(b)) is

11 amended by striking out ‘‘NRA-GR/20,000A and dated

12 July 1987’’ and inserting ‘‘GARI-80,001 and dated Janu13 ary 1993’’.

14 SEC. 103. BLUESTONE NATIONAL SCENIC RIVER.

15 Section 3(a)(65) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

16 (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)(65)) is amended by striking out

17 ‘‘WSR–BLU/20,000, and dated January 1987’’ and in18 serting ‘‘BLUE-80,004, and dated January 1993’’.
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1 TITLE II—UPPER NEW NATIONAL

2 WILD AND SCENIC RIVER

3 SEC. 201. DESIGNATION OF UPPER NEW RIVER, WEST VIR4 GINIA.

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

6 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding the following new

7 paragraph at the end:

8 ‘‘( ) UPPER NEW RIVER, WEST VIRGINIA.—(A) The

9 segment in Summers County, West Virginia, from the

10 West Virginia-Virginia State line downstream for approxi11 mately 14.5 miles as depicted on the boundary map enti12 tled ‘Upper New Wild and Scenic River’, numbered UPNE

13 80,000 and dated January 1993; to be administered by

14 the Secretary of the Interior as a wild and scenic river.

15 ‘‘(B) The acreage limitation set forth in subsection

16 (b) shall not apply to the segment designated under this

17 paragraph. Nothing in this Act shall preclude the improve18 ment of any existing road or right-of-way within the

19 boundaries of the segment designated under this para20 graph.

21 ‘‘(C) Jurisdiction over all lands and improvements on

22 such lands owned by the United States within the bound23 aries of the segment designated under this paragraph is

24 hereby transferred without reimbursement to the adminis25 trative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior, subject
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1 to leases in effect on the date of enactment of this para2 graph (or renewed thereafter) between the United States

3 and the State of West Virginia with respect to the

4 Bluestone Wildlife Management Area.

5 ‘‘(D) Nothing in this Act shall affect the management

6 by the State of West Virginia of hunting and fishing with7 in the segment designated under this paragraph. Nothing

8 in this Act shall affect or impair the management by the

9 State of West Virginia of other wildlife activities in the

10 Bluestone Wildlife Management Area to the extent per11 mitted in the lease agreement as in effect on the date of

12 enactment of this paragraph, and such management may

13 be continued pursuant to renewal of such lease agreement.

14 If requested to do so by the State of West Virginia, the

15 Secretary may terminate or modify such leases and as16 sume administrative authority over all or part of the areas

17 concerned.

18 ‘‘(E) Nothing in the designation of the segment re19 ferred to in this paragraph shall affect or impair the man20 agement of the Bluestone project or the authority of any

21 department, agency, or instrumentality of the United

22 States to carry out the project purposes of that project.’’.
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1 TITLE III—ELK RIVER

2 SEC. 301. DESIGNATION OF ELK RIVER AS A STUDY RIVER.

3 The Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a study

4 of the segment of the Elk River, West Virginia, from

5 Slatyfork in Pocahontas County, to Centralia in Braxton

6 County, to determine its eligibility and suitability as ei7 ther—

8 (1) a component of the national wild and scenic

9 rivers system,

10 (2) a unit of the National Park System as a na11 tional river, or

12 (3) a unit of the National Park System as a na13 tional recreation area.

14 The Secretary shall submit a report containing the results

15 of such study to the Committee on Natural Resources of

16 the United States House of Representatives and to the

17 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Unit18 ed States Senate within 3 years after the enactment of

19 this Act. Nothing in this section shall affect or impair the

20 management of the Sutton project or the authority of any

21 department, agency, or instrumentality of the United

22 States to carry out the project purposes of that project

23 as of the date of enactment of this section.
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1 TITLE IV—GENERAL

2 PROVISIONS

3 SEC. 401. CONSOLIDATED MANAGEMENT.

4 In order to achieve the maximum economy and effi5 ciency of operations in the administration of the segment

6 of the New River designated pursuant to title II, the Sec7 retary of the Interior shall consolidate offices and person8 nel administering such segment with offices and personnel

9 administering the New River Gorge National River, the

10 Gauley River National Recreation Area, and the Bluestone

11 National Scenic River to the extent practicable, and shall

12 utilize facilities of the New River Gorge National River

13 to the extent practicable.

14 SEC. 402. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

15 Title XI of the National Parks and Recreation Act

16 of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 460m–15 and following) is amended

17 by adding the following new section at the end thereof:

18 ‘‘SEC. 1117. APPLICABLE PROVISIONS OF OTHER LAW.

19 ‘‘(a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The provisions

20 of section 202(e)(1) of the West Virginia National Interest

21 River Conservation Act of 1987 (16 U.S.C. 460ww–

22 1(e)(1)) shall apply to the New River Gorge National

23 River in the same manner and to the same extent as such

24 provisions apply to the Gauley River National Recreation

25 Area.
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1 ‘‘(b) REMNANT LANDS.—The provisions of the sec2 ond sentence of section 203(a) of the West Virginia Na3 tional Interest River Conservation Act of 1987 (16 U.S.C.

4 460ww–2(a)) shall apply to tracts of land partially within

5 the boundaries of the New River Gorge National River in

6 the same manner and to the same extent as such provi7 sions apply to tracts of land only partially within the

8 Gauley River National Recreation Area.’’.

9 SEC. 403. GAULEY ACCESS.

10 Section 202(e) of the West Virginia National Interest

11 River Conservation Act of 1987 (16 U.S.C. 460ww–1(e))

12 is amended by adding the following new paragraph at the

13 end thereof:

14 ‘‘(4) ACCESS TO RIVER.—(A) In order to facilitate

15 public safety, use, and enjoyment of the recreation area,

16 and to protect, to the maximum extent feasible, the scenic

17 and natural resources of the area, the Secretary is author18 ized and directed to acquire such lands or interests in

19 lands and to take such actions as are necessary to provide

20 access by noncommercial entities on the north side of the

21 Gauley River at the area known as Woods Ferry utilizing

22 existing roads and rights-of-way. Such actions by the Sec23 retary shall include the construction of parking and relat24 ed facilities in the vicinity of Woods Ferry for noncommer25 cial use on lands acquired pursuant to paragraph (3) or
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1 on lands acquired with the consent of the owner thereof

2 within the boundaries of the recreation area.

3 ‘‘(B) If necessary, in the discretion of the Secretary,

4 in order to minimize environmental impacts, including vis5 ual impacts, within portions of the recreation area imme6 diately adjacent to the river, the Secretary may, by con7 tract or otherwise, provide transportation services for non8 commercial visitors, at reasonable cost, between such

9 parking facilities and the river.

10 ‘‘(C) Nothing in subparagraph (A) shall affect the

11 rights of any person to continue to utilize, pursuant to

12 a lease in effect on April 1, 1993, any right of way ac13 quired pursuant to such lease which authorizes such per14 son to use an existing road referred to in subparagraph

15 (A). Except as provided under paragraph (2) relating to

16 access immediately downstream of the Summersville

17 project, until there is compliance with this paragraph the

18 Secretary is prohibited from acquiring or developing any

19 other river access points within the recreation area.’’.

20 SEC. 404. VISITOR CENTER.

21 The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and di22 rected to construct a visitor center and such other related

23 facilities as may be deemed necessary to facilitate visitor

24 understanding and enjoyment of the New River Gorge Na25 tional River and the Gauley River National Recreation
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1 Area in the vicinity of the confluence of the New and

2 Gauley Rivers at Gauley Bridge, West Virginia. Such cen3 ter and related facilities are authorized to be constructed

4 at a site outside of the boundary of the New River Gorge

5 National River or the Gauley River National Recreation

6 Area unless a suitable site is available within the bound7 aries of either unit.

8 SEC. 405. EXTENSION.

9 For a 5-year period following the date of enactment

10 of this Act, the provisions of the Wild and Scenic Rivers

11 Act applicable to river segments designated for study for

12 potential addition to the wild and scenic rivers system

13 under section 5(b) of that Act shall apply to those seg14 ments of the Bluestone and Meadow Rivers which were

15 found eligible in the studies completed by the National

16 Park Service in August 1983 but which were not des17 ignated by the West Virginia National Interest River Con18 servation Act of 1987 as part of the Bluestone National

19 Scenic River or as part of the Gauley River National

20 Recreation Area, as the case may be.

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