I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1535 

To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain segments 

of the Farmington River and Salmon Brook in the State of Connecticut 

as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 15, 2017 

Ms. ESTY (for herself and Mr. LARSON of Connecticut) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate 

certain segments of the Farmington River and Salmon 

Brook in the State of Connecticut as components of 

the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, 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 ‘‘Lower Farmington 

5 River and Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic River Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1535 IH

1 (1) the Lower Farmington River and Salmon 

2 Brook Wild and Scenic River Study Act of 2005 

3 (Public Law 109–370) authorized the study of the 

4 Farmington River downstream from the segment 

5 designated as a recreational river by section 

6 3(a)(156) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 

7 U.S.C. 1274(a)(156)) to its confluence with the 

8 Connecticut River, and the segment of the Salmon 

9 Brook including its main stem and east and west 

10 branches for potential inclusion in the National Wild 

11 and Scenic Rivers System; 

12 (2) the studied segments of the Lower Farm13 ington River and Salmon Brook support natural, 

14 cultural, and recreational resources of exceptional 

15 significance to the citizens of Connecticut and the 

16 Nation; 

17 (3) concurrently with the preparation of the 

18 study, the Lower Farmington River and Salmon 

19 Brook Wild and Scenic Study Committee prepared 

20 the Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook 

21 Management Plan, June 2011, that establishes ob22 jectives, standards, and action programs that will 

23 ensure the long-term protection of the outstanding 

24 values of the river segments without Federal manVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Mar 20, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1535.IH H1535

sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1535 IH

1 agement of affected lands not owned by the United 

2 States; 

3 (4) the Lower Farmington River and Salmon 

4 Brook Wild and Scenic Study Committee has voted 

5 in favor of Wild and Scenic River designation for the 

6 river segments, and has included this recommenda7 tion as an integral part of the management plan; 

8 (5) there is strong local support for the protec9 tion of the Lower Farmington River and Salmon 

10 Brook, including votes of support for Wild and Sce11 nic designation from the governing bodies of all ten 

12 communities abutting the study area; 

13 (6) the State of Connecticut General Assembly 

14 has endorsed the designation of the Lower Farm15 ington River and Salmon Brook as components of 

16 the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System (Public 

17 Act 08–37); and 

18 (7) the Rainbow Dam and Reservoir are located 

19 entirely outside of the river segments designated by 

20 the amendment made in section 3, and, based on the 

21 findings of the study of the Lower Farmington River 

22 pursuant to Public Law 109–370, this hydroelectric 

23 project (including all aspects of its facilities, oper24 ations and transmission lines) is compatible with 

25 such designation. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1535 IH

1 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION. 

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

3 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(213) LOWER FARMINGTON RIVER AND SALM6 ON BROOK, CONNECTICUT.—Segments of the main 

7 stem and its tributary, Salmon Brook, totaling ap8 proximately 62 miles, to be administered by the Sec9 retary of the Interior as follows: 

10 ‘‘(A) The approximately 27.2-mile segment 

11 of the Farmington River beginning 0.2 miles 

12 below the tailrace of the Lower Collinsville Dam 

13 and extending to the site of the Spoonville Dam 

14 in Bloomfield and East Granby as a rec15 reational river. 

16 ‘‘(B) The approximately 8.1-mile segment 

17 of the Farmington River extending from 0.5 

18 miles below the Rainbow Dam to the confluence 

19 with the Connecticut River in Windsor as a rec20 reational river. 

21 ‘‘(C) The approximately 2.4-mile segment 

22 of the main stem of Salmon Brook extending 

23 from the confluence of the East and West 

24 Branches to the confluence with the Farm25 ington River as a recreational river. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1535 IH

1 ‘‘(D) The approximately 12.6-mile segment 

2 of the West Branch of Salmon Brook extending 

3 from its headwaters in Hartland, Connecticut, 

4 to its confluence with the East Branch of Salm5 on Brook as a recreational river. 

6 ‘‘(E) The approximately 11.4-mile segment 

7 of the East Branch of Salmon Brook extending 

8 from the Massachusetts-Connecticut State line 

9 to the confluence with the West Branch of 

10 Salmon Brook as a recreational river.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Lower Farmington River and 

13 Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic Committee, in coordina14 tion with the Secretary, shall lead and coordinate imple15 mentation of the management plan for the river segments 

16 designated by the amendment made in section 3 in accord17 ance with such amendments to the management plan as 

18 the Secretary determines are consistent with this Act. The 

19 management plan shall be deemed to satisfy the require20 ments for a comprehensive management plan pursuant to 

21 section 3(d) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 

22 1274(d)). 

23 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

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

25 long-term protection, preservation, and enhancement 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1535 IH

1 of the river segments designated by the amendment 

2 made in section 3 of this Act, the Secretary is au3 thorized to enter into cooperative agreements pursu4 ant to sections 10(e) and 11(b)(1) of the Wild and 

5 Scenic Rivers Act with— 

6 (A) the State of Connecticut; 

7 (B) the towns of Avon, Bloomfield, Bur8 lington, East Granby, Farmington, Granby, 

9 Hartland, Simsbury, and Windsor in Con10 necticut; and 

11 (C) appropriate local planning and environ12 mental organizations. 

13 (2) CONSISTENCY.—All cooperative agreements 

14 provided for under this Act shall be consistent with 

15 the management plan and may include provisions for 

16 financial or other assistance from the United States. 

17 (c) LAND MANAGEMENT.— 

18 (1) ZONING ORDINANCES.—For the purposes of 

19 the river segments designated by the amendment 

20 made in section 3, the zoning ordinances adopted by 

21 the towns in Avon, Bloomfield, Burlington, East 

22 Granby, Farmington, Granby, Hartland, Simsbury, 

23 and Windsor in Connecticut, including provisions for 

24 conservation of floodplains, wetlands and water25 courses associated with the segments, shall be 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1535 IH

1 deemed to satisfy the standards and requirements of 

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

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

4 (2) ACQUISITION OF LAND.—The provisions of 

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

6 U.S.C. 1277(c)) that prohibit Federal acquisition of 

7 lands by condemnation shall apply to the river seg8 ments designated by the amendment made in section 

9 3 of this Act. The authority of the Secretary to ac10 quire lands and permanent structures for the pur11 poses of the river segments designated by the 

12 amendment made in section 3 of this Act shall be 

13 limited to acquisition by donation or acquisition with 

14 the consent of the owner of the lands, and shall be 

15 subject to the additional criteria set forth in the 

16 management plan. 

17 (d) RAINBOW DAM.—The designation made by the 

18 amendment in section 3 shall not be construed to— 

19 (1) prohibit, pre-empt, or abridge the potential 

20 future licensing of the Rainbow Dam and Reservoir 

21 (including any and all aspects of its facilities, oper22 ations and transmission lines) by the Federal En23 ergy Regulatory Commission as a federally licensed 

24 hydroelectric generation project under the Federal 

25 Power Act; or 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 1535 IH

1 (2) affect the operation of, or impose any flow 

2 or release requirements on, the unlicensed hydro3 electric facility at Rainbow Dam and Reservoir. 

4 (e) RELATION TO NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.—Not5 withstanding section 10(c) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers 

6 Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(c)), the Lower Farmington River 

7 shall not be administered as part of the National Park 

8 System or be subject to regulations which govern the Na9 tional Park System. 

10 (f) PROTECTION AFFORDED BY WILD AND SCENIC

11 RIVER DESIGNATION.—The National Park Service may 

12 not administratively change the extent of the protection 

13 afforded to the river segments designated by the amend14 ment made in section 3. 

15 SEC. 5. FARMINGTON RIVER, CONNECTICUT, DESIGNATION 

16 REVISION. 

17 Section 3(a)(156) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 

18 (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended in the first sentence— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘14-mile’’ and inserting ‘‘15.1- 

20 mile’’; and 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘to the downstream end of the 

22 New Hartford-Canton, Connecticut town line’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘to the confluence with the Nepaug River’’. 

24 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

25 For the purposes of this Act: 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 1535 IH

1 (1) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage2 ment plan’’ means the management plan referred to 

3 in section 2(3). 

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

5 the Secretary of the Interior. 

Æ 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS