II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1380

To designate portions of the Maurice River and its tributaries in the State

of New Jersey as components of the national wild and scenic rivers system.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 5 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993

Mr. BRADLEY (for himself and Mr. LAUTENBERG) introduced the following

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and

Natural Resources

A BILL

To designate portions of the Maurice River and its tributaries in the State of New Jersey 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,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

5 (1) the Maurice River and its tributaries,

6 Menantico Creek, the Manumuskin River, and

7 Muskee Creek, are eligible for inclusion into the na8 tional wild and scenic rivers system;
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1 (2) a resource assessment of the Maurice River

2 and its tributaries, Menantico Creek, the

3 Manumuskin River, and the Muskee Creek shows

4 that the area possesses numerous remarkable natu5 ral, cultural, scenic, and recreational resources that

6 are significant at the local, regional, and inter7 national levels, including rare plant and animal spe8 cies and critical habitats for birds migrating to and

9 from the northern and southern hemispheres;

10 (3) a river management plan for the river sys11 tem has been developed by the Cumberland County

12 Department of Planning and Development and

13 adopted by the Maurice River Township, Commer14 cial Township, and the City of Millville that meets

15 the requirements of section 6(c) of the Wild and

16 Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1277(c));

17 (4) the city of Vineland has adopted a master

18 plan that calls for river planning and management,

19 and is in the process of adopting zoning ordinances

20 to implement its plan; and

21 (5) Buena Vista Township in Atlantic County

22 has adopted a land use plan consistent with the

23 Pinelands Comprehensive Plan which is more re24 strictive than the Cumberland County local river

25 management plan.
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1 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

2 (1) to declare the importance and irreplaceable

3 resource value of the Maurice River and its tribu4 taries to water quality, human health, traditional

5 economic activities, ecosystem integrity, biotic diver6 sity, fish and wildlife, scenic open space and recre7 ation;

8 (2) to protect such values through the designa9 tion of the segments as components of the national

10 wild and scenic rivers system;

11 (3) to recognize that the Maurice River System

12 will continue to be threatened by major development,

13 and that land use regulations of the individual local

14 political jurisdictions through which the river seg15 ments pass cannot alone provide for an adequate

16 balance between conservation of the resources of the

17 river and commercial and industrial development;

18 and

19 (4) to recognize that segments of the Maurice

20 River and its tributaries other than to those des21 ignated under this Act are eligible for potential des22 ignation at some point in the near future.
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1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(a) of the Wild and Sce3 nic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding

4 at the end the following new paragraphs:

5 ‘‘( ) MAURICE RIVER, MIDDLE SEGMENT.—From

6 Route 670 Bridge at Mauricetown to 3.6 miles upstream

7 (at drainage ditch just upstream of Fralinger Farm), ap8 proximately 3.8 miles, to be administered by the Secretary

9 of the Interior as a scenic river.

10 ‘‘( ) MAURICE RIVER, MIDDLE SEGMENT.—From

11 the drainage ditch just upstream of Fralinger Farm to

1 12 ⁄2 mile upstream from the United States Geological Sur13 vey Station at Burcham Farm, approximately 3.1 miles,

14 to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior as a

15 recreational river.

‘‘( ) MAURICE RIVER, UPPER SEGMENT.—From 1 16 ⁄2

17 mile upstream from the United States Geological Survey

18 Station at Burcham Farm to the south side of the Millville

19 sewage treatment plant, approximately 3.6 miles, to be ad20 ministered by the Secretary of the Interior as a scenic

21 river.

22 ‘‘( ) MENANTICO CREEK, LOWER SEGMENT.—

23 From its confluence with the Maurice River to the Route

24 55 Bridge, approximately 1.4 miles, to be administered by

25 the Secretary of the Interior as a recreational river.
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1 ‘‘( ) MENANTICO CREEK, UPPER SEGMENT.—From

2 the Route 55 Bridge to the base of the impoundment at

3 Menantico Lake, approximately 6.5 miles, to be adminis4 tered by the Secretary of the Interior as a scenic river.

5 ‘‘( ) MANUMUSKIN RIVER, LOWER SEGMENT.—

6 From its confluence with the Maurice River to a point 2

7 miles upstream, to be administered by the Secretary of

8 the Interior as a recreational river.

9 ‘‘( ) MANUMUSKIN RIVER, UPPER SEGMENT.—

10 From a point 2 miles upstream from its confluence with

11 the Maurice River to its headwaters near Route 557, ap12 proximately 12.3 miles, to be administered by the Sec13 retary of the Interior as a scenic river.

14 ‘‘( ) MUSKEE CREEK, NEW JERSEY.—From its

15 confluence with the Maurice River to the Pennsylvania

16 Seashore Line Railroad Bridge, approximately 2.7 miles,

17 to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior as a

18 scenic river.’’.

19 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT.

20 (a) DUTIES OF SECRETARY.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

22 the Secretary of the Interior shall manage the river

23 segments designated as components of the national

24 wild and scenic rivers system by the amendments

25 made by section 2 this Act through cooperative
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1 agreements with the political jurisdictions within

2 which the segments pass, pursuant to section 10(e)

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

4 1281(e)), and in consultation with such jurisdictions.

5 (2) PUBLICLY OWNED LANDS.—Publicly owned

6 lands within the boundaries of the segments referred

7 to in paragraph (1) shall be managed by the agency

8 having jurisdiction over such lands on the date of

9 enactment of this Act.

10 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—

11 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—Cooperative agreements

12 for the management of the river segments referred

13 to in subsection (a) shall—

14 (A) provide for the long-term protection,

15 preservation, and enhancement of such seg16 ments;

17 (B) be consistent with the comprehensive

18 management plan for such segments to be pre19 pared by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant

20 to section 3(d) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers

21 Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(d)); and

22 (C) be consistent with the local river man23 agement plans prepared by appropriate local

24 political jurisdictions in conjunction with the

25 Secretary of the Interior.
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1 (2) DESIGNATION OF ZONING ORDINANCES.—

2 (A) REVIEW.—The Secretary of the Inte3 rior, in consultation with appropriate represent4 atives of local political jurisdictions and the

5 State of New Jersey, shall review the local river

6 management plans described in paragraph (1)

7 to ensure that the proper implementation of the

8 plans will protect the values for which the river

9 segments described in the amendments made by

10 section 2 were designated as components of the

11 national wild and scenic rivers system.

12 (B) ESTABLISHMENT OF ZONING ORDI13 NANCES.—If, after the review required by sub14 paragraph (A), the Secretary determines that

15 the plans and their implementing local zoning

16 ordinances meet the protection standards speci17 fied in section 6(c) of the Wild and Scenic Riv18 ers Act (16 U.S.C. 1277(c)), the plans shall be

19 deemed to constitute ‘‘local zoning ordinances’’

20 and each township and other incorporated local

21 jurisdiction covered by such plans shall be

22 deemed to constitute a ‘‘village’’ for the pur23 poses of section 6(c) of the Wild and Scenic

24 Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1277(c)).
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1 (3) COMPLIANCE.—The Secretary of the Inte2 rior shall biennially review compliance with the local

3 river management plans described in paragraph (1),

4 and shall promptly report to the Committee on En5 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate and to the

6 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of

7 Representatives any deviation from the management

8 plans that would result in any diminution of the val9 ues for which the river segment concerned was des10 ignated as a component of the national wild and sce11 nic rivers system.

12 (c) PLANNING ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of the

13 Interior may provide planning assistance to local political

14 subdivisions of the State of New Jersey through which

15 flow river segments that are designated as components of

16 the national wild and scenic rivers system, and may enter

17 into memoranda of understanding or cooperative agree18 ments with officials or agencies of the United States or

19 the State of New Jersey to ensure that Federal and State

20 programs that could affect the segments are carried out

21 in a manner consistent with the Wild and Scenic Rivers

22 Act and applicable river management plans.

23 (d) SEGMENT ADDITIONS.—

24 (1) SEGMENTS.—The Secretary of the Interior

25 is encouraged to continue to work with the local mu-
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1 nicipalities to negotiate agreement and support for

2 designating those segments of the Maurice River and

3 its tributaries that were found eligible for designa4 tion pursuant to Public Law 100–33 (100 Stat.

5 299) and were not designated by this Act.

6 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—For a period of 3 years

7 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, sub8 sections (b), (c), and (d) of section 5 of the Wild

9 and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1276(b), (c), and

10 (d)) shall apply to the eligible segments described in

11 paragraph (1).

12 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the

13 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the

14 Interior shall report to the appropriate congressional

15 committees on the status of discussions and negotia16 tions with the local municipalities and on rec17 ommendations toward inclusion of additional river

18 segments into the national wild and scenic rivers

19 system.

20 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

21 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec22 essary to carry out this Act and the amendments made

23 by this Act.

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