II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2139

To provide for the conservation, management, or study of certain rivers,

parks, trails, and historic sites, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 19 (legislative day, MAY 16), 1994

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

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To provide for the conservation, management, or study of

certain rivers, parks, trails, and historic sites, 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 ‘‘West Virginia Rivers

5 Conservation Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. NEW RIVER GORGE NATIONAL RIVER.

7 Section 1101 of the National Parks and Recreation

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

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

10 ‘‘NERI–80,028, dated January 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 3. GAULEY RIVER NATIONAL RECREATION AREA.

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

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

4 amended by striking ‘‘NRA–GR/20,000A and dated July

5 1987’’ and inserting ‘‘GARI–80,001 and dated January

6 1993’’.

7 SEC. 4. BLUESTONE NATIONAL SCENIC RIVER.

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

9 (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)(65)) is amended by striking ‘‘WSR–

10 BLU/20,000, and dated January 1987’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘BLUE–80,004, and dated January 1993’’.

12 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF UPPER NEW RIVER, WEST VIR13 GINIA.

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

15 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing new paragraph:

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

18 segment in Summers County, West Virginia, from the

19 West Virginia-Virginia State line downstream for approxi20 mately 14.5 miles as depicted on the boundary map enti21 tled ‘Upper New Wild and Scenic River’, numbered UPNE

22 80,000 and dated July 1993 to be administered by the

23 Secretary of the Interior as a scenic river.

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

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

26 paragraph. Nothing in this Act shall preclude the improve-
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1 ment of any existing road or right-of-way within the

2 boundaries of the segment designated under this para3 graph.

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

5 such lands owned by the United States within the bound6 aries of the segment designated under this paragraph is

7 hereby transferred without reimbursement to the adminis8 trative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior, subject

9 to the lease in effect on the date of enactment of this para10 graph (or renewed thereafter) between the United States

11 and the State of West Virginia with respect to the

12 Bluestone Wildlife Management Area.

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

14 by the State of West Virginia of hunting and fishing with15 in the segment designated under this paragraph. Nothing

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

17 State of West Virginia of other wildlife activities in the

18 Bluestone Wildlife Management Area to the extent per19 mitted in the lease agreement in effect on the date of en20 actment of this paragraph. Upon request by the State of

21 West Virginia, the Secretary shall renew such lease agree22 ment with the same terms and conditions as contained in

23 such lease agreement on the date of enactment of this

24 paragraph under which State management shall be contin25 ued pursuant to such renewal. If requested to do so by
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1 the State of West Virginia, or as provided in the lease

2 agreement, the Secretary may terminate or modify the

3 lease and assume administrative authority over all or part

4 of the areas concerned.

5 ‘‘(E) Nothing in the designation of the segment re6 ferred to in this paragraph shall affect or impair the man7 agement of the Bluestone project or the authority of any

8 department, agency, or instrumentality of the United

9 States to carry out the purposes of the project.’’.

10 SEC. 6. DESIGNATION OF ELK RIVER AS A STUDY RIVER.

11 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of the Interior shall con12 duct a study of the segment of the Elk River, West Vir13 ginia, that is reflected on the Webster Springs Quadrangle

14 (West Virginia) 7.5 minute series topographic map, Unit15 ed States Geological Survey, to determine its eligibility

16 and suitability as either—

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

18 rivers system;

19 (2) a unit of the National Park System as a na20 tional river; or

21 (3) a unit of the National Park System as a na22 tional recreation area.

23 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date

24 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior

25 shall submit a report containing the results of the study
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1 conducted pursuant to subsection (a) to the Committee on

2 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and to the

3 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep4 resentatives.

5 (c) EFFECT ON MANAGEMENT.—Nothing in this sec6 tion shall affect or impair the management of the Sutton

7 project or the authority of any department, agency, or in8 strumentality of the United States to carry out the pur9 poses of the project on the date of enactment of this sec10 tion.

11 (d) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the study re12 quired by this section, the Secretary shall consult with the

13 West Virginia Division of Tourism and Parks and the

14 West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection.

15 SEC. 7. CONSOLIDATED MANAGEMENT.

16 To achieve the maximum economy and efficiency of

17 operations in the administration of the segment of the

18 New River designated by the amendment made by section

19 5, the Secretary of the Interior shall consolidate offices

20 and personnel administering such segment with offices

21 and personnel administering the New River Gorge Na22 tional River, the Gauley River National Recreation Area,

23 and the Bluestone National Scenic River to the extent

24 practicable, and shall utilize facilities of the New River

25 Gorge National River to the extent practicable.
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1 SEC. 8. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

2 (a) NEW RIVER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Title

3 XI of the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (16

4 U.S.C. 460m–15 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

5 the following new section:

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

7 ‘‘(a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—Section

8 202(e)(1) of the West Virginia National Interest River

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

10 shall apply to the New River Gorge National River in the

11 same manner and to the same extent as such section ap12 plies to the Gauley River National Recreation Area.

13 ‘‘(b) REMNANT LANDS.—The second sentence of sec14 tion 203(a) of the West Virginia National Interest River

15 Conservation Act of 1987 (16 U.S.C. 460ww–2(a)) shall

16 apply to tracts of land partially within the boundaries of

17 the New River Gorge National River in the same manner

18 and to the same extent as such sentence applies to tracts

19 of land partially within the Gauley River National Recre20 ation Area.’’.

21 (b) BLUESTONE RIVER CONFORMING AMEND22 MENTS.—Section 3(a)(65) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers

23 Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)(65)) is amended—

24 (1) in the fifth sentence, by striking ‘‘leases’’

25 and inserting ‘‘the lease’’;
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1 (2) in the seventh sentence, by striking ‘‘such

2 management may be continued pursuant to renewal

3 of such lease agreement’’; and

4 (3) by striking the eighth sentence and insert5 ing the following: ‘‘Upon request by the State of

6 West Virginia so requests, the Secretary shall renew

7 such lease agreement with the same terms and con8 ditions as contained in such lease agreement on the

9 date of enactment of the West Virginia Rivers Con10 servation Act of 1994 under which such State man11 agement shall be continued pursuant to such re12 newal. Upon request by the State of West Virginia,

13 or as provided in such lease agreement, the Sec14 retary may terminate or modify the lease and as15 sume administrative authority over all or part of the

16 areas concerned.’’.

17 SEC. 9. GAULEY ACCESS.

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

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

20 is amended by adding at the end the following new para21 graph:

22 ‘‘(4) ACCESS TO RIVER.—Not later than 90 days

23 after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the Sec24 retary shall submit a report to the Committee on Energy

25 and Natural Resources of the Senate and to the Commit-
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1 tee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives

2 setting forth a plan to provide river access for noncommer3 cial recreational users within the Gauley River National

4 Recreation Area. The plan shall provide that such access

5 shall utilize existing public roads and rights-of-way to the

6 maximum extent feasible and shall be limited to providing

7 access for such noncommercial users.’’.

8 SEC. 10. VISITOR CENTER.

9 The Secretary of the Interior may construct a visitor

10 center and such other related facilities as may be nec11 essary to facilitate visitor understanding and enjoyment

12 of the New River Gorge National River and the Gauley

13 River National Recreation Area in the vicinity of the con14 fluence of the New River and Gauley River. Such center

15 and related facilities are authorized to be constructed at

16 a site outside of the boundary of the New River Gorge

17 National River or the Gauley River National Recreation

18 Area unless a suitable site is available within the bound19 aries of either unit.

20 SEC. 11. EXTENSION.

21 For a 5-year period beginning on the date of enact22 ment of this Act, the provisions of the Wild and Scenic

23 Rivers Act applicable to river segments designated for

24 study for potential addition to the wild and scenic rivers

25 system under section 5(b) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1276(b))
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1 shall apply to the segments of the Bluestone and Meadow

2 Rivers that were found eligible in the studies completed

3 by the National Park Service in August 1983 but that

4 were not designated by the West Virginia National Inter5 est River Conservation Act of 1987 (Public Law 100–534;

6 102 Stat. 2702) as part of the Bluestone National Scenic

7 River or as part of the Gauley River National Recreation

8 Area, as the case may be.

9 SEC. 12. BLUESTONE RIVER PUBLIC ACCESS.

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

11 (16 U.S.C 1274(a)(65)) is amended by adding at the end

12 the following new sentence: ‘‘In order to provide reason13 able public access and vehicle parking for public use and

14 enjoyment of the river designated by this paragraph, con15 sistent with the preservation and enhancement of the nat16 ural and scenic values of such river, the Secretary may

17 negotiate a memorandum of understanding or cooperative

18 agreement, or acquire such lands or interests in such

19 lands, or both, with the consent of the owner as may be

20 necessary to allow public access to the Bluestone River

21 and to provide, outside the boundary of the scenic river,

22 parking and related facilities in the vicinity of the area

23 known as Eads Mill.’’.
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1 SEC. 13. GAULEY RIVER BOUNDARY MODIFICATION.

2 Section 205(c) of the West Virginia National Interest

3 River Conservation Act of 1987 (16 U.S.C 460ww–4(c))

4 is amended by adding at the end the following new sen5 tence: ‘‘If project construction is not commenced within

6 the time required in such license, or if such license is sur7 rendered at any time, such boundary modification shall

8 cease to have any force and effect.’’.

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