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Union Calendar No. 9

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 193

[Report No. 106–10]

To designate a portion of the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers as

a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. MEEHAN (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr.

MCGOVERN, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. OLVER,

Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. BASS, and

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

FEBRUARY 8, 1999

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union

and ordered to be printed

A BILL

To designate a portion of the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord

Rivers as a component 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sudbury, Assabet, and

3 Concord Wild and Scenic River Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF SUDBURY, ASSABET, AND CON5 CORD SCENIC AND RECREATIONAL RIVERS,

6 MASSACHUSETTS.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Wild

9 and Scenic River Study Act (title VII of Public Law

10 101–628; 104 Stat. 4497)—

11 (A) designated segments of the Sudbury,

12 Assabet, and Concord Rivers in the Common13 wealth of Massachusetts, totaling 29 river

14 miles, for study and potential addition to the

15 National Wild and Scenic Rivers System; and

16 (B) directed the Secretary of the Interior

17 to establish the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord

18 Rivers Study Committee (in this section re19 ferred to as the ‘‘Study Committee’’) to advise

20 the Secretary in conducting the study and in

21 the consideration of management alternatives

22 should the rivers be included in the National

23 Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

24 (2) The study determined the following river

25 segments are eligible for inclusion in the National

26 Wild and Scenic Rivers System based on their free-
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1 flowing condition and outstanding scenic, recreation,

2 wildlife, cultural, and historic values:

3 (A) The 16.6-mile segment of the Sudbury

4 River beginning at the Danforth Street Bridge

5 in the town of Framingham, to its confluence

6 with the Assabet River.

7 (B) The 4.4-mile segment of the Assabet

8 River from 1,000 feet downstream from the

9 Damon Mill Dam in the town of Concord to the

10 confluence with the Sudbury River at Egg Rock

11 in Concord.

12 (C) The 8-mile segment of the Concord

13 River from Egg Rock at the confluence of the

14 Sudbury and Assabet Rivers to the Route 3

15 bridge in the town of Billerica.

16 (3) The towns that directly abut the segments,

17 including Framingham, Sudbury, Wayland, Lincoln,

18 Concord, Bedford, Carlisle, and Billerica, Massachu19 setts, have each demonstrated their desire for Na20 tional Wild and Scenic River designation through

21 town meeting votes endorsing designation.

22 (4) During the study, the Study Committee and

23 the National Park Service prepared a comprehensive

24 management plan for the segment, entitled ‘‘Sud25 bury, Assabet and Concord Wild and Scenic River
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1 Study, River Conservation Plan’’ and dated March

2 16, 1995 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘plan’’),

3 which establishes objectives, standards, and action

4 programs that will ensure long-term protection of

5 the rivers’ outstanding values and compatible man6 agement of their land and water resources.

7 (5) The Study Committee voted unanimously on

8 February 23, 1995, to recommend that the Congress

9 include these segments in the National Wild and

10 Scenic Rivers System for management in accordance

11 with the plan.

12 (b) DESIGNATION.—Section 3(a) of the Wild and

13 Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended—

14 (1) by designating the four undesignated para15 graphs after paragraph (156) as paragraphs (157),

16 (158), (159), and (160), respectively; and

17 (2) by adding at the end the following new

18 paragraph:

19 ‘‘(161) SUDBURY, ASSABET, AND CONCORD RIVERS,

20 MASSACHUSETTS.—(A) The 29 miles of river segments in

21 Massachusetts, as follows:

22 ‘‘(i) The 14.9-mile segment of the Sudbury

23 River beginning at the Danforth Street Bridge in

24 the town of Framingham, downstream to the Route

25 2 Bridge in Concord, as a scenic river.
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1 ‘‘(ii) The 1.7-mile segment of the Sudbury

2 River from the Route 2 Bridge downstream to its

3 confluence with the Assabet River at Egg Rock, as

4 a recreational river.

5 ‘‘(iii) The 4.4-mile segment of the Assabet

6 River beginning 1,000 feet downstream from the

7 Damon Mill Dam in the town of Concord, to its con8 fluence with the Sudbury River at Egg Rock in Con9 cord; as a recreational river.

10 ‘‘(iv) The 8-mile segment of the Concord River

11 from Egg Rock at the confluence of the Sudbury

12 and Assabet Rivers downstream to the Route 3

13 Bridge in the town of Billerica, as a recreational

14 river.

15 ‘‘(B) The segments referred to in subparagraph (A)

16 shall be administered by the Secretary of the Interior in

17 cooperation with the SUASCO River Stewardship Council

18 provided for in the plan referred to in subparagraph (C)

19 through cooperative agreements under section 10(e) be20 tween the Secretary and the Commonwealth of Massachu21 setts and its relevant political subdivisions (including the

22 towns of Framingham, Wayland, Sudbury, Lincoln, Con23 cord, Carlisle, Bedford, and Billerica).

24 ‘‘(C) The segments referred to in subparagraph (A)

25 shall be managed in accordance with the plan entitled
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1 ‘Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Wild and Scenic River

2 Study, River Conservation Plan’, dated March 16, 1995.

3 The plan is deemed to satisfy the requirement for a com4 prehensive management plan under subsection (d) of this

5 section.’’.

6 (c) FEDERAL ROLE IN MANAGEMENT.—(1) The Di7 rector of the National Park Service or the Director’s des8 ignee shall represent the Secretary of the Interior in the

9 implementation of the plan, this section, and the Wild and

10 Scenic Rivers Act with respect to each of the segments

11 designated by the amendment made by subsection (b)(2),

12 including the review of proposed federally assisted water

13 resources projects that could have a direct and adverse

14 effect on the values for which the segment is established,

15 as authorized under section 7(a) of the Wild and Scenic

16 Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1278(a)).

17 (2) Pursuant to sections 10(e) and section 11(b)(1)

18 of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(e),

19 1282(b)(1)), the Director shall offer to enter into coopera20 tive agreements with the Commonwealth of Massachu21 setts, its relevant political subdivisions, the Sudbury Val22 ley Trustees, and the Organization for the Assabet River.

23 Such cooperative agreements shall be consistent with the

24 plan and may include provisions for financial or other as25 sistance from the United States to facilitate the long-term
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1 protection, conservation, and enhancement of each of the

2 segments designated by the amendment made by sub3 section (b)(2).

4 (3) The Director may provide technical assistance,

5 staff support, and funding to assist in the implementation

6 of the plan, except that the total cost to the Federal Gov7 ernment of activities to implement the plan may not ex8 ceed $100,000 each fiscal year.

9 (4) Notwithstanding section 10(c) of the Wild and

10 Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(c)), any portion of a

11 segment designated by the amendment made by subsection

12 (b)(2) that is not already within the National Park System

13 shall not under this section—

14 (A) become a part of the National Park Sys15 tem;

16 (B) be managed by the National Park Service;

17 or

18 (C) be subject to regulations which govern the

19 National Park System.

20 (d) WATER RESOURCES PROJECTS.—(1) In deter21 mining whether a proposed water resources project would

22 have a direct and adverse effect on the values for which

23 the segments designated by the amendment made by sub24 section (b)(2) were included in the National Wild and Sce25 nic Rivers System, the Secretary of the Interior shall spe-
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1 cifically consider the extent to which the project is consist2 ent with the plan.

3 (2) The plan, including the detailed Water Resources

4 Study incorporated by reference in the plan and such addi5 tional analysis as may be incorporated in the future, shall

6 serve as the primary source of information regarding the

7 flows needed to maintain instream resources and potential

8 compatibility between resource protection and possible ad9 ditional water withdrawals.

10 (e) LAND MANAGEMENT.—(1) The zoning bylaws of

11 the towns of Framingham, Sudbury, Wayland, Lincoln,

12 Concord, Carlisle, Bedford, and Billerica, Massachusetts,

13 as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act, are

14 deemed to satisfy the standards and requirements under

15 section 6(c) of the Wild and Scenic rivers Act (16 U.S.C.

16 1277(c)). For the purpose of that section, the towns are

17 deemed to be ‘‘villages’’ and the provisions of that section

18 which prohibit Federal acquisition of lands through con19 demnation shall apply.

20 (2) The United States Government shall not acquire

21 by any means title to land, easements, or other interests

22 in land along the segments designated by the amendment

23 made by subsection (b)(2) or their tributaries for the pur24 poses of designation of the segments under the amend25 ment. Nothing in this section shall prohibit Federal acqui-
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1 sition of interests in land along those segments or tribu2 taries under other laws for other purposes.

3 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

4 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the

5 Interior to carry out this section not to exceed $100,000

6 for each fiscal year.

Union Calendar No. 9

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 193

[Report No. 106–10]

A BILL

To designate a portion of the Sudbury, Assabet,

tional Wild and Scenic Rivers System.and Concord Rivers as a component of the NaFEBRUARY 8, 1999

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed