I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2140

To improve protection and management of the Chattahoochee River National

Recreation Area in the State of Georgia.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 10, 1999

Mr. DEAL of Georgia (for himself, Mr. COLLINS, and Mr. LEWIS of Georgia)

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

A BILL

To improve protection and management of the Chattahoochee

River National Recreation Area in the State of Georgia.

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 Chattahoochee River National Recre6 ation Area in the State of Georgia is a nationally

7 significant resource;

8 (2) the Chattahoochee River National Recre9 ation Area has been adversely affected by land use
2

•HR 2140 IH

1 changes occurring inside and outside the recreation

2 area;

3 (3) the population of the metropolitan Atlanta

4 area continues to expand northward, leaving dwin5 dling opportunities to protect the scenic, rec6 reational, natural, and historical values of the 2,000-

7 foot-wide corridor adjacent to each bank of the

8 Chattahoochee River and its impoundments in the

9 48-mile segment known as the ‘‘area of national con10 cern’’;

11 (4) the State of Georgia has enacted the Metro12 politan River Protection Act to ensure protection of

13 the corridor located within 2,000 feet of each bank

14 of the Chattahoochee River, or the corridor located

15 within the 100-year floodplain, whichever is larger;

16 (5) the corridor located within the 100-year

17 floodplain includes the area of national concern;

18 (6) since establishment of the Chattahoochee

19 River National Recreation Area, visitor use of the

20 recreation area has shifted dramatically from water21 borne to water-related and land-based activities;

22 (7) the State of Georgia and political subdivi23 sions of the State along the Chattahoochee River

24 have indicated willingness to join in a cooperative ef25 fort with the United States to link existing units of
3

•HR 2140 IH

1 the recreation area through a series of linear cor2 ridors to be established within the area of national

3 concern and elsewhere on the river; and

4 (8) if Congress appropriates funds in support of

5 the cooperative effort described in paragraph (7),

6 funding from the State, political subdivisions of the

7 State, private foundations, corporate entities, private

8 individuals, and other sources will be available to

9 fund more than half the estimated cost of the coop10 erative effort.

11 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

12 (1) to increase the level of protection of the

13 open spaces within the area of national concern

14 along the Chattahoochee River and to enhance vis15 itor enjoyment of the open spaces by adding land16 based linear corridors to link existing units of the

17 recreation area;

18 (2) to ensure that the Chattahoochee River Na19 tional Recreation Area is managed to standardize

20 acquisition, planning, design, construction, and oper21 ation of the linear corridors; and

22 (3) to authorize the appropriation of Federal

23 funds to cover a portion of the costs of the Federal,

24 State, local, and private cooperative effort to add ad25 ditional areas to the recreation area so as to estab-
4

•HR 2140 IH

1 lish a series of linear corridors linking existing units

2 of the recreation area and to protect other open

3 spaces of the Chattahoochee River corridor.

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER NA5 TIONAL RECREATION AREA ACT.

6 (a) BOUNDARIES.—Section 101 of the Act entitled

7 ‘‘An Act to authorize the establishment of the Chattahoo8 chee River National Recreation Area in the State of Geor9 gia, and for other purposes’’, approved August 15, 1978

10 (16 U.S.C. 460ii), is amended—

11 (1) in the third sentence, by inserting after

12 ‘‘numbered CHAT–20,003, and dated September

13 1984,’’ the following: ‘‘and on the maps entitled

14 ‘Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area In15 terim Boundary Map #1’, ‘Chattahoochee River Na16 tional Recreation Area Interim Boundary Map #2’,

17 and ‘Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

18 Interim Boundary Map #3’, and dated August 6,

19 1998,’’;

20 (2) by striking the fourth sentence and insert21 ing the following: ‘‘No sooner than 180 days after

22 the date of enactment of this sentence, the Secretary

23 of the Interior (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Sec24 retary’) may modify the boundaries of the recreation

25 area to include other land within the Chattahoochee
5

•HR 2140 IH

1 River corridor by submitting a revised map or other

2 boundary description to the Committee on Energy

3 and Natural Resources of the United States Senate

4 and the Committee on Resources of the United

5 States House of Representatives. The revised map

6 or other boundary description shall be prepared by

7 the Secretary after consultation with affected land8 owners, the State of Georgia, and affected political

9 subdivisions of the State. The revised boundaries

10 shall take effect 180 days after the date of submis11 sion unless, within the 180-day period, Congress en12 acts a joint resolution disapproving the revised

13 boundaries.’’; and

14 (3) in the next-to-last sentence, by striking

15 ‘‘may not exceed approximately 6,800 acres.’’ and

16 inserting ‘‘may not exceed 10,000 acres.’’.

17 (b) ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY.—Section 102 of the

18 Act entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize the establishment of the

19 Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in the

20 State of Georgia, and for other purposes’’, approved Au21 gust 15, 1978 (16 U.S.C. 460ii–1), is amended by striking

22 subsection (f).

23 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—Section 103 of the

24 Act entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize the establishment of the

25 Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in the
6

•HR 2140 IH

1 State of Georgia, and for other purposes’’, approved Au2 gust 15, 1978 (16 U.S.C. 460ii–2), is amended by striking

3 subsection (b) and inserting the following:

4 ‘‘(b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary

5 may enter into cooperative agreements with the State of

6 Georgia, political subdivisions of the State, and other enti7 ties to ensure standardized acquisition, planning, design,

8 construction, and operation of the recreation area.’’.

9 (d) FUNDING.—Section 105 of the Act entitled ‘‘An

10 Act to authorize the establishment of the Chattahoochee

11 River National Recreation Area in the State of Georgia,

12 and for other purposes’’, approved August 15, 1978 (16

13 U.S.C. 460ii–4), is amended—

14 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the

15 following:

16 ‘‘(a) FUNDING.—

17 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In

18 addition to funding and the donation of land and in19 terests in land by the State of Georgia, local govern20 ment authorities, private foundations, corporate enti21 ties, and individuals, and funding that may be made

22 available as a result of the settlement of litigation,

23 there is authorized to be appropriated for land ac24 quisition for the recreation area $25,000,000 for fis25 cal years after fiscal year 1998.
7

•HR 2140 IH

1 ‘‘(2) DONATIONS.—The Secretary may accept a

2 donation of funds or land or an interest in land to

3 carry out this title.’’; and

4 (2) in subsection (c)—

5 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1)

6 through (3) as subparagraphs (A) through (C),

7 respectively, and indenting appropriately;

8 (B) by striking ‘‘(c) Within’’ and inserting

9 the following:

10 ‘‘(c) GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

11 ‘‘(1) INITIAL PLAN.—Within’’;

12 (C) in paragraph (1) (as designated by

13 subparagraph (B)), by striking ‘‘transmit to’’

14 and all that follows through ‘‘Representatives’’

15 and inserting ‘‘transmit to the Committee on

16 Resources of the House of Representatives’’;

17 and

18 (D) by adding at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(2) REVISED PLAN.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Within 3 years after

21 the date funds are made available, the Sec22 retary shall submit to the committees specified

23 in paragraph (1) a revised general management

24 plan to provide for the protection, enhancement,
8

•HR 2140 IH

1 enjoyment, development, and use of the recre2 ation area.

3 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—In pre4 paring the revised plan, the Secretary shall en5 courage the participation of the State of Geor6 gia and affected political subdivisions of the

7 State, private landowners, interested citizens,

8 public officials, groups, agencies, educational in9 stitutions, and other entities.’’.

Æ