I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 193

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

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 Concord Wild and Scenic River Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF SUDBURY, ASSABET, AND CON2 CORD SCENIC AND RECREATIONAL RIVERS,

3 MASSACHUSETTS.

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

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

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

7 101–628; 104 Stat. 4497)—

8 (A) designated segments of the Sudbury,

9 Assabet, and Concord Rivers in the Common10 wealth of Massachusetts, totaling 29 river

11 miles, for study and potential addition to the

12 National Wild and Scenic Rivers System; and

13 (B) directed the Secretary of the Interior

14 to establish the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord

15 Rivers Study Committee (in this section re16 ferred to as the ‘‘Study Committee’’) to advise

17 the Secretary in conducting the study and in

18 the consideration of management alternatives

19 should the rivers be included in the National

20 Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

21 (2) The study determined the following river

22 segments are eligible for inclusion in the National

23 Wild and Scenic Rivers System based on their free24 flowing condition and outstanding scenic, recreation,

25 wildlife, cultural, and historic values:
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1 (A) The 16.6-mile segment of the Sudbury

2 River beginning at the Danforth Street Bridge

3 in the town of Framingham, to its confluence

4 with the Assabet River.

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

6 River from 1,000 feet downstream from the

7 Damon Mill Dam in the town of Concord to the

8 confluence with the Sudbury River at Egg Rock

9 in Concord.

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

11 River from Egg Rock at the confluence of the

12 Sudbury and Assabet Rivers to the Route 3

13 bridge in the town of Billerica.

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

15 including Framingham, Sudbury, Wayland, Lincoln,

16 Concord, Bedford, Carlisle, and Billerica, Massachu17 setts, have each demonstrated their desire for Na18 tional Wild and Scenic River designation through

19 town meeting votes endorsing designation.

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

21 the National Park Service prepared a comprehensive

22 management plan for the segment, entitled ‘‘Sud23 bury, Assabet and Concord Wild and Scenic River

24 Study, River Conservation Plan’’ and dated March

25 16, 1995 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘plan’’),
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1 which establishes objectives, standards, and action

2 programs that will ensure long-term protection of

3 the rivers’ outstanding values and compatible man4 agement of their land and water resources.

5 (5) The Study Committee voted unanimously on

6 February 23, 1995, to recommend that the Congress

7 include these segments in the National Wild and

8 Scenic Rivers System for management in accordance

9 with the plan.

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

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

12 (1) by designating the four undesignated para13 graphs after paragraph (156) as paragraphs (157),

14 (158), (159), and (160), respectively; and

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

16 paragraph:

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

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

19 Massachusetts, as follows:

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

21 River beginning at the Danforth Street Bridge in

22 the town of Framingham, downstream to the Route

23 2 Bridge in Concord, as a scenic river.

24 ‘‘(ii) The 1.7-mile segment of the Sudbury

25 River from the Route 2 Bridge downstream to its
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1 confluence with the Assabet River at Egg Rock, as

2 a recreational river.

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

4 River beginning 1,000 feet downstream from the

5 Damon Mill Dam in the town of Concord, to its con6 fluence with the Sudbury River at Egg Rock in Con7 cord; as a recreational river.

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

9 from Egg Rock at the confluence of the Sudbury

10 and Assabet Rivers downstream to the Route 3

11 Bridge in the town of Billerica, as a recreational

12 river.

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

14 shall be administered by the Secretary of the Interior in

15 cooperation with the SUASCO River Stewardship Council

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

17 through cooperative agreements under section 10(e) be18 tween the Secretary and the Commonwealth of Massachu19 setts and its relevant political subdivisions (including the

20 towns of Framingham, Wayland, Sudbury, Lincoln, Con21 cord, Carlisle, Bedford, and Billerica).

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

23 shall be managed in accordance with the plan entitled

24 ‘Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Wild and Scenic River

25 Study, River Conservation Plan’, dated March 16, 1995.
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1 The plan is deemed to satisfy the requirement for a com2 prehensive management plan under subsection (d) of this

3 section.’’.

4 (c) FEDERAL ROLE IN MANAGEMENT.—(1) The Di5 rector of the National Park Service or the Director’s des6 ignee shall represent the Secretary of the Interior in the

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

8 Scenic Rivers Act with respect to each of the segments

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

10 including the review of proposed federally assisted water

11 resources projects that could have a direct and adverse

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

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

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

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

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

17 1282(b)(1)), the Director shall offer to enter into coopera18 tive agreements with the Commonwealth of Massachu19 setts, its relevant political subdivisions, the Sudbury Val20 ley Trustees, and the Organization for the Assabet River.

21 Such cooperative agreements shall be consistent with the

22 plan and may include provisions for financial or other as23 sistance from the United States to facilitate the long-term

24 protection, conservation, and enhancement of each of the
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1 segments designated by the amendment made by sub2 section (b)(2).

3 (3) The Director may provide technical assistance,

4 staff support, and funding to assist in the implementation

5 of the plan, except that the total cost to the Federal Gov6 ernment of activities to implement the plan may not ex7 ceed $100,000 each fiscal year.

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

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

10 segment designated by the amendment made by subsection

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

12 shall not under this section—

13 (A) become a part of the National Park Sys14 tem;

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

16 or

17 (C) be subject to regulations which govern the

18 National Park System.

19 (d) WATER RESOURCES PROJECTS.—(1) In deter20 mining whether a proposed water resources project would

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

22 the segments designated by the amendment made by sub23 section (b)(2) were included in the National Wild and Sce24 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.

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