106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2140

AN ACT

To improve protection and management of the

Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area inthe State of Georgia.
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2140

AN ACT

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—
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1 (1) the Chattahoochee River National Recre2 ation Area in the State of Georgia is a nationally

3 significant resource;

4 (2) the Chattahoochee River National Recre5 ation Area has been adversely affected by land use

6 changes occurring inside and outside the recreation

7 area;

8 (3) the population of the metropolitan Atlanta

9 area continues to expand northward, leaving dwin10 dling opportunities to protect the scenic, rec11 reational, natural, and historical values of the 2,000-

12 foot-wide corridor adjacent to each bank of the

13 Chattahoochee River and its impoundments in the

14 48-mile segment known as the ‘‘area of national con15 cern’’;

16 (4) the State of Georgia has enacted the Metro17 politan River Protection Act to ensure protection of

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

19 of the Chattahoochee River, or the corridor located

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

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

22 floodplain includes the area of national concern;

23 (6) since establishment of the Chattahoochee

24 River National Recreation Area, visitor use of the
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1 recreation area has shifted dramatically from water2 borne to water-related and land-based activities;

3 (7) the State of Georgia and political subdivi4 sions of the State along the Chattahoochee River

5 have indicated willingness to join in a cooperative ef6 fort with the United States to link existing units of

7 the recreation area through a series of linear cor8 ridors to be established within the area of national

9 concern and elsewhere on the river; and

10 (8) if Congress appropriates funds in support of

11 the cooperative effort described in paragraph (7),

12 funding from the State, political subdivisions of the

13 State, private foundations, corporate entities, private

14 individuals, and other sources will be available to

15 fund more than half the estimated cost of the coop16 erative effort.

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

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

19 open spaces within the area of national concern

20 along the Chattahoochee River and to enhance vis21 itor enjoyment of the open spaces by adding land22 based linear corridors to link existing units of the

23 recreation area;

24 (2) to ensure that the Chattahoochee River Na25 tional Recreation Area is managed to standardize
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1 acquisition, planning, design, construction, and oper2 ation of the linear corridors; and

3 (3) to authorize the appropriation of Federal

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

5 State, local, and private cooperative effort to add ad6 ditional areas to the recreation area so as to estab7 lish a series of linear corridors linking existing units

8 of the recreation area and to protect other open

9 spaces of the Chattahoochee River corridor.

10 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER NA11 TIONAL RECREATION AREA ACT.

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

13 ‘‘An Act to authorize the establishment of the Chattahoo14 chee River National Recreation Area in the State of Geor15 gia, and for other purposes’’, approved August 15, 1978

16 (16 U.S.C. 460ii), is amended—

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

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

19 1984,’’ the following: ‘‘and on the maps entitled

20 ‘Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area In21 terim Boundary Map #1’, ‘Chattahoochee River Na22 tional Recreation Area Interim Boundary Map #2’,

23 and ‘Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

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

25 1998,’’;
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1 (2) by striking the fourth sentence and insert2 ing the following: ‘‘No sooner than 180 days after

3 the date of the enactment of this sentence, the Sec4 retary of the Interior (hereinafter referred to as the

5 ‘Secretary’) may modify the boundaries of the recre6 ation area to include other land within the Chat7 tahoochee River corridor by submitting a revised

8 map or other boundary description to the Committee

9 on Energy and Natural Resources of the United

10 States Senate and the Committee on Resources of

11 the United States House of Representatives. The re12 vised map or other boundary description shall be

13 prepared by the Secretary after consultation with af14 fected landowners, the State of Georgia, and af15 fected political subdivisions of the State. The revised

16 boundaries shall take effect 180 days after the date

17 of submission unless, within the 180-day period,

18 Congress enacts a joint resolution disapproving the

19 revised boundaries.’’; and

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

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

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

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

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

25 Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in the
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1 State of Georgia, and for other purposes’’, approved Au2 gust 15, 1978 (16 U.S.C. 460ii–1), is amended—

3 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘from willing

4 sellers’’ after ‘‘purchase’’; and

5 (2) by striking subsection (f).

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

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

8 Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in the

9 State of Georgia, and for other purposes’’, approved Au10 gust 15, 1978 (16 U.S.C. 460ii–2), is amended by striking

11 subsection (b) and inserting the following:

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

13 may enter into cooperative agreements with the State of

14 Georgia, political subdivisions of the State, and other enti15 ties to ensure standardized acquisition, planning, design,

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

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

18 Act to authorize the establishment of the Chattahoochee

19 River National Recreation Area in the State of Georgia,

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

21 U.S.C. 460ii–4), is amended—

22 (1) by striking ‘‘SEC. 105. (a)’’ and inserting

23 the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 105. FUNDING SOURCES AND GENERAL MANAGE2 MENT PLAN.

3 ‘‘(a) FUNDING.—

4 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON USE OF APPROPRIATED

5 FUNDS.—’’;

6 (2) in subsection (a)—

7 (A) by striking ‘‘$79,400,000’’ and insert8 ing ‘$115,000,000’’;

9 (B) by striking ‘‘this Act’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘this title’’; and

11 (C) by adding at the end the following:

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

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

14 carry out this title.

15 ‘‘(3) RELATION TO OTHER FUNDING

16 SOURCES.—Funds made available under paragraph

17 (1) are in addition to funding and the donation of

18 land and interests in land by the State of Georgia,

19 local government authorities, private foundations,

20 corporate entities, and individuals for purposes of

21 this title.’’; and

22 (3) in subsection (c)—

23 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1)

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

25 respectively, and indenting appropriately;
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘(c) Within’’ and inserting

2 the following:

3 ‘‘(c) GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

4 ‘‘(1) INITIAL PLAN.—Within’’;

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

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

7 and all that follows through ‘‘Representatives’’

8 and inserting ‘‘transmit to the Committee on

9 Resources of the House of Representatives’’;

10 and

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

12 ‘‘(2) REVISED PLAN.—

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

14 the date funds are made available, the Sec15 retary shall submit to the committees specified

16 in paragraph (1) a revised general management

17 plan to provide for the protection, enhancement,

18 enjoyment, development, and use of the recre19 ation area.

20 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—In pre21 paring the revised plan, the Secretary shall en22 courage the participation of the State of Geor23 gia and affected political subdivisions of the

24 State, private landowners, interested citizens,
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1 public officials, groups, agencies, educational in2 stitutions, and other entities.’’.

3 (e) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Title I of the Act

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

5 Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in the

6 State of Georgia, and for other purposes’’, approved Au7 gust 15, 1978 (16 U.S.C. 460ii et seq.), is amended—

8 (1) in sections 102(d) and 103(a), by striking

9 ‘‘of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘of this title’’;

10 (2) in section 104(b)—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘of this Act’’ and inserting

12 ‘‘of this title’’;

13 (B) by striking ‘‘under this Act’’ and in14 serting ‘‘under this title’’;

15 (C) by striking ‘‘by this Act’’ and inserting

16 ‘‘by this title’’; and

17 (D) by striking ‘‘in this Act’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘in this title’’;

19 (3) in section 104(d)(2), by striking ‘‘under this

20 Act’’ and inserting ‘‘under this title’’;

21 (4) in section 105(c)(1)(A), as redesignated by

22 subsection (d)(3), by striking ‘‘of this Act’’ and in23 serting ‘‘of this title’’;

24 (5) in section 106(a), by striking ‘‘in this Act’’

25 and inserting ‘‘in this title’’; and
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1 (6) in section 106(d), by striking ‘‘under this

2 Act’’ and inserting ‘‘under this title’’.

Passed the House of Representatives October 18,

1999.

Attest:

Clerk.