II 

Calendar No. 592 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1117 

[Report No. 111–306] 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance in implementing cultural heritage, conservation, and recreational activities in 

the Connecticut River watershed of the States of New Hampshire and 

Vermont. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2009 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Mr. GREGG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 

Reported by Mr. BINGAMAN, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance in implementing cultural heritage, conservation, and 

recreational activities in the Connecticut River watershed 

of the States of New Hampshire and Vermont. 

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 ‘‘Upper Connecticut 

3 River Partnership Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

6 (1) the upper Connecticut River watershed in 

7 the States of New Hampshire and Vermont is a sce8 nic region of historic villages located in a working 

9 landscape of farms, forests, and the mountainous 

10 headwaters and broad fertile floodplains of New 

11 England’s longest river, the Connecticut River; 

12 (2) the River provides outstanding fish and 

13 wildlife habitat, recreation, and hydropower genera14 tion for the New England region; 

15 (3) the upper Connecticut River watershed has 

16 been recognized by Congress as part of the Silvio O. 

17 Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, estab18 lished by the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and 

19 Wildlife Refuge Act (16 U.S.C. 668dd note; Public 

20 Law 102–212); 

21 (4) the demonstrated commitment to steward22 ship of the River by the citizens living in the water23 shed led to the Presidential designation of the River 

24 as 1 of 14 American Heritage Rivers on July 30, 

25 1998; 


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1 (5) the River is home to the bi-State Con2 necticut River Scenic Byway, which was declared a 

3 National Scenic Byway by the Department of Trans4 portation in 2005 to foster heritage tourism in the 

5 region; 

6 (6) each of the legislatures of the States of 

7 Vermont and New Hampshire has established a 

8 commission for the Connecticut River watershed, 

9 and the 2 commissions, known collectively as the 

10 ‘‘Connecticut River Joint Commissions’’— 

11 (A) have worked together since 1989; and 

12 (B) serve as the focal point and catalyst 

13 for cooperation between Federal agencies, 

14 States, communities, and citizens; 

15 (7) in 1997, as directed by the legislatures, the 

16 Connecticut River Joint Commissions, with the sub17 stantial involvement of 5 bi-State local river sub18 committees appointed to represent riverfront towns, 

19 produced the 6 volume Connecticut River Corridor 

20 Management Plan, to be used as a blueprint in edu21 cating agencies, communities, and the public in how 

22 to be good neighbors to a great river; 

23 (8) in 2009, after 3 years of broad consultation, 

24 the Connecticut River Joint Commissions have sub25 stantially expanded and published updates via the 


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1 Connecticut River Recreation Management Plan and 

2 the Water Resources Management Plan to guide 

3 public and private activities in the watershed; 

4 (9) through a joint legislative resolution, the 

5 legislatures of the States of Vermont and New 

6 Hampshire have requested that Congress provide for 

7 continuation of cooperative partnerships and that 

8 Federal agencies support the Connecticut River 

9 Joint Commissions in carrying out the recommenda10 tions of the Connecticut River Corridor Management 

11 Plan; 

12 (10) this Act effectuates certain recommenda13 tions of the Connecticut River Corridor Management 

14 Plan that are most appropriately directed by the 

15 States through the Connecticut River Joint Commis16 sions, with assistance from the National Park Serv17 ice and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 

18 and 

19 (11) where implementation of those rec20 ommendations involves partnership with local com21 munities and organizations, support for the partner22 ship should be provided by the Secretary. 

23 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to author24 ize the Secretary to provide to the States of New Hamp25 shire and Vermont (including communities in those 


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1 States), through the Connecticut River Joint Commis2 sions, technical and financial assistance for management 

3 of the River. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of the Interior. 

8 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

9 (A) the State of New Hampshire; or 

10 (B) the State of Vermont. 

11 SEC. 4. CONNECTICUT RIVER GRANTS AND TECHNICAL AS12 SISTANCE PROGRAM. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

14 Connecticut River Grants and Technical Assistance Pro15 gram to provide grants and technical assistance to State 

16 and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and the 

17 private sector to carry out projects for the conservation, 

18 restoration, and interpretation of historic, cultural, rec19 reational, and natural resources in the upper Connecticut 

20 River watershed. 

21 (b) CRITERIA.—The Secretary, in consultation with 

22 the Connecticut River Joint Commissions, shall develop 

23 criteria for determining the eligibility of applicants for, 

24 and reviewing and prioritizing applications for, grants or 

25 technical assistance under the program. 


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1 (c) COST-SHARING.— 

2 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

3 the cost of carrying out a grant project under sub4 section (a) shall not exceed 75 percent. 

5 (2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 

6 share of the cost of a project may be provided in the 

7 form of an in-kind contribution of services or mate8 rials. 

9 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 this Act $1,000,000 for each fiscal year. 

12 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

13 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Upper Connecticut River 

14 Partnership Act’’. 

15 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) COMMISSIONS.—The term ‘‘Commissions’’ 

18 means the Connecticut River Joint Commissions of 

19 New Hampshire and Vermont. 

20 (2) MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘management 

22 plan’’ means the management plan developed by 

23 the Commissions entitled ‘‘Connecticut River 

24 Corridor Management Plan’’ and dated May 

25 1997. 


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1 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘management 

2 plan’’ includes any updates to the management 

3 plan described in subparagraph (A). 

4 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means the 

5 Connecticut River Grants and Technical Assistance 

6 Program established by section 3(a). 

7 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of the Interior. 

9 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 

10 States of New Hampshire and Vermont. 

11 (6) WATERSHED.—The term ‘‘watershed’’ means 

12 the upper Connecticut River watershed. 

13 SEC. 3. CONNECTICUT RIVER GRANTS AND TECHNICAL AS14 SISTANCE PROGRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the Depart16 ment of the Interior the Connecticut River Grants and 

17 Technical Assistance Program. 

18 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program is to pro19 vide financial and technical assistance to the States, 

20 through the Commissions, to improve management of the 

21 watershed in accordance with the management plan. 

22 (c) FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), the 

24 Secretary may provide financial and technical assistVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:46 Sep 28, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1117.RS S1117

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1 ance to the Commissions in furtherance of the pur2 poses of this Act. 

3 (2) LIMITATION.—No financial assistance shall 

4 be provided under this Act until the date on which the 

5 Secretary has approved criteria for financial assist6 ance in accordance with subsection (d). 

7 (d) CRITERIA.— 

8 (1) DEVELOPMENT.—The Commissions shall de9 velop criteria for— 

10 (A) prioritizing and determining the eligi11 bility of applicants for financial and technical 

12 assistance under the program; and 

13 (B) reviewing and prioritizing applications 

14 for financial and technical assistance under the 

15 program. 

16 (2) REVIEW; APPROVAL.— 

17 (A) SUBMISSION.—The Commissions shall 

18 submit the criteria developed under paragraph 

19 (1) to the Secretary for review. 

20 (B) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL.— 

21 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

22 days after the date on which the Commis23 sions submit the criteria under subpara24 graph (A), the Secretary shall approve or 

25 disapprove the criteria. 


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1 (ii) DISAPPROVAL.—If the Secretary 

2 disapproves the criteria under clause (i), the 

3 Secretary shall— 

4 (I) advise the Commissions of the 

5 reasons for disapproval; 

6 (II) make recommendations for 

7 revisions to the criteria; and 

8 (III) not later than 180 days after 

9 the date on which the Commissions 

10 submit revised criteria to the Sec11 retary, approve or disapprove the re12 vised criteria. 

13 (C) CONSIDERATIONS.—In reviewing the 

14 criteria submitted under this paragraph, the Sec15 retary shall consider the extent to which the cri16 teria— 

17 (i) are consistent with the purposes 

18 and goals of the management plan; and 

19 (ii) provide for protection of the water20 shed, including the natural, cultural, his21 toric, and recreational resources within the 

22 watershed. 

23 (e) AUTHORITIES OF THE COMMISSIONS.—The Com24 missions may use funds made available under this Act to 

25 provide financial and technical assistance to State and 


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1 local governments, nonprofit organizations, and other pub2 lic and private entities to protect the watershed in accord3 ance with the approved criteria and consistent with the 

4 management plan. 

5 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro7 priated to carry out this Act $10,000,000, of which not more 

8 than $1,000,000 may be made available for any 1 fiscal 

9 year. 

10 (b) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the total 

12 cost of any activity under this Act shall be not more 

13 than 50 percent of the total cost. 

14 (2) FORM.—The non-Federal contribution may 

15 be in the form of in-kind contributions of goods or 

16 services fairly valued. 

17 SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 

18 The authority of the Secretary to provide financial as19 sistance under this Act terminates on the date that is 10 

20 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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Calendar No. 592 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1117 

[Report No. 111–306] 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to proNew Hampshire and Vermont. Connecticut River watershed of the States of conservation, and recreational activities in the vide assistance in implementing cultural heritage, 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 

Reported with an amendment 


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