103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2650

AN ACT

To designate portions of the Maurice River and its

Systems.nents of the National Wild and Scenic Riverstributaries in the State of New Jersey as compo-
103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2650

AN ACT

To designate portions of the Maurice River and its tributaries in the State of New Jersey as components of

the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Systems.

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.—The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the Maurice River and its tributaries,

2 Menantico Creek, the Manumuskin River, and

3 Muskee Creek, are eligible for inclusion into the Na4 tional Wild and Scenic Rivers System, the segments

5 and their classifications being as follows—

6 (A) the Maurice River, lower segment,

7 from the United States Geological Survey Sta8 tion at Shellpile to Route 670 Bridge at

9 Mauricetown, approximately 7.0 miles, as a rec10 reational river;

11 (B) the Maurice River, middle segment,

12 from Route 670 Bridge at Mauricetown to 3.6

13 miles upstream (at drainage ditch just up14 stream of Fralinger Farm), approximately 3.8

15 miles as a scenic river;

16 (C) the Maurice River, middle segment,

17 from the drainage ditch just upstream of

18 Fralinger Farm to one-half mile upstream from

19 the United States Geological Survey Station at

20 Burcham Farm, approximately 3.1 miles, as a

21 recreational river;

22 (D) the Maurice River, upper segment,

23 from one-half mile upstream from the United

24 States Geological Survey Station at Burcham

25 Farm to the south side of the Millville sewage
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1 treatment plant, approximately 3.6 miles, as a

2 scenic river;

3 (E) the Menantico Creek, lower segment,

4 from its confluence with the Maurice River to

5 the Route 55 Bridge, approximately 1.4 miles,

6 as a recreational river;

7 (F) the Menantico Creek, upper segment,

8 from the Route 55 Bridge to the base of the

9 Impoundment at Menantico Lake, approxi10 mately 6.5 miles, as a scenic river;

11 (G) the Manumuskin River, lower segment,

12 from its confluence with the Maurice River to

13 2.0 miles upstream, as a recreational river;

14 (H) the Manumuskin River, upper seg15 ment, from 2.0 miles upstream from its con16 fluence with the Maurice River to headwaters

17 near Route 557, approximately 12.3 miles, as a

18 scenic river; and

19 (I) the Muskee Creek from its confluence

20 to the Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Line

21 Railroad bridge, approximately 2.7 miles, as a

22 scenic river;

23 (2) a resource assessment of the Maurice River

24 and its tributaries, Menantico Creek, the

25 Manumuskin River, and the Muskee Creek shows
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1 that the area possesses numerous outstandingly re2 markable natural, cultural, scenic, and recreational

3 resources that are significant at the local, regional,

4 and international levels, including rare plant and

5 animal species and critical habitats for birds migrat6 ing to and from the north and south hemispheres;

7 and

8 (3) a river management plan for the river sys9 tem has been developed by the Cumberland County

10 Department of Planning and Development and

11 adopted by the Maurice River Township, Commer12 cial Township, and the City of Millville that would

13 meet the requirements of section 6(c) of the Wild

14 and Scenic Rivers Act, the City of Vineland has

15 adopted a master plan which calls for river planning

16 and management and is in the process of adopting

17 zoning ordinances to implement their plan, and

18 Buena Vista Township in Atlantic County has

19 adopted a land use plan consistent with the Pine20 lands Comprehensive Plan which is more restrictive

21 than the Cumberland County local river manage22 ment plan.

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

24 (1) declare the importance and irreplaceable re25 source values of the Maurice River and its tribu-
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1 taries to water quality, human health, traditional

2 economic activities, ecosystem integrity, biotic diver3 sity, fish and wildlife, scenic open space and recre4 ation and protect such values through designation of

5 the segments as components of the National Wild

6 and Scenic Rivers System;

7 (2) recognize that the Maurice River System

8 will continue to be threatened by major development

9 and that land use regulations of the individual local

10 political jurisdictions through which the river seg11 ments pass cannot alone provide for an adequate

12 balance between conservation of the river’s resources

13 and commercial and industrial development; and

14 (3) recognize that segments of the Maurice

15 River and its tributaries additional to those des16 ignated under this Act are eligible for potential des17 ignation at some point in the near future.

18 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION.

19 Section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16

20 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding the following new

21 paragraphs at the end thereof:

22 ‘‘( ) THE MAURICE RIVER, MIDDLE SEGMENT.—

23 From Route 670 Bridge at Mauricetown to 3.6 miles up24 stream (at drainage ditch just upstream of Fralinger
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1 Farm), approximately 3.8 miles to be administered by the

2 Secretary of the Interior as a scenic river.

3 ‘‘( ) THE MAURICE RIVER, MIDDLE SEGMENT.—

4 From the drainage ditch just upstream of Fralinger Farm

5 to one-half mile upstream from the United States Geologi6 cal Survey Station at Burcham Farm, approximately 3.1

7 miles, to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior

8 as a recreational river.

9 ‘‘( ) THE MAURICE RIVER, UPPER SEGMENT.—

10 From one-half mile upstream from the United States Geo11 logical Survey Station at Burcham Farm to the south side

12 of the Millville sewage treatment plant, approximately 3.6

13 miles, to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior

14 as a scenic river.

15 ‘‘( ) THE MENANTICO CREEK, LOWER SEGMENT.—

16 From its confluence with the Maurice River to the Route

17 55 Bridge, approximately 1.4 miles, to be administered by

18 the Secretary of the Interior as a recreational river.

19 ‘‘( ) THE MENANTICO CREEK, UPPER SEGMENT.—

20 From the Route 55 Bridge to the base of the impound21 ment at Menantico Lake, approximately 6.5 miles, to be

22 administered by the Secretary of the Interior as a scenic

23 river.

24 ‘‘( ) MANUMUSKIN RIVER, LOWER SEGMENT.—

25 From its confluence with the Maurice River to a point 2.0
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1 miles upstream, to be administered by the Secretary of

2 the Interior as a recreational river.

3 ‘‘( ) MANUMUSKIN RIVER, UPPER SEGMENT.—

4 From a point 2.0 miles upstream from its confluence with

5 the Maurice River to its headwaters near Route 557, ap6 proximately 12.3 miles, to be administered by the Sec7 retary of the Interior as a scenic river.

8 ‘‘( ) MUSKEE CREEK, NEW JERSEY.—From its

9 confluence with the Maurice River to the Pennsylvania

10 Seashore Line Railroad Bridge, approximately 2.7 miles,

11 to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior as a

12 scenic river.’’.

13 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT.

14 (a) DUTIES OF SECRETARY.—The Secretary of the

15 Interior shall manage the river segments designated as

16 components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Sys17 tem by this Act through cooperative agreements with the

18 political jurisdictions within which such segments pass,

19 pursuant to section 10(e) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers

20 Act, and in consultation with such jurisdictions, except

21 that publicly-owned lands within the boundaries of such

22 segments shall continue to be managed by the agency hav23 ing jurisdiction over such lands.

24 (b) AGREEMENTS.—(1) Cooperative agreements for

25 management of the river segments referred to in sub-
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1 section (a) shall provide for the long-term protection, pres2 ervation, and enhancement of such segments and shall be

3 consistent with the comprehensive management plan for

4 such segments to be prepared by the Secretary of the Inte5 rior pursuant to section 3(d) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers

6 Act and with the local river management plans prepared

7 by appropriate local political jurisdictions in conjunction

8 with the Secretary of the Interior.

9 (2) The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with

10 appropriate representatives of local political jurisdictions

11 and the State of New Jersey, shall review local river man12 agement plans described in paragraph (1) to assure that

13 their proper implementation will protect the values for

14 which the river segments described in section 2 were des15 ignated as components of the National Wild and Scenic

16 Rivers System. If after such review the Secretary deter17 mines that such plans and their implementing local zoning

18 ordinances meet the protection standards specified in sec19 tion 6(c) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, then such

20 plans shall be deemed to constitute ‘‘local zoning ordi21 nances’’ and each township and other incorporated local

22 jurisdiction covered by such plans shall be deemed to con23 stitute a ‘‘village’’ for the purposes of section 6(c) (prohib24 iting the acquisition of lands by condemnation) of the Wild

25 and Scenic Rivers Act.
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1 (3) The Secretary of the Interior shall biennially re2 view compliance with the local river management plans de3 scribed in paragraph (1) and shall promptly report to the

4 Committee on Natural Resources of the United States

5 House of Representatives and to the Committee on En6 ergy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate

7 any deviation from such which would result in any diminu8 tion of the values for which the river segment concerned

9 was designated as a component of the National Wild and

10 Scenic Rivers System.

11 (c) PLANNING ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of the

12 Interior may provide planning assistance to local political

13 subdivisions of the State of New Jersey through which

14 flow river segments that are designated as components of

15 the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and may

16 enter into memoranda of understanding or cooperative

17 agreements with officials or agencies of the United States

18 or the State of New Jersey to ensure that Federal and

19 State programs that could affect such segments are car20 ried out in a manner consistent with the Wild and Scenic

21 Rivers Act and applicable river management plans.

22 (d) SEGMENT ADDITIONS.—The Secretary of the In23 terior is encouraged to continue to work with the local mu24 nicipalities to negotiate agreement and support for des25 ignating those segments of the Maurice River and its trib-
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1 utaries which were found eligible for designation pursuant

2 to Public Law 100–33 and were not designated pursuant

3 to this Act (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘additional eligible

4 segments’’). For a period of 3 years after the date of en5 actment of this Act, the provisions of the Wild and Scenic

6 Rivers Act applicable to segments included in section 5

7 of that Act shall apply to the additional eligible segments.

8 The Secretary of the Interior is directed to report to the

9 appropriate congressional committees within 3 years after

10 the date of enactment of this Act on the status of discus11 sions and negotiations with the local municipalities and

12 on recommendations toward inclusion of additional river

13 segments into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers

14 System.

15 (e) APPROPRIATIONS.—For the purposes of the seg16 ment described by subsection (a), there are authorized to

17 be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry

18 out the provisions of this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives October 12,

1993.

Attest:

Clerk.