Union Calendar No. 238

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2815

[Report No. 103–430]

A BILL

To designate a portion of the Farmington River in

and Scenic Rivers System.Connecticut as a component of the National Wild

MARCH 10, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 238

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2815

[Report No. 103–430]

To designate a portion of the Farmington River in Connecticut as a

component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 30, 1993

Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut (for herself, Mrs. KENNELLY, Mr. GEJDENSON,

Ms. DELAURO, Mr. SHAYS, and Mr. FRANKS of Connecticut) introduced

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

MARCH 10, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 30, 1993]

A BILL

To designate a portion of the Farmington River in Connecticut 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Farmington Wild and

3 Scenic River Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds that—

6 (1) Public Law 99–590 authorized the study of

7 2 segments of the West Branch of the Farmington

8 River, including an 11-mile headwater segment in

9 Massachusetts and the uppermost 14-mile segment in

10 Connecticut, for potential inclusion in the National

11 Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and created the

12 Farmington River Study Committee, consisting of

13 representatives from the 2 States, the towns bordering

14 the 2 segments, and other river interests, to advise the

15 Secretary of the Interior in conducting the study and

16 concerning management alternatives should the river

17 be included in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers

18 System;

19 (2) the study determined that both segments of

20 the river are eligible for inclusion in the National

21 Wild and Scenic Rivers System based upon their free22 flowing condition and outstanding fisheries, recre23 ation, wildlife, and historic values;

24 (3) the towns that directly abut the Connecticut

25 segment (Hartland, Barkhamsted, New Hartford, and

26 Canton), as well as the Town of Colebrook, which
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1 abuts the segment’s major tributary, have dem2 onstrated their desire for national wild and scenic

3 river designation through town meeting actions en4 dorsing designation; in addition, the 4 abutting towns

5 have demonstrated their commitment to protect the

6 river through the adoption of ‘‘river protection over7 lay districts’’, which establish a uniform setback for

8 new structures, new septic systems, sand and gravel

9 extraction, and vegetation removal along the entire

10 length of the Connecticut segment;

11 (4) during the study, the Farmington River

12 Study Committee and the National Park Service pre13 pared a comprehensive management plan for the Con14 necticut segment (the ‘‘Upper Farmington River

15 Management Plan’’, dated April 29, 1993) which es16 tablishes objectives, standards, and action programs

17 that will ensure long-term protection of the river’s

18 outstanding values and compatible management of its

19 land and water resources, without Federal manage20 ment of affected lands not owned by the United

21 States;

22 (5) the Farmington River Study Committee

23 voted unanimously on April 29, 1993, to adopt the

24 Upper Farmington River Management Plan and to

25 recommend that Congress include the Connecticut seg-
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1 ment in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System

2 in accordance with the spirit and provisions of the

3 Upper Farmington River Management Plan, and to

4 recommend that, in the absence of town votes support5 ing designation, no action be taken regarding wild

6 and scenic river designation of the Massachusetts seg7 ment; and

8 (6) the Colebrook Dam and Goodwin Dam hy9 droelectric projects are located outside the river seg10 ment designated by section 3, and the study of the

11 Farmington River pursuant to Public Law 99–590

12 determined that continuation of existing operations of

13 these projects as presently configured, together with

14 associated transmission lines and other existing

15 project works, is not incompatible with the designa16 tion made by section 3 and will not unreasonably di17 minish the scenic, recreational, and fish and wildlife

18 values of the segment designated by such section as of

19 the date of enactment of this Act; therefore, section

20 7(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act will not pre21 clude the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

22 from licensing or relicensing (or exempting from li23 censing) the continued operations of such projects as

24 presently configured or with changes in configuration
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1 that the Secretary determines would be consistent

2 with the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and the Plan.

3 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION.

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

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

6 paragraph at the end thereof:

7 ‘‘( ) FARMINGTON RIVER, CONNECTICUT.—The 14-

8 mile segment of the West Branch and mainstem extending

9 from immediately below the Goodwin Dam and Hydro10 electric Project in Hartland, Connecticut, to the down11 stream end of the New Hartford-Canton, Connecticut, town

12 line (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as the ‘seg13 ment’), as a recreational river, to be administered by the

14 Secretary of the Interior through cooperative agreements be15 tween the Secretary of the Interior and the State of Con16 necticut and its relevant political subdivisions, namely the

17 Towns of Colebrook, Hartland, Barkhamsted, New Hart18 ford, and Canton and the Hartford Metropolitan District

19 Commission, pursuant to section 10(e) of this Act. The seg20 ment shall be managed in accordance with the Upper

21 Farmington River Management Plan, dated April 29, 1993,

22 and such amendments thereto as the Secretary of the Inte23 rior determines are consistent with this Act. Such plan shall

24 be deemed to satisfy the requirement for a comprehensive

25 management plan pursuant to section 3(d) of this Act.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT.

2 (a) COMMITTEE.—The Director shall appoint a person

3 to represent the Secretary on the Farmington River Coordi4 nating Committee provided for in the Plan.

5 (b) FEDERAL ROLE.—(1) The Director shall represent

6 the Secretary in the implementation of the Plan and the

7 provisions of this Act with respect to the segment designated

8 by section 3, including ongoing review of the consistency

9 of the Plan with the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and the

10 review of proposed federally assisted water resources

11 projects which could have a direct and adverse effect on the

12 values for which the segment was established, as authorized

13 under section 7(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

14 (2) In order to provide for the long-term protection,

15 preservation, and enhancement of the river segment des16 ignated by section 3, the Secretary, pursuant to section

17 10(e) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, shall offer to enter

18 into cooperative agreements with the State of Connecticut

19 and its relevant political subdivisions identified in the

20 amendment made by such section 3 and, pursuant to section

21 11(b)(1) of such Act, shall make a similar offer to the Farm22 ington River Watershed Association. The Secretary, pursu23 ant to such section 11(b)(1), also may enter into cooperative

24 agreements with other parties who may be represented on

25 the Committee. All cooperative agreements provided for in

26 this Act shall be consistent with the Plan, and may include
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1 provisions for financial or other assistance from the United

2 States to facilitate the long-term protection, conservation,

3 and enhancement of the segment designated by such section

4 3 and the implementation of the Plan.

5 (3) The Secretary may provide technical assistance,

6 staff support, and funding to assist in the implementation

7 of the Plan.

8 (4) Implementation of this Act through cooperative

9 agreements as described in paragraph (2) of this subsection

10 shall not constitute National Park Service administration

11 of the segment designated by section 3 for purposes of sec12 tion 10(c) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and shall

13 not cause such segment to be considered as being a unit

14 of the National Park System.

15 (c) WATER RESOURCES PROJECTS.—(1) In determin16 ing whether a proposed water resources project would have

17 a direct and adverse effect on the values for which the seg18 ment designated by section 3 was included in the National

19 Wild and Scenic Rivers System, the Director shall specifi20 cally consider the extent to which the project is consistent

21 with the Plan.

22 (2) For purposes of implementation of section 7 of the

23 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the Plan, including the de24 tailed analysis of instream flow needs incorporated therein

25 and such additional analysis as may be incorporated in
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1 the future, shall serve as the primary source of information

2 regarding the flows needed to maintain instream resources

3 and the potential compatibility between resource protection

4 and possible water supply withdrawals.

5 (d) LAND MANAGEMENT.—The zoning ordinances duly

6 adopted by the towns of Hartland, Barkhamsted, New

7 Hartford, and Canton, Connecticut, including the ‘‘river

8 protection overlay districts’’ in effect on the date of enact9 ment of this Act, shall be deemed to satisfy the standards

10 and requirements of section 6(c) of the Wild and Scenic

11 Rivers Act. For the purpose of section 6(c), such towns shall

12 be deemed ‘‘villages’’ and the provisions of that section,

13 which prohibit Federal acquisition of lands by condemna14 tion, shall apply to the segment designated by section 3.

15 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

16 For the purposes of this Act:

17 (1) The term ‘‘Committee’’ means the Farming18 ton River Coordinating Committee referred to in sec19 tion 4.

20 (2) The term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of

21 the National Park Service.

22 (3) The term ‘‘Plan’’ means the comprehensive

23 management plan for the Connecticut segment of the

24 Farmington River prepared by the Farmington River

25 Study Committee and the National Park Service,
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1 which is known as the ‘‘Upper Farmington River

2 Management Plan’’ and dated April 29, 1993.

3 (4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of

4 the Interior.

5 SEC. 6. FUNDING AUTHORIZATION.

6 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as

7 may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act, in8 cluding the amendment to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

9 made by section 3.