103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2815

AN ACT

To designate a portion of the Farmington River in

and Scenic Rivers System.Connecticut as a component of the National Wild
103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2815

AN ACT

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 Scenic River Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) Public Law 99–590 authorized the study of

2 2 segments of the West Branch of the Farmington

3 River, including an 11-mile headwater segment in

4 Massachusetts and the uppermost 14-mile segment

5 in Connecticut, for potential inclusion in the Na6 tional Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and created

7 the Farmington River Study Committee, consisting

8 of representatives from the 2 States, the towns bor9 dering the 2 segments, and other river interests, to

10 advise the Secretary of the Interior in conducting

11 the study and concerning management alternatives

12 should the river be included in the National Wild

13 and Scenic Rivers System;

14 (2) the study determined that both segments of

15 the river are eligible for inclusion in the National

16 Wild and Scenic Rivers System based upon their

17 free-flowing condition and outstanding fisheries,

18 recreation, wildlife, and historic values;

19 (3) the towns that directly abut the Connecticut

20 segment (Hartland, Barkhamsted, New Hartford,

21 and Canton), as well as the Town of Colebrook,

22 which abuts the segment’s major tributary, have

23 demonstrated their desire for national wild and sce24 nic river designation through town meeting actions

25 endorsing designation; in addition, the 4 abutting
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1 towns have demonstrated their commitment to pro2 tect the river through the adoption of ‘‘river protec3 tion overlay districts’’, which establish a uniform set4 back for new structures, new septic systems, sand

5 and gravel extraction, and vegetation removal along

6 the entire length of the Connecticut segment;

7 (4) during the study, the Farmington River

8 Study Committee and the National Park Service

9 prepared a comprehensive management plan for the

10 Connecticut segment (the ‘‘Upper Farmington River

11 Management Plan’’, dated April 29, 1993) which es12 tablishes objectives, standards, and action programs

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

14 outstanding values and compatible management of

15 its land and water resources, without Federal man16 agement of affected lands not owned by the United

17 States;

18 (5) the Farmington River Study Committee

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

20 Upper Farmington River Management Plan and to

21 recommend that Congress include the Connecticut

22 segment in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Sys23 tem in accordance with the spirit and provisions of

24 the Upper Farmington River Management Plan, and

25 to recommend that, in the absence of town votes
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1 supporting designation, no action be taken regarding

2 wild and scenic river designation of the Massachu3 setts segment; and

4 (6) the Colebrook Dam and Goodwin Dam hy5 droelectric projects are located outside the river seg6 ment designated by section 3, and the study of the

7 Farmington River pursuant to Public Law 99–590

8 determined that continuation of existing operations

9 of these projects as presently configured, together

10 with associated transmission lines and other existing

11 project works, is not incompatible with the designa12 tion made by section 3 and will not unreasonably di13 minish the scenic, recreational, and fish and wildlife

14 values of the segment designated by such section as

15 of the date of enactment of this Act; therefore, sec16 tion 7(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act will not

17 preclude the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 from licensing or relicensing (or exempting from li19 censing) the continued operations of such projects as

20 presently configured or with changes in configura21 tion that the Secretary determines would be consist22 ent with the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and the

23 Plan.
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1 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION.

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

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

4 paragraph at the end thereof:

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

6 mile segment of the West Branch and mainstem extending

7 from immediately below the Goodwin Dam and Hydro8 electric Project in Hartland, Connecticut, to the down9 stream end of the New Hartford-Canton, Connecticut,

10 town line (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as the

11 ‘segment’), as a recreational river, to be administered by

12 the Secretary of the Interior through cooperative agree13 ments between the Secretary of the Interior and the State

14 of Connecticut and its relevant political subdivisions,

15 namely the Towns of Colebrook, Hartland, Barkhamsted,

16 New Hartford, and Canton and the Hartford Metropolitan

17 District Commission, pursuant to section 10(e) of this

18 Act. The segment shall be managed in accordance with

19 the Upper Farmington River Management Plan, dated

20 April 29, 1993, and such amendments thereto as the Sec21 retary of the Interior determines are consistent with this

22 Act. Such plan shall be deemed to satisfy the requirement

23 for a comprehensive management plan pursuant to section

24 3(d) of this Act.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT.

2 (a) COMMITTEE.—The Director shall appoint a per3 son to represent the Secretary on the Farmington River

4 Coordinating Committee provided for in the Plan.

5 (b) FEDERAL ROLE.—(1) The Director shall rep6 resent the Secretary in the implementation of the Plan

7 and the provisions of this Act with respect to the segment

8 designated by section 3, including ongoing review of the

9 consistency of the Plan with the Wild and Scenic Rivers

10 Act and the review of proposed federally assisted water

11 resources projects which could have a direct and adverse

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

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

14 Rivers Act.

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

16 preservation, and enhancement of the river segment des17 ignated by section 3, the Secretary, pursuant to section

18 10(e) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, shall offer to

19 enter into cooperative agreements with the State of Con20 necticut and its relevant political subdivisions identified in

21 the amendment made by such section 3 and, pursuant to

22 section 11(b)(1) of such Act, shall make a similar offer

23 to the Farmington River Watershed Association. The Sec24 retary, pursuant to such section 11(b)(1), also may enter

25 into cooperative agreements with other parties who may

26 be represented on the Committee. All cooperative agree-
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1 ments provided for in this Act shall be consistent with the

2 Plan, and may include provisions for financial or other as3 sistance from the United States to facilitate the long-term

4 protection, conservation, and enhancement of the segment

5 designated by such section 3 and the implementation of

6 the Plan.

7 (3) The Secretary may provide technical assistance,

8 staff support, and funding to assist in the implementation

9 of the Plan.

10 (4) Implementation of this Act through cooperative

11 agreements as described in paragraph (2) of this sub12 section shall not constitute National Park Service adminis13 tration of the segment designated by section 3 for pur14 poses of section 10(c) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act,

15 and shall not cause such segment to be considered as being

16 a unit of the National Park System.

17 (c) WATER RESOURCES PROJECTS.—(1) In deter18 mining whether a proposed water resources project would

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

20 the segment designated by section 3 was included in the

21 National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, the Director

22 shall specifically consider the extent to which the project

23 is consistent with the Plan.

24 (2) For purposes of implementation of section 7 of

25 the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the Plan, including the
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1 detailed analysis of instream flow needs incorporated

2 therein and such additional analysis as may be incor3 porated in the future, shall serve as the primary source

4 of information regarding the flows needed to maintain

5 instream resources and the potential compatibility between

6 resource protection and possible water supply withdrawals.

7 (d) LAND MANAGEMENT.—The zoning ordinances

8 duly adopted by the towns of Hartland, Barkhamsted,

9 New Hartford, and Canton, Connecticut, including the

10 ‘‘river protection overlay districts’’ in effect on the date

11 of enactment of this Act, shall be deemed to satisfy the

12 standards and requirements of section 6(c) of the Wild

13 and Scenic Rivers Act. For the purpose of section 6(c),

14 such towns shall be deemed ‘‘villages’’ and the provisions

15 of that section, which prohibit Federal acquisition of lands

16 by condemnation, shall apply to the segment designated

17 by section 3.

18 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

19 For the purposes of this Act:

20 (1) The term ‘‘Committee’’ means the Farming21 ton River Coordinating Committee referred to in sec22 tion 4.

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

24 the National Park Service.
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1 (3) The term ‘‘Plan’’ means the comprehensive

2 management plan for the Connecticut segment of

3 the Farmington River prepared by the Farmington

4 River Study Committee and the National Park Serv5 ice, which is known as the ‘‘Upper Farmington River

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

7 (4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

8 of the Interior.

9 SEC. 6. FUNDING AUTHORIZATION.

10 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

11 as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act,

12 including the amendment to the Wild and Scenic Rivers

13 Act made by section 3.

Passed the House of Representatives March 15,

1994.

Attest:

Clerk.