I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1314
To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate a portion of the
Columbia River as a recreational river, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 25, 1999
Mr. DICKS (for himself, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. BAIRD,
and Mr. MCDERMOTT) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Resources
A BILL
To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate
a portion of the Columbia River as a recreational river,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The 50-mile Hanford Reach—
(A) is the last free-flowing nontidal seg-
ment of the Columbia River in the United
States; and
(B) has been preserved in a relatively nat-
ural condition because of its location within the
Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
(2) Public Law 100–605 (102 Stat. 3043) re-
quired an analysis of protection alternatives for the
Hanford Reach and a report to Congress by the Sec-
retary of the Interior, who concluded in the Hanford
Reach Final Environmental Impact Statement dated
June 1994 that the Hanford Reach should be des-
ignated as a recreational river under the Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.).
(3) The Hanford Reach is a vital migration cor-
ridor for anadromous fish and contains some of the
most productive spawning areas in the Northwest
United States, producing an estimated 80 percent of
the Columbia Basin’s fall chinook salmon and
healthy runs of naturally spawning steelhead trout,
sturgeon, and other highly valued fish species.
(4) The Hanford Reach provides important
habitat for wintering and migrating wildlife, includ-
ing waterfowl, bald eagles, deer, elk, and numerous
Federal and State-listed threatened and endangered
plant and animal species, some of which are found
nowhere else.
(5) The shoreline area known as White Bluffs
and the pristine conditions of the Hanford Reach
offer scenic beauty and opportunities for solitude
and recreation, including hunting, fishing, boating,
hiking, swimming, and wildlife observation, in close
proximity to the cites of Richland, Pasco, and
Kennewick, Washington.
(6) The Hanford Reach and its salmon runs
have been important to mid-Columbia Native Ameri-
cans for subsistence, cultural, and religious purposes
for more than 10,000 years, and there are 150 reg-
istered archaeological sites in the area.
(7) The southern shore of the Hanford Reach
chronicles the history of—
(A) the Manhattan Project;
(B) defense nuclear production during the
cold war; and
(C) early Euro-American settlement of the
area.
(8) The White Bluffs and adjacent shoreline
areas are significant paleontological resources and
rich with fossilized remains from the Pliocene pe-
riod.
(9) Protection of the Hanford Reach as a com-
ponent of the national wild and scenic rivers system
could enhance local revenues from outdoor recreation
and increase economic investment in the cities of
Richland, Pasco, and Kennewick, Washington, by
highlighting the quality of life and natural amenities
of the area.
(10) Economic activities along the river corridor
in existence on the date of enactment of this Act,
such as agriculture, power production and trans-
mission, and water withdrawal, are compatible with
the designation of the Hanford Reach as a rec-
reational river under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
(16 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.).
(11) Designation of the Hanford Reach as a
recreational river under such Act cannot be changed
except by a subsequent Act of Congress.
(12) Designation of the Hanford Reach as a
recreational river under such Act can facilitate, and
make less costly, the remediation of contaminated
areas of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation by—
(A) establishing future land use within the
river corridor; and
(B) helping to ensure the Federal commit-
ment to the cleanup of the Hanford Site.
(13) The Hanford Reach has special signifi-
cance as an outdoor laboratory and classroom and
offers a singular opportunity for government agen-
cies, Indian tribes, and community organizations to
develop a partnership around an education and in-
terpretation program focused on the area’s unique
natural and human history.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to protect the natural, cultural, scenic, and
recreational resources of the Hanford Reach of the
Columbia River by designating the Hanford Reach
as a recreational river under the Wild and Scenic
Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.);
(2) to encourage education and interpretation
of the Hanford Reach; and
(3) to protect the land adjacent to the Hanford
Reach.
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF THE HANFORD REACH OF THE
COLUMBIA 
RIVER 
AS 
A 
RECREATIONAL
RIVER UNDER THE WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS
ACT.
(a) DESIGNATION.—Section 3(a) of the Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following:
‘‘(160) HANFORD REACH, COLUMBIA RIVER, WASH-
INGTON.—Subject to section 3A, the river segment from
river mile 346.5 to river mile 396 of the Hanford Reach
of the Columbia River, Washington, as a recreational
river.’’.
(b) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS.—The Wild and Scenic
Rivers Act is amended by inserting after section 3 (16
U.S.C. 1274) the following:
‘‘SEC. 3A. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO HAN-
FORD 
REACH, 
COLUMBIA 
RIVER, 
WASH-
INGTON.
‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘Han-
ford Reach recreational river’ means the river segment of
the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, Washington,
designated as a recreational river by section 3(a)(160).
‘‘(b) MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior
shall manage the Hanford Reach recreational river as a
recreational river in accordance with this Act, the National
Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16
U.S.C. 668dd et seq.), and other applicable law.
‘‘(c) PROHIBITION
ON ALTERATION
OF DESIGNA-
TION.—Nothing in this Act or any other law authorizes
the Secretary of the Interior or any other governmental
officer to alter the designation of the Hanford Reach rec-
reational river as a recreational river under this Act.
‘‘(d) MANAGEMENT PLAN COMMISSION.—
‘‘(B) appointed by the Governor of Wash-
ington.
‘‘(3) 
SUPERMAJORITY
REQUIREMENT.—All
Commission decisions shall be adopted with a vote of
at least 10 of the members of the Commission.
‘‘(e) DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The
management commission shall be responsible for devel-
oping the management plan for the Hanford Reach rec-
reational river. In developing and periodically revising the
plan, the management commission shall—
‘‘(1) provide opportunity for public participa-
tion;
‘‘(2) recognize recreation as an outstandingly
remarkable value of the Hanford Reach recreational
river and give recreation a high management pri-
ority, along with protection of natural, cultural, and
scenic resources;
‘‘(3) coordinate and cooperate with State, local,
and tribal governments, public school districts, and
other entities in the development and implementa-
tion of educational and interpretive programs related
to the Hanford Reach recreational river;
‘‘(4) determine how an educational and inter-
pretive center for the Hanford Reach recreational
river, with appropriate exhibit, conference, and sup-
port facilities, can be constructed or incorporated
into a compatible community facility; and
‘‘(5) determine how recreational tourism efforts
associated with the Hanford Reach recreational river
can be coordinated through a community-based vis-
itor and convention bureau.
‘‘(f) PROHIBITION
ON INCLUSION
OF PRIVATELY
OWNED LAND.—
‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in
paragraph (2), only public land adjacent to the Han-
ford Reach recreational river, and no privately
owned land, may be included in the Hanford Reach
recreational river.
‘‘(2) LIMITED
ACQUISITION
AUTHORITY.—As
part of the management plan for the Hanford Reach
recreational river, the management commission shall
develop a strategy for acquiring private land, by pur-
chase, conservation easement, lease, or donation,
from persons willing to convey private land in the
area defined by the applicable environmental impact
statement.
‘‘(g) RELATIONSHIP TO ACCESS CORRIDORS.—Ac-
cess corridors for the Hanford Reach recreational river in
existence on the date of enactment of this section shall
be retained.
‘‘(h) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS AND AUTHORI-
TIES.—The designation of the Hanford Reach recreational
river shall not—
‘‘(1) prohibit or approve relicensing of any hy-
droelectric facility by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission;
‘‘(2) affect any law, agreement, plan, or policy
in effect on the date of enactment of this section re-
garding water rights or instream flows on the des-
ignated river segment;
‘‘(3) prohibit the operation or maintenance of
any energy, transmission, water intake, or water
outfall facility in existence on the date of enactment
of this section;
‘‘(4) prohibit the modification, repair, or re-
placement of any energy, transmission, water intake,
or water outfall facility so long as there is no sub-
stantial impact on the natural, cultural, or scenic re-
sources of the Hanford Reach recreational river and
adjacent land area;
‘‘(5) establish or impose remediation require-
ments more restrictive than those that would apply
but for the designation;
‘‘(6) prohibit construction of temporary facili-
ties necessary for the remediation and restoration of
contaminated areas within the view shed of the Han-
ford Reach recreational river; or
‘‘(7) relieve the Secretary of Energy from any
obligation or other liability at the Hanford Nuclear
Reservation under the Comprehensive Environ-
mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), the Solid Waste
Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), and other ap-
plicable law imposing any similar obligation or other
liability on the Secretary of the Interior.
‘‘(i) RIVERSHORE RESTORATION
AND ENHANCE-
MENT.—The Secretary of the Army, acting through the
Chief of Engineers of the Army Corps of Engineers, in
cooperation and coordination with the heads of other rel-
evant Federal agencies and State and local governments,
shall develop a comprehensive plan of improvement for the
levees and other rivershore areas downstream of the Han-
ford Reach recreational river in the vicinity of the cites
of 
Richland, 
Pasco, 
and 
Kennewick, 
Washington,
including—
‘‘(1) restoration and enhancement of fish and
wildlife habitat;
‘‘(2) recreation;
‘‘(3) river access; and
‘‘(4) overall aesthetics.’’.
(c) EXISTING UNDESIGNATED PARAGRAPHS; RE-
MOVAL OF DUPLICATION.—Section 3(a) of the Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended—
(1) by striking the first undesignated paragraph
after paragraph (156), relating to Elkhorn Creek,
Oregon; and
(2) by designating the three remaining undesig-
nated paragraphs after paragraph (156) as para-
graphs (157), (158), and (159), respectively.
SEC. 4. CONSOLIDATION OF BUREAU OF LAND MANAGE-
MENT HOLDINGS, HANFORD NUCLEAR RES-
ERVATION.
(a) STUDY OF EXCHANGE OPTIONS.—The Secretary
of the Interior and the Secretary of Energy shall—
(1) study the consolidation of parcels of land
administered by the Bureau of Land Management
on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation; and
(2) prepare to exchange lands on completion of
documents required under the National Environ-
mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
(b) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of the land ex-
change under subsection (a) shall be—
(1) to clear title to parcels of land along the
railroad in the southeast corner of the Hanford Nu-
clear Reservation and in the area known as the ‘‘200
Area’’ for industrial development;
(2) to protect wildlife and native plants; and
(3) to preserve cultural sites important to Na-
tive Americans.
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