IIB 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 986 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
AUGUST 1, 2007 
Received 
AUGUST 3, 2007 
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
AN ACT 
To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate 
certain segments of the Eightmile River in the State 
of Connecticut as components of the National Wild and 
Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Eightmile Wild and 
Scenic River Act’’. 
SEC. 
2. 
WILD 
AND 
SCENIC 
RIVER 
DESIGNATION, 
EIGHTMILE RIVER, CONNECTICUT. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Eightmile River Wild and Scenic River 
Study Act of 2001 (Public Law 107–65; 115 Stat. 
484) authorized the study of the Eightmile River in 
the State of Connecticut from its headwaters down-
stream to its confluence with the Connecticut River 
for potential inclusion in the National Wild and Sce-
nic Rivers System. 
(2) The segments of the Eightmile River cov-
ered by the study are in a free-flowing condition, 
and the outstanding resource values of the river seg-
ments include the cultural landscape, water quality, 
watershed hydrology, unique species and natural 
communities, geology, and watershed ecosystem. 
(3) The Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Study 
Committee has determined that— 
(A) the outstanding resource values of 
these river segments depend on sustaining the 
integrity and quality of the Eightmile River wa-
tershed; 
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(B) these resource values are manifest 
within the entire watershed; and 
(C) the watershed as a whole, including its 
protection, is itself intrinsically important to 
this designation. 
(4) The Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Study 
Committee took a watershed approach in studying 
and recommending management options for the river 
segments and the Eightmile River watershed as a 
whole. 
(5) During the study, the Eightmile River Wild 
and Scenic Study Committee, with assistance from 
the National Park Service, prepared a comprehen-
sive management plan for the Eightmile River wa-
tershed, dated December 8, 2005 (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Eightmile River Watershed Man-
agement Plan’’), which establishes objectives, stand-
ards, and action programs that will ensure long-term 
protection of the outstanding values of the river and 
compatible management of the land and water re-
sources of the Eightmile River and its watershed, 
without Federal management of affected lands not 
owned by the United States. 
(6) The Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Study 
Committee voted in favor of inclusion of the 
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Eightmile River in the National Wild and Scenic 
Rivers System and included this recommendation as 
an integral part of the Eightmile River Watershed 
Management Plan. 
(7) The residents of the towns lying along the 
Eightmile River and comprising most of its water-
shed (Salem, East Haddam, and Lyme, Con-
necticut), as well as the Boards of Selectmen and 
Land Use Commissions of these towns, voted to en-
dorse the Eightmile River Watershed Management 
Plan and to seek designation of the river as a com-
ponent of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Sys-
tem. 
(8) The State of Connecticut General Assembly 
enacted Public Act 05–18 to endorse the Eightmile 
River Watershed Management Plan and to seek des-
ignation of the river as a component of the National 
Wild and Scenic Rivers System. 
(b) 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 new paragraph: 
‘‘(l) EIGHTMILE RIVER, CONNECTICUT.—Segments 
of the main stem and specified tributaries of the Eightmile 
River in the State of Connecticut, totaling approximately 
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(c) MANAGEMENT.—The segments of the main stem 
and certain tributaries of the Eightmile River in the State 
of Connecticut designated as components of the National 
Wild and Scenic Rivers System by the amendment made 
by subsection (b) (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Eightmile River’’) shall be managed in accordance with 
the Eightmile River Watershed Management Plan and 
such amendments to the plan as the Secretary of the Inte-
rior determines are consistent with this section. The 
Eightmile River Watershed Management Plan is deemed 
to satisfy the requirements for a comprehensive manage-
ment plan required by section 3(d) of the Wild and Scenic 
Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(d)). 
(d) COMMITTEE.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 
coordinate the management responsibilities of the Sec-
retary with regard to the Eightmile River with the 
Eightmile River Coordinating Committee, as specified in 
the Eightmile River Watershed Management Plan. 
(e) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—In order to pro-
vide for the long-term protection, preservation, and en-
hancement of the Eightmile River, the Secretary of the 
Interior may enter into cooperative agreements pursuant 
to sections 10(e) and 11(b)(1) of the Wild and Scenic Riv-
ers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(e), 1282(b)(1)) with the State 
of Connecticut, the towns of Salem, Lyme, and East 
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Haddam, Connecticut, and appropriate local planning and 
environmental organizations. All cooperative agreements 
authorized by this subsection shall be consistent with the 
Eightmile River Watershed Management Plan and may in-
clude provisions for financial or other assistance from the 
United States. 
(f) RELATION TO NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.—Not-
withstanding section 10(c) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(c)), the Eightmile River shall not 
be administered as part of the National Park System or 
be subject to regulations which govern the National Park 
System. 
(g) LAND MANAGEMENT.—The zoning ordinances 
adopted by the towns of Salem, East Haddam, and Lyme, 
Connecticut, in effect as of December 8, 2005, including 
provisions for conservation of floodplains, wetlands, and 
watercourses associated with the segments, are deemed to 
satisfy the standards and requirements of section 6(c) of 
the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1277 (c)). For 
the purpose of section 6(c) of that Act, such towns shall 
be deemed ‘‘villages’’ and the provisions of that section, 
which prohibit Federal acquisition of lands by condemna-
tion, shall apply to the segments designated by subsection 
(b). The authority of the Secretary to acquire lands for 
the purposes of this Act shall be limited to acquisition by 
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donation or acquisition with the consent of the owner 
thereof, and shall be subject to the additional criteria set 
forth in the Eightmile River Watershed Management 
Plan. 
(h) WATERSHED APPROACH.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the water-
shed approach to resource preservation and enhance-
ment articulated in the Eightmile River Watershed 
Management Plan, the tributaries of the Eightmile 
River watershed specified in paragraph (2) are rec-
ognized as integral to the protection and enhance-
ment of the Eightmile River and its watershed. 
(2) COVERED
TRIBUTARIES.—Paragraph (1) 
applies with respect to Beaver Brook, Big Brook, 
Burnhams Brook, Cedar Pond Brook, Cranberry 
Meadow Brook, Early Brook, Falls Brook, Fraser 
Brook, Harris Brook, Hedge Brook, Lake Hayward 
Brook, Malt House Brook, Muddy Brook, Ransom 
Brook, Rattlesnake Ledge Brook, Shingle Mill 
Brook, Strongs Brook, Tisdale Brook, Witch Mead-
ow Brook, and all other perennial streams within the 
Eightmile River watershed. 
(i) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec-
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essary to carry out this section and the amendment made 
by subsection (b). 
Passed the House of Representatives July 31, 2007. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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