A bill to provide improved authority for the administration of certain national forest system lands in Oregon.
PL 95-200 (H.R.7074), enacted 11/23/1977

PUBLIC LAW 95-200—NOV. 23, 1977 
91 STAT. 1425 
Public Law 95-200 
95th Congress 
An Act 
To provide improved authority for the administration of certain National Forest 
System lands in Oregon. 
Be it etmcted l)y the Senate atid House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress 
assembled, 
PREAMBLE 
The Congress finds that an area of land in the State of Oregon 
known variously as the Bull Run National Forest and the Bull Run 
Forest Reserve is presently the source of the sole domestic water sup-
ply for the city of Portland, Oregon (hereinafter called the "city") 
and other local governmental units and persons in the Portland 
metropolitan area, reserved for the city by a Presidential proclama-
tion issued in 1892 and furnishing an extremely valuable resource 
of pure clear raw potable water, the continued production of which 
should be the principal management objective in the area hereinafter 
referred to as "the unit"; that the said area is now managed under terms 
of a Federal court decree issued pursuant to turn of the century law 
which does not appropriately address present and future needs and 
opportunities for the protection, management, and utilization of the 
resources contained therein. 
Nov. 23, 1977 
[H.R. 7074] 
National Forest 
System Lands, 
Oreg. 
Water resource 
management. 
16 use 482b 
note. 
DESIGNATION OF UNIT 
SECTION 1. There is hereby established, subject to valid existing 
rights, a special resources management; unit within the Mount Hood 
National Forest, State of Oregon, comprising approximately 95,382 
acres as depicted on a map dated April 1977, and entitled "Bull Run 
Watershed Management Unit, Mount Hood National Forest", which 
is on file and available for public inspection in the offices of the Chief, 
and the Regional Forester—Pacific Northwest Region, Forest Serv-
ice, Department of Agriculture, minor adjustments in the boundaries 
of which may be made from time to time by the Secretary of Agri-
culture (hereinafter the "Secretary") after consultation with the city 
and appiopriate public notice and hearings. 
• 
'^'^ 
• • '•• 
MANAGEMENT 
SEC. 2. (a) The unit and the renewable resources therein, shall be 
administered as a watershed by the Secretary of Agriculture in 
accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations applicable to National 
Forest System lands except to the extent that any management plan 
or practice is found by the Secretary to have a significant adverse 
effect on compliance with the water quality standards referred to in 
section 2(b) hereof or on the quantity of the water produced thereon 
for the use of the city, and other local government units and persons 
using such water under agreements with the city (and the Secretary 
shall take into consideration the cumulative effect of individually 
insignificant degradations), in which case, and notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, the management plan and all relevant leases, 
Bull Run 
Watershed 
Management 
Unit, Mount 
Hood National 
Forest. 
Map, availability. 
16 use 482b 
note. 
16 use 482b 
note. 
91 STAT. 1426 
PUBLIC LAW 95-200—NOV. 23, 1977 
Land 
management 
plans. 
Public 
participation. 
Completion date. 
Data, annual 
comparison. 
Planned 
management 
programs, review. 
Cooperative 
agreements. 
Arbitration 
board, 
establishment. 
permits, contracts, rights-of-way, or other rights or authorizations 
issued pursuant thereto shall forthwith be altered by the Secretary 
to eliminate such adverse effect by application of different techniques 
or prohibitions of one or more such practices or uses: Provided^ how-
ever^ That use of such water for the production of energy and the 
transmission of such energy through and over the unit are deemed 
consistent with the purposes of this Act and the rights-of-way here-
tofore granted to Bonneville Power Administration by the Forest 
Service through and over the unit are validated and confirmed and 
deemed consistent with the purposes of this Act. 
(b) The policy set forth in subsection (a) shall be attained through 
the development, maintenance, and periodic revision of land manage-
ment plans in accordance with procedures set forth in section 5 of the 
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 
(88 Stat. 477, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 1604), through the maintenance 
of systems for monitoring and evaluating water quality, and through 
supporting scientific research as the Secretary may deem necessary 
after consultation and in coordination with the city. In the develop-
ment and revision of land management plans for the unit, the Secre-
tary, except as otherwise provided in section 2(a) hereof, shall 
provide for public participation and shall consult and coordinate with 
appropriate officials and advisors of the city, and shall consider such 
data and research as the city may collect through its own monitoring 
systems and scientific efforts, if any. Such plans shall be prepared by 
an interdisciplinary team; be embodied in appropriate written mate-
rial, including maps and other descriptive documents; shall contain 
water quality standards developed by the Secretary after consultation 
and in cooperation with the city, which standards shall be substantially 
based on and shall reflect a quality of water not significantly less 
than the quality reflected by percentile curves developed from data 
collected from 1967 through 1975 and, if none, from data collected 
in the first three years of record thereafter; and be available to the 
public at convenient locations. The initial plan or plans shall be 
completed as soon as practicable after the enactment of this Act, but 
not later than September 30, 1979. Current data shall be compared 
to historical data at least annually for the purpose of determining 
compliance with the standards and the significance of any deviation 
therefrom. Deviations occurring from operation, maintenance, altera-
tion, or construction of water storage, or electrical generation and 
transmission facilities, seasonal fluctuations, variations in climate, and 
other natural phenomena, fire, or acts of God, shall not be considered 
in determining the historical or current percentile curves. 
(c) The Secretary or his representative shall, upon request, and 
at least annually, meet with appropriate officials of the city for the 
purpose of reviewing planned management programs and the impact 
thereof on the quality and quantity of the water produced on the unit 
and assuring that their respective management and operational 
activities within the unit are appropriately coordinated. The Secre-
tary shall negotiate in good faith cooperative agreements with appro-
priate officials of the city to effectuate activity coordination. 
(d) In the event there is disagreement between the city and the 
Secretary with respect to the development or revision of the water 
quality standards provided for herein, or with respect to the effect 
or the significance of such effect of one or more proposed or existing 
programs, practices, uses, regulations, or boundary adjustments 
(except as otherwise specifically provided for herein), on the quantity 
of the water produced on said unit, or on compliance with the water 
PUBLIC LAW 95-200—NOV. 23, 1977 
91 STAT. 1427 
quality standards referred to in section 2 (a) and (b) hereof and, 
therefore, with respect to the necessity for an alteration or prohibition 
of any such j)roffram, practice, use, regulation, or boundary adjust-
ment as required in section 2(a) hereof, an arbitration board for 
resolving such disagreements shall be established. The Secretary and 
the city shall, each, forthwith appoint one member to such board and 
those two members shall select a third. In the event agreement can-
not be reached on the third member within seven days after the 
appointment of the first two, the third member shall be appointed by 
the presiding judge of the United States District Court for the Dis-
trict of Oregon within seven days after being notified of such disagree-
ment by either of the first two members. All of said members shall be 
qualified to make a scientific determination of the facts. The contentions 
of the city and the Secretary shall be submitted to the board in the 
form of written contentions of fact together with the evidence and 
analysis that tends to support the position being presented. The board 
shall forthwith consider and decide, on a scientific basis, the issues in 
disagreement by majority vote, taking into consideration the evidence 
and data presented by the parties and such other tests and data which 
the board by majority vote may require. The decision of such board 
shall be in the form of written findings of fact and conclusions based 
thereon and shall be final and binding on the parties. The Secretary 
and the city shall compensate their designees and share equally the 
compensation of the third member, and shall provide such technical 
and administrative support as required. 
(e) The Secretary is authorized, after consultation with the city, to 
promulgate regulations for controlling entry into the unit by all per-
sons including but not limited to— 
(1) employees or contractors of the city engaged in the inspec-
tion, maintenance, construction, or improvement of the city's 
facilities; 
(2) (i) Federal, State, and local government officers and (ii) 
employees thereof acting in an official capacity; 
(3) Federal, State, and local government permittees and con-
tractors conducting authorized activities; 
(4) members of advisory groups formed pursuant to this Act 
or ordinances of the city in the performance of their official duties: 
Provided, That no regulation promulgated pursuant to this subsection 
shall prohibit ingress or egress to non-Federal lands or to authorized 
occupancies on, or uses of. Federal lands: Provided further, That the 
Secretary may independently and directly prohibit or restrict all 
entry into the unit during fire or other emergencies as he may 
determine. 
EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS 
SEC. 3. (a) Nothing in this Act shall terminate or affect any 
lease, permit, contract, patent, right-of-way, or other land use right 
or authorization existing on the date of approval of this Act and 
otherwise valid except for the provisions of section 1862 of title 18 of 
the United States Code. 
(b) Nothing in this Act shall in any way affect any law governing 
appropriation or use of, or Federal right to, water on National Forest 
System lands; or as expanding or diminishing Federal, State, or local 
jurisdiction, responsibility, interests, or rights in water resources 
development or control. 
, 
Members, 
appointment. 
Qualifications. 
Decisions. 
Compensation 
and 
administrative 
support. 
Regulations. 
Emergencies. 
Savings 
provision. 
16 u s e 482b 
note. 
91 STAT. 1428 
PUBLIC LAW 95-200—NOV. 23, 1977 
Repeal. 
Preemption of 
State and local 
laws. 
Challenges. 
(c) Section 1862 of title 18 of the United States Code is hereby 
repealed. 
(d) Except as otherwise provided for herein, this Act shall take 
precedence over and supersede all State and local laws dealing with 
or affecting the subject matter of this Act. 
(e) Challenge to actions taken by any governmental unit or official 
under the provisions of this Act shall not be sustained by any court 
except upon a showing or arbitrary, unreasonable, capricious, or illegal 
action or an absence of substantial good faith compliance with the pro-
cedural provisions hereof substantially prejudicing the rights of an 
interested party. 
Approved November 23, 1977. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 
HOUSE REPORT No. 95-622 (Coram, on Interior and Insular Affairs). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 123 (1977): 
Nov. 2, considered and passed House. 
Nov. 4, considered and passed Senate.