1.
This Act may be cited as the
Rio Grande Natural Area
Act
.
2.
In this Act:
(1)
The term Commission means the Rio Grande Natural
Area Commission established by section 4(a).
(2)
The term Natural Area means the Rio Grande Natural
Area established by section 3(a).
(3)
The term Secretary means the Secretary of the
Interior.
3.
Establishment of Rio Grande Natural Area
(a)
There is established the Rio Grande Natural Area in the State of
Colorado to conserve, restore, and protect the natural, historic, cultural,
scientific, scenic, wildlife, and recreational resources of the Natural
Area.
(b)
The Natural Area shall include the Rio Grande River from the
southern boundary of the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge to the New Mexico
State border, extending 1/4 mile on either side of the
bank of the River.
(c)
Map and legal description
(1)
As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Secretary shall prepare a map and legal description of the Natural
Area.
(2)
The map and legal description of the Natural Area shall have the
same force and effect as if included in this Act, except that the Secretary may
correct any minor errors in the map and legal description.
(3)
The map and legal description of the Natural Area shall be
available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the Bureau of
Land Management.
4.
Establishment of the Commission
(a)
There is established the Rio Grande Natural Area
Commission.
(b)
The Commission shall—
(1)
advise the Secretary with respect to the Natural Area; and
(2)
prepare a management plan relating to non-Federal land in the
Natural Area under section 6(b)(2)(A).
(c)
The Commission shall be composed of 9 members appointed by the
Secretary, of whom—
(1)
1 member shall represent the Colorado State Director of the
Bureau of Land Management;
(2)
1 member shall be the manager of the Alamosa National Wildlife
Refuge, ex officio;
(3)
3 members shall be appointed based on the recommendation of the
Governor of Colorado, of whom—
(A)
1 member shall represent the Colorado Division of
Wildlife;
(B)
1 member shall represent the Colorado Division of Water
Resources; and
(C)
1 member shall represent the Rio Grande Water Conservation
District; and
(4)
4 members shall—
(A)
represent the general public;
(B)
be citizens of the local region in which the Natural Area is
established; and
(C)
have knowledge and experience in the fields of interest relating
to the preservation, restoration, and use of the Natural Area.
(d)
(1)
Except for the manager of the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge,
the term of office of a member of the Commission shall be 5 years.
(2)
A member may be reappointed to the Commission on completion of
the term of office of the member.
(e)
A member of the Commission shall serve without compensation for
service on the Commission.
(f)
The Commission shall elect a chairperson of the
Commission.
(g)
(1)
The Commission shall meet at least quarterly at the call of the
chairperson.
(2)
A meeting of the Commission shall be open to the public.
(3)
Notice of any meeting of the Commission shall be published in
advance of the meeting.
(h)
The Secretary and the heads of other Federal agencies shall, to
the maximum extent practicable, provide any information and technical services
requested by the Commission to assist in carrying out the duties of the
Commission.
5.
(a)
The Commission may hold such hearings, meet and act at such times
and places, take such testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission
considers advisable to carry out this Act.
(b)
(1)
For purposes of carrying out the management plan on non-Federal
land in the Natural Area, the Commission may enter into a cooperative agreement
with the State of Colorado, a political subdivision of the State, or any
person.
(2)
A cooperative agreement entered into under paragraph (1) shall
establish procedures for providing notice to the Commission of any action
proposed by the State of Colorado, a political subdivision of the State, or any
person that may affect the implementation of the management plan on non-Federal
land in the Natural Area.
(3)
A cooperative agreement entered into under paragraph (1) shall
not enlarge or diminish any right or duty of a Federal agency under Federal
law.
(c)
Prohibition of acquisition of real property
The Commission may not acquire any real property or interest in
real property.
(d)
Implementation of management plan
(1)
The Commission shall assist the Secretary in implementing the
management plan by carrying out the activities described in paragraph (2) to
preserve and interpret the natural, historic, cultural, scientific, scenic,
wildlife, and recreational resources of the Natural Area.
(2)
In assisting with the implementation of the management plan under
paragraph (1), the Commission may—
(A)
assist the State of Colorado in preserving State land and
wildlife within the Natural Area;
(B)
assist the State of Colorado and political subdivisions of the
State in increasing public awareness of, and appreciation for, the natural,
historic, scientific, scenic, wildlife, and recreational resources in the
Natural Area;
(C)
encourage political subdivisions of the State of Colorado to
adopt and implement land use policies that are consistent with—
(i)
the management of the Natural Area; and
(ii)
the management plan; and
(D)
encourage and assist private landowners in the Natural Area in
the implementation of the management plan.
6.
(a)
Not later than 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Secretary and the Commission, in coordination with appropriate agencies in
the State of Colorado, political subdivisions of the State, and private
landowners in the Natural Area, shall prepare management plans for the Natural
Area as provided in subsection (b).
(b)
Duties of Secretary and Commission
(1)
The Secretary shall prepare a management plan relating to the
management of Federal land in the Natural Area.
(2)
(A)
The Commission shall prepare a management plan relating to the
management of the non-Federal land in the Natural Area.
(B)
(i)
The Commission shall submit to the Secretary the management plan
prepared under subparagraph (A) for approval or disapproval.
(ii)
Action following disapproval
If the Secretary disapproves the management plan submitted under
clause (i), the Secretary shall—
(I)
notify the Commission of the reasons for the disapproval;
and
(II)
allow the Commission to submit to the Secretary revisions to the
management plan submitted under clause (i).
(3)
The Secretary and the Commission shall cooperate to ensure that
the management plans relating to the management of Federal land and non-Federal
land are consistent.
(c)
The management plans shall—
(1)
take into consideration Federal, State, and local plans in
existence on the date of enactment of this Act to present a unified
preservation, restoration, and conservation plan for the Natural Area;
(2)
with respect to Federal land in the Natural Area—
(A)
be developed in accordance with section 202 of the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712);
(B)
be consistent, to the maximum extent practicable, with the
management plans adopted by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management for
land adjacent to the Natural Area; and
(C)
be considered to be an amendment to the San Luis Resource
Management Plan of the Bureau of Land Management; and
(3)
include—
(A)
an inventory of the resources contained in the Natural Area
(including a list of property in the Natural Area that should be preserved,
restored, managed, developed, maintained, or acquired to further the purposes
of the Natural Area); and
(B)
a recommendation of policies for resource management, including
the use of intergovernmental cooperative agreements, that—
(i)
protect the resources of the Natural Area; and
(ii)
provide for solitude, quiet use, and pristine natural values of
the Natural Area.
(d)
The Secretary shall publish notice of the management plans in the
Federal Register.
7.
Administration of Natural Area
(a)
The Secretary shall administer the Federal land in the Natural
Area—
(1)
in accordance with—
(A)
the laws (including regulations) applicable to public land;
and
(B)
the management plan; and
(2)
in a manner that provides for—
(A)
the conservation, restoration, and protection of the natural,
historic, scientific, scenic, wildlife, and recreational resources of the
Natural Area;
(B)
the continued use of the Natural Area for purposes of education,
scientific study, and limited public recreation in a manner that does not
substantially impair the purposes for which the Natural Area is
established;
(C)
the protection of the wildlife habitat of the Natural
Area;
(D)
a prohibition on the construction of water storage facilities in
the Natural Area; and
(E)
the reduction in the use of or removal of roads in the Natural
Area and, to the maximum extent practicable, the reduction in or prohibition
against the use of motorized vehicles in the Natural Area (including the
removal of roads and a prohibition against motorized use on Federal land in the
area on the western side of the Rio Grande River from Lobatos Bridge south to
the New Mexico State line).
(b)
The Secretary is encouraged to negotiate with the State of
Colorado, the Rio Grande Water Conservation District, and affected water users
in the State to determine if changes in the streamflow that are beneficial to
the Natural Area may be accommodated.
(c)
The management plan prepared under section 6(b)(2)(A) shall apply
to private land in the Natural Area only to the extent that the private
landowner agrees in writing to be bound by the management plan.
(d)
Subject to valid existing rights, all Federal land in the Natural
Area is withdrawn from—
(1)
all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public
land laws;
(2)
location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
(3)
disposition under the mineral leasing laws (including geothermal
leasing laws).
(e)
(1)
The Secretary may acquire from willing sellers by purchase,
exchange, or donation land or an interest in land in the Natural Area.
(2)
Any land or interest in land acquired under paragraph (1) shall
be administered in accordance with the management plan and this Act.
(f)
Section 5(d)(1) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C.
1276(d)(1)) shall not apply to the Natural Area.
8.
Nothing in this Act—
(1)
amends, modifies, or is in conflict with the Rio Grande Compact,
consented to by Congress in the Act of May 31, 1939 (53 Stat. 785, ch.
155);
(2)
authorizes the regulation of private land in the Natural
Area;
(3)
authorizes the imposition of any mandatory streamflow
requirements;
(4)
creates an express or implied Federal reserved water
right;
(5)
imposes any Federal water quality standard within or upstream of
the Natural Area that is more restrictive than would be applicable had the
Natural Area not been established; or
(6)
prevents the State of Colorado from acquiring an instream flow
through the Natural Area under the terms, conditions, and limitations of State
law to assist in protecting the natural environment to the extent and for the
purposes authorized by State law.
9.
Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act.
10.
Termination of Commission
The Commission shall terminate
on the date that is 10 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
March 30, 2005
Reported without amendment