[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 48 (Thursday, March 25, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3572-S3573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        SUDBURY, ASSABET, AND CONCORD WILD AND SCENIC RIVER ACT

  The bill (H.R. 193) to designate a portion of the Sudbury, Assabet, 
and Concord Rivers as a component of the National Wild and Scenic 
Rivers System, was considered, ordered to a third reading, read the 
third time, and passed.

                                H.R. 193

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Sudbury, Assabet, and 
     Concord Wild and Scenic River Act''.

[[Page S3573]]

     SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF SUDBURY, ASSABET, AND CONCORD SCENIC 
                   AND RECREATIONAL RIVERS, MASSACHUSETTS.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
       (1) The Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Wild and Scenic River 
     Study Act (title VII of Public Law 101-628; 104 Stat. 4497)--
       (A) designated segments of the Sudbury, Assabet, and 
     Concord Rivers in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, totaling 
     29 river miles, for study and potential addition to the 
     National Wild and Scenic Rivers System; and
       (B) directed the Secretary of the Interior to establish the 
     Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers Study Committee (in this 
     section referred to as the ``Study Committee'') to advise the 
     Secretary in conducting the study and in the consideration of 
     management alternatives should the rivers be included in the 
     National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
       (2) The study determined the following river segments are 
     eligible for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers 
     System based on their free-flowing condition and outstanding 
     scenic, recreation, wildlife, cultural, and historic values:
       (A) The 16.6-mile segment of the Sudbury River beginning at 
     the Danforth Street Bridge in the town of Framingham, to its 
     confluence with the Assabet River.
       (B) The 4.4-mile segment of the Assabet River from 1,000 
     feet downstream from the Damon Mill Dam in the town of 
     Concord to the confluence with the Sudbury River at Egg Rock 
     in Concord.
       (C) The 8-mile segment of the Concord River from Egg Rock 
     at the confluence of the Sudbury and Assabet Rivers to the 
     Route 3 bridge in the town of Billerica.
       (3) The towns that directly abut the segments, including 
     Framingham, Sudbury, Wayland, Lincoln, Concord, Bedford, 
     Carlisle, and Billerica, Massachusetts, have each 
     demonstrated their desire for National Wild and Scenic River 
     designation through town meeting votes endorsing designation.
       (4) During the study, the Study Committee and the National 
     Park Service prepared a comprehensive management plan for the 
     segment, entitled ``Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Wild and 
     Scenic River Study, River Conservation Plan'' and dated March 
     16, 1995 (in this section referred to as the ``plan''), which 
     establishes objectives, standards, and action programs that 
     will ensure long-term protection of the rivers' outstanding 
     values and compatible management of their land and water 
     resources.
       (5) The Study Committee voted unanimously on February 23, 
     1995, to recommend that the Congress include these segments 
     in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System for management 
     in accordance with the plan.
       (b) Designation.--Section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic 
     Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the 
     end the following new paragraph:
       ``(160) Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers, 
     Massachusetts.--(A) The 29 miles of river segments in 
     Massachusetts, as follows:
       ``(i) The 14.9-mile segment of the Sudbury River beginning 
     at the Danforth Street Bridge in the town of Framingham, 
     downstream to the Route 2 Bridge in Concord, as a scenic 
     river.
       ``(ii) The 1.7-mile segment of the Sudbury River from the 
     Route 2 Bridge downstream to its confluence with the Assabet 
     River at Egg Rock, as a recreational river.
       ``(iii) The 4.4-mile segment of the Assabet River beginning 
     1,000 feet downstream from the Damon Mill Dam in the town of 
     Concord, to its confluence with the Sudbury River at Egg Rock 
     in Concord; as a recreational river.
       ``(iv) The 8-mile segment of the Concord River from Egg 
     Rock at the confluence of the Sudbury and Assabet Rivers 
     downstream to the Route 3 Bridge in the town of Billerica, as 
     a recreational river.
       ``(B) The segments referred to in subparagraph (A) shall be 
     administered by the Secretary of the Interior in cooperation 
     with the SUASCO River Stewardship Council provided for in the 
     plan referred to in subparagraph (C) through cooperative 
     agreements under section 10(e) between the Secretary and the 
     Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its relevant political 
     subdivisions (including the towns of Framingham, Wayland, 
     Sudbury, Lincoln, Concord, Carlisle, Bedford, and Billerica).
       ``(C) The segments referred to in subparagraph (A) shall be 
     managed in accordance with the plan entitled `Sudbury, 
     Assabet and Concord Wild and Scenic River Study, River 
     Conservation Plan', dated March 16, 1995. The plan is deemed 
     to satisfy the requirement for a comprehensive management 
     plan under subsection (d) of this section.''.
       (c) Federal Role in Management.--(1) The Director of the 
     National Park Service or the Director's designee shall 
     represent the Secretary of the Interior in the implementation 
     of the plan, this section, and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 
     with respect to each of the segments designated by the 
     amendment made by subsection (b), including the review of 
     proposed federally assisted water resources projects that 
     could have a direct and adverse effect on the values for 
     which the segment is established, as authorized under section 
     7(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1278(a)).
       (2) Pursuant to sections 10(e) and section 11(b)(1) of the 
     Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(e), 1282(b)(1)), 
     the Director shall offer to enter into cooperative agreements 
     with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, its relevant 
     political subdivisions, the Sudbury Valley Trustees, and the 
     Organization for the Assabet River. Such cooperative 
     agreements shall be consistent with the plan and may include 
     provisions for financial or other assistance from the United 
     States to facilitate the long-term protection, conservation, 
     and enhancement of each of the segments designated by the 
     amendment made by subsection (b).
       (3) The Director may provide technical assistance, staff 
     support, and funding to assist in the implementation of the 
     plan, except that the total cost to the Federal Government of 
     activities to implement the plan may not exceed $100,000 each 
     fiscal year.
       (4) Notwithstanding section 10(c) of the Wild and Scenic 
     Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(c)), any portion of a segment 
     designated by the amendment made by subsection (b) that is 
     not already within the National Park System shall not under 
     this section--
       (A) become a part of the National Park System;
       (B) be managed by the National Park Service; or
       (C) be subject to regulations which govern the National 
     Park System.
       (d) Water Resources Projects.--(1) In determining whether a 
     proposed water resources project would have a direct and 
     adverse effect on the values for which the segments 
     designated by the amendment made by subsection (b) were 
     included in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, the 
     Secretary of the Interior shall specifically consider the 
     extent to which the project is consistent with the plan.
       (2) The plan, including the detailed Water Resources Study 
     incorporated by reference in the plan and such additional 
     analysis as may be incorporated in the future, shall serve as 
     the primary source of information regarding the flows needed 
     to maintain instream resources and potential compatibility 
     between resource protection and possible additional water 
     withdrawals.
       (e) Land Management.--(1) The zoning bylaws of the towns of 
     Framingham, Sudbury, Wayland, Lincoln, Concord, Carlisle, 
     Bedford, and Billerica, Massachusetts, as in effect on the 
     date of enactment of this Act, are deemed to satisfy the 
     standards and requirements under section 6(c) of the Wild and 
     Scenic rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1277(c)). For the purpose of 
     that section, the towns are deemed to be ``villages'' and the 
     provisions of that section which prohibit Federal acquisition 
     of lands through condemnation shall apply.
       (2) The United States Government shall not acquire by any 
     means title to land, easements, or other interests in land 
     along the segments designated by the amendment made by 
     subsection (b) or their tributaries for the purposes of 
     designation of the segments under the amendment. Nothing in 
     this section shall prohibit Federal acquisition of interests 
     in land along those segments or tributaries under other laws 
     for other purposes.
       (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior to carry 
     out this section not to exceed $100,000 for each fiscal year.
       (g) Existing Undesignated Paragraphs; Removal 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 undesignated 
     paragraphs after paragraph (156) as paragraphs (157), (158), 
     and (159), respectively.

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