[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 147 (Thursday, November 14, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H8880-H8881]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CARIBBEAN NATIONAL FOREST WILDERNESS ACT OF 2002

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for the immediate 
consideration in the House of the bill (H.R. 3955) to designate certain 
National Forest System lands in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as 
components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, and for 
other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Utah?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the bill, as follows:

                               H.R. 3955

       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 ``Caribbean National Forest 
     Wilderness Act of 2002''.

     SEC. 2. WILDERNESS DESIGNATION, CARIBBEAN NATIONAL FOREST, 
                   PUERTO RICO.

       (a) El Toro Wilderness.--In furtherance of the purposes of 
     the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 113 et seq.), the approximately 
     10,000 acres of land in the Caribbean National Forest/
     Luquillo Experimental Forest in the Commonwealth of Puerto 
     Rico that were proposed for wilderness classification in the 
     revised land and resource management plan for the Caribbean 
     National Forest/Luquillo Experimental Forest, approved April 
     17, 1997, are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, 
     as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation 
     System. The designated lands shall be known as the El Toro 
     Wilderness.
       (b) Wilderness Boundaries.--The El Toro Wilderness shall 
     consist of those lands that were proposed for wilderness 
     classification in the management plan referred to in 
     subsection (a), except that the Secretary of Agriculture 
     shall locate the boundaries of the wilderness area so that 
     existing municipal water intakes will not be within the 
     wilderness boundaries and the boundaries shall be located at 
     least 600 feet west of Highway PR 191 from Kilometer 6.5 to 
     Kilometer 12.0.
       (c) Map and Description.--
       (1) Preparation and submission.--As soon as practicable 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
     Agriculture shall prepare a map and a boundary description of 
     the El Toro Wilderness and submit the map and boundary 
     description to the Committee on Resources of the House of 
     Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
     Resources of the Senate. The map and boundary description 
     shall be on file and available for public inspection in the 
     office of the Chief of the Forest Service.
       (2) Treatment.--The map and boundary description prepared 
     under paragraph (1) shall have the same force and effect as 
     if included in this Act. The Secretary may correct clerical 
     and typographical errors in the map and description.
       (d) Administration.--Subject to valid existing rights, the 
     Secretary of Agriculture shall administer the El Toro 
     Wilderness in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 
     1131 et seq.) and this Act. With respect to the El Toro 
     Wilderness , any reference in the Wilderness Act to the 
     effective date of the Wilderness Act shall be deemed to be a 
     reference to the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (e) Special Management Considerations.--Designation of the 
     El Toro Wilderness, and the applicability of the Wilderness 
     Act to the wilderness area, shall not be construed to prevent 
     any of the following activities, subject to such conditions 
     as the Secretary of Agriculture considers desirable, within 
     the boundaries of the wilderness area:
       (1) Installation and maintenance of hydrologic, 
     meteorological, climatological, or atmospheric data 
     collection and transmission facilities, or any combination of 
     such facilities, when the Secretary determines that such 
     facilities are essential to the scientific research purposes 
     of the Luquillo Experimental Forest.
       (2) Construction and maintenance of nesting structures, 
     observation blinds, and population monitoring platforms for 
     threatened and endangered species.
       (3) Construction and maintenance of trails to such 
     facilities as necessary for research purposes and for the 
     recovery of threatened and endangered species.


                          Committee Amendment

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the committee 
amendment.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the committee 
amendment be considered as read and printed in the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Utah?
  There was no objection.
  The text of the committee amendment is as follows:

       Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Caribbean National Forest 
     Wilderness Act of 2002''.

     SEC. 2. WILDERNESS DESIGNATION, CARIBBEAN NATIONAL FOREST, 
                   PUERTO RICO.

       (a) El Toro Wilderness.--In furtherance of the purposes of 
     the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 113 et seq.), the approximately 
     10,000 acres of land in the Caribbean National Forest/
     Luquillo Experimental Forest in the Commonwealth of Puerto 
     Rico that were proposed for wilderness classification in the 
     revised land and resource management plan for the Caribbean 
     National Forest/Luquillo Experimental Forest, approved April 
     17, 1997, are hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, 
     as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation 
     System. The designated lands shall be known as the El Toro 
     Wilderness.
       (b) Wilderness Boundaries.--The El Toro Wilderness shall 
     consist of those lands that were proposed for wilderness 
     classification in the management plan referred to in 
     subsection (a), except that the Secretary of Agriculture 
     shall locate the boundaries of the wilderness area so that 
     existing municipal water intakes will not be within the 
     wilderness boundaries and the boundaries shall be located at 
     least 600 feet west of Highway PR 191 from Kilometer 6.5 to 
     Kilometer 12.0.
       (c) Map and Description.--
       (1) Preparation and submission.--As soon as practicable 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
     Agriculture shall prepare a map and a boundary description of 
     the El Toro Wilderness and submit the map and boundary 
     description to the Committee on Resources of the House of 
     Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
     Resources of the Senate. The map and boundary description 
     shall be on file and available for public inspection in the 
     office of the Chief of the Forest Service.
       (2) Treatment.--The map and boundary description prepared 
     under paragraph (1) shall have the same force and effect as 
     if included in this Act. The Secretary may correct clerical 
     and typographical errors in the map and description.
       (d) Administration.--Subject to valid existing rights, the 
     Secretary of Agriculture shall administer the El Toro 
     Wilderness in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 
     1131 et seq.) and this Act. With respect to the El Toro 
     Wilderness, any reference in the Wilderness Act to the 
     effective date of the Wilderness Act shall be deemed to be a 
     reference to the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (e) Special Management Considerations.--Designation of the 
     El Toro Wilderness, and the applicability of the Wilderness

[[Page H8881]]

     Act to the wilderness area, shall not be construed to prevent 
     any of the following activities, subject to such conditions 
     as the Secretary of Agriculture considers desirable, within 
     the boundaries of the wilderness area:
       (1) Installation and maintenance of hydrologic, 
     meteorological, climatological, or atmospheric data 
     collection and transmission facilities, or any combination of 
     such facilities, when the Secretary determines that--
       (A) such facilities are essential to the scientific 
     research purposes of the Luquillo Experimental Forest; and
       (B) the scale and scope of the facility development are not 
     detrimental to the wilderness characteristics of the 
     wilderness area.
       (2) Construction and maintenance of nesting structures, 
     observation blinds, and population monitoring platforms for 
     threatened and endangered species.
       (3) Construction and maintenance of trails to such 
     facilities as necessary for research purposes and for the 
     recovery of threatened and endangered species.
  The committee amendment was agreed to.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read 
the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.

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