[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 50 (Monday, December 18, 1995)]
[Pages 2182-2183]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Transmitting the Farmington River Report

December 13, 1995

To the Congress of the United States:

    I take pleasure in transmitting the enclosed report for the 
Farmington River in the States of Massachusetts and Connecticut. The 
report and my recommendations are in response to the provisions of the 
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, Public Law 90-542, as amended. The 
Farmington River Study was authorized by Public Law 99-590.
    The study was conducted by the National Park Service, with 
invaluable assistance from a congressionally mandated study committee. 
The National Park Service determined that the 11-mile study segment in 
Massachusetts and the 14-mile study segment in Connecticut were eligible 
for designation based upon their free-flowing character and 
recreational, fish, wildlife and historic values.
    The 14-mile Connecticut segment of the river has already been 
designated as a Wild and Scenic River pursuant to Public Law 103-313, 
August 26, 1994. The purpose of this transmittal is to inform the 
Congress that, although eligible for designation, I do not recommend 
that the Massachusetts segment be designated at this time due to lack of 
support by the towns adjoining it. If at some future date the towns 
should change their position and the river has retained its present 
characteristics, the Congress could reconsider the issue. Also, for 3 
years from the date of this transmittal, the Massachusetts segment will 
remain subject to section 7(b) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. 
Section 7(b) prohibits licensing of projects by the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission and Federal or federally assisted water resource 
development projects that would have a direct and adverse effect on the 
values for which the river might be designated. Finally, the report 
includes the Upper Farmington River Management Plan that is referenced 
in Public Law 103-313 as the plan by which the designated river will be 
managed.
    The plan demonstrated a true partnership effort of the type that we 
believe will be increasingly necessary if we are to have afford- 

[[Page 2183]]

able protection of our environment in the future.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
December 13, 1995.