York River Wild and Scenic River Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1469 To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain river segments within the York watershed in the State of Maine as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 1, 2021 Ms. PINGREE (for herself and Mr. GOLDEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain river segments within the York watershed in the State of Maine as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘York River Wild and 4 Scenic River Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1469.IH H1469 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1469 IH SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF YORK WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS, 1 MAINE. 2 Section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 3 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(l) YORK RIVER, MAINE.—Segments of the 6 main stem and its tributaries in the State of Maine, 7 Bass Cove Creek, Cider Hill Creek, Cutts Ridge 8 Brook, Dolly Gordon Brook, Libby Brook, Rogers 9 Brook, Smelt Brook, totaling approximately 30.8 10 miles, to be administered by the Secretary of the In- 11 terior, as a recreational river: 12 ‘‘(A) The approximately 0.95-mile segment 13 of Bass Cove Creek from the outlet of Boulter 14 Pond in York, Maine, and extending down- 15 stream to its confluence with the York River in 16 York, Maine. 17 ‘‘(B) The approximately 3.77-mile segment 18 of Cider Hill Creek from the Middle Pond dam 19 in York, Maine, and extending downstream to 20 its confluence with the York River in York, 21 Maine. 22 ‘‘(C) The approximately 2.15-mile segment 23 of Cutts Ridge Brook from its headwaters in 24 Kittery, Maine, and extending downstream to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1469.IH H1469 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1469 IH its confluence with the York River in York, 1 Maine. 2 ‘‘(D) The approximately 3.17-mile segment 3 of Dolly Gordon Brook from its headwaters in 4 York, Maine, and extending downstream to its 5 confluence with the York River in York, Maine. 6 ‘‘(E) The approximately 1.65-mile segment 7 of Libby Brook from its headwaters in Kittery, 8 Maine, and extending downstream to its con- 9 fluence with Dolly Gordon Brook in York, 10 Maine. 11 ‘‘(F) The approximately 2.43-mile segment 12 of Rogers Brook from its headwaters in Eliot, 13 Maine, and extending downstream to its con- 14 fluence with the York River in York, Maine. 15 ‘‘(G) The approximately 4.54-mile segment 16 of Smelt Brook from the Bell Marsh Reservoir 17 dam in York, Maine, and extending downstream 18 to its confluence with the York River in York, 19 Maine. 20 ‘‘(H) The approximately 12.14-mile seg- 21 ment of the York River from the outlet of York 22 Pond in Eliot, Maine, and extending down- 23 stream to the Route 103 Bridge in York, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1469.IH H1469 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1469 IH Maine, including Barrell Mill Pond in York, 1 Maine.’’. 2 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT. 3 (a) PROCESS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The York River, Maine seg- 5 ments shall be managed in accordance with— 6 (A) the stewardship plan; and 7 (B) such amendments to the stewardship 8 plan as the Secretary determines are consistent 9 with this section and as are approved by the 10 Stewardship Committee. 11 (2) COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 12 The stewardship plan shall be considered to satisfy 13 the requirements for a comprehensive management 14 plan under section 3(d) of the Wild and Scenic Riv- 15 ers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(d)). 16 (b) COMMITTEE.—The Secretary shall coordinate his 17 or her management responsibilities under this Act with the 18 Stewardship Committee, as specified in the stewardship 19 plan. 20 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to provide for the 22 long-term protection, preservation, and enhancement 23 of the York River, Maine segments, the Secretary 24 may enter into cooperative agreements pursuant to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1469.IH H1469 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1469 IH sections 10(e) and 11(b)(1) of the Wild and Scenic 1 Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(e) and 1282(b)(1)) 2 with— 3 (A) the State of Maine; 4 (B) the municipalities of Eliot, Kittery, 5 South Berwick, and York in Maine; and 6 (C) appropriate local, regional, or State 7 planning, environmental, or recreational organi- 8 zations. 9 (2) CONSISTENCY.—Each cooperative agree- 10 ment entered into under this subsection shall be con- 11 sistent with the stewardship plan and may include 12 provisions for financial or other assistance from the 13 United States. 14 (d) LAND MANAGEMENT.— 15 (1) ZONING ORDINANCES.—For the purpose of 16 the York River, Maine segments, the zoning ordi- 17 nances adopted by the municipalities named in sub- 18 section (c)(1)(B), including provisions for conserva- 19 tion of floodplains, wetlands, and watercourses asso- 20 ciated with the segments, shall be deemed to satisfy 21 the standards and requirements of section 6(c) of 22 the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1469.IH H1469 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1469 IH (2) ACQUISITION OF LANDS.—The authority of 1 the Secretary to acquire land for the purposes of the 2 York River, Maine segments shall be— 3 (A) limited to acquisition by donation or 4 acquisition with the consent of the owner of the 5 land; and 6 (B) subject to the additional criteria set 7 forth in the stewardship plan. 8 (3) NO CONDEMNATION.—No land or interest 9 in land within the watersheds of the York River, 10 Maine segments may be acquired by condemnation. 11 (e) RELATION TO THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.— 12 Notwithstanding section 10(c) of the Wild and Scenic Riv- 13 ers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(c)), the York River, Maine seg- 14 ments shall not— 15 (1) be administered as a unit of the National 16 Park System; or 17 (2) be subject to regulations that govern the 18 National Park System. 19 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 20 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 21 the Secretary of the Interior. 22 (2) STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE.—The term 23 ‘‘Stewardship Committee’’ means the York River 24 Stewardship Committee. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1469.IH H1469 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1469 IH (3) STEWARDSHIP PLAN.—The term ‘‘steward- 1 ship plan’’ means the York River Watershed Stew- 2 ardship Plan, dated August 2018, developed pursu- 3 ant to the study described in section 5(b)(21) of the 4 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. 5 (4) YORK RIVER, MAINE SEGMENTS.—The term 6 ‘‘York River, Maine segments’’ means the river seg- 7 ments designated by the amendment made by sec- 8 tion 2. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1469.IH H1469 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS