Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Wild and Scenic River Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 45 To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain river segments within the Wood-Pawcatuck watershed as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 8, 2019 Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. MUR- PHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain river segments within the Wood-Pawcatuck wa- tershed 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 ‘‘Wood-Pawcatuck Wa- 4 tershed Wild and Scenic River Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S45.IS S45 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 45 IS SEC. 2. WOOD-PAWCATUCK WATERSHED WILD AND SCENIC 1 RIVER SEGMENTS. 2 (a) DESIGNATION.—Section 3(a) of the Wild and 3 Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by add- 4 ing at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(214) WOOD-PAWCATUCK WATERSHED, RHODE 6 ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT.—The following river 7 segments within the Wood-Pawcatuck watershed, to 8 be administered by the Secretary of the Interior, in 9 cooperation with the Wood-Pawcatuck Wild and Sce- 10 nic Rivers Stewardship Council: 11 ‘‘(A) The approximately 11-mile segment 12 of the Beaver River from its headwaters in Exe- 13 ter and West Greenwich, Rhode Island, to its 14 confluence with the Pawcatuck River in Rich- 15 mond, Rhode Island, as a scenic river. 16 ‘‘(B) The approximately 3-mile segment of 17 the Chipuxet River from the Kingstown Road 18 Bridge, South Kingstown, Rhode Island, to its 19 outlet in Worden Pond, as a wild river. 20 ‘‘(C) The approximately 9-mile segment of 21 the Green Fall River from its headwaters in 22 Voluntown, Connecticut, to its confluence with 23 the Ashaway River in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, 24 as a scenic river. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S45.IS S45 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 45 IS ‘‘(D) The approximately 3-mile segment of 1 the Ashaway River from its confluence with the 2 Green Fall River to its confluence with the 3 Pawcatuck River in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, 4 as a recreational river. 5 ‘‘(E) The approximately 3-mile segment of 6 the Pawcatuck River from the Worden Pond 7 outlet in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, to the 8 South County Trail Bridge, Charlestown and 9 South Kingstown, Rhode Island, as a wild river. 10 ‘‘(F) The approximately 4-mile segment of 11 the Pawcatuck River from South County Trail 12 Bridge, Charlestown and South Kingstown, 13 Rhode Island, to the Carolina Back Road 14 Bridge in Richmond and Charlestown, Rhode 15 Island, as a recreational river. 16 ‘‘(G) The approximately 21-mile segment 17 of the Pawcatuck River from Carolina Back 18 Road Bridge in Richmond and Charlestown, 19 Rhode Island, to the confluence with Shunock 20 River in Stonington, Connecticut, as a scenic 21 river. 22 ‘‘(H) The approximately 8-mile segment of 23 the Pawcatuck River from the confluence with 24 Shunock River in Stonington, Connecticut, to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S45.IS S45 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 45 IS the mouth of the river between Pawcatuck 1 Point in Stonington, Connecticut, and Rhodes 2 Point in Westerly, Rhode Island, as a rec- 3 reational river. 4 ‘‘(I) The approximately 11-mile segment of 5 the Queen River from its headwaters in Exeter 6 and West Greenwich, Rhode Island, to the 7 Kingstown Road Bridge in South Kingstown, 8 Rhode Island, as a scenic river. 9 ‘‘(J) The approximately 5-mile segment of 10 the Usquepaugh River from the Kingstown 11 Road Bridge to its confluence with the 12 Pawcatuck River in South Kingstown, Rhode 13 Island, as a wild river. 14 ‘‘(K) The approximately 8-mile segment of 15 the Shunock River from its headwaters in 16 North Stonington, Connecticut, to its con- 17 fluence with the Pawcatuck River as a rec- 18 reational river. 19 ‘‘(L) The approximately 13-mile segment 20 of the Wood River from its headwaters in Ster- 21 ling and Voluntown, Connecticut, and Exeter 22 and West Greenwich, Rhode Island, to the Ar- 23 cadia Road Bridge in Hopkinton and Rich- 24 mond, Rhode Island, as a wild river. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S45.IS S45 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 45 IS ‘‘(M) The approximately 11-mile segment 1 of the Wood River from the Arcadia Road 2 Bridge in Hopkinton and Richmond, Rhode Is- 3 land, to the confluence with the Pawcatuck 4 River in Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Rich- 5 mond, Rhode Island, as a recreational river.’’. 6 (b) MANAGEMENT OF RIVER SEGMENTS.— 7 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 8 (A) COVERED TRIBUTARY.—The term 9 ‘‘covered tributary’’ means— 10 (i) each of Assekonk Brook, 11 Breakheart Brook, Brushy Brook, 12 Canochet Brook, Chickasheen Brook, 13 Cedar Swamp Brook, Fisherville Brook, 14 Glade Brook, Glen Rock Brook, Kelly 15 Brook, Locke Brook, Meadow Brook, Pen- 16 dleton Brook, Parris Brook, Passquisett 17 Brook, Phillips Brook, Poquiant Brook, 18 Queens Fort Brook, Roaring Brook, Sher- 19 man Brook, Taney Brook, Tomaquag 20 Brook, White Brook, and Wyassup Brook 21 within the Wood-Pawcatuck watershed; 22 and 23 (ii) any other perennial stream within 24 the Wood-Pawcatuck watershed. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S45.IS S45 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 45 IS (B) RIVER SEGMENT.—The term ‘‘river 1 segment’’ means a river segment designated by 2 paragraph (214) of section 3(a) of the Wild and 3 Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) (as 4 added by subsection (a)). 5 (C) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 6 means the Secretary of the Interior. 7 (D) STEWARDSHIP PLAN.—The term 8 ‘‘Stewardship Plan’’ means the plan entitled the 9 ‘‘Wood-Pawcatuck Wild and Scenic Rivers 10 Stewardship Plan for the Beaver, Chipuxet, 11 Green Fall-Ashaway, Pawcatuck, Queen- 12 Usquepaugh, Shunock, and Wood Rivers’’ and 13 dated June 2018, which takes a watershed ap- 14 proach to the management of the river seg- 15 ments. 16 (2) WOOD-PAWCATUCK WILD AND SCENIC RIV- 17 ERS STEWARDSHIP PLAN.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in co- 19 operation with the Wood-Pawcatuck Wild and 20 Scenic Rivers Stewardship Council, shall man- 21 age the river segments in accordance with— 22 (i) the Stewardship Plan; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S45.IS S45 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 45 IS (ii) any amendment to the Steward- 1 ship Plan that the Secretary determines is 2 consistent with this subsection. 3 (B) WATERSHED APPROACH.—In further- 4 ance of the watershed approach to resource 5 preservation and enhancement described in the 6 Stewardship Plan, the covered tributaries are 7 recognized as integral to the protection and en- 8 hancement of the river segments. 9 (C) REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPREHENSIVE 10 MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The Stewardship Plan 11 shall be considered to satisfy each requirement 12 for a comprehensive management plan required 13 under section 3(d) of the Wild and Scenic Riv- 14 ers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(d)). 15 (3) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—To provide 16 for the long-term protection, preservation, and en- 17 hancement of each river segment, in accordance with 18 sections 10(e) and 11(b)(1) of the Wild and Scenic 19 Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(e), 1282(b)(1)), the 20 Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements 21 (which may include provisions for financial or other 22 assistance from the Federal Government) with— 23 (A) the States of Connecticut and Rhode 24 Island; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S45.IS S45 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 45 IS (B) political subdivisions of the States of 1 Connecticut and Rhode Island, including— 2 (i) the towns of North Stonington, 3 Sterling, Stonington, and Voluntown, Con- 4 necticut; and 5 (ii) the towns of Charlestown, Exeter, 6 Hopkinton, North Kingstown, Richmond, 7 South Kingstown, Westerly, and West 8 Kingstown, Rhode Island; 9 (C) the Wood-Pawcatuck Wild and Scenic 10 Rivers Stewardship Council; and 11 (D) any appropriate nonprofit organiza- 12 tion, as determined by the Secretary. 13 (4) RELATION TO NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.— 14 Notwithstanding section 10(c) of the Wild and Sce- 15 nic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(c)), each river seg- 16 ment shall not be— 17 (A) administered as a unit of the National 18 Park System; or 19 (B) subject to the laws (including regula- 20 tions) that govern the administration of the Na- 21 tional Park System. 22 (5) LAND MANAGEMENT.— 23 (A) ZONING ORDINANCES.—The zoning or- 24 dinances adopted by the towns of North 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S45.IS S45 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 45 IS Stonington, Sterling, Stonington, and 1 Voluntown, Connecticut, and Charlestown, Exe- 2 ter, Hopkinton, North Kingstown, Richmond, 3 South Kingstown, Westerly, and West Green- 4 wich, Rhode Island (including any provision of 5 the zoning ordinances relating to the conserva- 6 tion of floodplains, wetlands, and watercourses 7 associated with any river segment), shall be 8 considered to satisfy the standards and require- 9 ments described in section 6(c) of the Wild and 10 Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1277(c)). 11 (B) VILLAGES.—For purposes of section 12 6(c) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 13 U.S.C. 1277(c)), each town described in sub- 14 paragraph (A) shall be considered to be a vil- 15 lage. 16 (C) ACQUISITION OF LAND.— 17 (i) LIMITATION OF AUTHORITY OF 18 SECRETARY.—With respect to each river 19 segment, the Secretary may only acquire 20 parcels of land— 21 (I) by donation; or 22 (II) with the consent of the 23 owner of the parcel of land. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S45.IS S45 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 45 IS (ii) PROHIBITION RELATING TO THE 1 ACQUISITION OF LAND BY CONDEMNA- 2 TION.—In accordance with 6(c) of the 3 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 4 1277(c)), with respect to each river seg- 5 ment, the Secretary may not acquire any 6 parcel of land by condemnation. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S45.IS S45 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS