Nashua River Wild and Scenic River Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 339 To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate segments of the Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers as components of the Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 5, 2019 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Ms. HASSAN, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) 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 segments of the Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers as components of the 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 ‘‘Nashua River Wild 4 and Scenic River Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S339.IS S339 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 339 IS SEC. 2. NASHUA WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS, MASSACHU- 1 SETTS AND NEW HAMPSHIRE. 2 (a) DESIGNATION OF WILD AND SCENIC RIVER SEG- 3 MENTS.—Section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 4 (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 5 following: 6 ‘‘(214) NASHUA, SQUANNACOOK, AND 7 NISSITISSIT WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS, MASSACHU- 8 SETTS AND NEW HAMPSHIRE.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The following seg- 10 ments in the States of Massachusetts and New 11 Hampshire, to be administered by the Secretary 12 of the Interior as a scenic river: 13 ‘‘(i) The approximately 27-mile seg- 14 ment of the mainstem of the Nashua River 15 from the confluence of the North and 16 South Nashua Rivers in Lancaster, Massa- 17 chusetts, and extending north to the bor- 18 der between the States of Massachusetts 19 and New Hampshire, except as provided in 20 subparagraph (B). 21 ‘‘(ii) The approximately 16.3-mile seg- 22 ment of the Squannacook River from its 23 headwaters in Ash Swamp, Townsend, 24 Massachusetts, extending downstream to 25 the confluence of the river with the Nash- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S339.IS S339 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 339 IS ua River in Shirley and Ayer, Massachu- 1 setts, except as provided in subparagraph 2 (B). 3 ‘‘(iii) The approximately 9.5-mile seg- 4 ment of the Nissitissit River from its head- 5 waters in Brookline, New Hampshire, to 6 the confluence of the river with the Nash- 7 ua River in Pepperell, Massachusetts. 8 ‘‘(B) EXCLUDED AREAS.—The designation 9 of the river segments by subparagraph (A) shall 10 not include— 11 ‘‘(i) with respect to the Ice House hy- 12 droelectric project (Federal Energy Regu- 13 latory Commission Project P–12769), the 14 area from 700 feet upstream from the 15 crest of the dam to 500 feet downstream 16 from the crest of the dam; 17 ‘‘(ii) with respect to the Pepperell hy- 18 droelectric project (Federal Energy Regu- 19 latory Commission Project P–12721), the 20 area from 9,240 feet upstream from the 21 crest of the dam to 1,000 feet downstream 22 from the crest of the dam; and 23 ‘‘(iii) with respect to the Hollings- 24 worth and Vose dam (a project not li- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S339.IS S339 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 339 IS censed by the Federal Energy Regulatory 1 Commission), the area from 1,200 feet up- 2 stream from the crest of the dam to 2,665 3 feet downstream from the crest of the 4 dam.’’. 5 (b) MANAGEMENT.— 6 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 7 (A) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term 8 ‘‘management plan’’ means the Nashua, 9 Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers Steward- 10 ship Plan dated February 15, 2018 and devel- 11 oped pursuant to a study required under section 12 5(b)(21) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 13 U.S.C. 1276(b)(21)). 14 (B) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 15 means the Secretary of the Interior. 16 (C) STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL.—The term 17 ‘‘Stewardship Council’’ means the Nashua, 18 Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers Steward- 19 ship Council. 20 (2) MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The river segments 22 designated by paragraph (214) of section 3(a) 23 of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S339.IS S339 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 339 IS 1274(a)) (as added by subsection (a)) shall be 1 managed in accordance with— 2 (i) the management plan; and 3 (ii) any amendments to the manage- 4 ment plan that— 5 (I) the Secretary determine are 6 consistent with this subsection; and 7 (II) are approved by the Stew- 8 ardship Council. 9 (B) COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT 10 PLAN.—The management plan shall be consid- 11 ered to satisfy the requirements for a com- 12 prehensive management plan under section 3(d) 13 of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 14 1274(d)). 15 (3) COORDINATION WITH STEWARDSHIP COUN- 16 CIL.—The Secretary shall coordinate the manage- 17 ment responsibilities of the Secretary with respect to 18 the river segments designated by paragraph (214) of 19 section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 20 U.S.C. 1274(a)) (as added by subsection (a)) with 21 the Stewardship Council, as described in the man- 22 agement plan. 23 (4) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S339.IS S339 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 339 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—To provide for the 1 long-term protection, preservation, and en- 2 hancement of the segments designated by para- 3 graph (214) of section 3(a) of the Wild and 4 Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) (as 5 added by subsection (a)), the Secretary may 6 enter into cooperative agreements under sec- 7 tions 10(e) and 11(b)(1) of the Wild and Scenic 8 Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(e), 1282(b)(1)) 9 with— 10 (i) the States of Massachusetts and 11 New Hampshire; 12 (ii) the towns of— 13 (I) Ayer, Bolton, Dunstable, 14 Groton, Harvard, Lancaster, 15 Pepperell, Shirley, and Townsend in 16 the State of Massachusetts; and 17 (II) Brookline and Hollis in the 18 State of New Hampshire; and 19 (iii) any appropriate local, regional, 20 State, or multistate planning, environ- 21 mental, or recreational organization. 22 (B) CONSISTENCY.—Each cooperative 23 agreement entered into under this paragraph— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S339.IS S339 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 339 IS (i) shall be consistent with the man- 1 agement plan; and 2 (ii) may include provisions for finan- 3 cial or other assistance from the Federal 4 Government. 5 (5) EFFECT ON WORKING DAMS.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The designation of the 7 segments by paragraph (214) of section 3(a) of 8 the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 9 1274(a)) (as added by subsection (a)) shall 10 not— 11 (i) affect or alter the terms of permit- 12 ting, licensing, or operation in existence on 13 the date of enactment of this Act of— 14 (I) the Pepperell hydroelectric 15 project (Federal Energy Regulatory 16 Commission Project P–12721, Nash- 17 ua River, Pepperell, Massachusetts); 18 (II) the Ice House hydroelectric 19 project (Federal Energy Regulatory 20 Commission Project P–12769, Nash- 21 ua River, Ayer, Massachusetts); or 22 (III) the Hollingsworth and Vose 23 Dam, which is an industrial facility 24 that is not licensed by the Federal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S339.IS S339 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 339 IS Energy Regulatory Commission, 1 Squannacook River, West Groton, 2 Massachusetts, as described in appen- 3 dix A of the management plan entitled 4 ‘‘Working Dams’’; 5 (ii) preclude the Federal Energy Reg- 6 ulatory Commission from licensing, reli- 7 censing, or otherwise authorizing the oper- 8 ation or continued operation of the 9 Pepperell or Ice House hydroelectric 10 project under the terms of licenses or ex- 11 emptions in effect on the date of enact- 12 ment of this Act; or 13 (iii) limit actions taken to modernize, 14 upgrade, or carry out other changes to a 15 project described in clause (i), subject to a 16 written determination by the Secretary 17 that the changes are consistent with the 18 purposes of the designation. 19 (6) LAND MANAGEMENT.— 20 (A) ZONING ORDINANCES.—For the pur- 21 pose of the segments designated by paragraph 22 (214) of section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic 23 Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) (as added by 24 subsection (a)), a zoning ordinance adopted by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S339.IS S339 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 339 IS a town described in paragraph (4)(A)(ii), in- 1 cluding provisions for conservation of 2 floodplains, wetlands, and watercourses associ- 3 ated with the segments, shall be considered to 4 satisfy the requirements of section 6(c) of the 5 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 6 1277(c)). 7 (B) ACQUISITION OF LAND.—The author- 8 ity of the Secretary to acquire land or an inter- 9 est in land for the purposes of the segments 10 designated by paragraph (214) of section 3(a) 11 of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 12 1274(a)) (as added by subsection (a)) shall 13 be— 14 (i) limited to acquisition— 15 (I) by donation; or 16 (II) with the consent of the 17 owner of the land; and 18 (ii) subject to the additional criteria 19 described in the management plan. 20 (C) NO CONDEMNATION.—No land or in- 21 terest in land within the boundary of the seg- 22 ments designated by paragraph (214) of section 23 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S339.IS S339 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 339 IS U.S.C. 1274(a)) (as added by subsection (a)) 1 may be acquired by condemnation. 2 (7) RELATION TO THE NATIONAL PARK SYS- 3 TEM.—Notwithstanding section 10(c) of the Wild 4 and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(c)), each 5 segment designated by paragraph (214) of section 6 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 7 1274(a)) (as added by subsection (a)) shall not be— 8 (A) administered as a unit of the National 9 Park System; or 10 (B) subject to regulations that apply to 11 units of the National Park System. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S339.IS S339 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS