Nashua River Wild and Scenic River Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 984 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 5, 2019 Mrs. TRAHAN (for herself and Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire) 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 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 of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H984.IH H984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 984 IH 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) The following segments in the Com- 10 monwealth of Massachusetts and State of 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 Mas- 18 sachusetts-New Hampshire border, except 19 as provided in subparagraph (B). 20 ‘‘(ii) The approximately 16.3-mile seg- 21 ment of the Squannacook River from its 22 headwaters in Ash Swamp, Townsend, 23 Massachusetts, extending downstream to 24 the confluence of the river with the Nash- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H984.IH H984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 984 IH ua River in Shirley/Ayer, Massachusetts, 1 except as provided in subparagraph (B). 2 ‘‘(iii) The approximately 9.5-mile seg- 3 ment of the Nissitissit River from its head- 4 waters in Brookline, New Hampshire, to 5 the confluence of the river with the Nash- 6 ua River in Pepperell, Massachusetts. 7 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION AREAS.—The designation 8 of the river segments in subparagraph (A) shall 9 exclude— 10 ‘‘(i) with respect to the Ice House hy- 11 droelectric project (FERC P–12769), from 12 700 feet upstream from the crest of the 13 dam to 500 feet downstream from the 14 crest of the dam; 15 ‘‘(ii) with respect to the Pepperell hy- 16 droelectric project (FERC P12721), from 17 9,240 feet upstream from the crest of the 18 dam to 1,000 feet downstream from the 19 crest of the dam; and 20 ‘‘(iii) with respect to the Hollings- 21 worth and Vose dam (non-FERC), from 22 1,200 feet upstream from the crest of the 23 dam to 2,665 feet downstream from the 24 crest of the dam.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H984.IH H984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 984 IH (b) MANAGEMENT.— 1 (1) PROCESS.— 2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The river segments 3 designated by paragraph (214) of section 3(a) 4 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)), as amended 5 by this section, shall be managed in accordance 6 with— 7 (i) the Nashua, Squannacook, and 8 Nissitissit Rivers Stewardship Plan devel- 9 oped pursuant to the study described in 10 section 5(b)(21) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 11 1276(b)(21)) (referred to in this sub- 12 section as the ‘‘management plan’’), dated 13 February 15, 2018; and 14 (ii) such amendments to the manage- 15 ment plan as the Secretary of the Interior 16 determines are consistent with this section 17 and as are approved by the Nashua, 18 Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers Stew- 19 ardship Council (referred to in this sub- 20 section as the ‘‘Stewardship Council’’). 21 (B) COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT 22 PLAN.—The management plan shall be consid- 23 ered to satisfy the requirements for a com- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H984.IH H984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 984 IH prehensive management plan under section 3(d) 1 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(d)). 2 (2) COMMITTEE.—The Secretary of the Interior 3 shall coordinate the management responsibilities of 4 the Secretary of the Interior under this Act with the 5 Stewardship Council, as specified in the manage- 6 ment plan. 7 (3) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—In order to provide for 9 the long-term protection, preservation, and en- 10 hancement of the river segments designated by 11 paragraph (214) of section 3(a) of such Act (16 12 U.S.C. 1274(a)), as amended by this section, 13 the Secretary of the Interior may enter into co- 14 operative agreements pursuant to sections 10(e) 15 and 11(b)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1281(e), 1282(b)(1)) 16 of such Act with— 17 (i) the Commonwealth of Massachu- 18 setts and the State of New Hampshire; 19 (ii) the municipalities of— 20 (I) Ayer, Bolton, Dunstable, 21 Groton, Harvard, Lancaster, Pepper- 22 ell, Shirley, and Townsend in Massa- 23 chusetts; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H984.IH H984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 984 IH (II) Brookline and Hollis in New 1 Hampshire; and 2 (iii) appropriate local, regional, State, 3 or multistate, planning, environmental, or 4 recreational organizations. 5 (B) CONSISTENCY.—Each cooperative 6 agreement entered into under this paragraph 7 shall be consistent with the management plan 8 and may include provisions for financial or 9 other assistance from the United States. 10 (4) EFFECT ON WORKING DAMS.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The designation of the 12 river segments by paragraph (214) of section 13 3(a) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)), as 14 amended by this section, does not— 15 (i) impact or alter the existing terms 16 of permitting, licensing, or operation of— 17 (I) the Pepperell hydroelectric 18 project (FERC Project P–12721, 19 Nashua River, Pepperell, MA); 20 (II) the Ice House hydroelectric 21 project (FERC Project P–12769, 22 Nashua River, Ayer, MA); or 23 (III) the Hollingsworth and Vose 24 Dam (non-FERC industrial facility, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H984.IH H984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 984 IH Squannacook River, West Groton, 1 MA) as further described in the man- 2 agement plan (Appendix A, ‘‘Working 3 Dams’’); or 4 (ii) preclude the Federal Energy Reg- 5 ulatory Commission from licensing, reli- 6 censing, or otherwise authorizing the oper- 7 ation or continued operation of the 8 Pepperell and Ice House hydroelectric 9 projects under the terms of licenses or ex- 10 emptions in effect on the date of enact- 11 ment of this Act; or 12 (iii) limit actions taken to modernize, 13 upgrade, or carry out other changes to 14 such projects authorized pursuant to 15 clause (i), subject to written determination 16 by the Secretary of the Interior that the 17 changes are consistent with the purposes 18 of the designation. 19 (5) LAND MANAGEMENT.— 20 (A) ZONING ORDINANCES.—For the pur- 21 pose of the segments designated by paragraph 22 (214) of section 3(a) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 23 1274(a)), as amended by this section, the zon- 24 ing ordinances adopted by the municipalities 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H984.IH H984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 984 IH named in paragraph (3)(A)(ii), including provi- 1 sions for conservation of floodplains, wetlands, 2 and watercourses associated with the segments, 3 shall be deemed to satisfy the standards and re- 4 quirements of section 6(c) of such Act (16 5 U.S.C. 1277(c)). 6 (B) ACQUISITIONS OF LANDS.—The au- 7 thority of the Secretary to acquire land for the 8 purposes of the segments designated such para- 9 graph (214) shall be— 10 (i) limited to acquisition by donation 11 or acquisition with the consent of the 12 owner of the land; and 13 (ii) subject to the additional criteria 14 set forth in the management plan. 15 (C) NO CONDEMNATION.—No land or in- 16 terest in land within the boundary of the river 17 segments designated by such paragraph (214) 18 may be acquired by condemnation. 19 (6) RELATION TO THE NATIONAL PARK SYS- 20 TEM.—Notwithstanding section 10(c) of such Act 21 (16 U.S.C. 1281(c)), each segment of the Nashua, 22 Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers designated as a 23 component of the Wild and Scenic Rivers System 24 under this Act shall not— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H984.IH H984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 984 IH (A) be administered as a unit of the Na- 1 tional Park System; or 2 (B) be subject to regulations that govern 3 the National Park System. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H984.IH H984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS