Images de page
PDF
ePub

tary or by a State or local subdivision thereof, or whether such land or water area may be protected adequately through local, State, or Federal laws or other methods without Federal land acquisition or administration.

(c) The Secretary of the Interior shall, not later than January 30, 1970, submit to the Congress through the President a report of the study conducted pursuant to this section, together with any legislative recommendations, including recommendations on the feasibility and desirability of establishing a nationwide system of estuarine areas, the terms, conditions, and authorities to govern such system, and the designation and acquisiton of any specific estuarine areas of national significance which he believes should be acquired by the United States. No lands within such area may be acquired until authorized by subsequent Act of Congress. Recommendations made by the Secretary for the acquisition of any estuarine area shall be developed in consultation with the States, municipalities, and other interested Federal agencies. Each such recommendation shall be accompanied by (1) expressions of any views which the interested States, municipalities, and other Federal agencies and river basin commissions may submit within sixty days after having been notified of the proposed recommendations, (2) a statement setting forth the probable effect of the recommended action on any comprehensive river basin plan that may have been adopted by Congress or that is serving as a guide for coordinating Federal programs in the basin wherein such area is located, (3) in the absence of such a plan, a statement indicating the probable effect of the recommended action on alternative beneficial users of the resources of the proposed estuarine area, and (4) a discussion of the major economic, social, and ecological trends occurring in such area.

(d) There is authorized to be appropriated not to exceed $250,000 for fiscal year 1969 and $250,000 for fiscal year 1970 to carry out the provisions of this section. Such sums shall be available until expended.

SEC. 3. After the completion of the general study authorized by section 2 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the President, many enter into an agreement, containing such terms and conditions as are mutually acceptable, with any State or with a political subdivision or agency thereof (if the agreement with such subdivision or agency is first approved by the Governor of the State involved or by a State agency designated for that purpose) for the permanent management, development, and administration of any area, land, or interests therein within an estuary and adjacent lands which are owned or thereafter acquired by a State or by any political subdivision thereof: Provided, That, with the approval of the Governor of the State involved or of

a State agency designated for that purpose, the Secretary may also enter into such an agreement for any particular area whenever the segment of the general study applicable to that area is completed subject to the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of section 2 of this Act. Such agreement shall, among other things, provide that the State or a political subdivision or agency thereof and the Secretary shall share in an equitable manner in the cost of managing, administering, and developing such areas, and such development may include the construction, operation, installation, and maintenance of buildings, devices, structures, recreational facilities, access roads, and other improvements, and such agreement shall be subject to the availability of appropriations. State hunting and fishing laws and regulations shall be applicable to such areas to the extent they are now or hereafter applicable.

SEC. 4. In planning for the use or development of water and land resources, all Federal agencies shall give consideration to estuaries and their natural resources, and their importance for commercial and industrial developments, and all project plans and reports affecting such estuaries and resources submitted to the Congress shall contain a discussion by the Secretary of the Interior of such estuaries and such resources and the effects of the project on them and his recommendations thereon. The Secretary of the Interior shall make his recommendations within ninety days after receipt of such plans and reports.

[ocr errors]

SEC. 5. The Secretary of the Interior shall encourage States and local subdivisions thereof to consider, in their comprehensive planning and proposals for financial assistance under the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (50 Stat. 917), as amended (16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.), the Federal Aid in Fish Restoration Act (64 Stat. 430), as amended (16 U.S.C. 777 et seq.), the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (78 Stat. 897), the Commercial Fisheries Research and Development Act of 1964 (78 Stat. 197), and the Anadromous and Great Lakes Fisheries Conservation Act of October 30, 1965 (79 Stat. 1125), the needs and opportunities for protecting and restoring estuaries in accordance with the purposes of this Act. In approving grants made pursuant to said laws for the acquisition of all or part of an estuarine area by a State, the Secretary shall establish such terms and conditions as he deems desirable to insure the permanent protection of such areas, including a provision that the lands or interests therein shall not be disposed of by sale, lease, donation, or exchange without the prior approval of the Secretary.

SEC. 6. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect the authority of any Federal agency to carry out any Fed

eral project heretofore or hereafter authorized within an estuary.

Approved August 3, 1968.

Legislative History

House Report No. 989 (Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries).
Senate Report No. 1419 (Committee on Commerce).
Congressional Record, Vol. 114 (1968):

Feb. 8: Considered and passed House.

July 19 Considered and passed Senate, amended.
July 22: House concurred in Senate amendment.

11. Federal Water Project Recreation Act

An Act to provide uniform policies with respect to recreation and fish and wildlife benefits and costs of Federal multiplepurpose water resource projects, and for other purposes. (79 Stat. 213)

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it is the policy of the Congress and the intent of this Act that (a) in investigating and planning any Federal navigation, flood control, reclamation, hydroelectric, or multiple-purpose water resource project, full consideration shall be given to the opportunities, if any, which the project affords for outdoor recreation and for fish and wildlife enhancement and that, wherever any such project can reasonably serve either or both of these purposes consistently with the provisions of this Act, it shall be constructed, operated, and maintained accordingly; (b) planning with respect to the development of the recreation potential of any such project shall be based on the coordination of the recreational use of the project area with the use of existing and planned Federal, State, or local public recreation developments; and (c) project construction agencies shall encourage non-Federal public bodies to administer project land and water areas for recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement purposes and operate, maintain, and replace facilities provided for those purposes unless such areas or facilities are included or proposed for inclusion within a national recreation area, or are appropriate for administration by a Federal agency as a part of the national forest system, as a part of the public lands classified for retention in Federal ownership, or in connection with an authorized Federal program for the conservation and development of fish and wildlife.

SEC. 2. (a) If, before authorization of a project, nonFederal public bodies indicate their intent in writing to agree to administer project land and water areas for recreation or fish and wildlife enhancement or for both of these purposes pursuant to the plan for the development of the project approved by the head of the agency having administrative jurisdiction over it and to bear not less than one-half the separable costs of the project allocated to either or both of said purposes, as the case may be, and all the costs of operation, maintenance, and replacement incurred therefor

(1) the benefits of the project to said purpose or purposes shall be taken into account in determining the economic benefits of the project;

(2) costs shall be allocated to said purpose or purposes and to other purposes in a manner which will

insure that all project purposes share equitably in the advantages of multiple-purpose construction: Provided, That the costs allocated to recreation or fish and wildlife enhancement shall not exceed the lesser of the benefits from those functions or the costs of providing recreation or fish and wildlife enhancement benefits of reasonably equivalent use and location by the least costly alternative means; and

(3) not more than one-half the separable costs and all the joint costs of the project allocated to recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement shall be borne by the United States and be nonreimbursable. Projects authorized during the calendar year 1965 may include recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement on the foregoing basis without the required indication of intent. Execution of an agreement as aforesaid shall be a prerequisite to commencement of construction of any project to which this subsection is applicable.

(b) The non-Federal share of the separable costs of the project allocated to recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement shall be borne by non-Federal interests, under either or both of the following methods as may be determined appropriate by the head of the Federal agency having jurisdiction over the project: (1) payment, or provision of lands, interests therein, or facilities for the project; or (2) repayment, with interest at a rate comparable to that for other interest-bearing functions of Federal water resource projects, within fifty years of first use of project recreation or fish and wildlife enhancement facilities: Provided, That the source of repayment may be limited to entrance and user fees or charges collected at the project by non-Federal interests if the fee schedule and the portion of fees dedicated to repayment are established on a basis calculated to achieve repayment as a foresaid and are made subject to review and renegotiations at intervals of not more than five years.

SEC. 3. (a) No facilities or project modifications which will furnish recreation or fish and wildlife enhancement benefits shall be provided in the absence of the indication of intent with respect thereto specified in subsection 2(a) of this Act unless (1) such facilities or modifications serve other project purposes and are justified thereby without regard to such incidental recreation or fish and wildlife enhancement benefits as they may have or (2) they are minimum facilities which are required for the public health and safety and are located at access points provided by roads existing at the time of project construction or constructed for the administration and management of the project. Calculation of the recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement benefits in any such case shall be based on the number of visitor-days anticipated in the absence of recreation and fish and wildlife

« PrécédentContinuer »