[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3954 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.3954

                      One Hundred Seventh Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
          the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two


                                 An Act


 
 To designate certain waterways in the Caribbean National Forest in the 
   Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as components of the National Wild and 
              Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Caribbean National Forest Wild and 
Scenic Rivers Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. WILD AND SCENIC RIVER DESIGNATIONS, CARIBBEAN NATIONAL FOREST, 
              PUERTO RICO.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
        (1) In the revised land and resource management plan for the 
    Caribbean National Forest/Luquillo Experimental Forest, approved 
    April 17, 1997, and the environmental impact statement prepared as 
    part of the plan, the Secretary of Agriculture examined the 
    suitability of rivers within the Caribbean National Forest/Luquillo 
    Experimental Forest for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic 
    Rivers System.
        (2) Based on such examination, the Rio Icacos, Rio Mameyes, and 
    Rio de La Mina were found to be free flowing waterways and to 
    possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geological, 
    hydrological, biological, historical, and cultural values, and, 
    therefore, to qualify for addition to the National Wild and Scenic 
    Rivers System.
    (b) Designations.--Section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 
(16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
    ``(____) Rivers of Caribbean National Forest, Puerto Rico.--
        ``(A) Rio mameyes.--The segment of approximately 4.5 miles from 
    its headwaters in the Bano de Oro Research Natural Area to the 
    boundary of the Caribbean National Forest, to be administered by 
    the Secretary of Agriculture as follows:
            ``(i) As a wild river from its headwaters in the Bano de 
        Oro Research Natural Area to the crossing point of Trail No. 
        24/11 (approximately 500 feet upstream from the confluence with 
        the Rio de La Mina), a total of approximately 2.1 miles.
            ``(ii) As a scenic river from the crossing point of Trail 
        No. 24/11 to the access point of Trail No. 7, a total of 
        approximately 1.4 miles.
            ``(iii) As a recreational river from the access point of 
        Trail No. 7 to the national forest boundary, a total of 
        approximately 1.0 miles.
        ``(B) Rio de la mina.--The segment of approximately 2.1 miles 
    from its headwaters to its confluence with the Rio Mameyes, to be 
    administered by the Secretary of Agriculture as follows:
            ``(i) As a recreational river from its headwaters in the El 
        Yunque Recreation Area downstream to La Mina Falls, a total of 
        approximately 0.9 miles.
            ``(ii) As a scenic river from La Mina falls downstream to 
        its confluence with the Rio Mameyes, a total of approximately 
        1.2 miles.
        ``(C) Rio icacos.--The segment of approximately 2.3 miles from 
    its headwaters to the boundary of the Caribbean National Forest, to 
    be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture as a scenic 
    river.''.
    (c) Special Management Considerations.--
        (1) Certain permitted activities.--Subject to paragraph (2), 
    the amendment made by the subsection (b) and the applicability of 
    the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.) to the 
    river segments added to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System 
    by the amendment shall not be construed to prevent any of the 
    following activities within the boundaries of the river segments:
            (A) Installation and maintenance of hydrologic, 
        meteorological, climatological, or atmospheric data collection 
        and transmission facilities, or any combination of such 
        facilities, when the Secretary of Agriculture determines that 
        such facilities are essential to the scientific research 
        purposes of the Luquillo Experimental Forest.
            (B) Construction and maintenance of nesting structures, 
        observation blinds, and population monitoring platforms for 
        threatened and endangered species.
            (C) Construction and maintenance of trails to such 
        facilities as necessary for research purposes and for the 
        recovery of threatened and endangered species.
        (2) Conditions.--The activities authorized by paragraph (1) 
    shall be subject to such conditions as the Secretary considers 
    desirable. The Secretary shall ensure that the scale and scope of 
    such activities within the boundaries of a river segment added to 
    the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System by the amendment made by 
    the subsection (b) are not detrimental to the characteristics of 
    the river segment that merited its designation as a wild, scenic, 
    or recreational river.
    (d) Preservation of Commonwealth Authority.--Nothing in this 
section or the amendment made by this section shall be construed to 
limit the authority of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico over waters and 
natural channels of public domain pursuant to the laws of the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.