[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4865 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4865
To amend the National Trails System Act to authorize an additional
category of national trail known as a national discovery trail, to
provide special requirements for the establishment and administration
of national discovery trails, and to designate the cross country
American Discovery Trail as the first national discovery trail.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 20, 2004
Mr. Bereuter introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the National Trails System Act to authorize an additional
category of national trail known as a national discovery trail, to
provide special requirements for the establishment and administration
of national discovery trails, and to designate the cross country
American Discovery Trail as the first national discovery trail.
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 ``National Discovery Trails Act''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAILS COMPONENT OF
NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM.
(a) Additional Component of System.--Section 3(a) of the National
Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1242(a)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following new
paragraph:
``(4) National discovery trails, established as provided in
section 5 and subject to the special requirements of section
7A, which will be extended, continuous, interstate trails so
located as to--
``(A) provide for outstanding outdoor recreation
and travel and the conservation and enjoyment of
significant natural, cultural, and historic resources
associated with the trail; and
``(B) connect representative examples of America's
trails and metropolitan, urban, rural, and backcountry
regions of the Nation.''.
(b) Special Requirements for National Discovery Trails.--The
National Trails System Act is amended by inserting after section 7 (16
U.S.C. 1246) the following new section:
``SEC. 7A. SPECIAL ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS
APPLICABLE TO NATIONAL DISCOVERY TRAILS.
``(a) Designation Authority.--A national discovery trail may be
designated on Federal lands and, with the consent of the owner thereof,
on non-Federal lands. The appropriate Secretary shall obtain the
consent of the owner of non-Federal lands through the use of a written
agreement, which shall include such terms and conditions as the parties
to the agreement consider advisable, and may include provisions
regarding the discontinuation of the trail designation on the lands
covered by the agreement.
``(b) Notice to Landowners.--As part of a feasibility study or
environmental assessment concerning a proposed national discovery trail
designation, the appropriate Secretary conducting the study or
assessment shall provide notification to owners of nonpublic lands
where the proposed national discovery trail may cross on or abut
nonpublic lands.
``(c) Protection of Use of Adjacent Lands.--The Congress does not
intend for the establishment of a national discovery trail to lead to
the creation of protective perimeters or buffer zones adjacent to the
trail. The fact that there may be activities or uses on lands adjacent
to the trail that would not be permitted on the trail shall not
preclude such activities or uses on such lands adjacent to the trail to
the extent consistent with other applicable law. Nothing in this
section may be construed to impose, or permit the imposition of, any
limitations on the use of any non-Federal lands without the consent of
the owner of the lands.
``(d) Prevention of Trespass of Private Lands.--The appropriate
Secretary shall initiate consultations with affected States and their
political subdivisions to develop and implement appropriate measures to
protect nonpublic landowners from trespass resulting from visitor use
of a national discovery trail and from unreasonable personal liability
and property damage caused by trail use. After such consultation, the
appropriate Secretary may provide assistance to such States and their
political subdivisions under appropriate cooperative agreements in the
manner provided by this subsection.
``(e) Relation to Rights-of-Way.--Neither the designation of a
national discovery trail nor any plan related thereto shall affect, or
be considered, in the granting or denial of a right-of-way or any
conditions relating thereto.
``(f) Cooperative Administration.--The appropriate Secretary for
each national discovery trail shall administer the trail in cooperation
with a competent trailwide volunteer-based organization.
``(g) Relation to Other Trails.--Where national discovery trails
are congruent with other local, State, national scenic, or national
historic trails, the designation of the national discovery trail shall
not in any way diminish the values and significance for which these
trails were established.''.
(c) Conditions on Conduct of Feasibility Studies.--Section 5(b) of
the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(b)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (10) as
subparagraphs (A) through (J), respectively;
(2) by striking ``the'' at the beginning of each of
subparagraphs (A) through (J), as so redesignated, and
inserting ``The'';
(3) by striking the semicolon at the end of each of
subparagraphs (A) through (I), as so redesignated, and
inserting a period;
(4) in subparagraph (J), as so redesignated, by striking
``; and'' and inserting a period;
(5) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(b)'' at the beginning of
the subsection;
(6) by redesignating paragraph (11) as paragraph (2) and
conforming the margins to paragraph (1); and
(7) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3)(A) For purposes of this subsection, a trail shall not be
considered feasible and desirable for designation as a national
discovery trail unless it meets all of the following criteria:
``(i) The trail must link to one or more areas within the
boundaries of a metropolitan area (as those boundaries are
determined under section 134(c) of title 23, United States
Code), and the trail should also join with other trails,
thereby tying the National Trails System to significant
recreation and resources areas.
``(ii) The trail must be supported by at least one
competent trailwide volunteer-based organization, and must have
extensive local and trailwide support by the public, by user
groups, and by affected State and local governments.
``(iii) The trail must be extended and pass through more
than one State. At a minimum, it should be a continuous,
walkable route.
``(B) National discovery trails are specifically exempted from the
provisions of sections 7(g) of this Act.
``(C) The appropriate Secretary shall obtain written consent from
affected landowners prior to entering nonpublic lands for the purposes
of conducting any surveys or studies of nonpublic lands relating to
designating or administering national discovery trails.''.
(d) Comprehensive National Discovery Trail Plan.--Section 5 of the
National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244) is amended by adding at the
end the following new subsection:
``(g) Comprehensive National Discovery Trail Plan.--
``(1) Preparation and submission.--Within three complete
fiscal years after the date of enactment of legislation
designating a national discovery trail, the responsible
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Resources of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate a comprehensive plan for the
protection, management, development, and use of the Federal
portions of the trail and for the provision of technical
assistance to States and local units of government and private
landowners, as requested, for non-Federal portions of the
trail.
``(2) Cooperation and consultation.--In developing a
comprehensive management plan for a national discovery trail,
the responsible Secretary shall cooperate to the fullest
practicable extent with the organizations sponsoring the trail.
The responsible Secretary shall ensure that the comprehensive
plan does not conflict with existing agency direction and shall
consult with the affected land managing agencies, the Governors
of the affected States, affected county and local political
jurisdictions, and local organizations maintaining components
of the trail.
``(3) Special requirements of plan.--Components of the
comprehensive management plan for a national discovery trail
shall include the following:
``(A) Policies, objectives, and practices to be
observed in the administration and management of the
trail, including the identification of all significant
natural, historical, and cultural resources to be
preserved, model agreements necessary for joint trail
administration among and between interested parties,
and an identified carrying capacity for critical
segments of the trail, and procedures for
implementation, where appropriate.
``(B) Strategies for trail protection to retain the
values for which the trail is being established and
recognized by the Federal Government.
``(C) General and site-specific trail-related
development, including anticipated costs.
``(D) The process to be followed to implement the
trail marking authorities in section 7(c) conforming to
approved trail logo or emblem requirements.''.
(e) Conforming Amendments To Reflect New Category of National
Trail.--The National Trails System Act is amended--
(1) in section 2(b) (16 U.S.C. 1241(b)), by striking
``scenic and historic'' and inserting ``scenic, historic, and
discovery'';
(2) in section 5 (16 U.S.C. 1244)--
(A) by striking the section heading and ``Sec. 5.
(a)'' and inserting the following:
``SEC. 5. NATIONAL SCENIC, NATIONAL HISTORIC, AND NATIONAL DISCOVERY
TRAILS.
``(a) Congressionally Authorized Trails.--'';
(B) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding
paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``and national historic''
and inserting ``, national historic, and
national discovery''; and
(ii) by striking ``and National Historic''
and inserting ``, National Historic, and
National Discovery''; and
(C) in subsection (b)(1) (as amended by subsection
(c) of this section)--
(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph
(A), by striking ``or national historic'' and
inserting ``, national historic, or national
discovery''; and
(ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``or
national historic'' and inserting ``, national
historic, or national discovery''; and
(3) in section 7 (16 U.S.C. 1246)--
(A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ``and
national historic'' and inserting ``, national
historic, and national discovery'';
(B) in subsection (b), by striking ``or national
historic'' each place such term appears and inserting
``, national historic, or national discovery'';
(C) in subsection (c)--
(i) by striking ``scenic or national
historic'' each place it appears and inserting
``scenic, national historic, or national
discovery'';
(ii) in the second proviso, by striking
``scenic, or national historic'' and inserting
``scenic, national historic, or national
discovery''; and
(iii) by striking ``, and national
historic'' and inserting ``, national historic,
and national discovery'';
(D) in subsection (d), by striking ``or national
historic'' and inserting ``national historic, or
national discovery'';
(E) in subsection (e), by striking ``or national
historic'' each place such term appears and inserting
``, national historic, or national discovery'';
(F) in subsection (f)(2), by striking ``National
Scenic or Historic Trail'' and inserting ``national
scenic, historic, or discovery trail'';
(G) in subsection (h)(1), by striking ``or national
historic'' and inserting ``national historic, or
national discovery''; and
(H) in subsection (i), by striking ``or national
historic'' and inserting ``national historic, or
national discovery''.
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF AMERICAN DISCOVERY TRAIL AS A NATIONAL DISCOVERY
TRAIL.
Section 5(a) of National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)) is
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(24) The American Discovery Trail, a trail of approximately 6,000
miles extending from Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware to Point
Reyes National Seashore in California, extending westward through
Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, West Virginia, Ohio, and
Kentucky, where near Cincinnati it splits into two routes. The Northern
Midwest route traverses Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and
Colorado, and the Southern Midwest route traverses Indiana, Illinois,
Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado. After the two routes rejoin in Denver,
Colorado, the route continues through Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and
California. The trail is generally described in Volume 2 of the
National Park Service feasibility study dated June 1995 which shall be
on file and available for public inspection in the office of the
Director of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. The
American Discovery Trail shall be administered by the Secretary of the
Interior in cooperation with at least one competent trailwide
volunteer-based organization, affected land managing agencies and State
and local governments as appropriate. No lands or interests outside the
exterior boundaries of federally administered areas may be acquired by
the Federal Government solely for the American Discovery Trail. The
American Discovery Trail is specifically exempted from the provisions
of subsection (e), (f), and (g) of section 7.''.
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