[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4878 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4878
To amend the National Trails System Act to include national discovery
trails and designate the American Discovery Trail, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 30, 2021
Mr. DeSaulnier (for himself and Mr. Fortenberry) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural
Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the National Trails System Act to include national discovery
trails and designate the American Discovery Trail, 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 ``National Discovery Trails Act''.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT AMENDMENTS.
(a) National Discovery Trails.--Section 3(a) of the National Trails
System Act (16 U.S.C. 1242(a)) is amended by inserting after paragraph
(4) the following:
``(5) National discovery trails, established under section
5, which--
``(A) shall be extended, continuous, interstate
trails so located as to provide for outstanding outdoor
recreation and travel and to connect representative
examples of America's trails and communities;
``(B) should provide for the conservation and
enjoyment of significant natural, cultural, and
historic resources associated with each trail and
should be so located as to represent metropolitan,
urban, rural, and back country regions of the Nation;
``(C) may be designated on Federal lands and, with
the consent of the owner thereof, on any non-Federal
lands; and
``(D) shall not be construed to modify, enlarge, or
diminish any authority of the Federal, State, or local
governments to regulate any use of land as provided for
by law or regulation.''.
(b) Designation of the American Discovery Trail as a National
Discovery Trail.--Section 5(a) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(__) 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 District of
Columbia. The American Discovery Trail shall be administered by
the Secretary of the Interior in cooperation with at least one
competent trailwide volunteer-based organization and other
affected Federal 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 provisions of sections 7(e), 7(f), and
7(g) shall not apply to the American Discovery Trail.''.
(c) Comprehensive National Discovery Trail Plan.--Section 7 of such
Act (16 U.S.C. 1246) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(l)(1) For purposes of subsection (5)(b), a trail shall not be
considered feasible and desirable for designation as a national
discovery trail unless it meets all of the following criteria:
``(A) The trail must link 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). It should also join with other trails, connecting the
National Trails System to significant recreation and resources
areas.
``(B) The trail must be supported by at least one competent
trailwide volunteer-based organization. Each trail should have
extensive local and trailwide support by the public, by user
groups, and by affected State and local governments.
``(C) The trail must be extended and pass through more than
one State. At a minimum, it should be a continuous, walkable
route.
``(2) The appropriate Secretary for each national discovery trail
shall administer the trail in cooperation with at least one competent
trailwide volunteer-based organization. Where the designation of
discovery trail is aligned with other units of the National Trails
System, or State or local trails, the designation of a discovery trail
shall not affect the protections or authorities provided for the other
trail or trails, nor shall the designation of a discovery trail
diminish the values and significance for which those trails were
established. Not later than three complete fiscal years after the date
of the enactment of any law designating a national discovery trail, the
appropriate Secretary shall submit a comprehensive plan for the
protection, management, development, and use of the trail, to the
Committee on Natural Resources of the United States House of
Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of
the United States Senate. The responsible Secretary shall ensure that
the comprehensive plan for the entire trail 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. Components of the comprehensive
plan include--
``(A) policies 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 a plan for their implementation where
appropriate;
``(B) general and site-specific trail-related development
including costs; and
``(C) the process to be followed by the volunteer-based
organization, in cooperation with the appropriate Secretary, to
implement the trail marking authorities in subsection (c)
conforming to approved trail logo or emblem requirements.
Nothing in this Act may be construed to impose or permit the
imposition on any landowner on the use of any non-Federal lands
without the consent of the owner thereof. Neither the
designation of a national discovery trail nor any plan relating
thereto shall affect or be considered in the granting or denial
of a right of way or any conditions relating thereto.''.
SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
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 the section heading to section 5 (16 U.S.C. 1244),
by striking ``and national historic'' and inserting ``,
national historic, and national discovery'';
(3) in section 5(a) (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)), in the matter
preceding paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``and national historic'' and
inserting ``, national historic, and national
discovery''; and
(B) by striking ``and National Historic'' and
inserting ``, National Historic, and National
Discovery'';
(4) in section 5(b) (16 U.S.C. 1244(b)), in the matter
preceding paragraph (1), by striking ``or national historic''
and inserting ``, national historic, or national discovery'';
(5) in section 5(b)(3) (16 U.S.C. 1244(b)(3)), by striking
``or national historic'' and inserting ``, national historic,
or national discovery'';
(6) in section 7(a)(2) (16 U.S.C. 1246(a)(2)), by striking
``and national historic'' and inserting ``, national historic,
and national discovery'';
(7) in section 7(b) (16 U.S.C. 1246(b)), by striking ``or
national historic'' each place such term appears and inserting
``, national historic, or national discovery'';
(8) in section 7(c) (16 U.S.C. 1246(c))--
(A) by striking ``scenic or national historic''
each place it appears and inserting ``scenic, national
historic, or national discovery'';
(B) in the second proviso, by striking ``scenic, or
national historic'' and inserting ``scenic, national
historic, or national discovery''; and
(C) by striking ``, and national historic'' and
inserting ``, national historic, and national
discovery'';
(9) in section 7(d) (16 U.S.C. 1246(d)), by striking ``or
national historic'' and inserting ``national historic, or
national discovery'';
(10) in section 7(e) (16 U.S.C. 1246(e)), by striking ``or
national historic'' each place such term appears and inserting
``, national historic, or national discovery'';
(11) in section 7(f)(2) (16 U.S.C. 1246(f)(2)), by striking
``National Scenic or Historic Trail'' and inserting ``national
scenic, historic, or discovery trail'';
(12) in section 7(h)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1246(h)(1)), by striking
``or national historic'' and inserting ``national historic, or
national discovery''; and
(13) in section 7(i) (16 U.S.C. 1246(i)), by striking ``or
national historic'' and inserting ``national historic, or
national discovery''.
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