H.R.263 - To rename the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge as the Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge.116th Congress (2019-2020)
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[actionDate] => 2019-10-11
[displayText] => Reported by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 116-228.
[externalActionCode] => 5000
[description] => Introduced
[chamberOfAction] => House
)
Passed House
Array
(
[actionDate] => 2019-11-20
[displayText] => Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR H9075-9076)
[externalActionCode] => 8000
[description] => Passed House
[chamberOfAction] => House
)
Passed Senate
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[actionDate] => 2020-01-09
[displayText] => Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
[externalActionCode] => 17000
[description] => Passed Senate
[chamberOfAction] => Senate
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To President
Array
(
[actionDate] => 2020-01-16
[displayText] => Presented to President.
[externalActionCode] => 28000
[description] => To President
[chamberOfAction] =>
)
Became Law
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(
[actionDate] => 2020-01-27
[displayText] => Became Public Law No: 116-110.
[externalActionCode] => 36000
[description] => Became Law
[chamberOfAction] =>
)
[116th Congress Public Law 110]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[[Page 134 STAT. 6]]
Public Law 116-110
116th Congress
An Act
To rename the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge as the Congressman
Lester Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge. <<NOTE: Jan. 27,
2020 - [H.R. 263]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: New York. 16 USC
668dd note.>>
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge was created in
1968. It is located on the north shore of Long Island in eastern
Nassau County, is the largest refuge in the Long Island National
Wildlife Refuge Complex, and receives the most public use of all
the refuges in the Complex.
(2) The State of New York designated Oyster Bay a
significant coastal fish and wildlife habitat. It is especially
important for wintering waterfowl such as black duck, greater
scaup, bufflehead, canvasback and long-tailed ducks. Management
activities include wetland restoration and protection of the
natural shoreline and vegetation.
(3) The refuge is unique in consisting solely of bay bottom
and adjacent shoreline up to the mean high-tide mark. Ninety
percent of New York's commercial oyster harvest comes from the
refuge. Visitors enjoy fishing, wildlife observation,
photography and environmental education. The refuge is truly a
national treasure.
(4) Many visitors are unaware that were it not for the
tireless work and advocacy of then-freshman Congressman Lester
Wolff, this area would today be an 8.5-mile causeway and bridge
across Long Island Sound between Oyster Bay and Rye, New York,
connecting Nassau and Westchester Counties.
(5) The bridge was first proposed by Robert Moses, the well-
known New York City Planner, to divert traffic from New York
City. Former Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed into law
legislation creating the bridge authorized by the New York State
Legislature in 1967.
(6) Congressman Wolff, elected in 1964, quickly decided the
bridge would be an intrusion in a pristine area, and that Long
Island Sound was a very precious resource that was despoiled.
The conservation threats in the mid-1960s were suburban
development, wetland filling, and industrial pollution. The
fight to preserve this land became an enormous political fight
and is considered to be a turning point in New York State's
environmental legacy.
(7) With State and local political and community leaders,
and especially the North Shore leaders and the Committee
[[Page 134 STAT. 7]]
to Save the Long Island Sound, Congressman Wolff arranged a
meeting with Department of the Interior representatives and
local leaders where the idea of creating a wildlife refuge from
municipal and privately owned wetlands was created.
(8) The Town of Oyster Bay, in which one end of the bridge
was to be located, deeded 5,000 acres of wetlands to the United
States to be maintained as a Federal wildlife preserve. It was
stipulated that if the Department of the Interior agreed to an
intrusion of the property, it would revert to the town. Creating
a Federal wildlife preserve provided the land with Federal
protection.
(9) Because of the vision, dedication, and perseverance of
Congressman Lester Wolff, all of us and future generations can
enjoy the beauty and magnificence of this refuge.
SEC. 2. RENAMING THE OYSTER BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE AS THE
CONGRESSMAN LESTER WOLFF OYSTER BAY NATIONAL
WILDLIFE REFUGE.
(a) Renaming.--The unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System known
as the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge and located near Oyster Bay,
New York, shall be known as the ``Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster Bay
National Wildlife Refuge''.
(b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document,
paper, or other record of the United States to the unit of the National
Wildlife Refuge System known as the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge
is deemed to be a reference to the ``Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster Bay
National Wildlife Refuge''.
Approved January 27, 2020.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 263:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 116-228 (Comm. on Natural Resources).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
Vol. 165 (2019):
Nov. 20, considered and passed
House.
Vol. 166 (2020):
Jan. 9, considered and passed
Senate.
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