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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1273. National wild and scenic rivers system
(a) Composition; application; publication in Federal Register;
expense; administration of federally owned lands
The national wild and scenic rivers system shall comprise rivers
(i) that are authorized for inclusion therein by Act of Congress,
or (ii) that are designated as wild, scenic or recreational rivers
by or pursuant to an act of the legislature of the State or States
through which they flow, that are to be permanently administered as
wild, scenic or recreational rivers by an agency or political
subdivision of the State or States concerned that are found by the
Secretary of the Interior, upon application of the Governor of the
State or the Governors of the States concerned, or a person or
persons thereunto duly appointed by him or them, to meet the
criteria established in this chapter and such criteria
supplementary thereto as he may prescribe, and that are approved by
him for inclusion in the system, including, upon application of the
Governor of the State concerned, the Allagash Wilderness Waterway,
Maine; that segment of the Wolf River, Wisconsin, which flows
through Langlade County; and that segment of the New River in North
Carolina extending from its confluence with Dog Creek downstream
approximately 26.5 miles to the Virginia State line. Upon receipt
of an application under clause (ii) of this subsection, the
Secretary shall notify the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and
publish such application in the Federal Register. Each river
designated under clause (ii) shall be administered by the State or
political subdivision thereof without expense to the United States
other than for administration and management of federally owned
lands. For purposes of the preceding sentence, amounts made
available to any State or political subdivision under the Land and
Water Conservation Act of 1965 [16 U.S.C. 460l-4 et seq.] or any
other provision of law shall not be treated as an expense to the
United States. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
provide for the transfer to, or administration by, a State or local
authority of any federally owned lands which are within the
boundaries of any river included within the system under clause
(ii).
(b) Classification, designation, and administration of rivers
A wild, scenic or recreational river area eligible to be included
in the system is a free-flowing stream and the related adjacent
land area that possesses one or more of the values referred to in
section 1271 of this title. Every wild, scenic or recreational
river in its free-flowing condition, or upon restoration to this
condition, shall be considered eligible for inclusion in the
national wild and scenic rivers system and, if included, shall be
classified, designated, and administered as one of the following:
(1) Wild river areas - Those rivers or sections of rivers that
are free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by
trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and
waters unpolluted. These represent vestiges of primitive America.
(2) Scenic river areas - Those rivers or sections of rivers
that are free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds
still largely primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but
accessible in places by roads.
(3) Recreational river areas - Those rivers or sections of
rivers that are readily accessible by road or railroad, that may
have some development along their shorelines, and that may have
undergone some impoundment or diversion in the past.
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