16 U.S.C. § 544d — Scenic area management plan

Page 1022 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 544d (A) the States of Oregon and Washington shall establish by way of an interstate agree- ment a regional agency known as the Colum- bia River Gorge Commission, and shall incor- porate sections 544 to 544p of this title by spe- cific reference in such agreement. The Com- mission shall carry out its functions and re- sponsibilities in accordance with the provi- sions of the interstate agreement and of sec- tions 544 to 544p of this title and shall not be considered an agency or instrumentality of the United States for the purpose of any Fed- eral law; (B) the States of Oregon and Washington shall provide to the Commission, State agen- cies, and the counties under State law the au- thority to carry out their respective functions and responsibilities in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (1)(A) of this sub- section; and (C) the States of Oregon and Washington shall appoint members of the Commission as provided in clauses (i) through (iii), subject to applicable State law: Provided, That the Gov- ernor of either State may extend the time for appointment of Commission members ninety days to provide more time for the States and counties to make such appointments. Member- ship of the Commission shall be as follows: (i) six members, comprised of one resident from each of the following counties: Hood River, Multnomah, and Wasco Counties, Or- egon, and Clark, Klickitat, and Skamania Counties, Washington, to be appointed by the governing body of each of the respective counties: Provided, That in the event the governing body of a county fails to make such appointment, the Governor of the State in which the county is located shall appoint such member; (ii) three members who reside in the State of Oregon, at least one of whom shall be a resident of the scenic area, to be appointed by the Governor of Oregon; (iii) three members who reside in the State of Washington, at least one of whom shall be a resident of the scenic area, to be appointed by the Governor of Washington; and (iv) one ex officio, nonvoting member who shall be an employee of the Forest Service, to be appointed by the Secretary. (2) The agreement shall take effect and the Commission may exercise its authorities pursu- ant to the agreement upon the appointment of four initial members from each State, subject to applicable State law, and the date of such an agreement shall be the date of establishment of the Commission. Such agreement is hereby con- sented to by the Congress. (3) Either State or any county may fill any va- cancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term of any member originally appointed by that State or county. Each member appointed to the Commission shall serve a term of four years, except that, with respect to members initially appointed pursuant to paragraph (1)(C)(i), each Governor shall designate one member to serve for a term of five years and one to serve for a term of six years, and one member from each State initially appointed pursuant to paragraph (1)(C)(ii) and (iii) shall be designated by the Gov- ernor to serve a term of five years, and one to serve a term of six years. Neither the Governors nor the governing bodies of any of the counties may appoint Federal, State, or local elected or appointed officials to the Commission. (4) A majority of the members of the Commis- sion shall constitute a quorum. The members of the Commission shall select from among them- selves a Chairman by majority vote of the mem- bers appointed from each State. (5) Except for the ex-officio member appointed pursuant to paragraph (1)(C)(iv), the members and officers and employees of the Commission shall not be officers or employees of the United States for any purpose. The Commission shall appoint, fix compensation for, and assign and delegate duties to such officers and employees as the Commission deems necessary to fulfill its functions under sections 544 to 544p of this title. The compensation of Commission members shall be fixed by State law. The compensation of Com- mission members, officers, and employees and the expenses of the Commission shall be paid from funds provided to the Commission by the States. (b) Applicable law For the purposes of providing a uniform sys- tem of laws, which, in addition to sections 544 to 544p of this title, are applicable to the Commis- sion, the Commission shall adopt regulations re- lating to administrative procedure, the making of contracts, conflicts-of-interest, financial dis- closure, open meetings of the Commission, advi- sory committees, and disclosure of information consistent with the more restrictive statutory provisions of either State. Regulations applica- ble to financial disclosure under this subsection shall be applied to members of the Commission without regard to the duration of their service on the Commission or the amount of compensa- tion received for such service. No contract, obli- gation, or other action of the Commission shall be an obligation of the United States or an obli- gation secured by the full faith and credit of the United States. (c) Assistance to Commission Upon the request of the Commission, the Sec- retary and other Federal agencies are author- ized to provide information, personnel, property, and services on a reimbursable basis, and the Secretary is authorized to provide technical as- sistance on a nonreimbursable basis, to the Commission to assist it in carrying out its func- tions and responsibilities pursuant to sections 544 to 544p of this title. (d) Advisory committees The Commission shall establish voluntary technical and citizen advisory committees to as- sist the Commission in carrying out its func- tions and responsibilities pursuant to sections 544 to 544p of this title. (Pub. L. 99–663, § 5, Nov. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 4277.) § 544d. Scenic area management plan (a) Studies Within one year after the date the Commis- sion is established, it shall, in cooperation with the Secretary, complete the following studies for use in preparing the management plan: Page 1023 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 544d (1) Resource inventory The Commission shall complete a resource inventory. The resource inventory shall— (A) document all existing land uses, nat- ural features and limitations, scenic, nat- ural, cultural, archaeological and recreation and economic resources and activities: Pro- vided, That the location of any Indian burial grounds, village sites, and other areas of ar- chaeological or religious significance shall not be made public information and such in- formation shall be used for administrative purposes only; and (B) incorporate without change the re- source inventory developed by the Secretary pursuant to section 544f of this title for the special management areas. (2) Economic opportunity study The Commission shall complete a study to identify opportunities to enhance the econo- mies of communities in the scenic area in a manner consistent with the purposes of sec- tions 544 to 544p of this title. (3) Recreation assessment The Commission shall complete an assess- ment of recreation resources and opportuni- ties for enhancement of these resources. The recreation assessment shall— (A) designate the location and specify the construction of an interpretive center or other appropriate facility, to be located in the State of Oregon, and of a conference cen- ter or other appropriate facility, to be lo- cated in the State of Washington; (B) identify areas within the scenic area that are suitable for other public use facili- ties, including but not limited to edu- cational and interpretive facilities, camp- sites, picnic areas, boat launch facilities and river access areas; and (C) subject to the treaty and other rights of Indian tribes, designate areas to provide increased access for recreation purposes to the Columbia River and its tributaries; and (D) incorporate without change the recre- ation assessment developed by the Secretary pursuant to section 544f of this title for the special management areas; (b) Land use designations Within two years after the Commission is es- tablished, it shall develop land use designations for the use of non-Federal lands within the sce- nic area. The land use designations shall— (1) be based on the results of the resource in- ventory developed pursuant to subsection (a)(1) of this section, and consistent with the standards established in subsection (d) of this section; (2) designate those lands used or suitable for the production of crops, fruits or other agri- cultural products or the sustenance of live- stock as agricultural lands; (3) designate lands used or suitable for the production of forest products as forest lands; (4) designate lands suitable for the protec- tion and enhancement of open spaces; (5) designate areas in the scenic area outside special management areas used or suitable for commercial development: Provided, That such designation shall encourage, but not require, commercial development to take place in urban areas and shall take into account the physical characteristics of the areas in ques- tion and their geographic proximity to trans- portation, commercial, and industrial facili- ties and other amenities; (6) designate areas used or suitable for resi- dential development, taking into account the physical characteristics of the areas in ques- tion and their geographic proximity to trans- portation and commercial facilities and other amenities; and (7) incorporate without change the designa- tion of urban areas established in section 544b(e) of this title. (c) Adoption of management plan Within three years after the date the Commis- sion is established, it shall adopt a management plan for the scenic area. The Commission shall adopt the management plan by a majority vote of the members appointed, including at least three members from each State. The manage- ment plan shall— (1) be based on the results of the resource in- ventory developed pursuant to subsection (a)(1) of this section; (2) include land use designations developed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section; (3) be consistent with the standards estab- lished in subsection (d) of this section; (4) incorporate without change the manage- ment direction for the use of Federal lands within and the land use designations for the special management areas adopted by the Sec- retary pursuant to section 544f of this title; and (5) include guidelines for the adoption of land use ordinances for lands within the scenic area. The guidelines— (A) shall incorporate without change the guidelines for the development of special management area land use ordinances devel- oped by the Secretary pursuant to section 544f of this title; and (B) shall not apply to urban areas des- ignated in section 544b(e) of this title. (d) Standards for management plan The management plan and all land use ordi- nances and interim guidelines adopted pursuant to sections 544 to 544p of this title shall include provisions to— (1) protect and enhance agricultural lands for agricultural uses and to allow, but not re- quire, conversion of agricultural lands to open space, recreation development or forest lands; (2) protect and enhance forest lands for for- est uses and to allow, but not require, conver- sion of forest lands to agricultural lands, recreation development or open spaces; (3) protect and enhance open spaces; (4) protect and enhance public and private recreation resources and educational and in- terpretive facilities and opportunities, in ac- cordance with the recreation assessment adopted pursuant to subsection (a) of this sec- tion; (5) prohibit major development actions in special management areas, except for parti- tions or short plats which the Secretary deter- Page 1024 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 544e mines are desirable to facilitate land acquisi- tions pursuant to sections 544 to 544p of this title; (6) prohibit industrial development in the scenic area outside urban areas; (7) require that commercial development outside urban areas take place without ad- versely affecting the scenic, cultural, recre- ation, or natural resources of the scenic area; (8) require that residential development out- side urban areas take place without adversely affecting the scenic, cultural, recreation, and natural resources of the scenic area; and (9) require that the exploration, develop- ment and production of mineral resources, and the reclamation of lands thereafter, take place without adversely affecting the scenic, cul- tural, recreation and natural resources of the scenic area. (e) Agency consultation and public involvement The Secretary and the Commission shall exer- cise their responsibilities pursuant to sections 544 to 544p of this title in consultation with Fed- eral, State, and local governments having juris- diction within the scenic area or expertise per- taining to its administration and with Indian tribes. The Secretary and the Commission shall conduct public hearings and solicit public com- ment prior to final adoption of the management plan and the Commission shall conduct public hearings and solicit public comment prior to final adoption of land use ordinances. The Com- mission and the appropriate county shall promptly notify the Secretary, the States, local governments and Indian tribes of all proposed major development actions and residential de- velopment in the scenic area. (f) Concurrence of management plan (1) Review by Secretary Upon adoption of the management plan, the Commission shall promptly submit the plan to the Secretary for review. If the Secretary agrees with the Commission that the manage- ment plan is consistent with the standards es- tablished in this section and the purposes of sections 544 to 544p of this title, the Secretary shall concur to that effect. Should the Sec- retary fail to act on the proposed plan within ninety days, the Secretary shall be deemed to have concurred on the management plan. (2) Denial of concurrence If concurrence is denied, the Secretary shall state the reasons for finding the plan is incon- sistent with the standards established in this section or the purposes of sections 544 to 544p of this title, and shall submit to the Commis- sion suggested modifications to the manage- ment plan to make it consistent with such standards and the purposes of sections 544 to 544p of this title. (3) Commission reconsideration Within one hundred and twenty days after receipt of notification of non-concurrence, the Commission shall— (A) revise and resubmit the plan to the Secretary; or (B) by a vote of two-thirds of its member- ship, including a majority of the members appointed from each State, reject the sug- gested modifications of the Secretary and adopt a management plan consistent with the provisions of this section and the pur- poses of sections 544 to 544p of this title. (g) Revision of plan No sooner than five years after adoption of the management plan, but at least every ten years, the Commission shall review the management plan to determine whether it should be revised. The Commission shall submit any revised man- agement plan to the Secretary for review and concurrence, in accordance with the provisions of this section for adoption of the management plan. (h) Amendment of plan If the Commission determines at any time that conditions within the scenic area have sig- nificantly changed, it may amend the manage- ment plan. The Commission shall submit amendments to the management plan to the Secretary for review, in accordance with the provisions of this section for adoption of the management plan. (Pub. L. 99–663, § 6, Nov. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 4279.) § 544e. Administration of scenic area (a) Management of scenic area The non-Federal lands within the scenic area shall be administered by the Commission in ac- cordance with the management plan and sec- tions 544 to 544p of this title. (b) Adoption of scenic area land use ordinances (1) Within sixty days of initial receipt of the management plan, each county shall submit to the Commission a letter stating that it proposes to adopt a land use ordinance consistent with the management plan. If any county fails to submit such letter or fails to adopt a land use ordinance as provided in this section, the Com- mission shall carry out the requirements of sub- section (c) of this section. (2) Within two hundred and seventy days of re- ceipt of the management plan, each county shall adopt a land use ordinance consistent with the management plan, and thereafter may adopt an amendment, revision or variance to a land use ordinance at any time. Each county upon adop- tion of a land use ordinance shall promptly sub- mit the ordinance to the Commission. (3) APPROVAL BY COMMISSION.—(A) Within nine- ty days after receipt of a land use ordinance, the Commission, by majority vote including at least three members from each State, shall approve the ordinance unless it determines the ordi- nance is inconsistent with the management plan. Should the Commission fail to act within ninety days, the ordinance shall be deemed to be approved. (B) If approval is denied, the Commission shall state the reasons for finding the ordinance is in- consistent with the management plan, and shall submit to the county suggested modifications to the ordinance to make it consistent with the management plan. (C) Each county shall have ninety days after it receives recommendations from the Commission to make modifications designed to eliminate the