| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 642 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate the portion of the |
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| 6 | 6 | | Myakka River lying within Sarasota County, Florida as a component |
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| 7 | 7 | | of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | JANUARY23, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. S |
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| 11 | 11 | | TEUBE(for himself and Mr. BUCHANAN) introduced the following bill; |
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| 12 | 12 | | which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate |
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| 15 | 15 | | the portion of the Myakka River lying within Sarasota |
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| 16 | 16 | | County, Florida as a component of the National Wild |
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| 17 | 17 | | and Scenic Rivers System, and for other purposes. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Myakka Wild and Sce-4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | nic River Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 23 | 23 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 |
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| 24 | 24 | | The Congress finds the following: 7 |
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| 26 | 26 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | •HR 642 IH |
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| 28 | 28 | | (1) Public Law 95–625 amended section 5 of 1 |
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| 29 | 29 | | the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1276) to 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | require the study of the Myakka River for potential 3 |
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| 31 | 31 | | inclusion in the national wild and scenic rivers sys-4 |
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| 32 | 32 | | tem. 5 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (2) The study determined the Myakka River, 6 |
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| 34 | 34 | | was eligible for inclusion in the National Wild and 7 |
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| 35 | 35 | | Scenic Rivers System. 8 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (3) The State of Florida has demonstrated its 9 |
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| 37 | 37 | | commitment to protecting this river by the enact-10 |
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| 38 | 38 | | ment of the Myakka River Wild and Scenic Designa-11 |
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| 39 | 39 | | tion and Protection Act (Florida Statute Chapter 12 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 258.501). 13 |
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| 41 | 41 | | (4) The Florida county of Sarasota and the cit-14 |
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| 42 | 42 | | ies of Venice and North Port have demonstrated 15 |
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| 43 | 43 | | their commitment to protect this river in their com-16 |
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| 44 | 44 | | prehensive land use plans, local ordinances, and land 17 |
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| 45 | 45 | | development regulations. 18 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (5) The desire for designation of this river as 19 |
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| 47 | 47 | | a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers 20 |
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| 48 | 48 | | System has been demonstrated through strong pub-21 |
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| 49 | 49 | | lic support, State and local agency support, and the 22 |
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| 50 | 50 | | endorsement of designation by the Myakka River 23 |
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| 51 | 51 | | Management Coordinating Council, which represents 24 |
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| 52 | 52 | | a broad cross section of State and local agencies, ag-25 |
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| 54 | 54 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 55 | 55 | | •HR 642 IH |
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| 56 | 56 | | ricultural interests, landowners, environmental, and 1 |
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| 57 | 57 | | nonprofit organizations. 2 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (6) A 12-mile segment of the Myakka River is 3 |
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| 59 | 59 | | within the Myakka River State Park with an addi-4 |
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| 60 | 60 | | tional 22-mile segment containing conservation lands 5 |
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| 61 | 61 | | held in public ownership or conservation easements 6 |
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| 62 | 62 | | within the Myakka River Watershed. 7 |
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| 63 | 63 | | SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF MYAKKA RIVER, FLORIDA, AS A 8 |
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| 64 | 64 | | COMPONENT OF THE NATIONAL WILD AND 9 |
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| 65 | 65 | | SCENIC RIVERS SYSTEM. 10 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (a) Section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 11 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 12 |
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| 68 | 68 | | following new paragraph: 13 |
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| 69 | 69 | | ‘‘(lll) M |
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| 70 | 70 | | YAKKA RIVER, FLORIDA.—The 34- 14 |
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| 71 | 71 | | mile segments, within Sarasota County referred to in 15 |
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| 72 | 72 | | this paragraph, to be administered by the Secretary 16 |
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| 73 | 73 | | of the Interior, in partnership with the Myakka 17 |
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| 74 | 74 | | River Management Coordinating Council.’’. 18 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (b) I |
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| 76 | 76 | | NGENERAL.—The following segments of the 19 |
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| 77 | 77 | | Myakka River, within Sarasota County, to be administered 20 |
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| 78 | 78 | | in the following classifications: 21 |
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| 79 | 79 | | ‘‘(A) The approximately 8.0-mile segment 22 |
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| 80 | 80 | | from the Manatee County/Sarasota County line 23 |
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| 81 | 81 | | to S.R. 72, as a scenic river. 24 |
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| 83 | 83 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 84 | 84 | | •HR 642 IH |
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| 85 | 85 | | ‘‘(B) The approximately 11.2-mile seg-1 |
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| 86 | 86 | | ment, from S.R. 72 to Laurel Road, as a wild 2 |
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| 87 | 87 | | river. 3 |
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| 88 | 88 | | ‘‘(C) The approximately 1.9-mile segment, 4 |
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| 89 | 89 | | from Laurel Road to Border Road, as a scenic 5 |
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| 90 | 90 | | river. 6 |
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| 91 | 91 | | ‘‘(D) The approximately 1.5-mile segment, 7 |
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| 92 | 92 | | from Border Road to just south of the I-75 8 |
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| 93 | 93 | | Bridge, as a recreational river. 9 |
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| 94 | 94 | | ‘‘(E) The approximately 1.5-mile segment, 10 |
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| 95 | 95 | | from south of the I-75 Bridge to Snook Haven, 11 |
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| 96 | 96 | | as a scenic river. 12 |
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| 97 | 97 | | ‘‘(F) The approximately 3.2-mile segment, 13 |
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| 98 | 98 | | from Snook Haven to Ramblers Rest, as a wild 14 |
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| 99 | 99 | | river. 15 |
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| 100 | 100 | | ‘‘(G) The approximately 2.7-mile segment, 16 |
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| 101 | 101 | | from Ramblers Rest to U.S. 41, as a scenic 17 |
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| 102 | 102 | | river. 18 |
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| 103 | 103 | | ‘‘(H) The approximately 4.0-mile segment, 19 |
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| 104 | 104 | | from U.S. 41 to the Charlotte County Line, as 20 |
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| 105 | 105 | | a scenic river.’’. 21 |
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| 106 | 106 | | SEC. 4. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO MYAKKA 22 |
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| 107 | 107 | | RIVER. 23 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (a) D |
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| 109 | 109 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section and section 5: 24 |
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| 111 | 111 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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| 112 | 112 | | •HR 642 IH |
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| 113 | 113 | | (1) MYAKKA RIVER.—The term ‘‘Myakka 1 |
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| 114 | 114 | | River’’ means the segments of the Myakka River in 2 |
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| 115 | 115 | | the State of Florida designated as components of the 3 |
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| 116 | 116 | | National Wild and Scenic Rivers System by para-4 |
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| 117 | 117 | | graph (l) of section 3(a) of the Wild and Scenic 5 |
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| 118 | 118 | | Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)), as added by this 6 |
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| 119 | 119 | | Act. 7 |
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| 120 | 120 | | (2) C |
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| 121 | 121 | | OUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 8 |
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| 122 | 122 | | Myakka River Management Coordinating Council es-9 |
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| 123 | 123 | | tablished pursuant to Florida Statute Chapter 10 |
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| 124 | 124 | | 258.501. 11 |
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| 125 | 125 | | (3) C |
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| 126 | 126 | | OMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN .— 12 |
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| 127 | 127 | | The terms ‘‘comprehensive management plan’’ and 13 |
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| 128 | 128 | | ‘‘plan’’ mean the Myakka River Wild and Scenic 14 |
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| 129 | 129 | | Management Plan developed by the Council shall be 15 |
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| 130 | 130 | | considered to satisfy the requirements for the com-16 |
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| 131 | 131 | | prehensive management plan under section 3(d) of 17 |
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| 132 | 132 | | the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1274(d)). 18 |
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| 133 | 133 | | (4) S |
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| 134 | 134 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 19 |
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| 135 | 135 | | the Secretary of the Interior. 20 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (b) C |
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| 137 | 137 | | OOPERATIVEAGREEMENTS.— 21 |
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| 138 | 138 | | (1) U |
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| 139 | 139 | | SE AUTHORIZED.—In order to provide for 22 |
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| 140 | 140 | | the long-term protection, preservation, and enhance-23 |
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| 141 | 141 | | ment of the Myakka River, the Secretary shall co-24 |
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| 142 | 142 | | ordinate administration responsibilities under this 25 |
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| 144 | 144 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
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| 145 | 145 | | •HR 642 IH |
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| 146 | 146 | | section, and may enter into cooperative agreements 1 |
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| 147 | 147 | | pursuant to sections 10(e) and 11(b)(1) of the Wild 2 |
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| 148 | 148 | | and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1281(e), 3 |
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| 149 | 149 | | 1282(b)(1)) with the State of Florida Department of 4 |
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| 150 | 150 | | Environmental Protection, Division of Recreation 5 |
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| 151 | 151 | | and Parks, appropriate local political jurisdictions of 6 |
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| 152 | 152 | | the State, the county of Sarasota, City of North 7 |
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| 153 | 153 | | Port, City of Venice and appropriate local planning 8 |
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| 154 | 154 | | and non-profit organizations. 9 |
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| 155 | 155 | | (2) E |
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| 156 | 156 | | FFECT OF AGREEMENT .—Administration 10 |
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| 157 | 157 | | of the Myakka River by the Secretary of the Interior 11 |
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| 158 | 158 | | through the use of cooperative agreements shall 12 |
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| 159 | 159 | | not— 13 |
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| 160 | 160 | | (A) constitute National Park Service ad-14 |
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| 161 | 161 | | ministration of the Myakka River for purposes 15 |
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| 162 | 162 | | of section 10(c) of such Act ( U.S.C. 1281(c)); 16 |
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| 163 | 163 | | or 17 |
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| 164 | 164 | | (B) cause the Myakka River to be consid-18 |
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| 165 | 165 | | ered a unit of the National Park System. 19 |
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| 166 | 166 | | (3) P |
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| 167 | 167 | | UBLICLY OWNED LANDS .—Nothing in this 20 |
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| 168 | 168 | | Act or an agreement under this Act shall affect the 21 |
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| 169 | 169 | | management of publicly or privately owned lands 22 |
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| 170 | 170 | | within the boundaries of the Myakka River water-23 |
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| 171 | 171 | | shed by the agencies having jurisdiction over the 24 |
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| 172 | 172 | | lands, in accordance with the statutory authority of 25 |
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| 174 | 174 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
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| 175 | 175 | | •HR 642 IH |
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| 176 | 176 | | Florida Statute 258.501 and the mission of such 1 |
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| 177 | 177 | | agencies. 2 |
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| 178 | 178 | | (4) T |
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| 179 | 179 | | ECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OTHER SUP -3 |
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| 180 | 180 | | PORT.—The Secretary may provide technical assist-4 |
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| 181 | 181 | | ance, staff support, and funding to assist in the up-5 |
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| 182 | 182 | | dating and implementation of the comprehensive 6 |
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| 183 | 183 | | management plan. 7 |
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| 184 | 184 | | (5) A |
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| 185 | 185 | | CQUISITION OF LAND .—the authority of 8 |
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| 186 | 186 | | the Secretary to acquire land for the Myakka River 9 |
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| 187 | 187 | | segments shall be limited to acquisition by donation 10 |
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| 188 | 188 | | or acquisition with the consent of the owner thereof. 11 |
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| 189 | 189 | | (6) N |
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| 190 | 190 | | O CONDEMNATION .—No land or interest 12 |
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| 191 | 191 | | in land may be acquired for the Myakka River seg-13 |
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| 192 | 192 | | ments by condemnation. 14 |
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| 193 | 193 | | SEC. 5. MYAKKA RIVER MANAGEMENT COUNCIL. 15 |
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| 194 | 194 | | (a) E |
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| 195 | 195 | | XISTINGSTRUCTURE.—the Secretary shall co-16 |
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| 196 | 196 | | ordinate the management responsibilities of the Secretary 17 |
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| 197 | 197 | | with the Council in the updating and implementation of 18 |
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| 198 | 198 | | the comprehensive management plan for the Myakka 19 |
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| 199 | 199 | | River. 20 |
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| 200 | 200 | | (b) R |
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| 201 | 201 | | EPRESENTATIVE FROMDOI.—The Secretary 21 |
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| 202 | 202 | | shall select a representative who shall be added to the 22 |
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| 203 | 203 | | Council to represent the National Park Service. 23 |
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| 207 | 207 | | (c) ADDITIONALMEMBERS.—Other interested par-1 |
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| 208 | 208 | | ties may be added to the Council, in accordance with the 2 |
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| 209 | 209 | | statutory authority under Florida Statute 258.501. 3 |
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| 210 | 210 | | (d) C |
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| 211 | 211 | | OORDINATIONWITHCOUNCIL.—The Secretary 4 |
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| 212 | 212 | | shall coordinate the management responsibilities with the 5 |
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| 213 | 213 | | Council in the updating and implementation of the Man-6 |
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| 214 | 214 | | agement plan for the Myakka River, to assist the Sec-7 |
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| 215 | 215 | | retary in carrying out the management responsibilities of 8 |
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| 216 | 216 | | the Secretary under this Act. 9 |
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| 217 | 217 | | Æ |
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