Volume 92 · 159
Public Law 95–248
To amend the National Trails System Act, and for other purposes.
Approved March 21, 1978
Statutory text
An Act
To amend the National Trails System Act, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That the National
National Trails System Act, amendment.
Trails System Act (82 Stat. 919; 16 U.S.C. 1241), as amended (90 Stat. 2481; 16 U.S.C. 1244), is further amended as follows:
Amend section 5 (a)(3) to read as follows:
“(3) The Secretary of the Interior shall establish within sixty days
Advisory Council for the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
Establishment; termination.
of the enactment of this subsection an Advisory Council for the Appalachian National Scenic Trail which shall terminate one hundred and twenty months from the date of enactment of this subsection. The Secretary of the Interior shall consult with such Council from time to time with respect to matters relating to the Trail, including the selection of rights-of-way, standards for the erection and maintenance of markers along the Trail, and the administration of the Trail. The members of the Advisory Council, which shall not
Membership.
exceed thirty-five in number, shall serve for a term of two years without compensation as such, but the Secretary may pay, upon vouchers signed by the Chairman of the Council, the expenses reasonably incurred by the Council and its members in carrying out their responsibilities under this section. Members of the Council shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior as follows:
“(i) a member appointed to represent each Federal department or independent agency administering lands through which the Trail route passes and each appointee shall be the person designated by the head of such department or agency;
“(ii) a member appointed to represent each State through which the Trail passes and such appointments shall be made from the recommendations of the Governors of such States;
“(iii) one or more members appointed to represent private organizations, including corporate and individual landowners and land users, that, in the opinion of the Secretary, have an established and recognized interest in the Trail and such appointments shall be made from recommendations of the heads of such organizations: Provided, That the Appalachian Trail Conference shall be represented by a sufficient number of persons to represent the various sections of the country through which the Appalachian Trail passes; and
“(iv) the Secretary shall designate one member to be chairman and shall fill vacancies in the same manner as the original appointment.”.
Amend section 5 by adding the following new subsection (d):
“(d) Within two years of the date of enactment of this subsection,
Appalachian Trail, plans for; submittal to congressional committees.
the Secretary of the Interior shall, after full consultation with the Governors of the affected States, the Advisory Council, and the Appalachian Trail Conference, submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives, a comprehensive plan for the management, acquisition, development, and use of the Appalachian Trail, including but not limited to, the following items:
“(1) specific objectives and practices to be observed in the management of the Trail, including the identification of all significant natural, historical, and cultural resources to be preserved; details of anticipated cooperative agreements to be consummated with other entities; and identification of carrying capacity and use patterns of the Trail;
“(2) an acquisition or protection plan, by fiscal year, for all lands to be acquired by fee title or lesser interest, along with detailed explanation of anticipated necessary cooperative agreements for any lands not to be acquired; and
“(3) general and site-specific development plans, including anticipated costs.”.
16 USC 1246.(3)
Amend section 7 (d) by changing the colon to a period and by deleting the proviso.
Condemnation proceedings.(4)
Amend section 7(g) by deleting the first proviso and inserting in lieu thereof “Provided, That condemnation proceedings may not be utilized to acquire fee title or lesser interests to more than an average of one hundred and twenty-five acres per mile:”.
16 USC 1249.(5)
Amend section 10, by adding at the end thereof the following: “From the appropriations authorized for fiscal year 1979 and succeeding fiscal years pursuant to the Land and Water Conservation Fund
Act (78 Stat. 897), as amended, not more than the following amounts may be expended for the acquisition of lands and interests in lands authorized to be acquired pursuant to the provisions of this Act:
“(a) (1) The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, not to exceed $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1979, $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1980, and $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1981, except that the difference between the foregoing amounts and the actual appropriations in any one fiscal year shall be available for appropriation in the subsequent fiscal year.
Land acquisition program, completion time.
Information to congressional committees.
It is the express intent of tire Congress that the Secretary should substantially complete the land acquisition program necessary to insure the protection of the Trail within three complete fiscal years following the date of enactment of this sentence. Until the entire acquisition program is completed, he shall transmit in writing at the close of each fiscal year the following information to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives:
“(A) the amount of land acquired during the fiscal year and the amount expended therefor;
“(B) the estimated amount of land remaining to be acquired; and
“(C) the amount of land planned for acquisition in the ensuing fiscal year and the estimated cost thereof.
“(2) Until the entire acquisition program is completed, the
Report to congressional committees.
Appalachian Trail Conference shall transmit a report at the close of each fiscal year to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives which shall include but not be limited to comments on—
“(A) the manner in which negotiations for the acquisition program are being conducted for every section of the Trail;
“(B) the attitudes of the landowners with whom negotiations have been undertaken; and
“(C) whether in any case larger interests in land are being acquired than are necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
“(b) For the purposes of Public Law 95–42 (91 Stat. 211), the lands and interests therein acquired pursuant to this section shall be deemed to qualify for funding under the provisions of section 1, clause 2, of said Act.”.
Approved March 21, 1978.