16 U.S. Code § 482b - Mount Hood National Forest; mining rights

The unit and the renewable resources therein, shall be administered as a watershed by the Secretary in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations applicable to land under the administrative jurisdiction of the Forest Service (in the case of land administered by the Secretary of Agriculture) or applicable to land under the administrative jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (in the case of land administered by the Secretary of the Interior) except to the extent that any management plan or practice is found by the Secretary to have a significant adverse effect on compliance with the water quality standards referred to in section 2(c) hereof or on the quantity of the water produced thereon for the use of the city, and other local government units and persons using such water under agreements with the city (and the Secretary shall take into consideration the cumulative effect of individually insignificant degradations), in which case, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the management plan and all relevant leases, permits, contracts, rights-of-way, or other rights or authorizations issued pursuant thereto shall forthwith be altered by the Secretary to eliminate such adverse effect by application of different techniques or prohibitions of one or more such practices or uses: Provided, however, That use of such water for the production of energy and the transmission of such energy through and over the unit are deemed consistent with the purposes of this Act and the rights-of-way heretofore granted to Bonneville Power Administration by the Forest Service through and over the unit are validated and confirmed and deemed consistent with the purposes of this Act.

The policy set forth in subsections (a) and (b) shall be attained through the development, maintenance, and periodic revision of land management plans in accordance with procedures set forth in section 5 [6] of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 477, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 1604) (in the case of land administered by the Secretary of Agriculture) or section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) (in the case of land administered by the Secretary of the Interior), through the maintenance of systems for monitoring and evaluating water quality, and through supporting scientific research as the Secretary may deem necessary after consultation and in coordination with the city. In the development and revision of land management plans for the unit, the Secretary, except as otherwise provided in section 2(a) hereof, shall provide for public participation and shall consult and coordinate with appropriate officials and advisors of the city, and shall consider such data and research as the city may collect through its own monitoring systems and scientific efforts, if any. Such plans shall be prepared by an interdisciplinary team; be embodied in appropriate written material, including maps and other descriptive documents; shall contain water quality standards developed by the Secretary after consultation and in cooperation with the city, which standards shall be substantially based on and shall reflect a quality of water not significantly less than the quality reflected by percentile curves developed from data collected from 1967 through 1975 and, if none, from data collected in the first three years of record thereafter; and be available to the public at convenient locations. The initial plan or plans shall be completed as soon as practicable after the enactment of this Act [Nov. 23, 1977], but not later than September 30, 1979. Current data shall be compared to historical data at least annually for the purpose of determining compliance with the standards and the significance of any deviation therefrom. Deviations occurring from operation, maintenance, alteration, or construction of water storage, or electrical generation and transmission facilities, seasonal fluctuations, variations in climate, and other natural phenomena, fire, or acts of God, shall not be considered in determining the historical or current percentile curves.

The Secretary or his representative shall, upon request, and at least annually, meet with appropriate officials of the city for the purpose of reviewing planned management programs and the impact thereof on the quality and quantity of the water produced on the unit and assuring that their respective management and operational activities within the unit are appropriately coordinated. The Secretary shall negotiate in good faith cooperative agreements with appropriate officials of the city to effectuate activity coordination.

In the event there is disagreement between the city and the Secretary with respect to the development or revision of the water quality standards provided for herein, or with respect to the effect or the significance of such effect of one or more proposed or existing programs, practices, uses, regulations, or boundary adjustments (except as otherwise specifically provided for herein), on the quantity of the water produced on said unit, or on compliance with the water quality standards referred to in section 2(a) and (b) [now (c)] hereof and, therefore, with respect to the necessity for an alteration or prohibition of any such program, practice, use, regulation, or boundary adjustment as required in section 2(a) hereof, an arbitration board for resolving such disagreements shall be established. The Secretary and the city shall, each, forthwith appoint one member to such board and those two members shall select a third. In the event agreement cannot be reached on the third member within seven days after the appointment of the first two, the third member shall be appointed by the presiding judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon within seven days after being notified of such disagreement by either of the first two members. All of said members shall be qualified to make a scientific determination of the facts. The contentions of the city and the Secretary shall be submitted to the board in the form of written contentions of fact together with the evidence and analysis that tends to support the position being presented. The board shall forthwith consider and decide, on a scientific basis, the issues in disagreement by majority vote, taking into consideration the evidence and data presented by the parties and such other tests and data which the board by majority vote may require. The decision of such board shall be in the form of written findings of fact and conclusions based thereon and shall be final and binding on the parties. The Secretary and the city shall compensate their designees and share equally the compensation of the third member, and shall provide such technical and administrative support as required.

Nothing in this Act shall terminate or affect any lease, permit, contract, patent, right-of-way, or other land use right or authorization existing on the date of approval of this Act [Nov. 23, 1977] and otherwise valid except for the provisions of section 1862 of title 18 of the United States Code.

Nothing in this Act shall in any way affect any law governing appropriation or use of, or Federal right to, water on National Forest System lands; or as expanding or diminishing Federal, State, or local jurisdiction, responsibility, interests, or rights in water resources development or control.

Section 1862 of title 18 of the United States Code is hereby repealed.

Except as otherwise provided for herein, this Act shall take precedence over and supersede all State and local laws dealing with or affecting the subject matter of this Act.

Challenge to actions taken by any governmental unit or official under the provisions of this Act shall not be sustained by any court except upon a showing or arbitrary, unreasonable, capricious, or illegal action or an absence of substantial good faith compliance with the procedural provisions hereof substantially prejudicing the rights of an interested party.”