16 U.S.C. § 1283
Section 1283 · Management policies
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 15 court decisions — leading case Wilderness Society v. Tyrrel (1990)
Most recently applied in 173 F. Supp. 3d 1027 - Idaho Rivers United v. Hudson (March 2016)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the head of any other Federal department or agency having jurisdiction over any lands which include, border upon, or are adjacent to, any river included within the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System or under consideration for such inclusion, in accordance with section 1273(a)(ii), 1274(a), or 1276(a) of this title, shall take such action respecting management policies, regulations, contracts, plans, affecting such lands, following November 10, 1978, as may be necessary to protect such rivers in accordance with the purposes of this chapter. Such Secretary or other department or agency head shall, where appropriate, enter into written cooperative agreements with the appropriate State or local official for the planning, administration, and management of Federal lands which are within the boundaries of any rivers for which approval has been granted under section 1273(a)(ii) of this title. Particular attention shall be given to scheduled timber harvesting, road construction, and similar activities which might be contrary to the purposes of this chapter.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to abrogate any existing rights, privileges, or contracts affecting Federal lands held by any private party without consent of said party.
The head of any agency administering a component of the national wild and scenic rivers system shall cooperate with the Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency and with the appropriate State water pollution control agencies for the purpose of eliminating or diminishing the pollution of waters of the river.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1986—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 99–590 substituted “Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency” for “Secretary of the Interior”.
1978—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95–625 substituted provision for action to be taken by Secretaries and heads of agencies for prior provision for review by such officials, made provision applicable to rivers included within the System, included references to rivers covered in sections 1273(a)(ii) and 1274(a) of this title, and required cooperative agreements with appropriate State or local officials for planning, administration, and management of Federal lands within boundaries of rivers approved under section 1273(a)(ii) of this title.
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of certain enforcement functions of Secretary or other official in Department of the Interior and Secretary or other official in Department of Agriculture under this chapter to Federal Inspector, Office of Federal Inspector for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System, and subsequent transfer to Secretary of Energy, see note set out under section 1278 of this title.