View all text of Subchapter II [§ 541 - § 546b-1]
§ 544o. Savings provisions
(a) Effect on rights of Indians, use of water, rivers and streams, interstate compacts, existing transmission facilities, hunting and fishing, forest plans, scenic areas
Nothing in sections 544 to 544p of this title shall—
(1) affect or modify any treaty or other rights of any Indian tribe;
(2) except as provided in section 13(c),1
1 See References in Text note below.
authorize the appropriation or use of water by any Federal, State, or local agency, Indian tribe, or any other entity or individual;(3) except as provided in section 13(c),1 affect the rights or jurisdictions of the United States, the States, Indian tribes or other entities over waters of any river or stream or over any ground water resource or affect or interfere with transportation activities on any such river or stream;
(4) except as provided in section 13(c),1 alter, establish, or affect the respective rights of the United States, the States, Indian tribes, or any person with respect to any water or water-related right;
(5) alter, amend, repeal, interpret, modify, or be in conflict with any interstate compact made by the States before November 17, 1986;
(6) affect or modify the ability of the Bonneville Power Administration to operate, maintain, and modify existing transmission facilities;
(7) affect lands held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior for Indian tribes or individual members of Indian tribes or other lands acquired by the Army Corps of Engineers and administered by the Secretary of the Interior for the benefit of Indian tribes and individual members of Indian tribes;
(8) affect the laws, rules and regulations pertaining to hunting and fishing under existing State and Federal laws and Indian treaties;
(9) require any revision or amendment of any forest plan adopted pursuant to the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (Act of October 22, 1976, Public Law 94–588, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.)); or
(10) establish protective perimeters or buffer zones around the scenic area or each special management area. The fact that activities or uses inconsistent with the management directives for the scenic area or special management areas can be seen or heard from these areas shall not, of itself, preclude such activities or uses up to the boundaries of the scenic area or special management areas.
(b) Improvement of navigation facilities at Bonneville Dam
(c) Rights and responsibilities of non-Federal timber land owners
(d) Interstate compacts
(e) Failure to establish Columbia River Gorge Commission; responsibility of Secretary
(f) Actions of Secretary as major Federal actions affecting the environment
(1) Actions by the Secretary pursuant to subsections (f), (g), and (h) of section 544d of this title; subsections (f), (j), (k), and (l) of section 544f of this title; section 544g of this title; and subsections (a) and (b)(2) of section 544h of this title shall neither be considered major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the environment under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4332) nor require the preparation of an environmental assessment in accordance with that Act [42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.].
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection, nothing in sections 544 to 544p of this title shall expand, restrict, or otherwise alter the duties of the Secretary under the National Environmental Policy Act.
(Pub. L. 99–663, § 17, Nov. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 4300.)