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Caribbean National Forest Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 2002

Public Law 107-365 · H.R. 3954 · 107th Congress · began in the House

Signed by George W. Bush (R) on Dec 19, 2002 · Public Lands and Natural Resources

Sponsor: Rep. Aníbal Acevedo-Vilá (I-PR)

Cosponsors (2): Rep. Mark Udall,

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Caribbean National Forest Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 2002 - Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate Rio Mameyes, Rio de la Mina, and Rio Icacos of the Caribbean National Forest of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

Provides that such designation shall not be construed to limit the authority of Puerto Rico over waters and natural channels of its public domain or to prevent any of the following activities within such segments: (1) installation and maintenance of hydrologic, meteorological, climatological, or atmospheric data collection and transmission facilities when they are essential to the scientific research purposes of the Luquillo Experimental Forest; (2) construction and maintenance of nesting structures, observation blinds, and population monitoring platforms for threatened and endangered species; or (3) construction and maintenance of trails to such facilities as necessary for research purposes and the recovery of such species. Provides that all such activities shall be subject to such conditions as the Secretary of Agriculture considers desirable. Requires the Secretary to ensure that the scale and scope of such activities are not detrimental to a river segment's characteristics that merited its designation as a wild, scenic, or recreational river.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 17 actions.

  1. Dec 19, 2002Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 107-365.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Dec 9, 2002PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Nov 20, 2002FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  5. Oct 8, 2002CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
  6. Jul 23, 2002CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by National Parks Subcommittee of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
  7. May 8, 2002CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
  8. May 7, 2002FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  9. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
  10. FloorFloor · Mr. Simpson moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  11. CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Natural Resources Committee
  12. Apr 24, 2002CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Natural Resources Committee
  13. CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee
  14. Apr 10, 2002CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee
  15. Mar 15, 2002CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee
  16. Mar 13, 2002CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Natural Resources Committee
  17. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes

Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.

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Official record

The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.