I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7936 

To prepare the National Park Service for America’s Semiquincentennial by 

revaluating and recommitting to efforts to protect and sustain the resiliency of our Nation’s cultural resources for the enjoyment, wellbeing, 

and education of all present and future generations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2024 

Mr. TONKO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To prepare the National Park Service for America’s 

Semiquincentennial by revaluating and recommitting to 

efforts to protect and sustain the resiliency of our Nation’s cultural resources for the enjoyment, wellbeing, 

and education of all present and future generations. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cultural Resource 

5 Challenge Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE CULTURAL RESOURCE 

2 CHALLENGE. 

3 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—The Director of the National 

4 Park Service (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Di5 rector’’) shall enhance cultural resources work within the 

6 National Park System, including— 

7 (1) reviewing, updating, and improving access 

8 to National Park Service guidance for cultural re9 source identification, management, maintenance, 

10 preservation, restoration, and documentation, 

11 digitization, interpretation, communication, edu12 cation; 

13 (2) advancing the identification, management, 

14 maintenance, preservation, restoration, and docu15 mentation, digitization, interpretation, communica16 tion, education of cultural resources within the Na17 tional Park System; 

18 (3) assessing gaps in the National Park Sys19 tem, National Historic Landmarks, and the National 

20 Register of Historic Places programs regarding sites 

21 related to underrepresented groups and resource 

22 types, and identify and implement strategies and ini23 tiatives for their inclusion; 

24 (4) identifying and filling critical workforce va25 cancies within parks, the regions, and the WashVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Apr 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7936.IH H7936

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1 ington Support Office to ensure an effective and effi2 cient program of cultural resource management; 

3 (5) encouraging skill-sharing between parks and 

4 regional offices, and external groups to meet critical 

5 training needs and facilitate cross-learning; 

6 (6) providing relevant training and technical 

7 guidance to State Historic Preservation Offices, 

8 Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, National Herit9 age Area System units, certified local governments, 

10 Federal preservation officers, government agencies, 

11 and others; 

12 (7) promoting an interdisciplinary research ap13 proach to addressing critical resource management 

14 issues, including climate change, sustainability, and 

15 geographic information system standards, including 

16 through increased coordination between cultural and 

17 natural resource research and science programs; and 

18 (8) other projects or programs as determined 

19 appropriate by the Director. 

20 (b) PROGRESS.—No later than 1 year after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit to Con22 gress, an update on the progress meeting requirements 

23 under subsection (a). 


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1 SEC. 3. CULTURAL RESOURCE CHALLENGE RESILIENCE 

2 GRANT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) PLANNING GRANTS.— 

4 (1) AWARDS.—The Director shall carry out a 

5 program of awarding grants to assist eligible entities 

6 in the preparation of an application for a grant 

7 under subsection (b), including community engage8 ment, project planning and design, and capacity. 

9 (2) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant under 

10 paragraph (1), with respect to any organization 

11 seeking such a grant shall not exceed $75,000. 

12 (b) PROGRAM AND PROJECT GRANTS.— 

13 (1) AWARDS.—The Director shall carry out a 

14 program of awarding grants, on a competitive basis, 

15 to improve the resiliency of our Nation’s cultural re16 sources, including by— 

17 (A) advancing the identification, manage18 ment, maintenance, preservation, restoration, 

19 and documentation, digitization, interpretation, 

20 communication, education of cultural resources, 

21 including supporting baseline research; 

22 (B) creating or supporting the operation of 

23 integrated data systems that maximize the ac24 cessibility of cultural resource inventory, evalua25 tion, documentation, and treatment informa26 tion; 


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1 (C) providing relevant training and tech2 nical guidance to State Historic Preservation 

3 Offices, Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, 

4 National Heritage Area System units, certified 

5 local governments, Federal preservation offi6 cers, government agencies, and others; and 

7 (D) implementing other relevant projects 

8 or programs as determined appropriate by the 

9 Director. 

10 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible for a 

11 grant under this Act, and entity shall be, or be 

12 partnered with, a State, Local, Tribal, territorial 

13 government, an educational institution, a Tribal his14 toric preservation office, a State historic preserva15 tion office, or a non-profit organization. 

16 (3) COST-SHARE.—The Federal share of a 

17 grant awarded under the Program may not exceed 

18 80 percent of total cost of the project. 

19 (4) WAIVER FOR COST-SHARE REQUIREMENT.— 

20 The Director may waive the limitation in paragraph 

21 (3) for certain projects— 

22 (A) that are in collaboration with Tribal 

23 Historic Preservation Offices, federally recog24 nized Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian orga25 nizations; and 


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1 (B) with minimal costs under $10,000. 

2 (c) PRIORITIZATION.—In awarding the grants under 

3 this section, the Secretary shall prioritize projects that— 

4 (1) consider and address the role of climate 

5 change in protecting our Nation’s cultural resources; 

6 (2) expand and improve support to Native 

7 American, Native Hawaiian, and Alaskan Natives, 

8 minority, and other underrepresented groups in9 volved in national historic preservation programs 

10 and the preservation of their culture; 

11 (3) support or engage storytelling and oral his12 tory to support intangible heritage and knowledge; 

13 and 

14 (4) incorporate an effort to engage and em15 power future generations in historic preservation, 

16 history, and archeology programs. 

17 SEC. 4. CULTURAL RESOURCES CAREER ACADEMY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall develop a com19 prehensive Cultural Resource Career Academy curriculum 

20 to provide cultural resource management training to all 

21 park managers and staff with responsibilities for man22 aging and preserving cultural resources. In developing this 

23 curriculum, the Director shall include training on— 

24 (1) the role of climate change in protecting our 

25 Nation’s cultural resources; 


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1 (2) best practices for the preservation of cul2 tural resources from Native American, minority, and 

3 other underrepresented communities, including cul4 tural competency for community engagement; 

5 (3) how storytelling and oral history can sup6 port intangible heritage and knowledge; and 

7 (4) best practices for how to engage the next 

8 and future generations in historic and cultural re9 source preservation, reflection, and celebration. 

10 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi11 tion to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated 

12 to the Director for fiscal year 2025, out of any money 

13 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $20,000,000 

14 to remain available until expended, to carry out subsection 

15 (a). 

16 SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

17 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

18 of this Act, the Director shall submit to Congress, and 

19 release to the public, a report on the progress of carrying 

20 out this Act. The report shall include— 

21 (1) a summary of the status projects and pro22 grams undertaken or implemented; 

23 (2) explanation for how National Park Service 

24 offices have coordinated and prioritized efforts to ad25 vance management of cultural resources; and 


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1 (3) an explanation of how the Director selected 

2 grants using the criteria in section 3. 

3 SEC. 6. STATE OF OUR CULTURAL RESOURCES REPORT. 

4 (a) CONTENT.—Not later than 4 years after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act, the Advisory Council on Historic 

6 Preservation, in collaboration with the Director, shall com7 plete and publish a report on the State of the cultural 

8 resources of the United States, including— 

9 (1) a summary of relevant documents and guid10 ance prepared by the National Park Service for the 

11 management of cultural resources; 

12 (2) a summary of efforts to protect cultural 

13 heritage from the impacts of climate-related risks; 

14 (3) an assessment of remaining cultural re15 sources workforce and workforce gaps of the Na16 tional Park Service; 

17 (4) needs for future funding; and 

18 (5) a summary of partnerships between the Na19 tional Park Service and other agencies and entities 

20 to restore, protect, and promote the cultural re21 sources of the United States. 

22 (b) EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT.—In writing the report 

23 required under subsection (a), the Director and the Advi24 sory Council on Historic Preservation shall engage with, 


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1 credit, and compensate necessary relevant external ex2 perts. 

3 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro5 priated to the Secretary to carry out this Act 

6 $250,000,000 for fiscal years 2025 through 2030. 

7 (b) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—No funds made 

8 available for this Act may be— 

9 (1) taken from the existing and future Historic 

10 Preservation Fund; 

11 (2) used to acquire lands or interest in lands by 

12 the Federal Government; or 

13 (3) used for projects involving demolition of cul14 tural resources. 

Æ 


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