I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2643

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to convey the Point Arena Light

Station to Point Arena Lighthouse Keepers, Inc., at such time as the

Secretary determines the Light Station to be excess to the needs of

the Coast Guard.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 15, 1995

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

on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to convey the

Point Arena Light Station to Point Arena Lighthouse

Keepers, Inc., at such time as the Secretary determines

the Light Station to be excess to the needs of the Coast

Guard.

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

3 SECTION 1. CONVEYANCE OF POINT ARENA LIGHT STA4 TION.

5 (a) AUTHORITY TO CONVEY.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—At such time as the Sec7 retary determines the Point Arena Light Station to
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1 be excess to the needs of the Coast Guard, the Sec2 retary shall convey to the Point Arena Lighthouse

3 Keepers, Inc., by an appropriate means of convey4 ance, all right, title, and interest of the United

5 States in and to the Point Arena Light Station, lo6 cated in Mendocino County, California, except that

7 the Coast Guard shall retain all right, title, and in8 terest in any historical artifact, including any lens or

9 lantern, on the property conveyed pursuant to this

10 section, or belonging to the property, whether lo11 cated on the property or elsewhere.

12 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF PROPERTY.—The Sec13 retary may identify, describe, and determine the

14 property to be conveyed pursuant to this section.

15 (3) RETENTION OF LENS IN CALIFORNIA.—The

16 Secretary shall retain within the boundaries of the

17 State of California the lens belonging to the Point

18 Arena Light Station.

19 (b) TERMS OF CONVEYANCE.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A conveyance of property

21 pursuant to this section shall be made—

22 (A) without the payment of consideration;

23 and

24 (B) subject to such terms and conditions

25 as the Secretary may consider appropriate.
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1 (2) REVERSIONARY INTEREST.—In addition to

2 any term or condition established pursuant to para3 graph (1), any conveyance of property comprising

4 the Point Arena Light Station pursuant to sub5 section (a) shall be subject to the condition that all

6 right, title, and interest in and to the property so

7 conveyed shall immediately revert to the United

8 States if the property, or any part thereof, ceases to

9 be maintained as a nonprofit center for public bene10 fit for the interpretation and preservation of the

11 maritime history of Point Arena, California.

12 (3) MAINTENANCE OF NAVIGATION FUNC13 TIONS.—Any conveyance of property pursuant to

14 this section shall be subject to such conditions as the

15 Secretary considers to be necessary to assure that—

16 (A) the light, antennas, sound signal, and

17 associated lighthouse equipment located on the

18 property conveyed, which are active aids to

19 navigation, shall continue to be operated and

20 maintained by the United States for as long as

21 they are needed for this purpose;

22 (B) the Point Arena Lighthouse Keepers,

23 Inc., or any successors or assigns, may not

24 interfere or allow interference in any manner
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1 with such aids to navigation without express

2 written permission from the Secretary;

3 (C) there is reserved to the United States

4 the right to relocate, replace, or add any aids

5 to navigation, or make any changes to the Point

6 Arena Light Station as may be necessary for

7 navigation purposes;

8 (D) the United States shall have the right,

9 at any time, to enter the property conveyed

10 without notice for the purpose of maintaining

11 navigation aids;

12 (E) the United States shall have an ease13 ment of access to such property for the purpose

14 of maintaining the navigational aids in use on

15 the property; and

16 (F) the Point Arena Light Station shall re17 vert to the United States at the end of the 30-

18 day period beginning on any date on which the

19 Secretary provides written notice to the Point

20 Arena Lighthouse Keepers, Inc., that the Point

21 Arena Light Station is needed for national se22 curity purposes.

23 (4) MAINTENANCE OF PROPERTY.—Any convey24 ance of property under this section shall be subject

25 to the condition that the Point Arena Lighthouse
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1 Keepers, Inc., shall maintain the Point Arena Light

2 Station in accordance with the provisions of the Na3 tional Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et

4 seq.) and other applicable laws.

5 (5) OBLIGATION LIMITATION.—The Point

6 Arena Lighthouse Keepers, Inc., or any successors

7 or assigns, shall not have any obligation to maintain

8 any active aid to navigation equipment on property

9 conveyed pursuant to this section.

10 (c) MAINTENANCE STANDARD.—The Point Arena

11 Lighthouse Keepers, Inc., or any successor or assign, at

12 its own cost and expense, shall maintain, in a proper, sub13 stantial, and workmanlike manner, all properties con14 veyed.

15 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

16 (1) the term ‘‘Point Arena Light Station’’

17 means the Coast Guard property and improvements

18 located at Point Arena, California, including the

19 light tower building, fog signal building, 2 small

20 shelters, 4 residential quarters, and a restroom facil21 ity; and

22 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

23 of the department in which the Coast Guard is oper24 ating.

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