I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2689

To establish the Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area in the State 

of Mississippi, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2003

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi (for himself, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. THOMPSON of 

Mississippi, and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To establish the Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage 

Area in the State of Mississippi, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Mississippi Gulf Coast 

5 National Heritage Area Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) the 6-county area in southern Mississippi 

9 located on the Gulf of Mexico and in the Mississippi 
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1 Coastal Plain has a unique identity that is shaped 

2 by—

3 (A) the coastal and riverine environment; 

4 and 

5 (B) the diverse cultures that have settled 

6 in the area; 

7 (2) the area is rich with diverse cultural and 

8 historical significance, including—

9 (A) early Native American settlements; 

10 and 

11 (B) Spanish, French, and English settle12 ments originating in the 1600s; 

13 (3) the area includes spectacular natural, sce14 nic, and recreational resources; 

15 (4) there is broad support from local govern16 ments and other interested individuals for the estab17 lishment of the Mississippi Gulf Coast National Her18 itage Area to coordinate and assist in the preserva19 tion and interpretation of those resources; 

20 (5) the Comprehensive Resource Management 

21 Plan, coordinated by the Mississippi Department of 

22 Marine Resources—

23 (A) is a collaborative effort of the Federal 

24 Government and State and local governments in 

25 the area; and 
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1 (B) is a natural foundation on which to es2 tablish the Heritage Area; and 

3 (6) establishment of the Heritage Area would 

4 assist local communities and residents in preserving 

5 the unique cultural, historical, and natural resources 

6 of the area. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) HERITAGE AREA.—The term ‘‘Heritage 

10 Area’’ means the Mississippi Gulf Coast National 

11 Heritage Area established by section 4(a). 

12 (2) COORDINATING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘co13 ordinating entity’’ means the coordinating entity for 

14 the Heritage Area designated by section 4(c). 

15 (3) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage16 ment plan’’ means the management plan for the 

17 Heritage Area developed under section 5. 

18 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of the Interior. 

20 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

21 of Mississippi. 

22 SEC. 4. MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST NATIONAL HERITAGE 

23 AREA. 

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

25 State the Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area. 
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1 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The Heritage Area shall consist 

2 of the counties of Pearl River, Stone, George, Hancock, 

3 Harrison, and Jackson in the State. 

4 (c) COORDINATING ENTITY.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Mississippi Department 

6 of Marine Resources, in consultation with the Mis7 sissippi Department of Archives and History, shall 

8 serve as the coordinating entity for the Heritage 

9 Area. 

10 (2) OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.—The coordinating 

11 entity shall ensure that each of the 6 counties in12 cluded in the Heritage Area is appropriately rep13 resented on any oversight committee. 

14 SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT PLAN. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, the coordinating entity shall 

17 develop and submit to the Secretary a management plan 

18 for the Heritage Area. 

19 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The management plan shall—

20 (1) provide recommendations for the conserva21 tion, funding, management, interpretation, and de22 velopment of the cultural, historical, archaeological, 

23 natural, and recreational resources of the Heritage 

24 Area; 
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1 (2) identify sources of funding for the Heritage 

2 Area; 

3 (3) include—

4 (A) an inventory of the cultural, historical, 

5 archaeological, natural, and recreational re6 sources of the Heritage Area; and 

7 (B) an analysis of ways in which Federal, 

8 State, tribal, and local programs may best be 

9 coordinated to promote the purposes of this 

10 Act; 

11 (4) provide recommendations for educational 

12 and interpretive programs to inform the public about 

13 the resources of the Heritage Area; and 

14 (5) involve residents of affected communities 

15 and tribal and local governments. 

16 (c) FAILURE TO SUBMIT.—If a management plan is 

17 not submitted to the Secretary by the date specified in 

18 subsection (a), the Secretary shall not provide any addi19 tional funding under this Act until a management plan 

20 for the Heritage Area is submitted to the Secretary. 

21 (d) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF THE MANAGE22 MENT PLAN.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

24 receipt of the management plan under subsection 
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1 (a), the Secretary shall approve or disapprove the 

2 management plan. 

3 (2) ACTION FOLLOWING DISAPPROVAL.—If the 

4 Secretary disapproves a management plan under 

5 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—

6 (A) advise the coordinating entity in writ7 ing of the reasons for disapproval; 

8 (B) make recommendations for revision of 

9 the management plan; and 

10 (C) allow the coordinating entity to submit 

11 to the Secretary revisions to the management 

12 plan. 

13 (e) REVISION.—After approval by the Secretary of 

14 the management plan, the coordinating entity shall peri15 odically—

16 (1) review the management plan; and 

17 (2) submit to the Secretary, for review and ap18 proval by the Secretary, any recommendations for 

19 revisions to the management plan. 

20 SEC. 6. AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF COORDINATING EN21 TITY. 

22 (a) AUTHORITIES.—For purposes of developing and 

23 implementing the management plan and otherwise car24 rying out this Act, the coordinating entity may make 
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1 grants to and provide technical assistance to tribal and 

2 local governments, and other public and private entities. 

3 (b) DUTIES.—In addition to developing the manage4 ment plan under section 5, in carrying out this Act, the 

5 coordinating entity shall—

6 (1) implement the management plan; and 

7 (2) assist local and tribal governments and non8 profit organizations in—

9 (A) establishing and maintaining interpre10 tive exhibits in the Heritage Area; 

11 (B) developing recreational resources in 

12 the Heritage Area; 

13 (C) increasing public awareness of, and ap14 preciation for, the cultural, historical, archae15 ological, and natural resources of the Heritage 

16 Area; 

17 (D) restoring historic structures that relate 

18 to the Heritage Area; and 

19 (E) carrying out any other activity that 

20 the coordinating entity determines to be appro21 priate to carry out this Act, consistent with the 

22 management plan; 

23 (3) conduct public meetings at least annually 

24 regarding the implementation of the management 

25 plan; and 
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1 (4) for any fiscal year for which Federal funds 

2 are made available under section 9—

3 (A) submit to the Secretary a report that 

4 describes, for the fiscal year, the actions of the 

5 coordinating entity in carrying out this Act; 

6 (B) make available to the Secretary for 

7 audit all records relating to the expenditure of 

8 funds and any matching funds; and 

9 (C) require, for all agreements authorizing 

10 the expenditure of Federal funds by any entity, 

11 that the receiving entity make available to the 

12 Secretary for audit all records relating to the 

13 expenditure of the funds. 

14 (c) PROHIBITION ON ACQUISITION OF REAL PROP15 ERTY.—The coordinating entity shall not use Federal 

16 funds made available under this Act to acquire real prop17 erty or any interest in real property. 

18 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE; OTHER 

19 FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—On the request of the coordi21 nating entity, the Secretary may provide technical and fi22 nancial assistance to the coordinating entity for use in the 

23 development and implementation of the management plan. 

24 (b) PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—

25 The Secretary may not, as a condition of the provision 
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1 of technical or financial assistance under this section, re2 quire any recipient of the assistance to impose or modify 

3 any land use restriction or zoning ordinance. 

4 SEC. 8. EFFECT OF ACT. 

5 Nothing in this Act—

6 (1) affects or authorizes the coordinating entity 

7 to interfere with—

8 (A) the right of any person with respect to 

9 private property; or 

10 (B) any local zoning ordinance or land use 

11 plan; 

12 (2) restricts an Indian tribe from protecting 

13 cultural or religious sites on tribal land; 

14 (3) modifies, enlarges, or diminishes the author15 ity of any State, tribal, or local government to regu16 late any use of land under any other law (including 

17 regulations); 

18 (4)(A) modifies, enlarges, or diminishes the au19 thority of the State to manage fish and wildlife in 

20 the Heritage Area, including the regulation of fish21 ing and hunting; or 

22 (B) authorizes the coordinating entity to as23 sume any management authorities over such lands; 

24 or 
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1 (5) diminishes the trust responsibilities or gov2 ernment-to-government obligations of the United 

3 States to any federally recognized Indian tribe. 

4 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro6 priated to carry out this Act $10,000,000, of which not 

7 more than $1,000,000 may be made available for any fis8 cal year. 

9 (b) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.—The Federal 

10 share of the total cost of any activity assisted under this 

11 Act shall be not more than 50 percent.

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