I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 66

To preserve the cultural resources of the Route 66 corridor and to authorize

the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mrs. WILSON (for herself, Mr. SKEEN, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, and Mr.

WATKINS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To preserve the cultural resources of the Route 66 corridor

and to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide

assistance.

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

3 SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS.

4 In this Act, the following definitions apply:

5 (1) ROUTE 66 CORRIDOR.—The term ‘‘Route 66

6 corridor’’ means structures and other cultural re7 sources described in paragraph (3), including—
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1 (A) public land within the immediate vicin2 ity of those portions of the highway formerly

3 designated as United States Route 66; and

4 (B) private land within that immediate vi5 cinity that is owned by persons or entities that

6 are willing to participate in the programs au7 thorized by this Act.

8 (2) CULTURAL RESOURCE PROGRAMS.—The

9 term ‘‘Cultural Resource Programs’’ means the pro10 grams established and administered by the National

11 Park Service for the benefit of and in support of

12 preservation of the Route 66 corridor, either directly

13 or indirectly.

14 (3) PRESERVATION OF THE ROUTE 66 COR15 RIDOR.—The term ‘‘preservation of the Route 66

16 corridor’’ means the preservation or restoration of

17 structures or other cultural resources of businesses,

18 sites of interest, and other contributing resources

19 that—

20 (A) are located within the land described

21 in paragraph (1);

22 (B) existed during the route’s period of

23 outstanding historic significance (principally be24 tween 1933 and 1970), as defined by the study

25 prepared by the National Park Service and en-
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1 titled ‘‘Special Resource Study of Route 66’’,

2 dated July 1995; and

3 (C) remain in existence as of the date of

4 enactment of this Act.

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

6 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the

7 Cultural Resource Programs at the National Park

8 Service.

9 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State

10 in which a portion of the Route 66 corridor is lo11 cated.

12 SEC. 2. MANAGEMENT.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in collaboration

14 with the entities described in subsection (c), shall facilitate

15 the development of guidelines and a program of technical

16 assistance and grants that will set priorities for the preser17 vation of the Route 66 corridor.

18 (b) DESIGNATION OF OFFICIALS.—The Secretary

19 shall designate officials of the National Park Service sta20 tioned at locations convenient to the States to perform the

21 functions of the Cultural Resource Programs under this

22 Act.

23 (c) GENERAL FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary shall—

24 (1) support efforts of State and local public and

25 private persons, nonprofit Route 66 preservation en-
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1 tities, Indian tribes, State Historic Preservation Of2 fices, and entities in the States for the preservation

3 of the Route 66 corridor by providing technical as4 sistance, participating in cost-sharing programs, and

5 making grants;

6 (2) act as a clearinghouse for communication

7 among Federal, State, and local agencies, nonprofit

8 Route 66 preservation entities, Indian tribes, State

9 historic preservation offices, and private persons and

10 entities interested in the preservation of the Route

11 66 corridor; and

12 (3) assist the States in determining the appro13 priate form of and establishing and supporting a

14 non-Federal entity or entities to perform the func15 tions of the Cultural Resource Programs after those

16 programs are terminated.

17 (d) AUTHORITIES.—In carrying out this Act, the Sec18 retary may—

19 (1) enter into cooperative agreements, includ20 ing, but not limited to study, planning, preservation,

21 rehabilitation and restoration;

22 (2) accept donations;

23 (3) provide cost-share grants and information;

24 (4) provide technical assistance in historic pres25 ervation; and
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1 (5) conduct research.

2 (e) PRESERVATION ASSISTANCE.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide

4 assistance in the preservation of the Route 66 cor5 ridor in a manner that is compatible with the idio6 syncratic nature of the Route 66 corridor.

7 (2) PLANNING.—The Secretary shall not pre8 pare or require preparation of an overall manage9 ment plan for the Route 66 corridor, but shall co10 operate with the States and local public and private

11 persons and entities, State historic preservation of12 fices, nonprofit Route 66 preservation entities, and

13 Indian tribes in developing local preservation plans

14 to guide efforts to protect the most important or

15 representative resources of the Route 66 corridor.

16 SEC. 3. RESOURCE TREATMENT.

17 (a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop

19 a program of technical assistance in the preservation

20 of the Route 66 corridor.

21 (2) GUIDELINES FOR PRESERVATION NEEDS.—

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—As part of the program

23 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall estab24 lish guidelines for setting priorities for preser25 vation needs.
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1 (B) BASIS.—The guidelines under sub2 paragraph (A) may be based on national reg3 ister standards, modified as appropriate to meet

4 the needs for preservation of the Route 66 cor5 ridor.

6 (b) PROGRAM FOR COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall coordi8 nate a program of historic research, curation, pres9 ervation strategies, and the collection of oral and

10 video histories of events that occurred along the

11 Route 66 corridor.

12 (2) DESIGN.—The program under paragraph

13 (1) shall be designed for continuing use and imple14 mentation by other organizations after the Cultural

15 Resource Programs are terminated.

16 (c) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall—

17 (1) make cost-share grants for preservation of

18 the Route 66 corridor available for resources that

19 meet the guidelines under subsection (a); and

20 (2) provide information about existing cost21 share opportunities.
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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000

3 for the period of fiscal years 2000 through 2009 to carry

4 out the purposes of this Act.

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