106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 66

AN ACT

To preserve the cultural resources of the Route 66

terior to provide assistance.corridor and to authorize the Secretary of the In-
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 66

AN ACT

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,
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1 SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act, the following definitions apply:

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

4 corridor’’ means structures and other cultural re5 sources described in paragraph (3), including—

6 (A) lands owned by the Federal Govern7 ment and lands owned by a State or local gov8 ernment within the immediate vicinity of those

9 portions of the highway formerly designated as

10 United States Route 66; and

11 (B) private land within that immediate vi12 cinity that is owned by persons or entities that

13 are willing to participate in the programs au14 thorized by this Act.

15 (2) CULTURAL RESOURCE PROGRAMS.—The

16 term ‘‘Cultural Resource Programs’’ means the pro17 grams established and administered by the National

18 Park Service for the benefit of and in support of

19 preservation of the Route 66 corridor, either directly

20 or indirectly.

21 (3) PRESERVATION OF THE ROUTE 66 COR22 RIDOR.—The term ‘‘preservation of the Route 66

23 corridor’’ means the preservation or restoration of

24 structures or other cultural resources of businesses,

25 sites of interest, and other contributing resources

26 that—
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1 (A) are located within the land described

2 in paragraph (1);

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

4 outstanding historic significance (principally be5 tween 1926 and 1970), as defined by the study

6 prepared by the National Park Service and en7 titled ‘‘Special Resource Study of Route 66’’,

8 dated July 1995; and

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

10 enactment of this Act.

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

12 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the

13 Cultural Resource Programs at the National Park

14 Service.

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

16 in which a portion of the Route 66 corridor is lo17 cated.

18 SEC. 2. MANAGEMENT.

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

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

21 the development of guidelines and a program of technical

22 assistance and grants that will set priorities for the preser23 vation of the Route 66 corridor.

24 (b) DESIGNATION OF OFFICIALS.—The Secretary

25 shall designate officials of the National Park Service sta-
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1 tioned at locations convenient to the States to perform the

2 functions of the Cultural Resource Programs under this

3 Act.

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

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

6 private persons, nonprofit Route 66 preservation en7 tities, Indian tribes, State Historic Preservation Of8 fices, and entities in the States for the preservation

9 of the Route 66 corridor by providing technical as10 sistance, participating in cost-sharing programs, and

11 making grants;

12 (2) act as a clearinghouse for communication

13 among Federal, State, and local agencies, nonprofit

14 Route 66 preservation entities, Indian tribes, State

15 historic preservation offices, and private persons and

16 entities interested in the preservation of the Route

17 66 corridor; and

18 (3) assist the States in determining the appro19 priate form of and establishing and supporting a

20 non-Federal entity or entities to perform the func21 tions of the Cultural Resource Programs after those

22 programs are terminated.

23 (d) AUTHORITIES.—In carrying out this Act, the Sec24 retary may—
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1 (1) enter into cooperative agreements, including

2 (but not limited to) cooperative agreements for

3 study, planning, preservation, rehabilitation, and

4 restoration related to the Route 66 corridor;

5 (2) accept donations of funds, equipment, sup6 plies, and services as appropriate;

7 (3) provide cost-share grants for projects for

8 the preservation of the Route 66 corridor (but not

9 to exceed 50 percent of total project costs) and in10 formation about existing cost-share opportunities;

11 (4) provide technical assistance in historic pres12 ervation and interpretation of the Route 66 corridor;

13 and

14 (5) coordinate, promote, and stimulate research

15 by other persons and entities regarding the Route 66

16 corridor.

17 (e) PRESERVATION ASSISTANCE.—

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

19 assistance in the preservation of the Route 66 cor20 ridor in a manner that is compatible with the idio21 syncratic nature of the Route 66 corridor.

22 (2) PLANNING.—The Secretary shall not pre23 pare or require preparation of an overall manage24 ment plan for the Route 66 corridor, but shall co25 operate with the States and local public and private
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1 persons and entities, State historic preservation of2 fices, nonprofit Route 66 preservation entities, and

3 Indian tribes in developing local preservation plans

4 to guide efforts to protect the most important or

5 representative resources of the Route 66 corridor.

6 SEC. 3. RESOURCE TREATMENT.

7 (a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—

8 (1) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall

9 develop a program of technical assistance in the

10 preservation of the Route 66 corridor and interpre11 tation of the Route 66 corridor.

12 (2) PROGRAM GUIDELINES.—As part of the

13 technical assistance program under paragraph (1),

14 the Secretary shall establish guidelines for setting

15 priorities for preservation needs for the Route 66

16 corridor. The Secretary shall base the guidelines on

17 the Secretary’s standards for historic preservation.

18 (b) PROGRAM FOR COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall coordi20 nate a program of historic research, curation, pres21 ervation strategies, and the collection of oral and

22 video histories of events that occurred along the

23 Route 66 corridor.

24 (2) DESIGN.—The program under paragraph

25 (1) shall be designed for continuing use and imple-
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1 mentation by other organizations after the Cultural

2 Resource Programs are terminated.

3 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

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

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

6 out the purposes of this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives June 30, 1999.

Attest:

Clerk.