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103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4691

To establish the Saltville Heritage Area in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 30, 1994

Mr. BOUCHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To establish the Saltville Heritage Area in the

Commonwealth of Virginia.

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 ‘‘Saltville Heritage Area

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that Saltville and its environs

8 possess—

9 (1) a remarkably rich natural and cultural her10 itage, including superlative examples of several
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1 themes of great interest to the general public and of

2 marked historical and scientific significance;

3 (2) waterways among the headwaters of the

4 Cumberlandian Zoogeographic Province, which con5 tains one of the oldest and most diverse freshwater

6 aquatic faunas in North America;

7 (3) stream and lacustrine sediments in Saltville

8 Valley spanning at least the past 25,000 years and

9 containing the most lengthy and best resolved known

10 continuous record of biotic, hydrologic, and climatic

11 change located in an open-air site in the middle

12 Appalachians;

13 (4) an archaeological record that spans at least

14 the past 11,000 years, and probably 13,000–14,000

15 years, making this potentially one of the best re16 solved and oldest early man sites in North America;

17 (5) a lengthy record of colonization and occupa18 tion by Euro-Americans moving south through the

19 Valley of Virginia and into choice areas of the Valley

20 and Ridge, so that the area contains a record of

21 early settlement and land use in the area and of the

22 transfer of cultural elements into the newly occupied

23 region, and provides insight into the perceptions of

24 these Euro-Americans regarding land and resources;
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1 (6) a 200-year industrial history that includes

2 the development of a significant part of the tech3 nology of inland salt manufacture in North America,

4 beginning with crude pioneering efforts in the latter

5 half of the 18th century and continuing into the

6 1970’s;

7 (7) an industrial history that is intimately asso8 ciated with the development of a rich and varied

9 array of water- and land-based transportation sys10 tems;

11 (8) a rare example of a relatively well-preserved

12 fortified industrial center of the Civil War period,

13 containing significant whole or partial examples of

14 the industrial and defensive works;

15 (9) well-preserved remnants of a company-man16 aged industrial complex and town that developed

17 from the late 19th through middle 20th centuries

18 and that is representative of the American industrial

19 age as expressed in rural America and the company

20 town;

21 (10) a legacy of environmental traumas that

22 emanated from the industrial age, including exces23 sively polluted waters and attendant depauperization

24 of the aquatic biota, and expedient but devastating
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1 disposition of toxic wastes that led to the creation of

2 an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site;

3 (11) sites affected by regulated land use

4 changes that have produced some of the most note5 worthy recent water quality improvements in Vir6 ginia; and

7 (12) a beautiful setting incorporating

8 landforms, waters, and biota that blend with, and in

9 cases overwhelm, the cultural imprint on and near

10 this tiny valley.

11 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

12 It is the purpose of this Act to provide a management

13 framework to assist the Commonwealth of Virginia, its

14 units of local and regional government, and its citizens

15 in the development and implementation of integrated cul16 tural, historical, and recreational land resource manage17 ment programs in order to retain, enhance, and interpret

18 the significant features of the lands, water, and structures

19 of the Saltville region in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

20 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF SALTVILLE HERITAGE AREA.

21 There is hereby established in the Commonwealth of

22 Virginia the Saltville Heritage Area (hereinafter in this

23 Act referred to as the ‘‘Area’’). The Area shall consist of

24 the area generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘The

25 Saltville Area Master Plan’’, numbered llllll,
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1 and dated llllll, which shall be on file and avail2 able for public inspection in the Office of the Director of

3 the National Park Service.

4 SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

5 (a) PREPARATION OF PLAN.—The Saltville Founda6 tion may submit a management plan (hereinafter in this

7 Act referred to as the ‘‘Plan’’) to the Secretary of the Inte8 rior (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec9 retary’’) for the review and concurrence of the Secretary.

10 The Plan shall be based on existing Federal, State, and

11 local plans, and shall coordinate such plans and present

12 an integrated plan for the protection, enhancement, and

13 interpretation of the cultural, natural, scenic, and rec14 reational resources of the Area. The Plan shall specify a

15 management entity with respect to the Saltville Heritage

16 Area. The Secretary is authorized to provide technical as17 sistance in the preparation of the Plan.

18 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—If a Plan referred to in sub19 section (a) is submitted to the Secretary within 1 year

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, upon concur21 rence with the Plan, the Secretary is authorized to enter

22 into cooperative agreements with the management entity

23 specified in the Plan for the protection, enhancement, and

24 interpretation of the resources identified in the Plan.
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1 SEC. 6. CONTINGENCY IF HERITAGE COMPACT NOT SUB2 MITTED.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The establishment of the Area

4 under section 4 and the authorization of the Secretary

5 under section 5(b) shall cease to be effective if, within 180

6 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, a Herit7 age Compact for the Area is not—

8 (1) submitted to the Secretary;

9 (2) approved by the Secretary, after consulta10 tion with the Advisory Council on Historic Preserva11 tion in accordance with section 106 of the National

12 Historic Preservation Act; and

13 (3) submitted to the Congress, together with

14 any comments that the Secretary deems appropriate.

15 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may

16 provide technical assistance to a unit of government or pri17 vate nonprofit organization in the preparation of a Herit18 age Compact.

19 (c) DEFINITION OF HERITAGE COMPACT.—For pur20 poses of this section, the term ‘‘Heritage Compact’’ means

21 a compact that—

22 (1) is prepared with public participation;

23 (2) contains information relating to the objec24 tives and management of the Area, including—

25 (A) a delineation of the boundaries of the

26 Area;
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1 (B) a discussion of the goals and objectives

2 of the Area, including an explanation of the

3 proposed approach to conservation and inter4 pretation and a general outline of the protection

5 measures committed to by the partners;

6 (C) an identification and description of the

7 management entity that will administer the

8 Area;

9 (D) a list of the initial partners to be in10 volved in developing and implementing the man11 agement plan for the Area, as well as a state12 ment of the financial commitment of such part13 ners; and

14 (E) a description of the role of the Com15 monwealth of Virginia regarding the Area;

16 (3) outlines an implementation program that is

17 be likely to be initiated within a reasonable time

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act and that

19 ensures effective implementation of the State and

20 local aspects of the Plan; and

21 (4) is accompanied by the comments of the

22 Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

23 SEC. 7. DUTIES OF FEDERAL ENTITIES.

24 Any Federal entity conducting or supporting activi25 ties directly affecting the Area shall—
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1 (1) consult with the Secretary and the Saltville

2 Foundation with respect to the activities;

3 (2) cooperate with the Secretary and the

4 Saltville Foundation with respect to the activities

5 and, to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate

6 the activities with the Secretary and the Saltville

7 Foundation; and

8 (3) to the maximum extent practicable, conduct

9 or support the activities in a manner that will not

10 have an adverse effect on the Area, as determined

11 by the Secretary and the Saltville Foundation.

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