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103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4692

To establish the Appalachian Coal Heritage Area.

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 Appalachian Coal Heritage Area.

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 ‘‘Appalachian Coal

5 Heritage Area Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the rise of American industry in the late

9 19th and early 20th century led to tremendous

10 growth in the Appalachian coal fields, creating an

11 area of national historic significance in terms of its
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1 contributions to American industry, architecture,

2 culture, and diversity;

3 (2) within the Appalachian coal belt, the area

4 surrounding and including Pocahontas, Virginia, has

5 a particularly rich history because the Pocahontas

6 mine produced some of the Nation’s purest and most

7 sought-after coal and now serves as an invaluable

8 historical and educational resource;

9 (3) to accommodate the growing population in

10 the area, the coal mining companies built the town

11 of Pocahontas, one of the oldest and most important

12 company towns in America’s coal region;

13 (4) the town of Pocahontas is blessed with a

14 rich architectural heritage that testifies to American

15 cultural ability;

16 (5) this heritage is unique and must be pre17 served;

18 (6) the influx of labor needed to support the

19 Pocahontas mine created a unique cultural conver20 gence, bringing together Americans from northern

21 mining areas, African-Americans from the South, re22 cent immigrants from Southern and Southeastern

23 Europe, and native Appalachians into a diverse yet

24 integrated community that represents the distinctive

25 American heritage;
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1 (7) it is in the national interest to preserve and

2 protect physical remnants of the late 19th and early

3 20th century rise of American industry for the edu4 cation and benefit of present and future generations;

5 and

6 (8) there is a need to provide assistance for the

7 preservation and promotion of the vestiges of the

8 coal heritage of Appalachia that have outstanding

9 cultural, historic, and architectural value.

10 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

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

12 framework to assist the Commonwealth of Virginia, its

13 units of local and regional government, and its citizens

14 in the development and implementation of integrated cul15 tural, historical, and recreational land resource manage16 ment programs in order to retain, enhance, and interpret

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

18 of the Appalachian Coal Heritage Area in the Common19 wealth of Virginia.

20 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF APPALACHIAN COAL HERIT21 AGE AREA.

22 There is hereby established in the Commonwealth of

23 Virginia the Appalachian Coal Heritage Area (hereinafter

24 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Area’’). The Area shall con25 sist of the area generally depicted on the map entitled
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1 ‘‘Appalachian Coal Heritage Area Master Plan’’, num2 bered llllll, and dated llllll, which

3 shall be on file and available for public inspection in the

4 Office of the Director of the National Park Service.

5 SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

6 (a) PREPARATION OF PLAN.—The town of Poca7 hontas may submit a management plan (hereinafter in

8 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Plan’’) for the Area to the

9 Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter in this Act referred

10 to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) for the review and concurrence of

11 the Secretary. The Plan shall be based on existing Fed12 eral, State, and local plans, and shall coordinate such

13 plans and present an integrated plan for the protection,

14 enhancement, and interpretation of the cultural, natural,

15 scenic, and recreational resources of the Area. The Plan

16 shall specify a management entity with respect to the Ap17 palachian Coal Heritage Area. The Secretary is authorized

18 to provide technical assistance in the preparation of the

19 Plan.

20 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—If a Plan referred to in sub21 section (a) is submitted to the Secretary within 1 year

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and the Sec23 retary concurs with the Plan, the Secretary is authorized

24 to enter into a cooperative agreement with the manage25 ment entity specified in the Plan to provide technical as-
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1 sistance for the protection, enhancement, and interpreta2 tion of the resources identified in the Plan.

3 SEC. 6. CONTINGENCY IF HERITAGE COMPACT NOT SUB4 MITTED.

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

6 under section 4 and the authorization of the Secretary

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

8 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, a Herit9 age Compact for the Area is not—

10 (1) submitted to the Secretary;

11 (2) approved by the Secretary, after consulta12 tion with the Advisory Council on Historic Preserva13 tion in accordance with section 106 of the National

14 Historic Preservation Act; and

15 (3) submitted to the Congress, together with

16 any comments that the Secretary deems appropriate.

17 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may

18 provide technical assistance to a unit of government or pri19 vate nonprofit organization in the preparation of a Herit20 age Compact.

21 (c) DEFINITION OF HERITAGE COMPACT.—For pur22 poses of this section, the term ‘‘Heritage Compact’’ means

23 a compact that—

24 (1) is prepared with public participation;
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1 (2) contains information relating to the objec2 tives and management of the Area, including—

3 (A) a delineation of the boundaries of the

4 Area;

5 (B) a discussion of the goals and objectives

6 of the Area, including an explanation of the

7 proposed approach to conservation and inter8 pretation and a general outline of the protection

9 measures committed to by the partners;

10 (C) an identification and description of the

11 management entity that will administer the

12 Area;

13 (D) a list of the initial partners to be in14 volved in developing and implementing the man15 agement plan for the Area, as well as a state16 ment of the financial commitment of such part17 ners; and

18 (E) a description of the role of the Com19 monwealth of Virginia regarding the Area;

20 (3) outlines an implementation program that is

21 likely to be initiated within a reasonable time after

22 the date of the enactment of this Act and that en23 sures effective implementation of the State and local

24 aspects of the Plan; and
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1 (4) is accompanied by the comments of the

2 Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

3 SEC. 7. DUTIES OF FEDERAL ENTITIES.

4 Any Federal entity conducting or supporting activi5 ties directly affecting the Area shall—

6 (1) consult with the Secretary and the town of

7 Pocahontas with respect to the activities;

8 (2) cooperate with the Secretary and the town

9 of Pocahontas with respect to the activities and, to

10 the maximum extent practicable, coordinate the ac11 tivities with the Secretary and the town of Poca12 hontas; and

13 (3) to the maximum extent practicable, conduct

14 or support the activities in a manner that will not

15 have an adverse effect on the Area, as determined

16 by the Secretary and the town of Pocahontas.

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