49–006 

109TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 109–559 

SPRINGFIELD ARMORY NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, 

MASSACHUSETTS ACT OF 2006 

JULY 13, 2006.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. POMBO, from the Committee on Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 4376] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 4376) to authorize the National Park Service to enter into a 

cooperative agreement with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 

on behalf of Springfield Technical Community College, and for 

other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended 

do pass. 

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Springfield Armory National Historic Site, Massachusetts Act of 2006.’’ 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress finds as follows: 

(1) The Site commemorates the role of the Springfield Armory in the Nation’s 

military history, a role that the Armory served for almost 200 years. 

(2) The role of the Springfield Armory began in 1777, when the site was selected 

as the location for a magazine and laboratory for the development, production and 

storage of guns and powder during the American Revolution. 

(3) Following the American Revolutionary War, in 1794 Congress officially established the Springfield Armory and for much of the 19th century the Springfield Armory developed and supplied most of the military small arms manufactured by the 

United States for the United States Armed Services. 

(4) In addition to its historical role in the development and manufacturing of 

small arms, the Springfield Armory was also the site of Shay’s Rebellion. 

(5) In 1968 the Armory was deactivated as a military installation and in 1974 

Congress established the Springfield Armory National Historic Site. A portion of the 

Site is administered by the National Park Service. The remainder of the Springfield 


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Armory National Historic Site, known as the ‘‘Preservation Control Area’’, is owned 

and administered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on behalf of Springfield 

Technical Community College. 

(6) The Preservation Control Area contains several historic buildings that are in 

a state of disrepair. The deteriorating condition of these historic buildings threatens 

to undermine the character and integrity of the Springfield Armory National Historic Site and their repair, renovation, maintenance and rehabilitation is essential 

to the continued preservation of the Site and its museum and collections. 

SEC. 3. PRESERVATION CONTROL AREA DEFINED. 

For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘Preservation Control Area’’ means that portion 

of the Site that is owned by the Commonwealth, as defined in the Memorandum 

of Understanding Between the United States and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts dated August 21, 1999. 

SEC. 4. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE PRESERVATION CONTROL AREA. 

The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the National Park Service, may 

enter into a cooperative agreement with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on behalf of Springfield Technical Community College to provide financial assistance to 

that college for the purpose of maintaining, preserving, renovating, and rehabilitating any historic structures within the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, 

including historic structures located within the Preservation Control Area. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 4376 is to authorize the National Park Service to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Commonwealth 

of Massachusetts on behalf of Springfield Technical Community 

College, and for other purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

In 1978, Congress established the Springfield Armory National 

Historic Site to preserve the Nation’s first national armory and the 

center of military small arms manufacturing from 1794 to 1968. 

Today, the National Park Service manages the Armory Museum 

and other historical structures while Springfield Technical Community College owns and manages a number of other important historical structures in the ‘‘Preservation Control Area’’ within the 

Park. H.R. 4376 would formalize and enhance the existing cooperative relationship between the Service and the College by allowing 

the National Park Service to assist the College financially in preserving a number of historic structures that are important to the 

overall story of the Armory. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 4376 was introduced on November 17, 2005, by Congressman Richard E. Neal (D–MA). The bill was referred to the Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on National Parks. On June 21, 2006, the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill, at which time the Subcommittee on National Parks was discharged from further consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. Congressman Nick J. Rahall II (D–WV) offered an amendment to the bill that changed the 

directive for the Secretary to enter into a cooperative agreement 

from ‘‘shall’’ to ‘‘may.’’ The amendment was adopted by unanimous 

consent. The bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported 

to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent. 


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CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article IV, section 3, clause 2 of the Constitution of the United 

States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) of rule 

XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 

308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this bill does not 

contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does not 

authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the 

Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply. 

4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 4376—Springfield Armory National Historic Site, Massachusetts, Act of 2005 

H.R. 4376 would direct the National Park Service (NPS) to provide financial assistance to the Springfield Technical Community 

College (STCC) to renovate and maintain historic buildings located 

within the Springfield Armory National Historic Site. 

The costs of implementing H.R. 4376 are uncertain because the 

NPS has not completed formal engineering assessments of the 

STCC buildings that would need to be renovated and because the 

bill does not specify the share of this project’s costs that would be 

borne by the federal government. The federal share of those costs 

would be determined by the Administration in consultation with 

the STCC. However, based on information provided by the NPS 

and the STCC, CBO estimates that total costs to restore more than 

20 historic buildings and related structures eligible for financial assistance under the bill would be between $50 million and $100 million. We expect that the federal government would pay between 75 

percent and 100 percent of such costs over the next five years, including $10 million to stabilize the exterior of the buildings and 

about $25 million to restore the largest structure, the Caserne 

building. All federal spending would be subject to appropriation of 

the necessary amounts. Enacting H.R. 4376 would have no effect 

on revenues or direct spending. 

H.R. 4376 contains no intergovernment or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. Enacting this 

legislation would benefit the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 


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The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes to existing law. 

Æ 


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