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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1447

To revise the boundaries of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage

Corridor in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 6, 1995

Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. BLUTE, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode

Island, and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To revise the boundaries of the Blackstone River Valley

National Heritage Corridor in Massachusetts and Rhode

Island, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Blackstone River

5 Valley National Heritage Corridor Amendments Act of

6 1995’’.

7 SEC. 2. BOUNDARY CHANGES.

8 Section 2 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish the

9 Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor in
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1 Massachusetts and Rhode Island’’, approved November

2 10, 1986 (Public Law 99–647; 16 U.S.C. 461 note), is

3 amended by striking the first sentence and inserting the

4 following new sentence: ‘‘The boundaries shall include the

5 lands and water generally depicted on the map entitled

6 Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor

7 Boundary Map, numbered BRV–80–80,011, and dated

8 May 2, 1993.’’.

9 SEC. 3. TERMS.

10 Section 3(c) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish

11 the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor

12 in Massachusetts and Rhode Island’’, approved November

13 10, 1986 (Public Law 99–647; 16 U.S.C. 461 note), is

14 amended by inserting immediately before the period at the

15 end the following: ‘‘, but may continue to serve after the

16 expiration of this term until a successor has been ap17 pointed’’.

18 SEC. 4. REVISION OF PLAN.

19 Section 6 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish the

20 Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor in

21 Massachusetts and Rhode Island’’, approved November

22 10, 1986 (Public Law 99–647; 16 U.S.C. 461 note), is

23 amended by adding at the end the following new sub24 section:
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1 ‘‘(d) REVISION OF PLAN.—(1) Not later than 1 year

2 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Com3 mission, with the approval of the Secretary, shall revise

4 the Cultural Heritage and Land Management Plan. The

5 revision shall address the boundary change and shall in6 clude a natural resource inventory of areas or features

7 that should be protected, restored, managed, or acquired

8 because of their contribution to the understanding of na9 tional cultural landscape values.

10 ‘‘(2) No changes other than minor revisions may be

11 made in the approved plan as amended without the ap12 proval of the Secretary. The Secretary shall approve or

13 disapprove any proposed change in the plan, except minor

14 revisions, in accordance with subsection (b).’’.

15 SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF COMMISSION.

16 Section 7 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish the

17 Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor in

18 Massachusetts and Rhode Island’’, approved November

19 10, 1986 (Public Law 99–647; 16 U.S.C. 461 note), is

20 amended to read as follows:

21 ‘‘TERMINATION OF COMMISSION

22 ‘‘SEC. 7. (a) TERMINATION.—Except as provided in

23 subsection (b), the Commission shall terminate on the date

24 that is 10 years after the date of enactment of the Black25 stone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Amend26 ments Act of 1995.
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1 ‘‘(b) EXTENSION.—The Commission may be extended

2 for an additional term of 10 years if—

3 ‘‘(1) not later than 180 days before the termi4 nation of the Commission, the Commission deter5 mines that an extension is necessary to carry out

6 this Act;

7 ‘‘(2) the Commission submits a proposed exten8 sion to the appropriate committees of the Senate

9 and the House of Representatives; and

10 ‘‘(3) the Secretary, the Governor of Massachu11 setts, and the Governor of Rhode Island each ap12 prove the extension.

13 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION OF APPROVAL.—The Secretary

14 shall approve the extension if the Secretary finds that—

15 ‘‘(1) the Governor of Massachusetts and the

16 Governor of Rhode Island provide adequate assur17 ances of continued tangible contribution and effec18 tive policy support toward achieving the purposes of

19 this Act; and

20 ‘‘(2) the Commission is effectively assisting

21 Federal, State, and local authorities to retain, en22 hance, and interpret the distinctive character and

23 nationally significant resources of the Corridor.’’.
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1 SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN.

2 Subsection (c) of section 8 of the Act entitled ‘‘An

3 Act to establish the Blackstone River Valley National Her4 itage Corridor in Massachusetts and Rhode Island’’, ap5 proved November 10, 1986 (Public Law 99–647; 16

6 U.S.C. 461 note), is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—(1) To assist in the imple8 mentation of the Cultural Heritage and Land Manage9 ment Plan in a manner consistent with purposes of this

10 Act, the Secretary is authorized to undertake a limited

11 program of financial assistance for the purpose of provid12 ing funds for the preservation and restoration of struc13 tures on or eligible for inclusion on the National Register

14 of Historic Places within the Corridor which exhibit na15 tional significance or provide a wide spectrum of historic,

16 recreational, or environmental education opportunities to

17 the general public.

18 ‘‘(2) To be eligible for funds under this section, the

19 Commission shall submit an application to the Secretary

20 that includes—

21 ‘‘(A) a 10-year development plan including

22 those resource protection needs and projects critical

23 to maintaining or interpreting the distinctive char24 acter of the Corridor; and

25 ‘‘(B) specific descriptions of annual work pro26 grams that have been assembled, the participating
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1 parties, roles, cost estimates, cost-sharing, or cooper2 ative agreements necessary to carry out the develop3 ment plan.

4 ‘‘(3) Funds made available pursuant to this sub5 section shall not exceed 50 percent of the total cost of the

6 work programs.

7 ‘‘(4) In making the funds available, the Secretary

8 shall give priority to projects that attract greater non-Fed9 eral funding sources.

10 ‘‘(5) Any payment made for the purposes of conserva11 tion or restoration of real property or structures shall be

12 subject to an agreement either—

13 ‘‘(A) to convey a conservation or preservation

14 easement to the Department of Environmental Man15 agement or to the Historic Preservation Commis16 sion, as appropriate, of the State in which the real

17 property or structure is located; or

18 ‘‘(B) that conversion, use, or disposal of the re19 sources so assisted for purposes contrary to the pur20 poses of this Act, as determined by the Secretary,

21 shall result in a right of the United States for reim22 bursement of all funds expended upon such re23 sources or the proportion of the increased value of

24 the resources attributable to such funds as deter-
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1 mined at the time of such conversion, use, or dis2 posal, whichever is greater.

3 ‘‘(6) The authority to determine that a conversion,

4 use, or disposal of resources has been carried out contrary

5 to the purposes of this Act in violation of an agreement

6 entered into under paragraph (5)(A) shall be solely at the

7 discretion of the Secretary.’’.

8 SEC. 7. LOCAL AUTHORITY.

9 Section 5 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish the

10 Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor in

11 Massachusetts and Rhode Island’’, approved November

12 10, 1986 (Public Law 99–647; 16 U.S.C. 461 note), is

13 amended by adding at the end the following new sub14 section:

15 ‘‘(j) LOCAL AUTHORITY AND PRIVATE PROPERTY

16 NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed

17 to affect or to authorize the Commission to interfere

18 with—

19 ‘‘(1) the rights of any person with respect to

20 private property; or

21 ‘‘(2) any local zoning ordinance or land use

22 plan of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or a

23 political subdivision of such Commonwealth.’’.
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1 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 Section 10 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish

3 the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor

4 in Massachusetts and Rhode Island’’, approved November

5 10, 1986 (Public Law 99–647; 16 U.S.C. 461 note), as

6 amended, is further amended—

7 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘$350,000’’

8 and inserting ‘‘$650,000’’; and

9 (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as

10 follows:

11 ‘‘(b) DEVELOPMENT FUNDS.—For fiscal years 1996,

12 1997, and 1998, there is authorized to be appropriated

13 to carry out section 8(c), $5,000,000 in the aggregate.’’.

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