Union Calendar No. 146

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1508

[Report No. 104–277, Part I]

A BILL

To require the transfer of title to the District of

family-oriented park.Children’s Island, a cultural, educational, andPark to facilitate the construction of NationalColumbia of certain real property in Anacostia

OCTOBER 17, 1995

Reported from the Committee on Resources, with an

amendment

Referral to the Committee on Government Reform and

October 17, 1995Oversight extended for a period ending not later than

The Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

printedHouse on the State of the Union and ordered to bedischarged; committed to the Committee of the Whole
IB

Union Calendar No. 146

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1508

[Report No. 104–277, Part I]

To require the transfer of title to the District of Columbia of certain real

property in Anacostia Park to facilitate the construction of National

Children’s Island, a cultural, educational, and family-oriented park.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 7, 1995

Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

OCTOBER 17, 1995

Reported from the Committee on Resources with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

OCTOBER 17, 1995

Referral to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight extended for

a period ending not later than October 17, 1995

OCTOBER 17, 1995

The Committee on Government Reform and Oversight discharged; committed

to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 7, 1995]

A BILL

To require the transfer of title to the District of Columbia
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of certain real property in Anacostia Park to facilitate

the construction of National Children’s Island, a cultural,

educational, and family-oriented park.

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 ‘‘National Children’s Is5 land Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 For the purposes of this Act:

8 (1) The term ‘‘plat’’ means the plat filed in the

9 Office of the Surveyor of the District of Columbia

10 under S.O. 92–252.

11 (2) The term ‘‘District’’ means the District of

12 Columbia.

13 (3) The term ‘‘Islands’’ means Heritage Island

14 and all of that portion of Kingman Island located

15 south of Benning Road and within the District of Co16 lumbia and the Anacostia River, being a portion of

17 United States Reservation 343, Section F, as specified

18 and legally described on the Survey.

19 (4) The term ‘‘National Children’s Island’’

20 means a cultural, educational, and family-oriented

21 recreation park, together with a children’s play22 ground, to be developed and operated in accordance
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1 with the Children’s Island Development Plan Act of

2 1993, D.C. Act 10–110.

3 (5) The term ‘‘playground’’ means the children’s

4 playground that is part of National Children’s Island

5 and includes all lands on the Islands located south of

6 East Capitol Street.

7 (6) The term ‘‘recreation park’’ means the cul8 tural, educational, and family-oriented recreation

9 park that is part of National Children’s Island.

10 (7) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of

11 the Interior.

12 (8) The term ‘‘Survey’’ means the ALTA/ACSM

13 Land Title Survey prepared by Dewberry & Davis

14 and dated February 12, 1994.

15 SEC. 3. PROPERTY TRANSFER.

16 (a) TRANSFER OF TITLE.—In order to facilitate the

17 construction, development, and operation of National Chil18 dren’s Island, the Secretary shall, not later than six months

19 after the date of enactment of this Act and subject to this

20 Act, transfer by quitclaim deed, without consideration, to

21 the District all right, title, and interest of the United States

22 in and to the Islands. Unbudgeted actual costs incurred by

23 the Secretary for such transfer shall be borne by the Dis24 trict. The District may seek reimbursement from any third

25 party for such costs.
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1 (b) GRANT OF EASEMENTS.—(1) The Secretary shall,

2 not later than six months after the date of enactment of

3 this Act, grant, without consideration, to the District, per4 manent easements across the waterways and bed of the Ana5 costia River as described in the Survey as Leased Riverbed

6 Areas A, B, C, and D, and across the shoreline of the Ana7 costia River as depicted on the plat map recorded in the

8 Office of the Surveyor of the District as S.O. 92–252.

9 (2) Easements granted under paragraph (1) shall run

10 with the land and shall be for the purposes of—

11 (A) constructing, reconstructing, maintaining,

12 operating, and otherwise using only such bridges,

13 roads, and other improvements as are necessary or de14 sirable for vehicular and pedestrian egress and in15 gress to and from the Islands and which satisfy the

16 District Building Code and applicable safety require17 ments;

18 (B) installing, reinstalling, maintaining, and

19 operating utility transmission corridors, including

20 (but not limited to) all necessary electricity, water,

21 sewer, gas, necessary or desirable for the construction,

22 reconstruction, maintenance, and operation of the Is23 lands and any and all improvements located thereon

24 from time to time; and
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1 (C) constructing, reconstructing, maintaining,

2 operating, and otherwise providing necessary infor3 mational kiosk, ticketing booth, and security for the

4 Islands.

5 (3) Easements granted under paragraph (1) shall be

6 assignable by the District to any lessee, sublessee, or opera7 tor, or any combination thereof, of the Islands.

8 (c) DEVELOPMENT.—The development of National

9 Children’s Island shall proceed as specified in paragraph

10 3 of the legend on the plat or as otherwise authorized by

11 the District by agreement, lease, resolution, appropriate ex12 ecutive action, or otherwise.

13 (d) REVERSION.—(1) The transfer under subsection

14 (a) and the grant of easements under subsection (b) shall

15 be subject to the condition that the Islands only be used

16 for the purposes of National Children’s Island. Title in the

17 property transferred under subsection (a) and the easements

18 granted under subsection (b), shall revert to the United

19 States 60 days after the date on which the Secretary pro20 vides written notice of the reversion to the District based

21 on the Secretary’s determination, which shall be made in

22 accordance with chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code

23 (relating to administrative procedures), that one of the fol24 lowing has occurred:
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1 (A) Failure to commence improvements in the

2 recreational park within the earlier of—

3 (i) three years after building permits are

4 obtained for construction of such improvements;

5 or

6 (ii) four years after title has been trans7 ferred, as provided in subsection (a).

8 (B) Failure to commence operation of the recre9 ation park within the earlier of—

10 (i) five years after building permits are ob11 tained for construction of such improvements; or

12 (ii) seven years after title has been trans13 ferred, as provided in subsection (a).

14 (C) After completion of construction and com15 mencement of operation, the abandonment or non-use

16 of the recreation park for a period of two years.

17 (D) After completion of construction and com18 mencement of operation, conversion of the Islands to

19 a use other than that specified in this Act or conver20 sion to a parking use not in accordance with section

21 4(b).

22 (2) The periods referred to in paragraph (1) shall be

23 extended during the pendency of any lawsuit which seeks

24 to enjoin the development or operation of National Chil-
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1 dren’s Island or the administrative process leading to such

2 development or operation.

3 (3) Following any reconveyance or reversion to the Na4 tional Park Service, any and all claims and judgments

5 arising during the period the District holds title to the Is6 lands, the playground, and premises shall remain the re7 sponsibility of the District, and such reconveyance or rever8 sion shall extinguish any and all leases, rights or privileges

9 to the Islands and the playground granted by the District.

10 (4) The District shall require any nongovernmental en11 tity authorized to construct, develop, and operate National

12 Children’s Island to establish an escrow fund, post a surety

13 bond, provide a letter of credit or otherwise provide such

14 security for the benefit of the National Park Service, sub15 stantially equivalent to that specified in paragraph 11 of

16 the legend on the plat, to serve as the sole source of funding

17 for restoration of the recreation park to a condition suitable

18 for National Park Service purposes (namely, the removal

19 of all buildings and grading, seeding and landscaping of

20 the recreation park) upon reversion of the property. If, on

21 the date which is two years from the date of reversion of

22 the property, the National Park Service has not commenced

23 restoration or is not diligently proceeding with such res24 toration, any amount in the escrow fund shall be distrib25 uted to such nongovernmental entity.
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1 SEC. 4. PROVISIONS RELATING TO LANDS TRANSFERRED

2 AND EASEMENTS GRANTED.

3 (a) PLAYGROUND.—Operation of the recreation park

4 may only commence simultaneously with or subsequent to

5 improvement and opening of a children’s playground at

6 National Children’s Island that is available to the public

7 free of charge. The playground shall only include those im8 provements traditionally or ordinarily included in a pub9 licly maintained children’s playground. Operation of the

10 recreation park is at all times dependent on the continued

11 maintenance of the children’s playground.

12 (b) PUBLIC PARKING.—Public parking on the Islands

13 is prohibited, except for handicapped parking, emergency

14 and government vehicles, and parking related to construct15 ing, and servicing National Children’s Island.

16 (c) REQUIRED APPROVALS.—Before construction com17 mences, the final design plans for the recreation park and

18 playground, and all related structures, including bridges

19 and roads, are subject to the review and approval of the

20 National Capital Planning Commission and of the District

21 of Columbia in accordance with the Children’s Island De22 velopment Plan Act of 1993 (D.C. Act 10–110). The District

23 of Columbia shall carry out its review of this project in

24 full compliance with all applicable provisions of the Na25 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
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1 SEC. 5. EFFECT OF PROPERTY TRANSFER.

2 (a) EFFECT OF PROPERTY TRANSFER.—Upon the

3 transfer of the Islands to the District pursuant to this Act:

4 (1) The Transfer of Jurisdiction concerning the

5 Islands from the National Park Service to the District

6 dated February 1993, as set out on the plat map re7 corded in the Office of the Surveyor of the District as

8 S.O. 92–252 and as approved by the Council of the

9 District by Resolution 10–91, shall become null and

10 void and of no further force and effect, except for the

11 references in this Act to paragraphs 3 and 11 of the

12 legend on the plat.

13 (2) The Islands shall no longer be considered to

14 be part of Anacostia Park and shall not be considered

15 to be within the park system of the District; therefore,

16 the provisions of section 2 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act

17 to vest in the Commissioners of the District of Colum18 bia control of street parking in said District’’, ap19 proved July 1, 1898 (ch. 543, 30 Stat. 570; D.C. Code

20 8–104), shall not apply to the Islands, and the Dis21 trict shall have exclusive charge and control over the

22 Islands and easements transferred.

23 (3) The Islands shall cease to be a reservation,

24 park, or public grounds of the United States for the

25 purposes of the Act of August 24, 1912 (ch. 355, 37

26 Stat. 444; 40 U.S.C. 68; 8–128 D.C. Code).
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1 (b) USE OF CERTAIN LANDS FOR PARKING AND

2 OTHER PURPOSES.—Notwithstanding any other provision

3 of law, the District is hereby authorized to grant via appro4 priate instrument to a nongovernmental individual or en5 tity any and all of its rights to use the lands currently being

6 leased by the United States to the District pursuant to the

7 District of Columbia Stadium Act of 1957 (Public Law 85–

8 300, September 7, 1957, 71 Stat. 619) for parking facilities

9 (and necessary informational kiosk, ticketing booth, and se10 curity) as the Mayor of the District in his discretion may

11 determine necessary or appropriate in connection with or

12 in support of National Children’s Island.

13 SEC. 6. SAVINGS PROVISIONS.

14 No provision of this Act shall be construed—

15 (1) as an express or implied endorsement or ap16 proval by the Congress of any such construction, de17 velopment, or operation of National Children’s Island;

18 (2) except as provided in section 5, to exempt the

19 recreational park and playground from the laws of

20 the United States or the District, including laws re21 lating to the environment, health, and safety; or

22 (3) to prevent additional conditions on the Na23 tional Children’s Island development or operation to

24 mitigate adverse impacts on adjacent residential
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1 neighborhoods and park lands and the Anacostia

2 River.