I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2473

To authorize funding within the Department of the Interior to implement

the plan of the Steel Industry Heritage Project, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 12, 1995

Mr. COYNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Resources

A BILL

To authorize funding within the Department of the Interior

to implement the plan of the Steel Industry Heritage

Project, 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 ‘‘Steel Industry Amer5 ican Heritage Area Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the industrial and cultural heritage of

9 southwestern Pennsylvania, including the city of

10 Pittsburgh, and the counties of Allegheny, Arm-
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1 strong, Beaver, Fayette, Greene, Washington, and

2 Westmoreland, related directly to steel and steel-re3 lated industries, is nationally significant;

4 (2) these industries include steelmaking, iron

5 making, aluminum, specialty metals, glass, coal min6 ing, coke production, machining and foundries,

7 transportation, and electrical industries;

8 (3) the industrial and cultural heritage of the

9 steel and related industries in this region includes

10 the social history and living cultural traditions of the

11 people of the region;

12 (4) the labor movement of the region played a

13 significant role in the development of the Nation, in14 cluding the formation of many key unions such as

15 the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and

16 the United Steel Workers of America (USWA), and

17 crucial struggles to improve wages and working con18 ditions, such as the Rail Strike of 1877, the Home19 stead Strike of 1892, and the Great Steel Strike of

20 1919;

21 (5) the Department of the Interior is respon22 sible for protecting the Nation’s cultural and historic

23 resources, and there are significant examples of

24 these resources, within this seven-county region to

25 merit the involvement of the Federal Government to
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1 develop programs and projects, in cooperation with

2 the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation, the Com3 monwealth of Pennsylvania, and other local and gov4 ernmental bodies, to adequately conserve, protect,

5 and interpret this heritage for future generations,

6 while providing opportunities for education and revi7 talization; and

8 (6) the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation

9 would be an appropriate management entity for a

10 Heritage Area established in the region.

11 (b) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—The objectives of the

12 Steel Industry American Heritage Area are—

13 (1) to foster a close working relationship with

14 all levels of government, the private sector, and the

15 local communities in the steel industry region of

16 southwestern Pennsylvania and empower the com17 munities to conserve their heritage while continuing

18 to pursue economic opportunities; and

19 (2) to conserve, interpret, and develop the his20 torical, cultural, natural, and recreational resources

21 related to the industrial and cultural heritage of the

22 seven-county region of southwestern Pennsylvania.
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1 SEC. 3. STEEL INDUSTRY AMERICAN HERITAGE AREA.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a

3 Steel Industry American Heritage Area (in this Act re4 ferred to as the ‘‘Heritage Area’’).

5 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The Heritage Area shall be com6 prised of the counties of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver,

7 Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland in Penn8 sylvania.

9 (c) MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—The management entity

10 for the Heritage Area shall be the Steel Industry Heritage

11 Corporation.

12 SEC. 4. COMPACT.

13 To carry out the purposes of this Act, the Secretary

14 of the Interior (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’)

15 shall enter into a compact with the management entity.

16 The compact shall include information relating to the ob17 jectives and management of the area, including the follow18 ing:

19 (1) A delineation of the boundaries of the pro20 posed American Heritage Area.

21 (2) A discussion of the goals and objectives of

22 the proposed American Heritage Area, including an

23 explanation of the proposed approach to conserva24 tion and interpretation and a general outline of the

25 protection measures committed to by the partners

26 referred to in clause (iv).
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1 (3) An identification and description of the

2 management entity that will administer the proposed

3 American Heritage Area.

4 (4) A list of the initial partners to be involved

5 in developing and implementing the management

6 plan referred to in paragraph (3) for the proposed

7 American Heritage Area, and a statement of the fi8 nancial commitment of the partners.

9 (5) A description of the role of the State or

10 States in which the proposed American Heritage

11 Area is located.

12 The compact shall be prepared with public participation.

13 Actions called for in the compact shall be likely to be initi14 ated within a reasonable time after designation of the pro15 posed American Heritage Area and shall ensure effective

16 implementation of the State and local aspects of the com17 pact.

18 SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

19 The management entity shall develop a management

20 plan for the Heritage Area that presents comprehensive

21 recommendations for the Heritage Area’s conservation,

22 funding, management and development. Such plan shall

23 take into consideration existing State, county, and local

24 plans and involve residents, public agencies, and private

25 organizations working in the Heritage Area. It shall in-
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1 clude actions to be undertaken by units of government and

2 private organizations to protect the resources of the Herit3 age Area. It shall specify the existing and potential

4 sources of funding to protect, manage, and develop the

5 Heritage Area. Such plan shall include specifically as ap6 propriate the following:

7 (1) An inventory of the resources contained in

8 the Heritage Area, including a list of any property

9 in the Heritage Area that is related to the themes

10 of the Heritage Area and that should be preserved,

11 restored, managed, developed, or maintained because

12 of its natural, cultural, historic, recreational, or sce13 nic significance.

14 (2) A recommendation of policies for resource

15 management which consider and detail application of

16 appropriate land and water management techniques,

17 including but not limited to, the development of

18 intergovernmental cooperative agreements to protect

19 the Heritage Area’s historical, cultural, recreational,

20 and natural resources in a manner consistent with

21 supporting appropriate and compatible economic via22 bility.

23 (3) A program for implementation of the man24 agement plan by the management entity, including

25 plans for restoration and construction, and specific
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1 commitments of the identified partners for the first

2 5 years of operation.

3 (4) An analysis of ways in which local, State,

4 and Federal programs may best be coordinated to

5 promote the purposes of the Act.

6 (5) An interpretation plan for the Heritage

7 Area.

8 SEC. 6. AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF MANAGEMENT EN9 TITY.

10 (a) AUTHORITIES OF THE MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—

11 The management entity may, for purposes of preparing

12 and implementing the management plan under section 5,

13 use Federal funds made available through this Act—

14 (1) to make loans and grants to, and enter into

15 cooperative agreements with, States and their politi16 cal subdivisions, private organizations, or any per17 son; and

18 (2) to hire and compensate staff.

19 (b) DUTIES OF THE MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—The

20 management entity shall—

21 (1) develop and submit to the Secretary for ap22 proval a management plan as described in section 5

23 within 3 years after the date of the enactment of

24 this Act;
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1 (2) give priority to implementing actions set

2 forth in the compact and the management plan, in3 cluding taking steps to—

4 (A) assist units of government, regional

5 planning organizations, and nonprofit organiza6 tions in preserving the Heritage Area;

7 (B) assist units of government, regional

8 planning organizations, and nonprofit organiza9 tions in establishing, and maintaining interpre10 tive exhibits in the Heritage Area;

11 (C) assist units of government, regional

12 planning organizations, and nonprofit organiza13 tions in developing recreational resources in the

14 Heritage Area;

15 (D) assist units of government, regional

16 planning organizations, and nonprofit organiza17 tions in increasing public awareness of and ap18 preciation for the natural, historical and archi19 tectural resources and sites in the Heritage

20 Area;

21 (E) assist units of government, regional

22 planning organizations and nonprofit organiza23 tions in the restoration of any historic building

24 relating to the themes of the Heritage Area;
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1 (F) encourage by appropriate means eco2 nomic viability in the Heritage Area consistent

3 with the goals of the plan;

4 (G) encourage local governments to adopt

5 land use policies consistent with the manage6 ment of the Heritage Area and the goals of the

7 plan; and

8 (H) assist units of government, regional

9 planning organizations and nonprofit organiza10 tions to ensure that clear, consistent, and envi11 ronmentally appropriate signs identifying access

12 points and sites of interest are put in place

13 throughout the Heritage Area;

14 (3) consider the interests of diverse govern15 mental, business, and nonprofit groups within the

16 Heritage Area;

17 (4) conduct public meetings at least quarterly

18 regarding the implementation of the management

19 plan;

20 (5) submit substantial changes (including any

21 increase of more than 20 percent in the cost esti22 mates for implementation) to the management plan

23 to the Secretary for the Secretary’s approval;

24 (6) for any year in which Federal funds have

25 been received under this Act, submit an annual re-
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1 port to the Secretary setting forth its accomplish2 ments, its expenses and income, and the entity to

3 which any loans and grants were made during the

4 year for which the report is made; and

5 (7) for any year in which Federal funds have

6 been received under this Act, make available for

7 audit all records pertaining to the expenditure of

8 such funds and any matching funds, and require, for

9 all agreements authorizing expenditure of Federal

10 funds by other organizations, that the receiving or11 ganizations make available for audit all records per12 taining to the expenditure of such funds.

13 If a management plan is not submitted to the Secretary

14 as required under paragraph (1) within the specified time,

15 the Heritage Area shall no longer qualify for Federal

16 funding.

17 (c) PROHIBITION ON THE ACQUISITION OF REAL

18 PROPERTY.—The management entity may not use Fed19 eral funds received under this Act to acquire real property

20 or an interest in real property. Nothing in this Act shall

21 preclude any management entity from using Federal funds

22 from other sources for their permitted purposes.

23 (d) ELIGIBILITY FOR RECEIVING FINANCIAL ASSIST24 ANCE.—
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1 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—The management entity

2 shall be eligible to receive funds appropriated

3 through this Act for a period of 13 years after the

4 day on which the compact under section 4 is signed

5 by the Secretary and the management entity, except

6 as provided in paragraph (2).

7 (2) EXCEPTION.—The management entity’s eli8 gibility for funding under this Act may be extended

9 for a period of not more than 5 additional years,

10 if—

11 (A) the management entity determine such

12 extension is necessary in order to carry out the

13 purposes of this Act and notify the Secretary

14 not later than 180 days prior to the termination

15 date;

16 (B) the management entity, not later than

17 180 days prior to the termination date, present

18 to the Secretary a plan of their activities for the

19 period of the extension, including provisions for

20 becoming independent of the funds made avail21 able through this Act; and

22 (C) the Secretary, with the advice of the

23 Governor of Pennsylvania approves such exten24 sion of funding.
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1 SEC. 7. DUTIES AND AUTHORITIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.

2 (a) DUTIES AND AUTHORITIES OF THE SEC3 RETARY.—

4 (1) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may,

6 upon request of the management entity, provide

7 technical and financial assistance to the Herit8 age Area to develop and implement the manage9 ment plan. In assisting the Heritage Area, the

10 Secretary shall give priority to actions that in

11 general assist in—

12 (i) conserving the significant natural,

13 historic, and cultural resources which sup14 port its themes; and

15 (ii) providing educational, interpretive,

16 and recreational opportunities consistent

17 with its resources and associated values.

18 (B) SPENDING FOR NONFEDERALLY

19 OWNED PROPERTY.—The Secretary may spend

20 Federal funds directly on nonfederally owned

21 property to further the purposes of this Act, es22 pecially in assisting units of government in ap23 propriate treatment of districts, sites, buildings,

24 structures, and objects listed or eligible for list25 ing on the National Register of Historic Places.

26 The Historic American Building Survey/His-
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1 toric American Engineering Record shall con2 duct those studies necessary to document the

3 industrial, engineering, building, and architec4 tural history of the region.

5 (2) APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL OF COMPACTS

6 AND MANAGEMENT PLANS.—

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in con8 sultation with the Governor of Pennsylvania

9 shall approve or disapprove a compact or man10 agement plan submitted under this Act not

11 later than 90 days after receiving such compact

12 or management plan.

13 (B) ACTION FOLLOWING DISAPPROVAL.—

14 If the Secretary disapproves a submitted com15 pact or management plan, the Secretary shall

16 advise the management entity in writing of the

17 reasons therefor and shall make recommenda18 tions for revisions in the compact or plan. The

19 Secretary shall approve or disapprove a pro20 posed revision within 90 days after the date it

21 is submitted.

22 (3) APPROVING AMENDMENTS.—The Secretary

23 shall review substantial amendments to the manage24 ment plan for the Heritage Area. Funds appro25 priated pursuant to this Act may not be expended to
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1 implement the changes until the Secretary approves

2 the amendments.

3 (4) PROMULGATING REGULATIONS.—The Sec4 retary shall promulgate such regulations as are nec5 essary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

6 (b) DUTIES OF FEDERAL ENTITIES.—Any Federal

7 entity conducting any activity directly affecting the Herit8 age Area shall consider the potential effect of the activity

9 on the management plan for the area and shall consult

10 with the Governor of Pennsylvania with respect to the ac11 tivity to minimize the adverse effects of the activity on

12 the area.

13 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

14 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

15 as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

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