PUBLIC LAW 104–144—MAY 16, 1996

HISTORIC CHATTAHOOCHEE COMPACT
110 STAT. 1342 PUBLIC LAW 104–144—MAY 16, 1996

Public Law 104–144

104th Congress

An Act

To grant the consent of Congress to an amendment of the Historic Chattahoochee

Compact between the States of Alabama and Georgia.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CONSENT OF CONGRESS TO THE HISTORIC CHATTAHOOCHEE COMPACT BETWEEN THE STATES OF ALABAMA

AND GEORGIA.

The consent of Congress is given to the amendment of articles

I, II, and III of the Historic Chattahoochee Compact between the

States of Alabama and Georgia, which articles, as amended, read

as follows:

‘‘ARTICLE I

‘‘The purpose of this compact is to promote the cooperative

development of the Chattahoochee valley’s full potential for historic

preservation and tourism and to establish a joint interstate authority to assist in these efforts.

‘‘ARTICLE II

‘‘This compact shall become effective immediately as to the

States ratifying it whenever the States of Alabama and Georgia

have ratified it and Congress has given consent thereto.

‘‘ARTICLE III

‘‘The States which are parties to this compact (hereinafter

referred to as ‘party States’) do hereby establish and create a

joint agency which shall be known as the Historic Chattahoochee

Commission (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Commission’). The

Commission shall consist of 28 members who shall be bona fide

residents and qualified voters of the party States and counties

served by the Commission. Election for vacant seats shall be by

majority vote of the voting members of the Commission board

at a regularly scheduled meeting. In Alabama, two shall be residents

of Barbour County, two shall be residents of Russell County, two

shall be residents of Henry County, two shall be residents of Chambers County, two shall be residents of Lee County, two shall be

residents of Houston County, and two shall be residents of Dale

County. In Georgia, one shall be a resident of Troup County, one

shall be a resident of Harris County, one shall be a resident of

Muscogee County, one shall be a resident of Chattahoochee County,

one shall be a resident of Stewart County, one shall be a resident

of Randolph County, one shall be a resident of Clay County, one

shall be a resident of Quitman County, one shall be a resident

of Early County, one shall be a resident of Seminole County, and

Establishment.

Effective date.

Historic

preservation.

May 16, 1996

[H.R. 2064]
PUBLIC LAW 104–144—MAY 16, 1996 110 STAT. 1343

of Randolph County, one shall be a resident of Clay County, one

shall be a resident of Quitman County, one shall be a resident

of Early County, one shall be a resident of Seminole County, and

one shall be a resident of Decatur County. In addition, there shall

be three at-large members who shall be selected from any three

of the Georgia member counties listed above. The Commission at

its discretion may appoint as many advisory members as it deems

necessary from any Georgia or Alabama County which is located

in the Chattahoochee Valley area. The contribution of each party

State shall be in equal amounts. If the party States fail to appropriate equal amounts to the Commission during any given fiscal

year, voting membership on the Commission board shall be determined as follows: The State making the larger appropriation shall

be entitled to full voting membership. The total number of members

from the other State shall be divided into the amount of the larger

appropriation and the resulting quotient shall be divided into the

amount of the smaller appropriation. The then resulting quotient,

rounded to the next lowest whole number, shall be the number

of voting members from the State making the smaller contribution.

The members of the Commission from the State making the larger

contribution shall decide which of the members from the other

State shall serve as voting members, based upon the level of tourism, preservation, promotional activity, and general support of the

Commission’s activities by and in the county of residence of each

of the members of the State making the smaller appropriation.

Such determination shall be made at the next meeting of the

Commission following September 30 of each year. Members of the

Commission shall serve for terms of office as follows: Of the 14

Alabama members, one from each of said counties shall serve for

two years and the remaining member of each county shall serve

for four years. Upon the expiration of the original terms of office

of Alabama members, all successor Alabama members shall be

appointed for four-year terms of office, with seven vacancies in

the Alabama membership occurring every two years. Of the 14

Georgia members, seven shall serve four-year terms and seven

two-year terms for the initial term of this compact. The terms

of the individual Georgia voting members shall be determined by

their place in the alphabet by alternating the four- and two-year

terms beginning with Chattahoochee County, four years, Clay

County, two years, Decatur County, four years, etc. Upon the expiration of the original terms of office of Georgia members, all successor

Georgia members shall be appointed for four-year terms of office,

with seven vacancies in the Georgia membership occurring every

two years. Of the three Georgia at-large board members, one shall

serve a four-year term and two shall serve two-year terms.
110 STAT. 1344 PUBLIC LAW 104–144—MAY 16, 1996

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 2064 (S. 848):

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 104–376 (Comm. on the Judiciary).

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:

Vol. 141 (1995): Nov. 9, S. 848 considered and passed Senate.

Vol. 142 (1996): Mar. 12, H.R. 2064 considered and passed House.

May 3, considered and passed Senate.

Æ

‘‘All board members shall serve until their successors are

appointed and qualified. Vacancies shall be filled by the voting

members of the Commission. The first chairman of the commission

created by this compact shall be elected by the board of directors

from among its voting membership. Annually thereafter, each

succeeding chairman shall be selected by the members of the

Commission. The chairmanship shall rotate each year among the

party States in order of their acceptance of this compact. Members

of the Commission shall serve without compensation but shall be

entitled to reimbursement for actual expenses incurred in the

performance of the duties of the Commission.’’.

Approved May 16, 1996.