I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 186 

To amend title 54, United States Code, to authorize the provision of technical 

assistance under the Preserve America Program and to direct the Secretary of the Interior to enter into partnerships with communities adjacent to units of the National Park System to leverage local cultural 

heritage tourism assets. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2021 

Mr. YOUNG (for himself and Mr. CASE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend title 54, United States Code, to authorize the 

provision of technical assistance under the Preserve 

America Program and to direct the Secretary of the 

Interior to enter into partnerships with communities adjacent to units of the National Park System to leverage 

local cultural heritage tourism assets. 

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 ‘‘Explore America Act 

5 of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are— 

3 (1) to strengthen economic development across 

4 the United States by supporting cultural heritage 

5 tourism and historic preservation activities through 

6 the Preserve America Program; and 

7 (2) to encourage the Director of the National 

8 Park Service to partner with gateway communities 

9 (including Native American communities and Na10 tional Heritage Areas) to leverage local cultural and 

11 historic heritage tourism assets. 

12 SEC. 3. PRESERVE AMERICA GRANT PROGRAM. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 311102 of title 54, 

14 United States Code, is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (d)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and 

17 the Secretary of Commerce’’ after ‘‘Council’’; 

18 and 

19 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(3) ADVISORY ROLE OF SECRETARY OF COM21 MERCE.—The Secretary of Commerce shall advise 

22 the program with respect to job creation, economic 

23 growth, and tourism policy and promotion.’’; and 

24 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For any fiscal year for 

2 which funds are not made available to provide grants 

3 under this section, to the extent practicable, the pro4 gram shall, in lieu of the grants, provide technical 

5 assistance to the eligible entities described in sub6 section (a) for projects that meet the eligibility re7 quirements described in subsection (b), as identified 

8 on the list of projects prepared by the Secretary in 

9 accordance with subsection (d). 

10 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may take 

11 into account the availability of staff resources at the 

12 Department of the Interior, the Council, and the De13 partment of Commerce for purposes of determining 

14 the number of projects that are provided technical 

15 assistance under this subsection. 

16 ‘‘(3) FORM.—The form of technical assistance 

17 under paragraph (1) may include technical assist18 ance provided by— 

19 ‘‘(A) the Director, with respect to— 

20 ‘‘(i) best practices in visitor services; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the conduct of research, inven22 tories, and surveys; 

23 ‘‘(iii) the documentation of historic re24 sources; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the interpretation and promotion 

2 of cultural and heritage assets; 

3 ‘‘(B) the Council, with respect to historic 

4 preservation initiatives and best practices in 

5 stewardship; and 

6 ‘‘(C) the Secretary of Commerce, with re7 spect to economic development and job creation 

8 resources.’’. 

9 (b) PROGRAM METRICS.—Chapter 3111 of title 54, 

10 United States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating section 311105 as section 

12 311106; and 

13 (2) by inserting after section 311104 the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘§ 311105. Reports 

16 ‘‘(a) METRICS.—Not later than 180 days after the 

17 date of enactment of the Explore America Act of 2021, 

18 the Secretary, in consultation with the Council and the 

19 Secretary of Commerce, shall develop specific metrics to 

20 measure the effectiveness of the program, including— 

21 ‘‘(1) the economic impact of the program on 

22 local communities (including Native American com23 munities and National Heritage Areas); and 

24 ‘‘(2) the effect of the program on efforts to pre25 serve heritage resources. 


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1 ‘‘(b) GRANTEE REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 

2 after the date on which a grantee receives a grant or tech3 nical assistance under this chapter, the grantee shall sub4 mit to the Secretary a report that— 

5 ‘‘(1) describes the outcome of the project that 

6 was provided a grant or technical assistance under 

7 this chapter; and 

8 ‘‘(2) based on the metrics developed under sub9 section (a), assesses— 

10 ‘‘(A) the accomplishments of the project; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(B) the impact of the project on the com13 munity in which the project was carried out. 

14 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary shall submit 

15 an annual report to the appropriate committees of Con16 gress that includes data provided by grantees to dem17 onstrate the economic impact of the program.’’. 

18 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec19 tions for chapter 3111 of title 54, United States Code, 

20 is amended by striking the item relating to section 311105 

21 and inserting the following: 

‘‘311105. Reports. 

‘‘311106. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PARTNERSHIPS WITH 

2 GATEWAY COMMUNITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subdivision 1 of division B of sub4 title III of title 54, United States Code, is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘CHAPTER 3092—PARTNERSHIPS WITH 

7 GATEWAY COMMUNITIES 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘309201. Definitions. 

‘‘309202. Partnerships with gateway communities. 

‘‘309203. Report. 

‘‘309204. Authorization of appropriations. 

8 ‘‘§ 309201. Definitions 

9 ‘‘In this chapter: 

10 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COM11 MITTEE.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com12 mittee’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Commerce, 

14 Science, and Transportation of the Senate; 

15 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Energy and Nat16 ural Resources of the Senate; 

17 ‘‘(C) the Committee on Appropriations of 

18 the Senate; 

19 ‘‘(D) the Committee on Energy and Com20 merce of the House of Representatives; 

21 ‘‘(E) the Committee on Natural Resources 

22 of the House of Representatives; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) the Committee on Appropriations of 

2 the House of Representatives. 

3 ‘‘(2) GATEWAY COMMUNITY.—The term ‘gate4 way community’ means a community adjacent to a 

5 unit of the System, including a Native American 

6 community or a National Heritage Area. 

7 ‘‘(3) HERITAGE TOURISM.—The term ‘heritage 

8 tourism’ has the meaning given the term in section 

9 311101. 

10 ‘‘§ 309202. Partnerships with gateway communities 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, to the ex12 tent practicable, offer to enter into partnerships with gate13 way communities to leverage heritage tourism assets to 

14 strengthen local economies and create jobs in the gateway 

15 communities with the goal of establishing a standardized 

16 framework for partnerships throughout the System, in17 cluding through— 

18 ‘‘(1) providing financial assistance to gateway 

19 communities to support outreach and promotional 

20 efforts; 

21 ‘‘(2) providing technical assistance to gateway 

22 communities based on Service best practices in tour23 ism development and visitor management, such as— 

24 ‘‘(A) inventorying tourism resources in the 

25 gateway community; 


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1 ‘‘(B) identifying historic heritage and cul2 tural resources; 

3 ‘‘(C) engaging collaborative partners and 

4 stakeholders; 

5 ‘‘(D) designing community outreach and 

6 participation strategies; 

7 ‘‘(E) developing concept plans for trails, 

8 parks, historic resources, and natural areas; 

9 ‘‘(F) developing sustainable tourism devel10 opment frameworks for community planning; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(G) encouraging regional strategies for 

13 tourism development and promotion; and 

14 ‘‘(3) assisting gateway communities in accessing 

15 additional Federal resources available to strengthen 

16 tourism assets and support economic development. 

17 ‘‘(b) OBTAINING FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL AS18 SISTANCE.—The Secretary, in consultation with stake19 holders of System units, shall establish a process through 

20 which States, units of local government, and Tribal gov21 ernments may apply for designation as a gateway commu22 nity to become eligible for financial and technical assist23 ance made available under this section. 

24 ‘‘(c) METRICS.—The Secretary, in consultation with 

25 gateway communities, shall develop metrics to measure 


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1 the impact of the financial and technical assistance pro2 vided to gateway communities under this section. 

3 ‘‘§ 309203. Report 

4 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 

6 congressional committees a report that— 

7 ‘‘(1) describes the efforts of the Secretary to 

8 partner with gateway communities under this chap9 ter; 

10 ‘‘(2) analyzes the results of the financial and 

11 technical assistance using the metrics developed 

12 under section 309202(c); and 

13 ‘‘(3) identifies— 

14 ‘‘(A) the next steps that should be taken to 

15 improve partnerships with gateway commu16 nities; and 

17 ‘‘(B) any actions that the Secretary will 

18 take to improve the partnerships. 

19 ‘‘§ 309204. Authorization of appropriations 

20 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

21 as are necessary to carry out this chapter.’’. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of chap23 ters for title 54, United States Code, is amended by insert24 ing after the item relating to chapter 3091 the following: 

‘‘3902. Partnerships with gateway communities ......................... 30921’’. 

Æ 


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