I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3707

To establish an American Heritage Areas Partnership Program in the

Department of the Interior.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 22, 1993

Mr. VENTO (for himself, Mr. HINCHEY, and Mr. BOUCHER) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To establish an American Heritage Areas Partnership

Program in the Department of the Interior.

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 ‘‘American Heritage

5 Areas Partnership Program Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

7 The purposes of the American Heritage Areas Part8 nership Program are—

9 (1) to recognize that the natural, historic, cul10 tural, and recreational resources of the United
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1 States represent the great and diverse character of

2 the Nation and are important thereto, and that

3 these resources must be guarded, preserved, and

4 wisely managed so they may be passed on to future

5 generations;

6 (2) to recognize that combinations of such re7 sources as they are geographically assembled and

8 thematically related form Heritage Areas which pro9 vide a unique framework for understanding the his10 torical, cultural and natural development of the com11 munity and it surroundings;

12 (3) to encourage linking such resources through

13 greenways, corridors, and trails;

14 (4) to preserve these nationally important rec15 reational, cultural, historic, and natural resources

16 which are worthy of joint Federal and State designa17 tion and assistance, but which may not qualify or be

18 managed as units of the National Park System;

19 (5) to provide for appropriate partnerships be20 tween all levels of government and the private sector

21 which will preserve those resources whose ownership

22 is generally not national but mostly State, local, and

23 private, accommodate economic viability and en24 hance the quality of life for our Nation’s present and

25 future generations; and
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1 (6) to assist in the development of a framework

2 to preserve, conserve, and manage these resources,

3 which will include limited technical assistance from

4 the United States Government to States for develop5 ing and implementing operation and management

6 plans.

7 SEC. 3. HERITAGE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established

9 within the Department of the Interior the American Herit10 age Partnership Program.

11 (b) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—In accordance with the

12 purposes of this Act, the Secretary is authorized—

13 (1) to evaluate combinations of resources best

14 preserved, interpreted, and managed as American

15 Heritage Areas under a partnership model;

16 (2) to evaluate areas nominated for designation

17 under subsection (d) as American Heritage Areas in

18 accordance with the criteria established in subsection

19 (c);

20 (3) to advise States and their political subdivi21 sions or assigns as to appropriate methods of

22 recognizing and preserving thematically and geo23 graphically linked cultural, historic, natural, and

24 recreational resources;
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1 (4) to provide technical assistance for the pur2 poses of nominating areas for inclusion in the Amer3 ican Heritage Area Program and to provide grants

4 for developing management plans for designated

5 areas and for capital projects and improvements

6 pursuant to such management plans, in amounts not

7 to exceed the amounts specifically authorized by this

8 Act; and

9 (5) to enter into contractual agreements with

10 States and their political subdivisions or assigns spe11 cific to an American Heritage Area designated by

12 this Act to provide limited technical assistance for

13 the development and implementation of management

14 plans for American Heritage Areas.

15 (c) CRITERIA.—Each American Heritage Area shall

16 include, but not be limited to—

17 (1) an assemblage of resources—natural, cul18 tural, and recreational—that include nationally sig19 nificant resources that together represent a distinc20 tive aspect of American heritage worthy of recogni21 tion, preservation, interpretation and continuing use

22 which are best managed as such, combining partner23 ships among public and private entities, diverse and

24 noncontiguous resources and active communities;
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1 (2) resources with demonstrated national im2 portance, such as National Landmarks or distinctive

3 properties listed on the National Register of Historic

4 Places;

5 (3) resources representing concepts which have

6 been identified by the Thematic Framework of the

7 National Park Service; and

8 (4) a variety of appropriate natural, rec9 reational, historic, and cultural resources and

10 themes.

11 (d) CONDITIONS FOR DESIGNATION.—The Congress

12 may designate an area as an American Heritage Area only

13 after the following conditions are met:

14 (1) The State in which the area to be consid15 ered is located has nominated to the Secretary the

16 area for inclusion in the Program.

17 (2) The Secretary has determined and reported

18 to the Congress that the area is suitable for inclu19 sion in the program, based on the criteria referred

20 to in subsection (c) and demonstrated strong com21 mitment and interest by the State, local and private

22 organizations involved to operate and maintain the

23 area on a long-term basis and to provide appropriate

24 regulatory assistance in preserving the area.
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1 (e) CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT FOR FEDERAL AND

2 STATE RESPONSIBILITIES.—Upon designation of an

3 American Heritage Area, the Secretary shall enter into a

4 contractual agreement with the State for the purposes of

5 establishing the respective Federal and State responsibil6 ities for implementing a management plan for the area.

7 The contractual agreement shall provide for, but not be

8 limited to—

9 (1) adequate opportunity for public involvement

10 in developing and implementing the plan;

11 (2) appropriate assurances on the part of

12 States and localities that the plan will be imple13 mented and followed;

14 (3) adequate State and local regulatory and fi15 nancial actions which provide for appropriate preser16 vation of the resources to be included;

17 (4) continuing oversight by the Secretary;

18 (5) specific obligations of the United States

19 Government, including the amount of any technical

20 assistance or grants to be provided; and

21 (6) specific State responsibilities, including the

22 financial commitment and administration.

23 (f) CAPITAL PROJECTS.—(1) Application for funds

24 for capital projects and improvements under this Act shall

25 be submitted to the Secretary and shall include a descrip-
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1 tion of how the project proposed to be funded will further

2 the purposes of the American Heritage Area in which the

3 project is located.

4 (2) Funds made available pursuant to this Act for

5 a capital project shall not exceed 50 percent of the total

6 costs of the project to be funded.

7 (3) In making such funds available, the Secretary

8 shall give consideration to projects which provide a greater

9 leverage of Federal funds. Any payment made shall be

10 subject to an agreement that conversion, use, or disposal

11 of the project so assisted for purposes contrary to the pur12 poses of this Act, as determined by the Secretary, shall

13 result in a right of the United States of reimbursement

14 of all funds made available to such project or the propor15 tion of the increased value of the project attributable to

16 such funds as determined at the time of such conversion,

17 use, or disposal, whichever is greater.

18 (g) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit

19 an annual report to Congress on the American Heritage

20 Partnership Program. Such report shall include—

21 (1) the number, amount, and recipients of any

22 grants provided by the Secretary and the nature of

23 any technical assistance provided pursuant to this

24 Act;
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1 (2) a description of the areas nominated for the

2 program;

3 (3) the Secretary’s recommendations for areas

4 to be designated by Congress, including areas which

5 have been nominated and those the Secretary has

6 determined are eligible but have not been nominated;

7 and

8 (4) the status of the implementation of contrac9 tual agreements entered into by the Secretary under

10 this program.

11 (h) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

12 is authorized to be appropriated from the Historic Preser13 vation Fund—

14 (1) $500,000 annually for technical assistance

15 pursuant to subsection (b) for areas before their

16 nomination, of which not more than $50,000 in total

17 may be made available for a specific area;

18 (2) $2,500,000 annually for the purposes au19 thorized by section 3(b)(1), of which not more than

20 $250,000 in total may be made available for a spe21 cific management plan under subsections (b)(1) and

22 (4); and

23 (3) $10,000,000 annually for capital projects

24 and improvements carried out pursuant to an ap25 proved plan, of which not more than $3,000,000 in
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1 total may be made available to any one American

2 Heritage Area.

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