Calendar No. 56

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 188

[Report No. 104–33]

A BILL

To establish the Great Falls Historic District in the

State of New Jersey, and for other purposes.

APRIL 7 (legislative day, APRIL 5), 1995

Reported without amendment
II

Calendar No. 56

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 188

[Report No. 104–33]

To establish the Great Falls Historic District in the State of New Jersey,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 10, 1995

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself and Mr. BRADLEY) introduced the following

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and

Natural Resources

APRIL 7 (legislative day, APRIL 5), 1995

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, without amendment

A BILL

To establish the Great Falls Historic District in the State

of New Jersey, 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 ‘‘Great Falls Preserva5 tion and Redevelopment Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) the Great Falls Historic District in the

4 State of New Jersey is an area of historical signifi5 cance as an early site of planned industrial develop6 ment, and has remained largely intact, including

7 architecturally significant structures;

8 (2) the Great Falls Historic District is listed on

9 the National Register of Historic Places and has

10 been designated a National Historic Landmark;

11 (3) the Great Falls Historic District is situated

12 within a one-half hour’s drive from New York City

13 and a 2 hour’s drive from Philadelphia, Hartford,

14 New Haven, and Wilmington;

15 (4) the District was developed by the Society of

16 Useful Manufactures, an organization whose leaders

17 included a number of historically renowned individ18 uals, including Alexander Hamilton; and

19 (5) the Great Falls Historic District has been

20 the subject of a number of studies that have shown

21 that the District possesses a combination of historic

22 significance and natural beauty worthy of and

23 uniquely situated for preservation and redevelop24 ment.

25 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

26 The purposes of this Act are—
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1 (1) to preserve and interpret, for the edu2 cational and inspirational benefit of the public, the

3 contribution to our national heritage of certain his4 toric and cultural lands and edifices of the Great

5 Falls Historic District, with emphasis on harnessing

6 this unique urban environment for its educational

7 and recreational value; and

8 (2) to enhance economic and cultural redevelop9 ment within the District.

10 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

11 In this Act:

12 (1) DISTRICT.—The term ‘‘District’’ means the

13 Great Falls Historic District established by section

14 5.

15 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

16 the Secretary of the Interior.

17 SEC. 5. GREAT FALLS HISTORIC DISTRICT.

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the

19 Great Falls Historic District in the city of Paterson, in

20 Passaic County, New Jersey.

21 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The boundaries of the District

22 shall be the boundaries specified for the Great Falls His23 toric District listed on the National Register of Historic

24 Places.
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1 SEC. 6. DEVELOPMENT PLAN.

2 (a) GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The

3 Secretary may make grants and enter into cooperative

4 agreements with the State of New Jersey, local govern5 ments, and private nonprofit entities under which the Sec6 retary agrees to pay not more than 50 percent of the costs

7 of—

8 (1) preparation of a plan for the development of

9 historic, architectural, natural, cultural, and inter10 pretive resources within the District; and

11 (2) implementation of projects approved by the

12 Secretary under the development plan.

13 (b) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—The development plan

14 shall include—

15 (1) an evaluation of—

16 (A) the physical condition of historic and

17 architectural resources; and

18 (B) the environmental and flood hazard

19 conditions within the District; and

20 (2) recommendations for—

21 (A) rehabilitating, reconstructing, and

22 adaptively reusing the historic and architectural

23 resources;

24 (B) preserving viewsheds, focal points, and

25 streetscapes;

26 (C) establishing gateways to the District;
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1 (D) establishing and maintaining parks

2 and public spaces;

3 (E) developing public parking areas;

4 (F) improving pedestrian and vehicular cir5 culation within the District;

6 (G) improving security within the District,

7 with an emphasis on preserving historically sig8 nificant structures from arson; and

9 (H) establishing a visitors’ center.

10 SEC. 7. RESTORATION, PRESERVATION, AND INTERPRETA11 TION OF PROPERTIES.

12 (a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary

13 may enter into cooperative agreements with the owners of

14 properties within the District that the Secretary deter15 mines to be of historical or cultural significance, under

16 which the Secretary may—

17 (1) pay not more than 50 percent of the cost

18 of restoring and improving the properties;

19 (2) provide technical assistance with respect to

20 the preservation and interpretation of the properties;

21 and

22 (3) mark and provide interpretation of the

23 properties.

24 (b) PROVISIONS.—A cooperative agreement under

25 subsection (a) shall provide that—
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1 (1) the Secretary shall have the right of access

2 at reasonable times to public portions of the prop3 erty for interpretive and other purposes;

4 (2) no change or alteration may be made in the

5 property except with the agreement of the property

6 owner, the Secretary, and any Federal agency that

7 may have regulatory jurisdiction over the property;

8 and

9 (3) if at any time the property is converted,

10 used, or disposed of in a manner that is contrary to

11 the purposes of this Act, as determined by the Sec12 retary, the property owner shall be liable to the Sec13 retary for the greater of—

14 (A) the amount of assistance provided by

15 the Secretary for the property; or

16 (B) the portion of the increased value of

17 the property that is attributable to that assist18 ance, determined as of the date of the conver19 sion, use, or disposal.

20 (c) APPLICATIONS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A property owner that de22 sires to enter into a cooperative agreement under

23 subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary an ap24 plication describing how the project proposed to be

25 funded will further the purposes of the District.
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1 (2) CONSIDERATION.—In making such funds

2 available under this section, the Secretary shall give

3 consideration to projects that provide a greater le4 verage of Federal funds.

5 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

6 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec7 retary to carry out this Act—

8 (1) $250,000 for grants and cooperative agree9 ments for the development plan under section 6; and

10 (2) $50,000 for the provision of technical as11 sistance and $3,000,000 for the provision of other

12 assistance under cooperative agreements under sec13 tion 7.