Calendar No. 599

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 608

A BILL

To establish the New Bedford Whaling National

and for other purposes.Historical Park in New Bedford, Massachusetts,

SEPTEMBER 16, 1996

Reported with amendments
II

Calendar No. 599

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 608

To establish the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park in New

Bedford, Massachusetts, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 23, 1995

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mr. KERRY) introduced the following bill;

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

Natural Resources

SEPTEMBER 16, 1996

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with amendments

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To establish the New Bedford Whaling National Historical

Park in New Bedford, Massachusetts, 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. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

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

5 (1) the New Bedford National Historic Land6 mark District and associated historic sites as de-
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1 scribed in section 3(b) of this Act, including the

2 Schooner Ernestina, are National Historic Land3 marks and are listed on the National Register of

4 Historic Places as historic sites associated with the

5 history of whaling in the United States;

6 (2) the city of New Bedford was the 19th cen7 tury capital of the world’s whaling industry and re8 tains significant architectural features, archival ma9 terials, and museum collections illustrative of this

10 period;

11 (3) New Bedford’s historic resources provide

12 unique opportunities for illustrating and interpreting

13 the whaling industry’s contribution to the economic,

14 social, and environmental history of the United

15 States and provide opportunities for public use and

16 enjoyment; and

17 (4) the National Park System presently con18 tains no sites commemorating whaling and its con19 tribution to American history.

20 (4) during the nineteenth century, over two thou21 sand whaling voyages sailed out of New Bedford for

22 the Arctic region of Alaska, and joined Alaska Natives

23 from Barrow, Alaska and other areas in the Arctic re24 gion in subsistence whaling activities; and
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1 (5) the National Park System presently contains

2 no sites commemorating whaling and its contribution

3 to American history.

4 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

5 (1) to help preserve, protect, and interpret the

6 resources within the areas described in section 3(b)

7 of this Act, including architecture, setting, and asso8 ciated archival and museum collections;

9 (2) to collaborate with the city of New Bedford

10 and with local associated historical, cultural, and

11 preservation organizations to further the purposes of

12 the park established under this Act; and

13 (3) to provide opportunities for the inspirational

14 benefit and education of the American people.

15 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

16 For the purposes of this Act:

17 (1) The term ‘‘park’’ means the New Bedford

18 Whaling National Historical Park established by sec19 tion 3.

20 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

21 of the Interior.

22 SEC. 3. NEW BEDFORD WHALING NATIONAL HISTORICAL

23 PARK.

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In order to preserve for the

25 benefit and inspiration of the people of the United States
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1 as a national historical park certain districts structures,

2 and relics located in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and as3 sociated with the history of whaling and related social and

4 economic themes in America, there is established the New

5 Bedford Whaling National Historical Park.

6 (b) BOUNDARIES.—(1) The boundaries of the park

7 shall be those generally depicted on the map numbered

8 NAR–P49–80000–4 and dated June 1994. Such map

9 shall be on file and available for public inspection in the

10 appropriate offices of the National Park Service. In case

11 of any conflict between the descriptions set forth in sub12 paragraphs (A) through (D) and such map, such map

13 shall govern. The park shall include the following:

14 (A) The area included within the New Bedford

15 National Historic Landmark District, known as the

16 Bedford Landing Waterfront Historic District, as

17 listed within the National Register of Historic Places

18 and in the Massachusetts State Register of Historic

19 Places.

20 (B) The National Historic Landmark Schooner

21 Ernestina, with its home port in New Bedford.

22 (C) The land along the eastern boundary of the

23 New Bedford National Historic Landmark District

24 over to the east side of MacArthur Drive from the
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1 Route 6 overpass on the north to an extension of

2 School Street on the south.

3 (D) The land north of Elm Street in New Bed4 ford, bounded by Acushnet Avenue on the west,

5 Route 6 (ramps) on the north, MacArthur Drive on

6 the east, and Elm Street on the south.

7 (2) In addition to the sites, areas and relics referred

8 to in paragraph (1) , the Secretary may assist in the inter9 pretation and preservation of each of the following:

10 (A) The southwest corner of the State Pier.

11 (B) Waterfront Park, immediately south of land

12 adjacent to the State Pier.

13 (C) The Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden

14 Museum, located at 396 County Street.

15 (D) The Wharfinger Building, located on Piers

16 3 and 4.

17 (E) The Bourne Counting House, located on

18 Merrill’s Wharf.

19 (c) RELATED FACILITIES.—To ensure that the con20 tribution of Alaska Natives to the history of whaling in the

21 United States is fully recognized, the Secretary shall pro22 vide—(1) financial and other assistance to establish links

23 between the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

24 and the North Slope Borough Cultural Center, located in

25 Barrow, Alaska; and (2) to provide other appropriate as-
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1 sistance and funding for the North Slope Borough Cultural

2 Center.

3 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION OF PARK.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The park shall be administered by

5 the Secretary in accordance with this Act and the provi6 sions of law generally applicable to units of the national

7 park system, including the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to estab8 lish a National Park Service, and for other purposes’’, ap9 proved August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 1, 2,

10 3, and 4) and the Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666;

11 16 U.S.C. 461–467).

12 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—(1) The Secretary

13 may consult and enter into cooperative agreements with

14 interested entities and individuals to provide for the pres15 ervation, development, interpretation, and use of the park.

16 (2) Any payment made by the Secretary pursuant to

17 a cooperative agreement under this subsection shall be

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

19 of the project so assisted for purposes contrary to the pur20 poses of this Act, as determined by the Secretary, shall

21 result in a right of the United States to reimbursement

22 of all funds made available to such project or the propor23 tion of the increased value of the project attributable to

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

25 use, or disposal, whichever is greater.
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1 (c) NON-FEDERAL MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—(1)

2 Funds authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for

3 the purposes of—

4 (A) cooperative agreements under subsection

5 (b) shall be expended in the ratio of one dollar of

6 Federal funds for each four dollars of funds contrib7 uted by non-Federal sources; and

8 (B) construction, restoration, and rehabilitation

9 of visitor and interpretive facilities (other than an10 nual operation and maintenance costs) shall be ex11 pended in the ratio of one dollar of Federal funds

12 for each one dollar of funds contributed by non-Fed13 eral sources.

14 (2) For the purposes of this subsection, the Secretary

15 is authorized to accept from non-Federal sources, and to

16 utilize for purposes of this Act, any money so contributed.

17 With the approval of the Secretary, any donation of prop18 erty, services, or goods from a non-Federal source may

19 be considered as a contribution of funds from a non-Fed20 eral source for the purposes of this subsection.

21 (d) ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY.—For the pur22 poses of the park, the Secretary may acquire only by dona23 tion lands, interests in lands, and improvements thereon

24 within the park.
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1 (e) OTHER PROPERTY, FUNDS, AND SERVICES.—The

2 Secretary may accept donated funds, property, and serv3 ices to carry out this Act.

4 SEC. 5. GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLAN.

5 Not later than the end of the second fiscal year begin6 ning after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

7 shall submit to the Committee on Resources of the House

8 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and

9 Natural Resources of the Senate a general management

10 plan for the park and shall implement such plan as soon

11 as practically possible. The plan shall be prepared in ac12 cordance with section 12(b) of the Act of August 18, 1970

13 (16 U.S.C. 1a–7(b)) and other applicable law.

14 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

16 (b), there are authorized to be appropriated such sums

17 as may be necessary to carry out annual operations and

18 maintenance with respect to the park. park, and to carry

19 out the activities under section 3(c).

20 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—In carrying out this Act—

21 (1) not more than $2,000,000 may be appro22 priated for construction, restoration, and rehabilita23 tion of visitor and interpretive facilities, and direc24 tional and visitor orientation signage;
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1 (2) none of the funds authorized to be appro2 priated by this Act may be used for the operation or

3 maintenance of the Schooner Ernestina; and

4 (3) not more than $50,000 annually of Federal

5 funds may be used for interpretive and educational

6 programs for the Schooner Ernestina pursuant to

7 cooperative grants under section 4(b).