I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 146 

To amend the American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996 to establish 

a battlefield acquisition grant program for the acquisition and protection 

of nationally significant battlefields and associated sites of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. 

WELCH, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, and Mr. PATRICK MURPHY of Pennsylvania) introduced 

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

A BILL 

To amend the American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996 

to establish a battlefield acquisition grant program for 

the acquisition and protection of nationally significant 

battlefields and associated sites of the Revolutionary War 

and the War of 1812, 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 ‘‘Revolutionary War and 

5 War of 1812 Battlefield Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BATTLEFIELD ACQUISITION GRANT PROGRAM FOR 

2 BATTLEFIELDS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY 

3 WAR AND WAR OF 1812. 

4 (a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The American Battlefield 

5 Protection Act of 1996 (section 604 of division I of Public 

6 Law 104–333; 16 U.S.C. 469k) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub8 section (f); and 

9 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol10 lowing new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(e) BATTLEFIELD ACQUISITION GRANT PROGRAM

12 FOR BATTLEFIELDS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND

13 WAR OF 1812.— 

14 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

15 ‘‘(A) BATTLEFIELD REPORT.—The term 

16 ‘battlefield report’ means the document entitled 

17 ‘Report to Congress on the Historic Preserva18 tion of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 

19 Sites in the United States’, prepared by the Na20 tional Park Service, and dated September 2007. 

21 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi22 ble entity’ means a State or local government. 

23 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE SITE.—The term ‘eligible 

24 site’ means a site that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) is not within the exterior bound2 aries of a unit of the National Park Sys3 tem; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) is identified in the battlefield re5 port. 

6 ‘‘(D) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 

7 means the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

8 through the American Battlefield Protection 

9 Program. 

10 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es11 tablish a battlefield acquisition grant program for 

12 nationally significant battlefields and associated sites 

13 of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 

14 under which the Secretary may make grants to eligi15 ble entities to pay the Federal share of the cost of 

16 acquiring fee-simple or lesser interests from willing 

17 sellers in eligible sites for the preservation and pro18 tection of those eligible sites. 

19 ‘‘(3) NONPROFIT PARTNERS.—An eligible entity 

20 may acquire an interest in an eligible site using a 

21 grant under this subsection in partnership with a 

22 nonprofit organization. 

23 ‘‘(4) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 

24 share of the total cost of acquiring an interest in an 


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1 eligible site under this subsection shall be not less 

2 than 50 percent. 

3 ‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS ON LAND USE.—An interest 

4 in an eligible site acquired under this subsection 

5 shall be subject to section 6(f)(3) of the Land and 

6 Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 

7 4601–8(f)(3)). 

8 ‘‘(6) REPORTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years 

10 after the date of the enactment of this sub11 section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 

12 a report on the activities carried out under this 

13 subsection. 

14 ‘‘(B) UPDATE ON BATTLEFIELD RE15 PORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date of 

16 the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary 

17 shall submit to Congress a report that updates 

18 the battlefield report to reflect— 

19 ‘‘(i) preservation activities carried out 

20 at the 677 battlefields and associated sites 

21 identified in the battlefield report during 

22 the period between publication of the bat23 tlefield report and the update; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) changes in the condition of the 

2 battlefields and associated sites during 

3 that period; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) any other relevant developments 

5 relating to the battlefields and associated 

6 sites during that period. 

7 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized 

9 to be appropriated to the Secretary from the 

10 Land and Water Conservation Fund to provide 

11 grants under this subsection $10,000,000 for 

12 each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. 

13 ‘‘(B) UPDATE OF BATTLEFIELD RE14 PORT.—There are authorized to be appro15 priated to the Secretary to carry out paragraph 

16 (6)(B), $500,000.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (1) REFERENCES TO OTHER BATTLEFIELD AC19 QUISITION PROGRAM.—Subsection (d) of the Amer20 ican Battlefield Protection Act of 1996, as added by 

21 section 3 of Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act 

22 of 2002 (Public Law 107–359; 116 Stat. 3016), is 

23 amended— 

24 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

25 ‘‘BATTLEFIELD ACQUISITION GRANT PROVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:54 Jan 09, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H146.IH H146

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1 GRAM’’ and inserting ‘‘BATTLEFIELD ACQUISI2 TION GRANT PROGRAM FOR BATTLEFIELDS OF

3 THE CIVIL WAR’’; and 

4 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘grant 

5 program’’ and inserting ‘‘grant program for 

6 battlefields of the Civil War’’; and 

7 (2) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—Subsection 

8 (f) of the American Battlefield Protection Act of 

9 1996, as redesignated by subsection (a)(1), is 

10 amended— 

11 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

12 ‘‘REPEAL’’ and inserting ‘‘EXPIRATION’’; and 

13 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘is re14 pealed’’ and inserting ‘‘expires’’. 

Æ 


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