II

Calendar No. 173

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 762

[Report No. 106–91]

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study on

the inclusion of the Miami Circle in Biscayne National Park.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 25, 1999

Mr. GRAHAM introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

JUNE 24, 1999

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment and an amendment to the

title

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility

study on the inclusion of the Miami Circle in Biscayne

National Park.

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.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the Tequesta Indians were one of the ear2 liest groups to establish permanent villages in south3 east Florida;

4 (2) the Tequestas had one of only two North

5 American civilizations that thrived and developed

6 into a complex social chiefdom without an agricul7 tural base;

8 (3) the Tequesta sites that remain preserved

9 today are rare;

10 (4) the discovery of the Miami Circle, occupied

11 by the Tequesta approximately 2,000 years ago, pre12 sents a valuable new opportunity to learn more

13 about the Tequesta culture;

14 (5) Biscayne National Park in Homestead,

15 Florida, contains and protects several prehistoric

16 Tequesta sites; and

17 (6) as a valuable archaeological resource and

18 the only Tequesta site of its kind known to exist in

19 Florida, the Miami Circle should be preserved and

20 protected as part of the Park.

21 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to direct

22 the Secretary to determine the feasibility of including the

23 Miami Circle in the Biscayne National Park.

24 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

25 In this Act:
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1 (1) MIAMI CIRCLE.—The term ‘‘Miami Circle’’

2 means the property in Miami-Dade County of the

3 State of Florida consisting of the three parcels de4 scribed in Exhibit A in the appendix to the summons

5 to show cause and notice of eminent domain pro6 ceedings, filed February 18, 1999, in Miami-Dade

7 County v. Brickell Point, Ltd., in the circuit court

8 of the 11th judicial circuit of Florida in and for

9 Miami-Dade County.

10 (2) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means Biscayne

11 National Park in the southern part of the State of

12 Florida.

13 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

14 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di15 rector of the National Park Service.

16 SEC. 3. FEASIBILITY STUDY.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year and 180

18 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

19 shall conduct a study to determine the feasibility of includ20 ing the Miami Circle in the Park.

21 (b) COMPONENTS.—The study shall include the anal22 ysis and recommendations of the Secretary with respect

23 to—
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1 (1) which, if any, particular areas of or sur2 rounding the Miami Circle should be included in the

3 Park;

4 (2) whether any additional staff, facilities, or

5 other resources would be necessary to administer the

6 Miami Circle as a unit of the Park; and

7 (3) any impact on the local area that would re8 sult from the inclusion of Miami Circle in the Park.

9 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after comple10 tion of the feasibility study, the Secretary shall submit a

11 report describing the findings and recommendations of the

12 study to—

13 (1) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re14 sources of the Senate; and

15 (2) the Committee on Resources of the House

16 of Representatives.

17 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

18 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec19 essary to carry out this Act.

20 SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

21 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

22 (1) the Tequesta Indians were one of the earliest

23 groups to establish permanent villages in southeast

24 Florida;
5

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1 (2) the Tequestas had one of only two North

2 American civilizations that thrived and developed

3 into a complex social chiefdom without an agricul4 tural base;

5 (3) the Tequesta sites that remain preserved

6 today are rare;

7 (4) the discovery of the Miami Circle, occupied

8 by the Tequesta approximately 2,000 years ago, pre9 sents a valuable new opportunity to learn more about

10 the Tequesta culture; and

11 (5) Biscayne National Park also contains and

12 protects several prehistoric Tequesta sites.

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to direct the

14 Secretary to conduct a special resource study to determine

15 the national significance of the Miami Circle site as well

16 as the suitability and feasibility of its inclusion in the Na17 tional Park System as part of Biscayne National Park.

18 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

19 In this Act:

20 (1) MIAMI CIRCLE.—The term ‘‘Miami Circle’’

21 means the property in Miami-Dade County of the

22 State of Florida consisting of the three parcels de23 scribed in Exhibit A in the appendix to the summons

24 to show cause and notice of eminent domain pro25 ceedings, filed February 18, 1999, in Miami-Dade
6

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1 County v. Brickell Point, Ltd., in the circuit court of

2 the 11th judicial circuit of Florida in and for Miami3 Dade County.

4 (2) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means Biscayne

5 National Park in the State of Florida.

6 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

7 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di8 rector of the National Park Service.

9 SEC. 3. SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the

11 date funds are made available, the Secretary shall conduct

12 a special resource study as described in subsection (b). In

13 conducting the study, the Secretary shall consult with the

14 appropriate American Indian tribes and other interested

15 groups and organizations.

16 (b) COMPONENTS.—In addition to a determination of

17 national significance, feasibility, and suitability, the spe18 cial resource study shall include the analysis and rec19 ommendations of the Secretary with respect to—

20 (1) which, if any, particular areas of or sur21 rounding the Miami Circle should be included in the

22 Park;

23 (2) whether any additional staff, facilities, or

24 other resources would be necessary to administer the

25 Miami Circle as a unit of the Park; and
7

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1 (3) any impact on the local area that would re2 sult from the inclusion of Miami Circle in the Park.

3 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after completion

4 of the study, the Secretary shall submit a report describing

5 the findings and recommendations of the study to the Com6 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and

7 the Committee on Resources of the United States House of

8 Representatives.

9 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are

10 authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary

11 to carry out this Act.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to direct the

Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource

study to determine the national significance of the Miami

Circle site in the State of Florida as well as the suitability and feasibility of its inclusion in the National

Park System as part of Biscayne National Park, and for

other purposes.’’.
Calendar No. 173

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 762

[Report No. 106–91]

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct

Circle in Biscayne National Park.a feasibility study on the inclusion of the Miami

JUNE 24, 1999

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the

title