II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 944

To provide for the establishment of the Ohio River Corridor Study

Commission, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 20 (legislative day, JUNE 19), 1995

Mr. SIMON (for himself, Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN, and Mr. COATS) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To provide for the establishment of the Ohio River Corridor

Study Commission, 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 ‘‘Ohio River Corridor

5 Study Commission Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS, DECLARATIONS, AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS.—Congress finds

8 and declares that—

9 (1) the amenities and resources of the Ohio

10 River, which flows through 6 States from its head-
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1 waters in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to its

2 confluence with the Mississippi River and comprises

3 a chain of commercial, industrial, historical, archae4 ological, natural, recreational, scenic, wildlife, urban,

5 rural, cultural, and economic areas, are of major sig6 nificance and importance to the United States;

7 (2) the national interest is served by—

8 (A) preserving, protecting, and improving

9 those amenities and resources for the benefit of

10 the people of the United States; and

11 (B) improving the coordination between all

12 levels of government in the Ohio River Corridor;

13 (3) the preservation, protection, and improve14 ment of those amenities and resources are failing to

15 be fully realized despite efforts by the States

16 through which the Ohio River flows, political sub17 divisions of those States, and volunteer associations

18 and private businesses in those States;

19 (4) Federal agency programs are offering insuf20 ficient coordination to State and local planning and

21 regulatory authorities to provide for resource man22 agement and economic development in a manner

23 that is consistent with the protection and public use

24 of the Ohio River Corridor’s amenities and re25 sources; and
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1 (5) the Federal Government should assist in the

2 coordination, preservation, and interpretation activi3 ties of public and private entities with respect to the

4 significant amenities and resources associated with

5 the Ohio River.

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

7 (1) focus attention on the unique and nationally

8 significant resources of the Ohio River Corridor;

9 (2) provide a means and a stimulus for coordi10 nating the preservation, protection, improvement,

11 enjoyment, and utilization of the resources of the

12 Ohio River Corridor; and

13 (3) establish a national entity to gather, assess,

14 and disseminate information on the historic, eco15 nomic, natural, recreational, scenic, and cultural op16 portunities in the Ohio River Corridor.

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this Act:

19 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’

20 means the Ohio River Corridor Study Commission

21 established by section 4.

22 (2) OHIO RIVER CORRIDOR.—The term ‘‘Ohio

23 River Corridor’’ means the Ohio River from Pitts24 burgh, Pennsylvania, to Cairo, Illinois, and the coun-
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1 ties through which or adjacent to which the Ohio

2 River flows.

3 (3) OHIO RIVER STATE.—The term ‘‘Ohio River

4 State’’ means any of the States of Illinois, Ken5 tucky, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylva6 nia.

7 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

8 There is established a commission to be known as the

9 ‘‘Ohio River Corridor Study Commission’’.

10 SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

11 (a) STUDY.—The Commission shall study and make

12 recommendations regarding—

13 (1) the feasibility of establishing an Ohio River

14 National Heritage Corridor for the Ohio River Cor15 ridor; and

16 (2) the preservation, protection, improvement,

17 enjoyment, and utilization of the historic, economic,

18 natural, recreational, scenic, and cultural resources

19 of the Ohio River Corridor consistent with the pur20 poses of this Act.

21 (b) INFORMATION COLLECTION; CONSULTATION.—

22 As part of the study conducted under subsection (a), the

23 Commission shall—

24 (1) assess the preservation, protection, improve25 ment, enjoyment, and utilization potential of the his-
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1 toric, economic, natural, recreational, scenic, and

2 cultural resources of the Ohio River Corridor;

3 (2) collect information dealing with continuing

4 activities, management plans, and opportunities re5 garding the historic, economic, natural, recreational,

6 scenic, and cultural resources of the Ohio River Cor7 ridor;

8 (3) make such information available to Federal

9 agencies, States, political subdivisions of States,

10 tribal governments, educational institutions, volun11 teer associations, and private businesses to assist

12 those entities in undertaking activities to preserve,

13 protect, improve, or utilize the historic, economic,

14 natural, recreational, scenic, or cultural resources of

15 the Ohio River Corridor;

16 (4) consult with the Ohio River Valley Water

17 Sanitation Commission and the Ohio River Basin

18 Commission, and cooperate with the commissions in

19 the performance of its duties;

20 (5) provide a forum for the consideration of re21 source issues relating to the Ohio River Corridor;

22 (6) seek and encourage the participation of af23 fected State and local governments, interested citi24 zens, public officials, groups, agencies, educational

25 institutions, and others in the preservation, protec-
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1 tion, improvement, enjoyment, and utilization of the

2 Ohio River Corridor’s resources;

3 (7) recommend means for educating the general

4 population about the national importance and value

5 of the Ohio River as a natural resource and national

6 treasure; and

7 (8) hold at least 1 well-publicized public hearing

8 in each Ohio River State.

9 (c) REPORT.—The Commission shall prepare a re10 port—

11 (1) describing the results of the study con12 ducted under subsection (a); and

13 (2) containing—

14 (A) a description of the Ohio River Cor15 ridor and the proposed boundaries of an Ohio

16 River National Heritage Corridor (if establish17 ment of a national heritage corridor is rec18 ommended) showing the corridor and such

19 zones as may be appropriate;

20 (B) an inventory and assessment of the

21 historic, economic, natural, recreational, scenic,

22 and cultural resources of the Ohio River Cor23 ridor;

24 (C) specific preservation and interpretation

25 goals;
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1 (D) proposed management strategies by

2 which the funds, data, personnel, and authori3 ties of public and private entities may be com4 bined and coordinated in furtherance of the

5 purposes of this Act; and

6 (E) such recommendations as the Commis7 sion may consider appropriate with respect to

8 the matters addressed in subparagraphs (A)

9 through (D) and with respect to public access

10 to and interpretation of the natural and cul11 tural resources of the Ohio River and related

12 outdoor recreation opportunities.

13 SEC. 6. ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMISSION.

14 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission

15 shall be composed of 11 members as follows:

16 (1) The Director of the National Park Service

17 (or designee).

18 (2) The Secretary of Transportation (or des19 ignee).

20 (3) The Secretary of Commerce (or designee).

21 (4) The Director of the United States Fish and

22 Wildlife Service (or designee).

23 (5) The Chief of Engineers of the Army Corps

24 of Engineers (or designee).
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1 (6) One member from each Ohio River State

2 appointed by the Governor of the State.

3 (b) TERMS.—A member of the Commission shall be

4 appointed for the duration of the Commission.

5 (c) PAY.—A member of the Commission shall serve

6 without pay.

7 (d) REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES.—While away

8 from the home or regular place of business of a member

9 of the Commission in the performance of services for the

10 Commission, the member of the Commission shall be al11 lowed travel expenses, including a per diem allowance in

12 lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as a person em13 ployed intermittently in Government service is allowed

14 travel expenses under section 5703 of title 5, United

15 States Code.

16 (e) QUORUM.—

17 (1) NUMBER.—Seven members of the Commis18 sion shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number

19 of members may hold hearings.

20 (2) PROXY VOTING.—A member of the Commis21 sion may vote by means of a signed proxy exercised

22 by another member of the Commission, but any

23 member so voting shall not be considered to be

24 present for purposes of establishing a quorum.
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1 (f) CHAIRPERSON.—The members of the Commission

2 shall elect a chairperson of the Commission from among

3 the members appointed under subsection (a)(6).

4 (g) MEETINGS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall meet

6 at the call of the chairperson or a majority of the

7 members.

8 (2) FIRST MEETING.—The Director of the Na9 tional Park Service shall select the date of the first

10 meeting (which date shall be not later than 30 days

11 after the members of the Commission are first ap12 pointed) and shall serve as chairperson until the

13 election of the chairperson under subsection (f).

14 (h) TECHNICAL COMMITTEE.—The Commission may

15 appoint a technical committee with representation from

16 the various interest groups, professional agencies, or advo17 cacy groups within the Ohio River States with each State

18 having at least 1 member.

19 (i) WAIVER.—Section 14(b) of the Federal Advisory

20 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the

21 Commission.
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1 SEC. 7. STAFF OF COMMISSION; EXPERTS AND CONSULT2 ANTS; PERSONNEL OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.

3 (a) LEAD AGENCY.—The National Park Service

4 shall, if personnel are available, staff and advise the Com5 mission.

6 (b) STAFF.—If National Park Service personnel are

7 not available, the Commission, with the advice of the Di8 rector of the National Park Service, may appoint and fix

9 the pay of such staff as the Commission considers appro10 priate, subject to—

11 (1) the provisions of title 5, United States

12 Code, governing appointments in the competitive

13 service; and

14 (2) the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter

15 III of chapter 53 of that title relating to classifica16 tion and General Schedule pay rates.

17 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Commission,

18 with the advice of the Director of the National Park Serv19 ice (or designee), may procure temporary and intermittent

20 services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States

21 Code.

22 (d) PERSONNEL OF STATES AND POLITICAL SUB23 DIVISIONS.—The Commission may—

24 (1) accept the services of personnel detailed

25 from an Ohio River State or a political subdivision

26 of an Ohio River State; and
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1 (2) reimburse the State or subdivision for such

2 services.

3 (e) PERSONNEL OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—On an as

4 needed basis, at the request of the Commission, with the

5 advice of the Director of the National Park Service, the

6 head of any Federal agency may detail, on a reimbursable

7 basis, any of the personnel of the agency to the Commis8 sion to assist the Commission in carrying out its duties

9 under this Act.

10 SEC. 8. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

11 (a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—For the purpose of

12 carrying out this Act, the Commission may hold such

13 hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such

14 testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission

15 considers appropriate.

16 (b) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any mem17 ber or agent of the Commission may, if authorized by the

18 Commission, take any action that the Commission is au19 thorized to take by this section.

20 (c) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United

21 States mails in the same manner and under the same con22 ditions as other departments and agencies of the United

23 States.

24 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Ad25 ministrator of General Services shall provide to the Com-
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1 mission on a reimbursable basis such administrative sup2 port services as the Commission may request.

3 SEC. 9. SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.

4 (a) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after

5 the date of the first meeting of the Commission, the Com6 mission shall submit to the President, the Speaker of the

7 House of Representatives, the President of the Senate,

8 and the Governor of each Ohio River State a report de9 scribing the progress of the Commission in carrying out

10 the duties of the Commission under section 5.

11 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the

12 date of the first meeting of the Commission, the Commis13 sion shall submit to the President, the Speaker of the

14 House of Representatives, the President of the Senate,

15 and the Governor of each Ohio River State the report re16 quired by section 5(c).

17 SEC. 10. TERMINATION OF COMMISSION.

18 Notwithstanding section 14(a)(2) of the Federal Ad19 visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), the Commission

20 shall cease to exist 90 days after submitting the report

21 required by section 5(c).

22 SEC. 11. CONSENT TO NEGOTIATE PROPOSED COMPACTS.

23 Congress consents to the negotiation by an Ohio

24 River State with 1 or more of other Ohio River States
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1 of proposed interstate agreements or compacts among the

2 States in furtherance of the purposes of this Act.

3 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

5 this Act $500,000, to remain available until expended.

Æ