I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 703 

To establish the First State National Historical Park in the State of 

Delaware, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2013 

Mr. CARNEY (for himself and Mr. MEEHAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the First State National Historical Park in 

the State of Delaware, 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 ‘‘First State National 

5 Historical Park Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) HISTORICAL PARK.—The term ‘‘historical 

9 park’’ means the First State National Historical 

10 Park established by section 3(a)(1). 


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

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

3 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

4 (A) the State of Delaware; and 

5 (B) in the case of the property described in 

6 section 3(b)(8), the States of Delaware and 

7 Pennsylvania. 

8 SEC. 3. FIRST STATE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

11 there is established the First State National Histor12 ical Park, to be administered as a unit of the Na13 tional Park System. 

14 (2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the historical 

15 park are to preserve, protect, and interpret the na16 tionally significant cultural and historic resources in 

17 the State that are associated with— 

18 (A) early Dutch, Swedish, and English set19 tlement of the Colony of Delaware and portions 

20 of the Colony of Pennsylvania; and 

21 (B) the role of Delaware— 

22 (i) in the birth of the United States; 

23 and 

24 (ii) as the first State to ratify the 

25 Constitution. 


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1 (3) DETERMINATION BY SECRETARY.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The historical park 

3 shall not be established until the date on which 

4 the Secretary determines that sufficient land or 

5 interests in land have been acquired from 

6 among the sites described in subsection (b) to 

7 constitute a manageable park unit. 

8 (B) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days 

9 after making a determination under subpara10 graph (A), the Secretary shall publish a notice 

11 in the Federal Register of the establishment of 

12 the historical park, including an official bound13 ary map for the historical park. 

14 (C) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The map 

15 published under subparagraph (B) shall be on 

16 file and available for public inspection in the 

17 appropriate offices of the National Park Serv18 ice. 

19 (b) HISTORIC SITES.—The Secretary may include the 

20 following sites within the boundary of the historical park 

21 as generally depicted on the maps numbered 1 through 

22 6, entitled ‘‘First State National Historical Park, New 

23 Castle, Kent, Sussex Counties, DE and Delaware County, 

24 PA’’ and ‘‘First State National Historical Park, 


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1 Woodlawn’’, numbered T19/80,000G, and dated February 

2 2013: 

3 (1) The Old Sherriff’s House in New Castle 

4 County, Delaware, as depicted on map 4 of 6. 

5 (2) Fort Christina National Historic Landmark 

6 in New Castle County, Delaware, as depicted on 

7 map 3 of 6. 

8 (3) Old Swedes Church National Historic Land9 mark in New Castle County, Delaware, as depicted 

10 on map 3 of 6. 

11 (4) Old New Castle Courthouse in New Castle, 

12 Delaware, as depicted on map 4 of 6. 

13 (5) John Dickinson Plantation National His14 toric Landmark in Kent County, Delaware, as de15 picted on map 5 of 6. 

16 (6) Dover Green in Kent County, Delaware, as 

17 depicted on map 5 of 6. 

18 (7) Ryves Holt House in Sussex County, Dela19 ware, as depicted on map 6 of 6. 

20 (8) The Woodlawn property in New Castle 

21 County, Delaware, and Delaware County, Pennsyl22 vania, as depicted on map 2 of 6. 

23 (9) Old New Castle Green, in New Castle, Dela24 ware, as depicted on map 4 of 6. 


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1 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall administer 

3 the historical park in accordance with— 

4 (1) this Act; and 

5 (2) the laws generally applicable to units of the 

6 National Park System, including— 

7 (A) the National Park System Organic Act 

8 (16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); and 

9 (B) the Act of August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 

10 461 et seq.). 

11 (b) LAND ACQUISITION.— 

12 (1) METHODS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

14 subparagraph (B), the Secretary may acquire 

15 all or a portion of any of the sites described in 

16 section 3(b), including easements or other inter17 ests in land, by purchase from a willing seller, 

18 donation, or exchange. 

19 (B) DONATION ONLY.— 

20 (i) PROPOSED NPS SITE.—The Sec21 retary may acquire only by donation all or 

22 a portion of the property identified as 

23 ‘‘Proposed NPS Site’’ on map 2 of 6 enti24 tled ‘‘First State National Historical Park, 

25 Woodlawn’’, numbered T19/80,000G, and 


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1 dated February 2013, including easements 

2 or other interests in land. 

3 (ii) AREA FOR POTENTIAL ADDITION

4 BY DONATION.—The Secretary may ac5 quire only by donation all or a portion of 

6 the property identified as ‘‘Area for Poten7 tial Addition by Donation’’ on map 2 of 6 

8 entitled ‘‘First State National Historical 

9 Park, Woodlawn’’, numbered T19/ 

10 80,000G, and dated February 2013. 

11 (2) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—On acquisition 

12 of land or an interest in land under paragraph (1), 

13 the boundary of the historical park shall be adjusted 

14 to reflect the acquisition. 

15 (c) INTERPRETIVE TOURS.—The Secretary may pro16 vide interpretive tours to sites and resources in the State 

17 that are located outside the boundary of the historical 

18 park and associated with the purposes for which the his19 torical park is established, including— 

20 (1) Fort Casimir; 

21 (2) DeVries Monument; 

22 (3) Amstel House; 

23 (4) Dutch House; and 

24 (5) Zwaanendael Museum. 

25 (d) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter 

2 into a cooperative agreement with the State, political 

3 subdivisions of the State, institutions of higher edu4 cation, nonprofit organizations, and individuals to 

5 mark, interpret, and restore nationally significant 

6 historic or cultural resources within the boundaries 

7 of the historical park, if the cooperative agreement 

8 provides for reasonable public access to the re9 sources. 

10 (2) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 

11 (A) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share 

12 of the total cost of any activity carried out 

13 under a cooperative agreement entered into 

14 under paragraph (1) shall be not more than 50 

15 percent. 

16 (B) FORM OF NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The 

17 non-Federal share may be in the form of in18 kind contributions or goods or services fairly 

19 valued. 

20 (e) MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 fiscal years 

22 after the date on which funds are made available to 

23 carry out this subsection, the Secretary shall com24 plete a management plan for the historical park. 


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1 (2) APPLICABLE LAW.—The management plan 

2 shall be prepared in accordance with section 12(b) of 

3 Public Law 91–383 (16 U.S.C. 1a–7(b)) and other 

4 applicable laws. 

5 SEC. 5. NATIONAL LANDMARK STUDY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 

7 date on which funds are made available to carry out this 

8 section, the Secretary shall complete a study assessing the 

9 historical significance of additional properties in the State 

10 that are associated with the purposes of historical park. 

11 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The study prepared under 

12 subsection (a) shall include an assessment of the potential 

13 for designating the additional properties as National His14 toric Landmarks. 

15 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

17 as are necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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