I

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1403

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 20, 1998

Referred to the Committee on Resources

AN ACT

To amend the National Historic Preservation Act for purposes of establishing a national historic lighthouse preservation program.

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 ‘‘National Historic

5 Lighthouse Preservation Act of 1998’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF HISTORIC LIGHT STATIONS.

2 Title III of the National Historic Preservation Act

3 (16 U.S.C. 470w–470w–6) is amended by adding at the

4 end the following new section:

5 ‘‘§ 308. Historic lighthouse preservation

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to provide a national

7 historic light station program, the Secretary shall—

8 ‘‘(1) collect and disseminate information con9 cerning historic light stations, including historic

10 lighthouses and associated structures;

11 ‘‘(2) foster educational programs relating to the

12 history, practice, and contribution to society of his13 toric light stations;

14 ‘‘(3) sponsor or conduct research and study into

15 the history of light stations;

16 ‘‘(4) maintain a listing of historic light stations;

17 and

18 ‘‘(5) assess the effectiveness of the program es19 tablished by this section regarding the conveyance of

20 historic light stations.

21 ‘‘(b) CONVEYANCE OF HISTORIC LIGHT STATIONS.—

22 ‘‘(1) Within one year of the date of enactment

23 of this section, the Secretary and the Administrator

24 of General Services (hereinafter Administrator) shall

25 establish a process for identifying, and selecting, an

26 eligible entity to which a historic light station could
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1 be conveyed for education, park, recreation, cultural,

2 or historic preservation purposes.

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall review all applicants

4 for the conveyance of a historic light station, when

5 the historic light station has been identified as ex6 cess to the needs of the agency with administrative

7 jurisdiction over the historic light station, and for8 ward to the Administrator a single approved applica9 tion for the conveyance of the historic light station.

10 When selecting an eligible entity, the Secretary may

11 consult with the State Historic Preservation Officer

12 of the state in which the historic light station is lo13 cated. A priority of consideration shall be afforded

14 public entities that submit applications in which the

15 public entity enters into a partnership with a non16 profit organization whose primary mission is historic

17 light station preservation.

18 ‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in paragraph (B),

19 the Administrator shall convey, by quit claim deed,

20 without consideration, all right, title, and interest of

21 the United States in and to the historic light station,

22 subject to the conditions set forth in subsection (c).

23 The conveyance of a historic light station under this

24 section shall not be subject to the provisions of 42

25 U.S.C. 11301 et seq.
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1 ‘‘(B)(i) Historic light stations located within the

2 exterior boundaries of a unit of the National Park

3 System or a refuge within the National Wildlife Ref4 uge System shall be conveyed or sold only with the

5 approval of the Secretary.

6 ‘‘(ii) If the Secretary approves the conveyance

7 or sale of a historic light station referenced in this

8 paragraph, such conveyance or sale shall be subject

9 to the conditions set forth in subsection (c) and any

10 other terms or conditions the Secretary considers

11 necessary to protect the resources of the park unit

12 or wildlife refuge.

13 ‘‘(iii) For those historic light stations ref14 erenced in this paragraph, the Secretary is encour15 aged to enter cooperative agreements with appro16 priate eligible entities, as provided in this Act, to the

17 extent such cooperative agreements are consistent

18 with the Secretary’s responsibilities to manage and

19 administer the park unit or wildlife refuge, as appro20 priate.

21 ‘‘(c) TERMS OF CONVEYANCE.—

22 ‘‘(1) The conveyance of a historic light station

23 shall be made subject to any conditions the Adminis24 trator considers necessary to ensure that—
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1 ‘‘(A) the lights, antennas, sound signal,

2 electronic navigation equipment, and associated

3 light station equipment located at the historic

4 light station, which are active aids to naviga5 tion, shall continue to be operated and main6 tained by the United States for as long as need7 ed for this purpose;

8 ‘‘(B) the eligible entity to which the his9 toric light station is conveyed under this section

10 shall not interfere or allow interference in any

11 manner with aids to navigation without the ex12 press written permission of the head of the

13 agency responsible for maintaining the aids to

14 navigation;

15 ‘‘(C) there is reserved to the United States

16 the right to relocate, replace, or add any aid to

17 navigation located at the historic light station

18 as may be necessary for navigation purposes;

19 ‘‘(D) the eligible entity to which the his20 toric light station is conveyed under this section

21 shall maintain the historic light station in ac22 cordance with the National Historic Preserva23 tion Act of 1966, 16 U.S.C. 470–470x, the Sec24 retary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treat-
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1 ment of Historic Properties, and other applica2 ble laws;

3 ‘‘(E) the eligible entity to which the his4 toric light station is conveyed under this section

5 shall make the historic light station available

6 for education, park, recreation, cultural or his7 toric preservation purposes for the general pub8 lic at reasonable times and under reasonable

9 conditions; and

10 ‘‘(F) the United States shall have the

11 right, at any time, to enter the historic light

12 station without notice for purposes of maintain13 ing and inspecting aids to navigation and en14 suring compliance with paragraph (C), to the

15 extent that it is not possible to provide advance

16 notice.

17 ‘‘(2) The Secretary, the Administrator, and any

18 eligible entity to which a historic light station is con19 veyed under this section, shall not be required to

20 maintain any active aids to navigation associated

21 with a historic light station.

22 ‘‘(3) In addition to any term or condition estab23 lished pursuant to this subsection, the conveyance of

24 a historic light station shall include a condition that

25 the historic light station in its existing condition, at
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1 the option of the Administrator, revert to the United

2 States if—

3 ‘‘(A) the historic light station or any part

4 of the historic light station ceases to be avail5 able for education, park, recreation, cultural, or

6 historic preservation purposes for the general

7 public at reasonable times and under reasonable

8 conditions which shall be set forth in the eligi9 ble entity’s application;

10 ‘‘(B) the historic light station or any part

11 of the historic light station ceases to be main12 tained in a manner that ensures its present or

13 future use as an aid to navigation or compli14 ance with the National Historic Preservation

15 Act, 16 U.S.C. 470–470x, the Secretary of the

16 Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of His17 toric Properties, and other applicable laws; or

18 ‘‘(C) at least 30 days before the reversion,

19 the Administrator provides written notice to the

20 owner that the historic light station is needed

21 for national security purposes.

22 ‘‘(d) DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY.—The Adminis23 trator shall prepare the legal description of any historic

24 light station conveyed under this section. The Adminis25 trator may retain all right, title, and interest of the United
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1 States in and to any historical artifact, including any lens

2 or lantern, that is associated with the historic light station

3 and located at the light station at the time of conveyance.

4 All conditions placed with the deed of title to the historic

5 light station shall be construed as covenants running with

6 the land. No submerged lands shall be conveyed to non7 federal entities.

8 ‘‘(e) RESPONSIBILITIES OF CONVEYEES.—Each eligi9 ble entity to which a historic light station is conveyed

10 under this section shall use and maintain the historic light

11 station in accordance with this section, and have such con12 ditions recorded with the deed of title to the historic light

13 station.

14 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

15 ‘‘(1) HISTORIC LIGHT STATION.—The term

16 ‘historic light station’ includes the light tower, light17 house, keepers dwelling, garages, storage sheds, oil

18 house, fog signal building, boat house, barn, pump19 house, tramhouse support structures, piers, walk20 ways, and related real property and improvements

21 associated therewith; provided that the light tower or

22 lighthouse shall be included in or eligible for inclu23 sion in the National Register of Historic Places.

24 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en25 tity’ shall mean—
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1 ‘‘(A) any department or agency of the Fed2 eral government; or

3 ‘‘(B) any department or agency of the

4 state in which the historic light station is lo5 cated, the local government of the community

6 in which the historic light station is located,

7 nonprofit corporation, educational agency, or

8 community development organization that—

9 ‘‘(i) has agreed to comply with the

10 conditions set forth in subsection (c) and

11 to have such conditions recorded with the

12 deed of title to the historic light station;

13 ‘‘(ii) is financially able to maintain the

14 historic light station in accordance with

15 the conditions set forth in subsection (c);

16 and

17 ‘‘(iii) can indemnify the Federal gov18 ernment to cover any loss in connection

19 with the historic light station, or any ex20 penses incurred due to reversion.’’.

21 SEC. 3. SALE OF SURPLUS LIGHT STATIONS.

22 Title III of the National Historic Preservation Act

23 (16 U.S.C. 470w–470w–6) is amended by adding at the

24 end the following new section:
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1 ‘‘§ 309. Historic light station sales

2 ‘‘In the event no applicants are approved for the con3 veyance of a historic light station pursuant to section 308,

4 the historic light station shall be offered for sale. Terms

5 of such sales shall be developed by the Administrator of

6 General Services. Conveyance documents shall include all

7 necessary covenants to protect the historical integrity of

8 the historic light station and ensure that any active aids

9 to navigation located at the historic light station are oper10 ated and maintained by the United States for as long as

11 needed for that purpose. Net sale proceeds shall be trans12 ferred to the National Maritime Heritage Grant Program,

13 established by the National Maritime Heritage Act of

14 1994, Pub. L. 103–451, within the Department of the In15 terior.’’.

16 SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF HISTORIC LIGHT STATIONS TO FED17 ERAL AGENCIES.

18 Title III of the National Historic Preservation Act

19 of 1966, 16 U.S.C. 470–470x, is amended by adding at

20 the end the following new section:

21 ‘‘§ 310. Transfer of historic light stations to Federal

22 agencies

23 ‘‘After the date of enactment of this section, any de24 partment or agency of the Federal government, to which

25 a historic light station is conveyed, shall maintain the his26 toric light station in accordance with the National Historic
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1 Preservation Act of 1966, 16 U.S.C. 470–470x, the Sec2 retary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of

3 Historic Properties, and other applicable laws.’’.

4 SEC. 5. FUNDING.

5 There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to the

6 Secretary of the Interior such sums as may be necessary

7 to carry out this Act.

Passed the Senate July 17, 1998.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.