I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5471 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a Gateway Communities 

Improvement Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 11, 2018 

Mr. CICILLINE (for himself and Mr. POE of Texas) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a Gateway 

Communities Improvement Program, 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 ‘‘American Gateway 

5 Communities Economic Development and Conservation 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. GATEWAY COMMUNITIES IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Interior 

10 shall establish an American Gateway Communities EcoVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Apr 14, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5471.IH H5471

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1 nomic Development and Conservation Program (in this 

2 section referred to as the ‘‘Program’’) to assist covered 

3 entities to improve gateways to units of the National Park 

4 System. 

5 (b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out the Pro6 gram, the Secretary may award a grant, on a competitive 

7 basis, to a covered entity. 

8 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 

9 the Program, a covered entity shall submit to the Sec10 retary an application at such time, in such form, and con11 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 

12 Applications should address the economic development 

13 benefits associated with the proposed activity. 

14 (d) GRANT USES.—Grant amounts awarded under 

15 the Program may be used to— 

16 (1) facilitate a planning, study, or design com17 ponent of an activity described in paragraphs (2), 

18 (3), (4), (5), or (6) in collaboration with local resi19 dents, businesses, elected officials, representatives of 

20 the unit of the National Park System nearby and 

21 other affected public agencies; 

22 (2) prepare a general plan and visual design 

23 guidance that reflect the goals of the Gateway Com24 munity and are in harmony with the visual, historic 


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1 and cultural character of the nearby unit of the Na2 tional Park Service; 

3 (3) carry out, with respect to a public space, a 

4 landscaping project that is consistent with local 

5 character and with the scenic, historic and cultural 

6 character of the nearby National Park System unit; 

7 (4) provide wayfinding and interpretation mark8 ers to assist visitors to the relevant unit of the Na9 tional Park System with orientation or interpreta10 tion, including but not limited to markers at key 

11 sites of scenic, historic, or cultural value, so long as 

12 all wayfinding markers have a non-intrusive design 

13 that keeps with the character of the gateway com14 munity and the unit of the National Park System; 

15 (5) establish a scenic easement to protect a 

16 view of the relevant unit of the National Park Sys17 tem; and 

18 (6) mitigation of visual blight including screen19 ing or removal of elements not in keeping with the 

20 desired visual, historic and cultural character of the 

21 Gateway Community and the unit of the National 

22 Park System. 

23 (e) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 

24 of an activity assisted with grant amounts awarded under 

25 the Program shall be not more than 50 percent. 


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1 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 to carry out the 

3 Program. 

4 (g) COVERED ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, the 

5 term ‘‘covered entity’’ means a local government entity 

6 that serves an area located within 5 miles of a public en7 trance to a unit of the National Park System. The Sec8 retary shall have the discretion of waiving the 5-mile limit 

9 in cases where compatibility between the visual, historic 

10 and cultural character of a gateway community beyond the 

11 5-mile limit and the unit of the National Park System is 

12 significant to both as jointly attested to by the local gov13 ernment entity and the National Park Service. 

Æ 


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