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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2485 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.2485

                       One Hundred Sixth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America

                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
             the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand

                                 An Act

 
    To direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance in 
 planning and constructing a regional heritage center in Calais, Maine.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Saint Croix Island Heritage Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
        (1) Saint Croix Island is located in the Saint Croix River, a 
    river that is the boundary between the State of Maine and Canada;
        (2) the Island is the only international historic site in the 
    National Park System;
        (3) in 1604, French nobleman Pierre Dugua Sieur de Mons, 
    accompanied by a courageous group of adventurers that included 
    Samuel Champlain, landed on the Island and began the construction 
    of a settlement;
        (4) the French settlement on the Island in 1604 and 1605 was 
    the initial site of the first permanent settlement in the New 
    World, predating the English settlement of 1607 at Jamestown, 
    Virginia;
        (5) many people view the expedition that settled on the Island 
    in 1604 as the beginning of the Acadian culture in North America;
        (6) in October, 1998, the National Park Service completed a 
    general management plan to manage and interpret the Saint Croix 
    Island International Historic Site;
        (7) the plan addresses a variety of management alternatives, 
    and concludes that the best management strategy entails developing 
    an interpretive trail and ranger station at Red Beach, Maine, and a 
    regional heritage center in downtown Calais, Maine, in cooperation 
    with Federal, State, and local agencies;
        (8) a 1982 memorandum of understanding, signed by the 
    Department of the Interior and the Canadian Department for the 
    Environment, outlines a cooperative program to commemorate the 
    international heritage of the Saint Croix Island site and 
    specifically to prepare for the 400th anniversary of the settlement 
    in 2004; and
        (9) only 4 years remain before the 400th anniversary of the 
    settlement at Saint Croix Island, an occasion that should be 
    appropriately commemorated.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to direct the Secretary of 
the Interior to take all necessary and appropriate steps to work with 
Federal, State, and local agencies, historical societies, and nonprofit 
organizations to facilitate the development of a regional heritage 
center in downtown Calais, Maine before the 400th anniversary of the 
settlement of Saint Croix Island.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
        (1) Island.--The term ``Island'' means Saint Croix Island, 
    located in the Saint Croix River, between Canada and the State of 
    Maine.
        (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
    the Interior, acting through the Director of the National Park 
    Service.

SEC. 4. SAINT CROIX ISLAND REGIONAL HERITAGE CENTER.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall provide assistance in 
planning, constructing, and operating a regional heritage center in 
downtown Calais, Maine, to facilitate the management and interpretation 
of the Saint Croix Island International Historic Site.
    (b) Cooperative Agreements.--To carry out subsection (a), in 
administering the Saint Croix Island International Historic Site, the 
Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements under appropriate terms 
and conditions with other Federal agencies, State and local agencies 
and nonprofit organizations--
        (1) to provide exhibits, interpretive services (including 
    employing individuals to provide such services), and technical 
    assistance;
        (2) to conduct activities that facilitate the dissemination of 
    information relating to the Saint Croix Island International 
    Historic Site;
        (3) to provide financial assistance for the construction of the 
    regional heritage center in exchange for space in the center that 
    is sufficient to interpret the Saint Croix Island International 
    Historic Site; and
        (4) to assist with the operation and maintenance of the 
    regional heritage center.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Design and Construction.--
        (1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
    carry out this Act (including the design and construction of the 
    regional heritage center) $2,000,000.
        (2) Expenditure.--Paragraph (1) authorizes funds to be 
    appropriated on the condition that any expenditure of those funds 
    shall be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis by funds from non-
    Federal sources.
    (b) Operation and Maintenance.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary to maintain and operate 
interpretive exhibits in the regional heritage center.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.
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