I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2247

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 19, 2000

Referred to the Committee on Resources

AN ACT

To establish the Wheeling National Heritage Area in the

State of West Virginia, 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 ‘‘Wheeling National

5 Heritage Area Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

3 (1) the area in an around Wheeling, West Vir4 ginia, possesses important historical, cultural, and

5 natural resources, representing major heritage

6 themes of transportation, commerce and industry,

7 and Victorian culture in the United States;

8 (2) the City of Wheeling has played an impor9 tant part in the settlement of this country by serving

10 as—

11 (A) the western terminus of the National

12 Road of the early 1800’s;

13 (B) the ‘‘Crossroads of America’’ through14 out the nineteenth century;

15 (C) one of the few major inland ports in

16 the nineteenth century; and

17 (D) the site for the establishment of the

18 Restored State of Virginia, and later the State

19 of West Virginia, during the Civil War and as

20 the first capital of the new State of West Vir21 ginia;

22 (3) the City of Wheeling has also played an im23 portant role in the industrial and commercial herit24 age of the United States, through the development

25 and maintenance of many industries crucial to the

26 Nation’s expansion, including iron and steel, textile
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1 manufacturing, boat building, glass manufacturing,

2 and stogie and chewing tobacco manufacturing fa3 cilities, many of which are industries that continue

4 to play an important role in the national economy;

5 (4) the city of Wheeling has retained its na6 tional heritage themes with the designations of the

7 old custom house (now Independence Hall) and the

8 historic suspension bridge as National Historic

9 Landmarks; with five historic districts; and many in10 dividual properties in the Wheeling area listed or eli11 gible for nomination to the National Register of His12 toric Places;

13 (5) the heritage themes and number and diver14 sity of Wheeling’s remaining resources should be ap15 propriately retained, enhanced, and interpreted for

16 the education, benefit, and inspiration of the people

17 of the United States; and

18 (6) in 1992 a comprehensive plan for the devel19 opment and administration of the Wheeling National

20 Heritage Area was completed for the National Park

21 Service, the City of Wheeling, and the Wheeling Na22 tional Heritage Task Force, including—

23 (A) an inventory of the natural and cul24 tural resources in the City of Wheeling;
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1 (B) criteria for preserving and interpreting

2 significant natural and historic resources;

3 (C) a strategy for the conservation, preser4 vation, and reuse of the historical and cultural

5 resources in the City of Wheeling and the sur6 rounding region; and

7 (D) an implementation agenda by which

8 the State of West Virginia and local govern9 ments can coordinate their resources as well as

10 a complete description of the management enti11 ty responsible for implementing the comprehen12 sive plan.

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

14 (1) to recognize the special importance of the

15 history and development of the Wheeling area in the

16 cultural heritage of the Nation;

17 (2) to provide a framework to assist the City of

18 Wheeling and other public and private entities and

19 individuals in the appropriate preservation, enhance20 ment, and interpretation of significant resources in

21 the Wheeling area emblematic of Wheeling’s con22 tributions to the Nation’s cultural heritage;

23 (3) to allow for limited Federal, State and local

24 capital contributions for planning and infrastructure

25 investments to complete the Wheeling National Her-
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1 itage Area, in partnership with the State of West

2 Virginia, the City of Wheeling, and other appro3 priate public and private entities; and

4 (4) to provide for an economically self-sus5 taining National Heritage Area not dependent on

6 Federal financial assistance beyond the initial years

7 necessary to establish the heritage area.

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

9 As used in this Act—

10 (1) the term ‘‘city’’ means the City of Wheeling;

11 (2) the term ‘‘heritage area’’ means the Wheel12 ing National Heritage Area established in section 4;

13 (3) the term ‘‘plan’’ means the ‘‘Plan for the

14 Wheeling National Heritage Area’’ dated August,

15 1992;

16 (4) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

17 of the Interior; and

18 (5) the term ‘‘State’’ means the State of West

19 Virginia.

20 SEC. 4. WHEELING NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA.

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In furtherance of the pur22 poses of this Act, there is established in the State of West

23 Virginia the Wheeling National Heritage Area, as gen24 erally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Boundary Map,

25 Wheeling National Heritage Area, Wheeling, West Vir-
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1 ginia’’ and dated March, 1994. The map shall be on file

2 and available for public inspection in the appropriate of3 fices of the National Park Service.

4 (b) MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—(1) The management

5 entity for the heritage area shall be the Wheeling National

6 Heritage Area Corporation, a non-profit corporation char7 tered in the State of West Virginia.

8 (2) To the extent consistent with this Act, the man9 agement entity shall manage the heritage area in accord10 ance with the plan.

11 SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE MANAGEMENT ENTITY.

12 (a) MISSION.—(1) The primary mission of the man13 agement entity shall be—

14 (A) to implement and coordinate the rec15 ommendations contained in the plan;

16 (B) ensure integrated operation of the heritage

17 area; and

18 (C) conserve and interpret the historic and cul19 tural resources of the heritage area.

20 (2) The management entity shall also direct and co21 ordinate the diverse conservation, development, program22 ming, educational, and interpretive activities within the

23 heritage area.

24 (b) RECOGNITION OF PLAN.—The management enti25 ty shall work with the State of West Virginia and local
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1 governments to ensure that the plan is formally adopted

2 by the City and recognized by the State.

3 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—To the extent practicable,

4 the management entity shall—

5 (1) implement the recommendations contained

6 in the plan in a timely manner pursuant to the

7 schedule identified in the plan—

8 (2) coordinate its activities with the City, the

9 State, and the Secretary;

10 (3) ensure the conservation and interpretation

11 of the heritage area’s historical, cultural, and nat12 ural resources, including—

13 (A) assisting the City and the State in the

14 preservation of sites, buildings, and objects

15 within the heritage area which are listed or eli16 gible for listing on the National Register of

17 Historic Places;

18 (B) assisting the City, the State, or a non19 profit organization in the restoration of any his20 toric building in the heritage area;

21 (C) increasing public awareness of and ap22 preciation for the natural, cultural, and historic

23 resources of the heritage area;

24 (D) assisting the State or City in design25 ing, establishing, and maintaining appropriate
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1 interpretive facilities and exhibits in the herit2 age area;

3 (E) assisting in the enhancement of public

4 awareness and appreciation for the historical,

5 archaeological, and geologic resources and sites

6 in the heritage area; and

7 (F) encouraging the City and other local

8 governments to adopt land use policies con9 sistent with the goals of the plan, and to take

10 actions to implement those policies;

11 (4) encourage intergovernmental cooperation in

12 the achievement of these objectives;

13 (5) develop recommendations for design stand14 ards within the heritage area; and

15 (6) seek to create public-private partnerships to

16 finance projects and initiatives within the heritage

17 area.

18 (d) AUTHORITIES.—The management entity may, for

19 the purposes of implementing the plan, use Federal funds

20 made available by this Act to—

21 (1) make grants to the State, City, or other ap22 propriate public or private organizations, entities, or

23 persons;

24 (2) enter into cooperative agreements with, or

25 provide technical assistance to Federal agencies, the
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1 State, City or other appropriate public or private or2 ganizations, entities, or persons;

3 (3) hire and compensate such staff as the man4 agement entity deems necessary;

5 (4) obtain money from any source under any

6 program or law requiring the recipient of such

7 money to make a contribution in order to receive

8 such money;

9 (5) spend funds on promotion and marketing

10 consistent with the resources and associated values

11 of the heritage area in order to promote increased

12 visitation; and

13 (6) contract for goods and services.

14 (e) ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY.—(1) Except

15 as provided in paragraph (2), the management entity may

16 not acquire any real property or interest therein within

17 the heritage area, other than the leasing of facilities.

18 (2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the management

19 entity may acquire real property, or an interest therein,

20 within the heritage area by gift or devise, or by purchase

21 from a willing seller with money which was donated, be22 queathed, appropriated, or otherwise made available to the

23 management entity on the condition that such money be

24 used to purchase real property, or interest therein, within

25 the heritage area.
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1 (B) Any real property or interest therein acquired by

2 the management entity pursuant to this paragraph shall

3 be conveyed in perpetuity by the management entity to

4 an appropriate public or private entity, as determined by

5 the management entity. Any such conveyance shall be

6 made as soon as practicable after acquisition, without con7 sideration, and on the condition that the real property or

8 interest therein so conveyed shall be used for public pur9 poses.

10 (f) REVISION OF PLAN.—Within 18 months after the

11 date of enactment, the management entity shall submit

12 to the Secretary a revised plan. Such revision shall in13 clude, but not be limited to—

14 (1) a review of the implementation agenda for

15 the heritage area;

16 (2) projected capital costs; and

17 (3) plans for partnership initiatives and expan18 sion of community support.

19 SEC. 6. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.

20 (a) INTERPRETIVE SUPPORT.—The Secretary may,

21 upon request of the management entity, provide appro22 priate interpretive, planning, educational, staffing, exhib23 its, and other material or support for the heritage area,

24 consistent with the plan and as appropriate to the re25 sources and associated values of the heritage area.
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1 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may,

2 upon request of the management entity and consistent

3 with the plan, provide technical assistance to the manage4 ment entity.

5 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND GRANTS.—The

6 Secretary may, in consultation with the management enti7 ty and consistent with the management plan, make grants

8 to, and enter into cooperative agreements with the man9 agement entity, the State, City, non-profit organization or

10 any person.

11 (d) PLAN AMENDMENTS.—No amendments to the

12 plan may be made unless approved by the Secretary. The

13 Secretary shall consult with the management entity in re14 viewing any proposed amendments.

15 SEC. 7. DUTIES OF OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.

16 Any Federal department, agency, or other entity con17 ducting or supporting activities directly affecting the herit18 age area shall—

19 (1) consult with the Secretary and the manage20 ment entity with respect to such activities;

21 (2) cooperate with the Secretary and the man22 agement entity in carrying out their duties under

23 this Act, and to the extent practicable, coordinate

24 such activities directly with the duties of the Sec25 retary and the management entity;
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1 (3) to the extent practicable, conduct or support

2 such activities in a manner which the management

3 entity determines will not have an adverse effect on

4 the heritage area.

5 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro7 priated to carry out this Act $10,000,000, except that not

8 more than $1,000,000 may be appropriated to carry out

9 this Act for any fiscal year.

10 (b) MATCHING FUNDS.—Federal funding provided

11 under this Act shall be matched at least 25 percent by

12 other funds or in-kind services.

13 SEC. 9. SUNSET.

14 The Secretary may not make any grant or provide

15 any assistance under this Act after September 30, 2015.

Passed the Senate September 18, 2000.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.