II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2082

To establish a program to award grants to improve and maintain sites

honoring Presidents of the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 22, 2000

Mr. DEWINE (for himself, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. ROBB) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To establish a program to award grants to improve and

maintain sites honoring Presidents of the United States.

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 ‘‘Presidential Sites Im5 provement Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) there are many sites honoring Presidents lo9 cated throughout the United States, including Presi-
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1 dential birthplaces, homes, museums, burial sites,

2 and tombs;

3 (2) most of the sites are owned, operated, and

4 maintained by non-Federal entities such as State

5 and local agencies, family foundations, colleges and

6 universities, libraries, historical societies, historic

7 preservation organizations, and other nonprofit orga8 nizations;

9 (3) Presidential sites are often expensive to

10 maintain;

11 (4) many Presidential sites are in need of cap12 ital, technological, and interpretive display improve13 ments for which funding is insufficient or unavail14 able; and

15 (5) to promote understanding of the history of

16 the United States by recognizing and preserving his17 toric sites linked to Presidents of the United States,

18 the Federal Government should provide grants for

19 the maintenance and improvement of Presidential

20 sites.

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

22 In this Act:

23 (1) GRANT COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Grant

24 Commission’’ means the Presidential Site Grant

25 Commission established by section 4(d).
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1 (2) PRESIDENTIAL SITE.—The term ‘‘Presi2 dential site’’ means a Presidentially-related site of

3 national significance that is—

4 (A) managed, maintained, and operated

5 for, and is accessible to, the public; and

6 (B) owned or operated by—

7 (i) a State; or

8 (ii) a private institution, organization,

9 or person.

10 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

11 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di12 rector of the National Park Service.

13 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR PRESIDENTIAL SITES.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants

15 for major maintenance and improvement projects at Presi16 dential sites to owners or operators of Presidential sites

17 in accordance with this section.

18 (b) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant awarded under this

20 section may be used for—

21 (A) repairs or capital improvements at a

22 Presidential site (including new construction for

23 necessary modernization) such as—
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1 (i) installation or repair of heating or

2 air conditioning systems, security systems,

3 or electric service; or

4 (ii) modifications at a Presidential site

5 to achieve compliance with requirements

6 under titles II and III of the Americans

7 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.

8 12131 et seq.); and

9 (B) interpretive improvements to enhance

10 public understanding and enjoyment of a Presi11 dential site.

12 (2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds made

14 available to award grants under this Act—

15 (i) 15 percent shall be used for emer16 gency projects, as determined by the Sec17 retary;

18 (ii) 65 percent shall be used for

19 grants for Presidential sites with—

20 (I) a 3-year average annual oper21 ating budget of less than $700,000

22 (not including the amount of any

23 grant received under this section); and
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1 (II) an endowment in an amount

2 that is less than 3 times the annual

3 operating budget of the site; and

4 (iii) 20 percent shall be used for

5 grants for Presidential sites with—

6 (I) an annual operating budget of

7 $700,000 or more (not including the

8 amount of any grant received under

9 this section); and

10 (II) an endowment in an amount

11 that is equal to or more than 3 times

12 the annual operating budget of the

13 site.

14 (B) UNEXPENDED FUNDS.—If any funds

15 allocated for a category of projects described in

16 subparagraph (A) are unexpended, the Sec17 retary may use the funds to award grants for

18 another category of projects described in that

19 subparagraph.

20 (c) APPLICATION AND AWARD PROCEDURE.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than a date to be

22 determined by the Secretary, an owner or operator

23 of a Presidential site may submit to the Secretary

24 an application for a grant under this section.

25 (2) INVOLVEMENT OF GRANT COMMISSION.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

2 forward each application received under para3 graph (1) to the Grant Commission.

4 (B) CONSIDERATION BY GRANT COMMIS5 SION.—Not later than 60 days after receiving

6 an application from the Secretary under sub7 paragraph (A), the Grant Commission shall re8 turn the application to the Secretary with a rec9 ommendation of whether the proposed project

10 should be awarded a Presidential site grant.

11 (C) RECOMMENDATION OF GRANT COMMIS12 SION.—In making a decision to award a Presi13 dential site grant under this section, the Sec14 retary shall take into consideration any rec15 ommendation of the Grant Commission.

16 (3) AWARD.—Not later than 180 days after re17 ceiving an application for a Presidential site grant

18 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—

19 (A) award a Presidential site grant to the

20 applicant; or

21 (B) notify the applicant, in writing, of the

22 decision of the Secretary not to award a Presi23 dential site grant.

24 (4) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of

2 the cost of a project at a Presidential site for

3 which a grant is awarded under this section

4 shall not exceed 50 percent.

5 (B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Fed6 eral share of the cost of a project at a Presi7 dential site for which a grant is awarded under

8 this section may be provided in cash or in kind.

9 (d) PRESIDENTIAL SITE GRANT COMMISSION.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established the

11 Presidential Site Grant Commission.

12 (2) COMPOSITION.—The Grant Commission

13 shall be composed of—

14 (A) the Director of the National Park

15 Service; and

16 (B) 4 members appointed by the Secretary

17 as follows:

18 (i) A State historic preservation offi19 cer.

20 (ii) A representative of the National

21 Trust for Historic Preservation.

22 (iii) A representative of a site de23 scribed in subsection (b)(2)(A)(ii).

24 (iv) A representative of a site de25 scribed in subsection (b)(2)(A)(iii).
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1 (3) TERM.—A member of the Grant Commis2 sion shall serve a term of 2 years.

3 (4) DUTIES.—The Grant Commission shall—

4 (A) review applications for Presidential site

5 grants received under subsection (c); and

6 (B) recommend to the Secretary projects

7 for which Presidential site grants should be

8 awarded.

9 (5) INELIGIBILITY OF SITES DURING TERM OF

10 REPRESENTATIVE.—A site described in clause (iii)

11 or (iv) of paragraph (2)(B) shall be ineligible for a

12 grant under this Act during the 2-year period in

13 which a representative of the site serves on the

14 Grant Commission.

15 (6) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Grant

16 Commission shall not be subject to the Federal Advi17 sory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).

18 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

19 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act

20 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2005,

21 to remain available until expended.

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