II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2512

To convey certain Federal properties on Governors Island, New York.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 4, 2000

Mr. MOYNIHAN (for himself and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To convey certain Federal properties on Governors Island,

New York.

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 ‘‘Governors Island Pres5 ervation Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) in August 1776, the fortifications at Gov9 ernors Island, New York, provided cover allowing
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1 George Washington’s Continental Army to escape a

2 British onslaught during the Battle of Long Island;

3 (2) the State of New York, for nominal consid4 eration, ceded control of Governors Island to the

5 Federal Government in 1800 to provide for the de6 fense of the United States;

7 (3) during the War of 1812, the combined fire8 power of Castle Williams on Governors Island and

9 the Southwest Battery in Manhattan dissuaded the

10 British from making a direct attack on New York

11 City, which was the largest city in and principal sea12 port of the United States at the time;

13 (4) in 1901, 4,700,000 cubic yards of fill from

14 the excavation of the Lexington Avenue Subway in

15 Manhattan were deposited to increase the area of

16 Governors Island from 90 to 172 acres;

17 (5) Governors Island played a significant role in

18 the Civil War, World War I, and World War II, and

19 continued to serve the United States Army through

20 1966;

21 (6) in 1958, the United States District Court

22 for the Southern District of New York formally rati23 fied the long possession of Governors Island by the

24 United States through a condemnation proceeding

25 that required ‘‘just compensation’’ of $1;
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1 (7) in 1966, the Army relocated operations

2 from Governors Island, and the United States Coast

3 Guard assumed control of the Island, an action that

4 established an integral component of the Atlantic

5 coast efforts of the Coast Guard for the following 30

6 years;

7 (8) the Admiral’s House on Governors Island

8 hosted the final summit meeting between President

9 Ronald W. Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail S.

10 Gorbachev in December 1988, where the leaders pre11 sented each other with the Articles of Ratification

12 for the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty;

13 (9) the Coast Guard ceased operations at Gov14 ernors Island in 1997, leaving 225 buildings unoccu15 pied, unused, and exposed to the harsh elements of

16 New York Harbor;

17 (10) Castle Williams is named after Lieutenant

18 Colonel Jonathan Williams, who built the semi-cir19 cular ‘‘cheesebox’’ fort and later served as the first

20 superintendent of West Point Military Academy;

21 (11) the pentagonal Fort Jay, named after

22 John Jay, is the complement of Fort Wood on near23 by Bedloe Island, which serves as the base of the

24 Statue of Liberty;
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1 (12) Castle Williams and Fort Jay, located

2 within the Governors Island National Historic Land3 mark District, and more than 200 years of contribu4 tions to the history of the United States could be

5 lost if Governors Island were to remain vacant or be

6 sold to a private entity;

7 (13) Castle Williams and Fort Jay, key ele8 ments of the Governors Island National Historic

9 Landmark District, are worthy of continued Federal

10 protection and should be designated a unit of the

11 National Park System; and

12 (14) the State of New York and the city of New

13 York have agreed to a plan to be administered by

14 the Governors Island Redevelopment Corporation, a

15 subsidiary of the Empire State Development Cor16 poration, that—

17 (A) offers what may be the only oppor18 tunity to ensure—

19 (i) public access to Governors Island;

20 (ii) the preservation and protection of

21 historic structures on Governors Island for

22 future generations; and

23 (iii) the ability of local elected offi24 cials, local community boards, and commu-
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1 nity organizations to participate in the re2 development of Governors Island; and

3 (B) would provide substantial educational

4 and recreational facilities to the public.

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

6 (1) to prevent the deterioration of the historic

7 military buildings on Governors Island in New York

8 Harbor;

9 (2) to ensure that Castle Williams and Fort

10 Jay are—

11 (A) retained in Federal ownership;

12 (B) available for the benefit and inspira13 tion of the people of the United States; and

14 (C) afforded protection by the National

15 Park Service as a unit of the National Park

16 System;

17 (3) to provide the general public with—

18 (A) access to Governors Island;

19 (B) access to open park space to experi20 ence the majestic views of New York Harbor;

21 and

22 (C) opportunities that illustrate the signifi23 cant contributions of Governors Island to the

24 history of the United States; and
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1 (4) to return to the people of the State of New

2 York property that the State of New York conveyed

3 to the Federal Government, for nominal consider4 ation, to provide for the defense of the United

5 States.

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv10 ices.

11 (2) CITY.—The term ‘‘City’’ means the City of

12 New York.

13 (3) CORPORATION.—The term ‘‘Corporation’’

14 means Governors Island Redevelopment Corporation,

15 a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Cor16 poration governed by a board to be appointed by the

17 State and the City (or any successor entity).

18 (4) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage19 ment plan’’ means the management plan prepared

20 under section 4(f).

21 (5) MONUMENT.—The term ‘‘Monument’’

22 means the Governors Island National Monument es23 tablished under section 4(a).

24 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

25 the Secretary of the Interior.
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1 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State

2 of New York.

3 SEC. 4. GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—To preserve for the benefit

5 and inspiration of the people of the United States as a

6 national monument certain historic structures and associ7 ated land located on Governors Island in New York Har8 bor, there is established a unit of the National Park Sys9 tem to be known as the ‘‘Governors Island National Monu10 ment’’.

11 (b) COMPOSITION.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Monument shall be

13 comprised of Castle Williams and Fort Jay, as de14 picted on the map entitled ‘‘Governors Island Na15 tional Monument Boundary Map’’, numbered GOIS

16 ll, and dated ll, 2000.

17 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The Monument shall

18 include—

19 (A) the land on which Castle Williams and

20 Fort Jay are situated; and

21 (B) the land between Castle Williams and

22 Fort Jay;

23 as depicted on the map described in paragraph

24 (1).
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1 (2) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The map described

2 in paragraph (1) shall be on file and available for

3 public inspection in the appropriate offices of the

4 National Park Service.

5 (c) TRANSFER.—Not later than 180 days after the

6 date of enactment of this Act, as part of the overall dis7 position of Governors Island, the Administrator shall

8 transfer administrative jurisdiction over the Monument to

9 the Secretary.

10 (d) RIGHTS OF ACCESS.—

11 (1) RESERVATION.—As part of the overall dis12 position of Governors Island, the Administrator, sub13 ject to agreement by the Secretary and the Corpora14 tion, shall reserve the right of access for the Sec15 retary to the Monument for purposes of operating

16 and maintaining the Monument.

17 (2) UTILITIES.—The provision of and access to

18 utilities to the Monument shall be—

19 (A) determined as part of the disposition

20 of Governors Island in accordance with the pub21 lic service law of the State of New York; and

22 (B) subject to agreement between the Sec23 retary and the Corporation.

24 (e) ADMINISTRATION.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—On completion of the trans2 fer under subsection (c), the Monument shall be ad3 ministered by the Secretary in accordance with—

4 (A) this Act; and

5 (B) laws generally applicable to units of

6 the National Park System, including—

7 (i) the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to estab8 lish a National Park Service, and for other

9 purposes’’, approved August 25, 1916 (16

10 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); and

11 (ii) the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to pro12 vide for the preservation of historic Amer13 ican sites, buildings, objects, and antiq14 uities of national significance, and for

15 other purposes’’, approved August 21,

16 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).

17 (2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Sec18 retary, in consultation with the Corporation, may

19 consult, and enter into cooperative agreements, with

20 interested entities and individuals to provide for the

21 preservation, development, interpretation, and use of

22 the Monument.

23 (f) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after

25 the date of enactment of this Act, in consultation
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1 with the Corporation and other appropriate public

2 and private entities, the Secretary shall prepare a

3 management plan for the Monument.

4 (2) APPLICABLE LAW.—The Secretary shall

5 prepare the management plan in accordance with—

6 (A) section 12(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An

7 Act to improve the administration of the na8 tional park system by the Secretary of the Inte9 rior, and to clarify the authorities applicable to

10 the system, and for other purposes’’, approved

11 August 18, 1970 (16 U.S.C. 1a–7(b)); and

12 (B) other applicable law.

13 (3) SUBMISSION.—On completion of the man14 agement plan, the Secretary shall submit the man15 agement plan to—

16 (A) the Committee on Resources of the

17 House of Representatives; and

18 (B) the Committee on Energy and Natural

19 Resources of the Senate.

20 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

21 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec22 essary to carry out annual operation and maintenance of

23 the Monument.

24 SEC. 5. CONVEYANCE OF GOVERNORS ISLAND.

25 (a) IN GENERAL.—
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1 (1) CONVEYANCE.—Notwithstanding section

2 9101 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (Public

3 Law 105–33; 111 Stat. 670) or any other provision

4 of law, and except as provided in paragraphs (2) and

5 (3), not later than 180 days after the date of enact6 ment of this Act, the Administrator shall convey to

7 the State of New York, for no consideration, all

8 right, title, and interest of the United States in and

9 to Governors Island, to be administered by the Cor10 poration.

11 (2) RIGHTS OF ACCESS.—The conveyance under

12 paragraph (1)(A) shall be subject to the rights of ac13 cess described in section 4(d).

14 (3) EXCLUSION OF MONUMENT.—The Monu15 ment shall not be included in the conveyance under

16 paragraph (1)(A).

17 (b) USE AND REDEVELOPMENT OF GOVERNORS IS18 LAND.—On completion of the conveyance under subsection

19 (a)(1)(A), any use of the conveyed land shall be in compli20 ance with—

21 (1) the New York State Environmental Quality

22 Review Act (Sections 0101 through 0117 of the En23 vironmental Conservation Law of New York); and

24 (2) the document entitled ‘‘Governors Island

25 Preservation and Design Manual’’—
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1 (A) developed by the Administrator in ac2 cordance with—

3 (i) the National Historic Preservation

4 Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.); and

5 (ii) applicable State and local historic

6 preservation law; and

7 (B) as approved by the Administrator,

8 State, and City.

Æ