I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3911

To establish the Great Falls Historic District in the State of New Jersey,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 26, 1996

Mr. PALLONE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To establish the Great Falls Historic District in the State

of New Jersey, 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 ‘‘Great Falls Preserva5 tion and Redevelopment Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) the Great Falls Historic District in the

9 State of New Jersey is an area of historical signifi10 cance as an early site of planned industrial develop-
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1 ment, and has remained largely intact, including

2 architecturally significant structures;

3 (2) the Great Falls Historic District is listed on

4 the National Register of Historic Places and has

5 been designated a National Historic Landmark;

6 (3) the Great Falls Historic District is situated

7 within a one-half hour’s drive from New York City

8 and a 2 hour’s drive from Philadelphia, Hartford,

9 New Haven, and Wilmington;

10 (4) the District was developed by the Society of

11 Useful Manufactures, an organization whose leaders

12 included a number of historically renowned individ13 uals, including Alexander Hamilton; and

14 (5) the Great Falls Historic District has been

15 the subject of a number of studies that have shown

16 that the District possesses a combination of historic

17 significance and natural beauty worthy of and

18 uniquely situated for preservation and redevelop19 ment.

20 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

21 The purposes of this Act are—

22 (1) to preserve and interpret, for the edu23 cational and inspirational benefit of the public, the

24 contribution to our national heritage of certain his25 toric and cultural lands and edifices of the Great
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1 Falls Historic District, with emphasis on harnessing

2 this unique urban environment for its educational

3 and recreational value; and

4 (2) to enhance economic and cultural redevelop5 ment within the District.

6 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) DISTRICT.—The term ‘‘District’’ means the

9 Great Falls Historic District established by section

10 5.

11 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

12 the Secretary of the Interior.

13 SEC. 5. GREAT FALLS HISTORIC DISTRICT.

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the

15 Great Falls Historic District in the city of Paterson, in

16 Passaic County, New Jersey.

17 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The boundaries of the District

18 shall be the boundaries specified for the Great Falls His19 toric District listed on the National Register of Historic

20 Places.

21 SEC. 6. DEVELOPMENT PLAN.

22 (a) GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The

23 Secretary may make grants and enter into cooperative

24 agreements with the State of New Jersey, local govern25 ments, and private nonprofit entities under which the Sec-
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1 retary agrees to pay not more than 50 percent of the costs

2 of—

3 (1) preparation of a plan for the development of

4 historic, architectural, natural, cultural, and inter5 pretive resources within the District; and

6 (2) implementation of projects approved by the

7 Secretary under the development plan.

8 (b) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—The development plan

9 shall include—

10 (1) an evaluation of—

11 (A) the physical condition of historic and

12 architectural resources; and

13 (B) the environmental and flood hazard

14 conditions within the District; and

15 (2) recommendations for—

16 (A) rehabilitating, reconstructing, and

17 adaptively reusing the historic and architectural

18 resources;

19 (B) preserving viewsheds, focal points, and

20 streetscapes;

21 (C) establishing gateways to the District;

22 (D) establishing and maintaining parks

23 and public spaces;

24 (E) developing public parking areas;
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1 (F) improving pedestrian and vehicular cir2 culation within the District;

3 (G) improving security within the District,

4 with an emphasis on preserving historically sig5 nificant structures from arson; and

6 (H) establishing a visitors’ center.

7 SEC. 7. RESTORATION, PRESERVATION, AND INTERPRETA8 TION OF PROPERTIES.

9 (a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary

10 may enter into cooperative agreements with the owners of

11 properties within the District that the Secretary deter12 mines to be of historical or cultural significance, under

13 which the Secretary may—

14 (1) pay not more than 50 percent of the cost

15 of restoring and improving the properties;

16 (2) provide technical assistance with respect to

17 the preservation and interpretation of the properties;

18 and

19 (3) mark and provide interpretation of the

20 properties.

21 (b) PROVISIONS.—A cooperative agreement under

22 subsection (a) shall provide that—

23 (1) the Secretary shall have the right of access

24 at reasonable times to public portions of the prop25 erty for interpretive and other purposes;
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1 (2) no change or alteration may be made in the

2 property except with the agreement of the property

3 owner, the Secretary, and any Federal agency that

4 may have regulatory jurisdiction over the property;

5 and

6 (3) if at any time the property is converted,

7 used, or disposed of in a manner that is contrary to

8 the purposes of this Act, as determined by the Sec9 retary, the property owner shall be liable to the Sec10 retary for the greater of—

11 (A) the amount of assistance provided by

12 the Secretary for the property; or

13 (B) the portion of the increased value of

14 the property that is attributable to that assist15 ance, determined as of the date of the conver16 sion, use, or disposal.

17 (c) APPLICATIONS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A property owner that de19 sires to enter into a cooperative agreement under

20 subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary an ap21 plication describing how the project proposed to be

22 funded will further the purposes of the District.

23 (2) CONSIDERATION.—In making such funds

24 available under this section, the Secretary shall give
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1 consideration to projects that provide a greater le2 verage of Federal funds.

3 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec5 retary to carry out this Act—

6 (1) $250,000 for grants and cooperative agree7 ments for the development plan under section 6; and

8 (2) $50,000 for the provision of technical as9 sistance and $3,000,000 for the provision of other

10 assistance under cooperative agreements under sec11 tion 7.

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