I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1334

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 3, 2001

Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. NADLER, and Mrs. MALONEY of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform, for

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

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 2001’’.

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
2

•HR 1334 IH

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;
3

•HR 1334 IH

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;
4

•HR 1334 IH

1 (12) in Presidential Proclamation No. 7402 of

2 January 19, 2001, former President Clinton estab3 lished the Governors Island National Monument,

4 consisting of Castle Williams and Fort Jay, as de5 picted on the map entitled ‘‘Governors Island Na6 tional Monument’’ attached to the proclamation;

7 (13) more than 200 years of contributions to

8 the history of the United States could be lost if Gov9 ernors Island were to remain vacant or be sold to a

10 private entity; and

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

12 York have agreed to a conceptual plan to be admin13 istered by the Governors Island Redevelopment Cor14 poration, a subsidiary of the Empire State Develop15 ment Corporation, that—

16 (A) offers what may be the only oppor17 tunity to ensure—

18 (i) public access to Governors Island;

19 (ii) the preservation and protection of

20 historic structures on Governors Island for

21 future generations; and

22 (iii) the ability of local elected offi23 cials, local community boards, and commu24 nity organizations to participate in the re25 development of Governors Island; and
5

•HR 1334 IH

1 (B) provides the public with educational,

2 recreational, and cultural opportunities.

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

4 (1) to provide for the protection of historic mili5 tary structures on Governors Island in New York

6 Harbor;

7 (2) to provide the general public with—

8 (A) access to Governors Island and the

9 Governors Island National Monument;

10 (B) access to open park space and rec11 reational resources;

12 (C) access to the majestic views of New

13 York Harbor; and

14 (D) opportunities that illustrate the signifi15 cant contributions of Governors Island to the

16 history of the United States;

17 (3) to return to the people of the State of New

18 York property that the State of New York conveyed

19 to the Federal Government, for nominal consider20 ation, to provide for the defense of the United

21 States; and

22 (4) to ensure that the Secretary retains the

23 rights necessary to operate the Governors Island Na24 tional Monument.
6

•HR 1334 IH

1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv5 ices.

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

7 New York.

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

9 means Governors Island Redevelopment Corporation,

10 a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Cor11 poration governed by a board to be appointed by the

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

13 (4) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage14 ment plan’’ means the management plan prepared

15 under section 4(c).

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

17 means the Governors Island National Monument es18 tablished by Presidential Proclamation 7402 of Jan19 uary 19, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 7855).

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

21 the Secretary of the Interior.

22 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State

23 of New York.

24 SEC. 4. GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT.

25 (a) TRANSFER OF ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION

26 AND MANAGEMENT.—Notwithstanding section 9101 of
7

•HR 1334 IH

1 the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (Public Law 105–33;

2 111 Stat. 670) or any other provision of law, not later

3 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act,

4 the Administrator shall transfer to the Secretary, for no

5 consideration, administrative jurisdiction over, and man6 agement of, the Monument.

7 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Monument shall be ad9 ministered by the Secretary in accordance with—

10 (A) this Act; and

11 (B) laws generally applicable to units of

12 the National Park System, including—

13 (i) the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to estab14 lish a National Park Service, and for other

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

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

17 (ii) the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to pro18 vide for the preservation of historic Amer19 ican sites, buildings, objects, and antiq20 uities of national significance, and for

21 other purposes’’, approved August 21,

22 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).

23 (2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Sec24 retary, in consultation with the Corporation, may

25 consult, and enter into cooperative agreements, with
8

•HR 1334 IH

1 interested entities and individuals to provide for the

2 preservation, development, interpretation, and use of

3 the Monument.

4 (3) INTERPRETIVE SERVICES.—Subject to

5 agreement of the Corporation, the Secretary may

6 provide interpretive services and signage in the Gov7 ernors Island National Historic Landmark District.

8 (c) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after

10 the date of enactment of this Act, in consultation

11 with the Corporation and other appropriate public

12 and private entities, the Secretary shall prepare a

13 management plan for the Monument.

14 (2) APPLICABLE LAW.—The Secretary shall

15 prepare the management plan in accordance with—

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

17 Act to improve the administration of the na18 tional park system by the Secretary of the Inte19 rior, and to clarify the authorities applicable to

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

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

22 (B) other applicable law.

23 (3) SUBMISSION.—On completion of the man24 agement plan, the Secretary shall submit the man25 agement plan to—
9

•HR 1334 IH

1 (A) the Committee on Resources of the

2 House of Representatives; and

3 (B) the Committee on Energy and Natural

4 Resources of the Senate.

5 (d) RESERVATIONS.—

6 (1) RIGHT OF ACCESS.—As a condition of the

7 conveyance under section 5, the Administrator shall

8 reserve the right of access—

9 (A) for the Secretary to the Monument for

10 the preservation, maintenance, and public en11 joyment of the Monument; and

12 (B) for the Secretary of Transportation for

13 the operation and maintenance of aids to navi14 gation located on Governors Island.

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

16 utilities to the Monument shall be a condition of the

17 conveyance under section 5—

18 (A) in accordance with the public service

19 law of the State; and

20 (B) subject to an agreement between the

21 Secretary and the Corporation.

22 (3) MAINTENANCE FACILITY.—As a condition

23 of the conveyance under section 5, the Administrator

24 shall reserve for the Secretary any buildings that the

25 Secretary determines necessary for the operation
10

•HR 1334 IH

1 and maintenance of the Monument, subject to an

2 agreement between the Secretary and the Corpora3 tion.

4 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

5 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec6 essary to carry out annual operation and maintenance of

7 the Monument.

8 SEC. 5. CONVEYANCE OF GOVERNORS ISLAND.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—

10 (1) CONVEYANCE.—Notwithstanding section

11 9101 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (Public

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

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

14 (3), not later than 180 days after the date of enact15 ment of this Act, the Administrator shall convey to

16 the State of New York, for no consideration and for

17 use consistent with subsections (a)(14) and (b) of

18 section 2, all right, title, and interest of the United

19 States in and to Governors Island, to be adminis20 tered by the Corporation.

21 (2) LIMITATION.—The conveyance under para22 graph (1) shall be subject to the rights of the Sec23 retary described in section 4.
11

•HR 1334 IH

1 (3) EXCLUSION OF MONUMENT.—The Monu2 ment shall not be included in the conveyance under

3 paragraph (1).

4 (b) USE AND REDEVELOPMENT OF GOVERNORS IS5 LAND.—On completion of the conveyance under subsection

6 (a)(1), any use of the conveyed land shall be consistent

7 with subsections (a)(14) and (b) of section 2 and in com8 pliance with—

9 (1) the New York State Environmental Quality

10 Review Act (Sections 0101 through 0117 of the En11 vironmental Conservation Law of New York); and

12 (2) the document entitled ‘‘Governors Island

13 Preservation and Design Manual’’—

14 (A) developed by the Administrator in ac15 cordance with—

16 (i) the National Historic Preservation

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

18 (ii) applicable State and local historic

19 preservation law; and

20 (B) as approved by the Administrator,

21 State, and City.

Æ