I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1621

To establish the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area in the State of

Georgia, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 26, 2001

Ms. MCKINNEY (for herself and Mr. LEWIS of Georgia) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resourses

A BILL

To establish the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area

in the State of Georgia, 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 ‘‘Arabia Mountain Na5 tional Heritage Area Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The Arabia Mountain area contains a vari9 ety of natural, cultural, historical, scenic, and rec10 reational resources that together represent distinc-
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1 tive aspects of the heritage of the United States that

2 are worthy of recognition, conservation, interpreta3 tion, and continuing use.

4 (2) The best methods for managing the re5 sources of the Arabia Mountain area would be

6 through partnerships between public and private en7 tities that combine diverse resources and active com8 munities.

9 (3) Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Pre10 serve, a 535-acre park in DeKalb County, Georgia—

11 (A) protects granite outcrop ecosystems,

12 wetland, and pine and oak forests; and

13 (B) includes federally-protected plant spe14 cies.

15 (4) Panola Mountain, a national natural land16 mark, located in the 860-acre Panola Mountain

17 State Conservation Park, is a rare example of a

18 pristine granite outcrop.

19 (5) The archeological site at Miners Creek Pre20 serve along the South River contains documented

21 evidence of early human activity.

22 (6) The city of Lithonia, Georgia, and related

23 sites of Arabia Mountain and Stone Mountain pos24 sess sites that display the history of granite mining
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1 as an industry and culture in Georgia, and the im2 pact of that industry on the United States.

3 (7) The community of Klondike is eligible for

4 designation as a National Historic District.

5 (8) The city of Lithonia has 2 structures listed

6 on the National Register of Historic Places.

7 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol8 lows:

9 (1) To recognize, preserve, promote, interpret,

10 and make available for the benefit of the public the

11 natural, cultural, historical, scenic, and recreational

12 resources in the area that includes Arabia Mountain,

13 Panola Mountain, Miners Creek, and other signifi14 cant sites and communities.

15 (2) To assist the State of Georgia and the

16 counties of DeKalb, Rockdale, and Henry in the

17 State in developing and implementing an integrated

18 cultural, historical, and land resource management

19 program to protect, enhance, and interpret the sig20 nificant resources within the heritage area.

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

22 In this Act:

23 (1) HERITAGE AREA.—The term ‘‘heritage

24 area’’ means the Arabia Mountain National Heritage

25 Area established by section 4.
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1 (2) MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—The term ‘‘man2 agement entity’’ means the Arabia Mountain Herit3 age Area Alliance or a successor of the Arabia

4 Mountain Heritage Area Alliance.

5 (3) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage6 ment plan’’ means the management plan for the her7 itage area developed under section 6.

8 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

9 the Secretary of the Interior.

10 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State

11 of Georgia.

12 SEC. 4. ARABIA MOUNTAIN NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA.

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Ara14 bia Mountain National Heritage Area in the State.

15 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The heritage area shall consist of

16 certain parcels of land in the counties of DeKalb,

17 Rockdale, and Henry in the State, as generally depicted

18 on the map entitled ‘‘The Preferred Concept’’ contained

19 in the document entitled ‘‘Arabia Mountain National Her20 itage Area Feasibility Study’’, dated February 28, 2001.

21 (c) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The map shall be on file

22 and available for public inspection in the appropriate of23 fices of the National Park Service.
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1 (d) MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—The Arabia Mountain

2 Heritage Area Alliance shall be the management entity for

3 the heritage area.

4 SEC. 5. AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF THE MANAGEMENT

5 ENTITY.

6 (a) AUTHORITIES.—For purposes of developing and

7 implementing the management plan, the management en8 tity may—

9 (1) make grants to, and enter into cooperative

10 agreements with, the State, political subdivisions of

11 the State, and private organizations;

12 (2) hire and compensate staff; and

13 (3) enter into contracts for goods and services.

14 (b) DUTIES.—

15 (1) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The management entity

17 shall develop and submit to the Secretary the

18 management plan.

19 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing and

20 implementing the management plan, the man21 agement entity shall consider the interests of

22 diverse governmental, business, and nonprofit

23 groups within the heritage area.
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1 (2) PRIORITIES.—The management entity shall

2 give priority to implementing actions described in

3 the management plan, including the following:

4 (A) Assisting units of government and

5 nonprofit organizations in preserving resources

6 within the heritage area.

7 (B) Encouraging local governments to

8 adopt land use policies consistent with the man9 agement of the heritage area and the goals of

10 the management plan.

11 (3) PUBLIC MEETINGS.—The management enti12 ty shall conduct public meetings at least quarterly

13 on the implementation of the management plan.

14 (4) ANNUAL REPORT.—For any year in which

15 Federal funds have been made available under this

16 Act, the management entity shall submit to the Sec17 retary an annual report that describes—

18 (A) the accomplishments of the manage19 ment entity; and

20 (B) the expenses and income of the man21 agement entity.

22 (5) AUDIT.—The management entity shall—

23 (A) make available to the Secretary for

24 audit all records relating to the expenditure of

25 Federal funds and any matching funds; and
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1 (B) require, with respect to all agreements

2 authorizing expenditure of Federal funds by

3 other organizations, that the receiving organiza4 tions make available to the Secretary for audit

5 all records concerning the expenditure of those

6 funds.

7 (c) USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The management entity

9 shall not use Federal funds made available under

10 this Act to acquire real property or an interest in

11 real property.

12 (2) OTHER SOURCES.—Nothing in this Act pre13 cludes the management entity from using Federal

14 funds made available under other Federal laws for

15 any purpose for which the funds are authorized to

16 be used.

17 SEC. 6. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The management entity shall de19 velop a management plan for the heritage area that incor20 porates an integrated and cooperative approach to protect,

21 interpret, and enhance the natural, cultural, historical,

22 scenic, and recreational resources of the heritage area.

23 (b) BASIS.—The management plan shall be based on

24 the preferred concept in the document entitled ‘‘Arabia
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1 Mountain National Heritage Area Feasibility Study’’,

2 dated February 28, 2001.

3 (c) CONSIDERATION OF OTHER PLANS AND AC4 TIONS.—The management plan shall—

5 (1) take into consideration State and local

6 plans; and

7 (2) involve residents, public agencies, and pri8 vate organizations in the heritage area.

9 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—The management plan shall

10 include the following:

11 (1) An inventory of the resources in the herit12 age area, including the following:

13 (A) A list of property in the heritage area

14 that—

15 (i) relates to the purposes of the herit16 age area; and

17 (ii) should be preserved, restored,

18 managed, or maintained because of the sig19 nificance of the property.

20 (B) An assessment of cultural landscapes

21 within the heritage area.

22 (2) Provisions for the protection, interpretation,

23 and enjoyment of the resources of the heritage area

24 consistent with the purposes of this Act.

25 (3) An interpretation plan for the heritage area.
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1 (4) A program for implementation of the man2 agement plan that includes the following:

3 (A) Actions to be carried out by units of

4 government, private organizations, and public5 private partnerships to protect the resources of

6 the heritage area.

7 (B) The identification of existing and po8 tential sources of funding for implementing the

9 plan.

10 (5) A description and evaluation of the manage11 ment entity, including the membership and organiza12 tional structure of the management entity.

13 (e) SUBMISSION TO SECRETARY FOR APPROVAL.—

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

15 the date of enactment of this Act, the management

16 entity shall submit the management plan to the Sec17 retary for approval.

18 (2) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT.—If a

19 management plan is not submitted to the Secretary

20 by the date specified in paragraph (1), the Secretary

21 shall not provide any additional funding under this

22 Act until such date as a management plan for the

23 heritage area is submitted to the Secretary.

24 (f) APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL OF MANAGEMENT

25 PLAN.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after

2 receiving the management plan submitted under

3 subsection (e), the Secretary, in consultation with

4 the State, shall approve or disapprove the manage5 ment plan.

6 (2) ACTION FOLLOWING DISAPPROVAL.—

7 (A) REVISION.—If the Secretary dis8 approves a management plan submitted under

9 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—

10 (i) advise the management entity in

11 writing of the reasons for the disapproval;

12 (ii) make recommendations for revi13 sions to the management plan; and

14 (iii) allow the management entity to

15 submit to the Secretary revisions to the

16 management plan.

17 (B) DEADLINE FOR APPROVAL OF REVI18 SION.—Not later than 90 days after the date on

19 which a revision is submitted under subpara20 graph (A)(iii), the Secretary shall approve or

21 disapprove the revision.

22 (g) REVISION OF MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—After approval by the Sec24 retary of a management plan, the management enti25 ty shall periodically—
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1 (A) review the management plan; and

2 (B) submit to the Secretary, for review

3 and approval by the Secretary, the rec4 ommendations of the management entity for

5 any revisions to the management plan that the

6 management entity considers to be appropriate.

7 (2) EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS.—No funds made

8 available under this Act shall be used to implement

9 any revision proposed by the management entity

10 under paragraph (1)(B) until the Secretary approves

11 the revision.

12 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—At the request of the management

14 entity, the Secretary may provide technical and financial

15 assistance to the heritage area to develop and implement

16 the management plan.

17 (b) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance under sub18 section (a), the Secretary shall give priority to actions that

19 facilitate the following:

20 (1) The conservation of the significant natural,

21 cultural, historical, scenic, and recreational resources

22 that support the purposes of the heritage area.

23 (2) The provision of educational, interpretive,

24 and recreational opportunities that are consistent
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1 with the resources and associated values of the herit2 age area.

3 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.— There is authorized to be appro5 priated to carry out this Act $10,000,000, to remain avail6 able until expended, of which not more than $1,000,000

7 may be used in any fiscal year.

8 (b) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost

9 of any project or activity carried out using funds made

10 available under this Act shall not exceed 50 percent.

11 SEC. 9. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.

12 The authority of the Secretary to make any grant or

13 provide any assistance under this Act terminates on Sep14 tember 30, 2016.

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