IIB 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 160 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Received 

OCTOBER 2 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

AN ACT 

To amend the American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996 

to establish a battlefield acquisition grant program for 

the acquisition and protection of nationally significant 

battlefields and associated sites of the Revolutionary War 

and the War of 1812, and for other purposes. 


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HR 160 RFS 

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 ‘‘Revolutionary War and 

5 War of 1812 Battlefield Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BATTLEFIELD ACQUISITION GRANT PROGRAM FOR 

7 BATTLEFIELDS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY 

8 WAR AND WAR OF 1812. 

9 (a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The American Battlefield 

10 Protection Act of 1996 (section 604 of division I of Public 

11 Law 104–333; 16 U.S.C. 469k) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub13 section (f); and 

14 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol15 lowing new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(e) BATTLEFIELD ACQUISITION GRANT PROGRAM

17 FOR BATTLEFIELDS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND

18 WAR OF 1812.— 

19 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

20 ‘‘(A) BATTLEFIELD REPORT.—The term 

21 ‘battlefield report’ means the document entitled 

22 ‘Report to Congress on the Historic Preserva23 tion of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 

24 Sites in the United States’, prepared by the Na25 tional Park Service, and dated September 2007. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi2 ble entity’ means a State or local government. 

3 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE SITE.—The term ‘eligible 

4 site’ means a site that— 

5 ‘‘(i) is not within the exterior bound6 aries of a unit of the National Park Sys7 tem; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) is identified in the battlefield re9 port. 

10 ‘‘(D) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 

11 means the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

12 through the American Battlefield Protection 

13 Program. 

14 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es15 tablish a battlefield acquisition grant program for 

16 nationally significant battlefields and associated sites 

17 of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 

18 under which the Secretary may make grants to eligi19 ble entities to pay the Federal share of the cost of 

20 acquiring fee-simple or lesser interests from willing 

21 sellers in eligible sites for the preservation and pro22 tection of those eligible sites. 

23 ‘‘(3) NONPROFIT PARTNERS.—An eligible entity 

24 may acquire an interest in an eligible site using a 


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1 grant under this subsection in partnership with a 

2 nonprofit organization. 

3 ‘‘(4) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 

4 share of the total cost of acquiring an interest in an 

5 eligible site under this subsection shall be not less 

6 than 50 percent. 

7 ‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS ON LAND USE.—An interest 

8 in an eligible site acquired under this subsection 

9 shall be subject to section 6(f)(3) of the Land and 

10 Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 

11 4601–8(f)(3)). 

12 ‘‘(6) REPORTS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years 

14 after the date of the enactment of this sub15 section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 

16 a report on the activities carried out under this 

17 subsection. 

18 ‘‘(B) UPDATE ON BATTLEFIELD RE19 PORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date of 

20 the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary 

21 shall submit to Congress a report that updates 

22 the battlefield report to reflect— 

23 ‘‘(i) preservation activities carried out 

24 at the 677 battlefields and associated sites 

25 identified in the battlefield report during 


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1 the period between publication of the bat2 tlefield report and the update; 

3 ‘‘(ii) changes in the condition of the 

4 battlefields and associated sites during 

5 that period; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) any other relevant developments 

7 relating to the battlefields and associated 

8 sites during that period. 

9 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized 

11 to be appropriated to the Secretary from the 

12 Land and Water Conservation Fund to provide 

13 grants under this subsection $10,000,000 for 

14 each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013. 

15 ‘‘(B) UPDATE OF BATTLEFIELD RE16 PORT.—There are authorized to be appro17 priated to the Secretary to carry out paragraph 

18 (6)(B), $500,000.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

20 (1) REFERENCES TO OTHER BATTLEFIELD AC21 QUISITION PROGRAM.—Subsection (d) of the Amer22 ican Battlefield Protection Act of 1996, as added by 

23 section 3 of Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act 

24 of 2002 (Public Law 107–359; 116 Stat. 3016), is 

25 amended— 


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1 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

2 ‘‘BATTLEFIELD ACQUISITION GRANT PRO3 GRAM’’ and inserting ‘‘BATTLEFIELD ACQUISI4 TION GRANT PROGRAM FOR BATTLEFIELDS OF

5 THE CIVIL WAR’’; and 

6 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘grant 

7 program’’ and inserting ‘‘grant program for 

8 battlefields of the Civil War’’; and 

9 (2) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—Subsection 

10 (f) of the American Battlefield Protection Act of 

11 1996, as redesignated by subsection (a)(1), is 

12 amended— 

13 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

14 ‘‘REPEAL’’ and inserting ‘‘EXPIRATION’’; and 

15 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘is re16 pealed’’ and inserting ‘‘expires’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 24, 

2008. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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