I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 524

To establish the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage 

Area in the State of New Jersey, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2003

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN (for himself, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. 

SAXTON, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. 

HOLT, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. MENENDEZ, and 

Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To establish the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area 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 ‘‘Crossroads of the 

5 American Revolution National Heritage Area Act of 

6 2003’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) New Jersey was of critical importance dur2 ing the American Revolution due to its strategic lo3 cation between the British armies headquartered in 

4 New York City and the Continental Congress sitting 

5 in the City of Philadelphia. 

6 (2) General George Washington spent almost 

7 half of the period of the American Revolution per8 sonally commanding troops of the Continental Army 

9 in New Jersey including 2 severe winter encamp10 ments at what is now Morristown National Histor11 ical Park, a unit of the National Park System. 

12 (3) It was during the 10 crucial days of the 

13 American Revolution between December 25, 1776, 

14 and January 3, 1777, when General Washington, 

15 after retreating across New Jersey from New York 

16 City to Pennsylvania in the face of total defeat for 

17 the Nation’s cause, recrossed the Delaware River on 

18 Christmas night, 1776, and won crucial battles at 

19 Trenton and Princeton. Thomas Paine, who accom20 panied the troops during the retreat, described the 

21 events as, ‘‘the times that try men’s souls’’. 

22 (4) There are situated in the State of New Jer23 sey the sites of 296 engagements including several 

24 important battles of the American Revolution, which 

25 collectively are of significant importance to the out-
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1 come of the overall conflict and the history of the 

2 United States. Among these are National Historic 

3 Landmarks including Washington’s Crossing, the 

4 Old Trenton Barracks, and Princeton, Monmouth 

5 and Red Bank Battlefields. 

6 (5) Additional national Historic Landmarks in7 clude the homes of Richard Stockton, Joseph Hewes, 

8 John Witherspoon, and Francis Hopkinson, all sign9 ers of the Declaration of Independence, Elias 

10 Boudinout, President of the Continental Congress 

11 and William Livingston, patriot and Governor of 

12 New Jersey from 1776 to 1790. 

13 (6) Portions of the landscapes important to the 

14 strategies of both armies including waterways, 

15 mountains, farms, wetlands, villages and roadways 

16 retain integrity of the period of the American Revo17 lution and offer outstanding opportunities for con18 servation, education, and recreation. 

19 (7) The National Register of Historic Places 

20 lists 251 buildings and sites in the National Park 

21 Service study area for Crossroads of the American 

22 Revolution associated with the period of the Amer23 ican Revolution. 

24 (8) Civilian populations residing in New Jersey 

25 suffered extreme hardships during the American 
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1 Revolution due to the continuous conflict within its 

2 borders, foraging armies, and marauding contingents 

3 of loyalist Tories and rebel sympathizers. 

4 (9) Because of the important role that New 

5 Jersey played in the successful outcome of the 

6 American Revolution there is a Federal interest for 

7 the development of a regional framework to assist 

8 the State of New Jersey, other local organizations 

9 and governments, and private citizens to preserve 

10 and protect natural, cultural, and historic resources 

11 of the period and to bring recognition to this impor12 tant heritage for the educational and recreational 

13 benefit of this and future generations of Americans. 

14 (10) The National Park Service has conducted 

15 a National Heritage Feasibility Study in the State 

16 of New Jersey that demonstrates the sufficient as17 semblage of nationally distinctive natural, cultural, 

18 and historic resources necessary to establish the 

19 Crossroads of the American Revolution National 

20 Heritage Area. 

21 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol22 lows: 

23 (1) To build the capacity of communities, orga24 nizations, and citizens in New Jersey to preserve the 
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1 special historic identity of the region and its impor2 tance to the Nation. 

3 (2) To foster a close working relationship with 

4 all levels of government, the private sector, and the 

5 local communities in New Jersey. 

6 (3) To provide for the management, preserva7 tion, protection, and interpretation of the natural, 

8 historic, and cultural resources of the region for the 

9 educational and inspirational benefit of future gen10 erations. 

11 (4) To strengthen the value of Morristown Na12 tional Historical Park as an asset to the region by 

13 establishing a network of related historic resources, 

14 protected landscapes, educational opportunities, and 

15 events depicting the revolutionary landscape of New 

16 Jersey. 

17 (5) To strengthen partnerships among Morris18 town National Historical Park and other public and 

19 privately owned resources in the heritage area, that 

20 together represent the strategic fulcrum of the 

21 American Revolution, as assets in the quality of life 

22 in the region. 

23 (6) To authorize Federal financial and technical 

24 assistance to serve these purposes. 
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 For the purposes of this Act: 

3 (1) ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘‘Association’’ 

4 means the Crossroads of the American Revolution 

5 Association, Inc., a nonprofit corporation in the 

6 State of New Jersey. 

7 (2) BOUNDARIES.—The term ‘‘boundaries’’ 

8 means the boundaries of the heritage area specified 

9 in section 4. 

10 (3) HERITAGE AREA.—The term ‘‘heritage 

11 area’’ means the Crossroads of the American Revo12 lution National Heritage Area as established in sec13 tion 4. 

14 (4) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage15 ment plan’’ means the management plan submitted 

16 under section 5. 

17 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of the Interior. 

19 SEC. 4. CROSSROADS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION NA20 TIONAL HERITAGE AREA. 

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

22 State of New Jersey the Crossroads of the American Revo23 lution National Heritage Area. 

24 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The boundaries of the heritage 

25 area shall include all those lands and waters depicted on 

26 a map entitled ‘‘Crossroads of the American Revolution 
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1 National Heritage Area’’, numbered CRREL80,000 and 

2 dated April 2002. The map shall be on file in the appro3 priate offices of the National Park Service. 

4 (c) MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—The management entity 

5 for the heritage area shall be the Association. 

6 SEC. 5. AUTHORITIES, PROHIBITIONS, AND DUTIES OF THE 

7 ASSOCIATION. 

8 (a) DUTIES OF THE ASSOCIATION.—To further the 

9 purposes of the heritage area, the Association shall—

10 (1) prepare and submit a management plan for 

11 the heritage area to the Secretary in accordance 

12 with section 6; 

13 (2) assist units of local government, regional 

14 planning organizations, and nonprofit organizations 

15 in implementing the approved management plan 

16 by—

17 (A) carrying out programs and projects 

18 that recognize, protect, and enhance important 

19 resource values within the heritage area; 

20 (B) establishing and maintaining interpre21 tive exhibits and programs within the heritage 

22 area; 

23 (C) developing recreational and educational 

24 opportunities in the heritage area; 
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1 (D) increasing public awareness of and ap2 preciation for natural, historic, and cultural re3 sources of the heritage area; 

4 (E) protecting and restoring historic sites 

5 and buildings in the heritage area that are con6 sistent with heritage area themes; 

7 (F) ensuring that clear, consistent, and ap8 propriate signs identifying points of public ac9 cess and sites of interest are posted throughout 

10 the heritage area; and 

11 (G) promoting a wide range of partner12 ships among governments, organizations, and 

13 individuals to further the purposes of the herit14 age area; 

15 (3) consider the interests of diverse units of 

16 government, businesses, organizations, and individ17 uals in the heritage area in the preparation and im18 plementation of the management plan; 

19 (4) conduct Association meetings open to the 

20 public at least semiannually regarding the develop21 ment and implementation of the management plan; 

22 (5) submit an annual report to the Secretary 

23 for any fiscal year in which the Association receives 

24 Federal funds under this Act, setting forth its ac25 complishments, expenses, and income, including 
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1 grants to any other entities during the year for 

2 which the report is made; 

3 (6) make available for audit for any fiscal year 

4 in which it receives Federal funds under this Act, all 

5 information pertaining to the expenditure of such 

6 funds and any matching funds, and require in all 

7 agreements authorizing expenditures of Federal 

8 funds by other organizations, that the receiving or9 ganizations make available for such audit all records 

10 and other information pertaining to the expenditure 

11 of such funds; 

12 (7) encourage by appropriate means economic 

13 viability that is consistent with the purposes of the 

14 heritage area; and 

15 (8) maintain its headquarters at Morristown 

16 National Historical Park and in Mercer County. 

17 (b) AUTHORITIES.—The Association may, for the 

18 purposes of preparing and implementing the management 

19 plan for the heritage area, use Federal funds made avail20 able through this Act to—

21 (1) make grants to the State of New Jersey, its 

22 political subdivisions, nonprofit organizations and 

23 other persons; 

24 (2) enter into cooperative agreements with or 

25 provide technical assistance to the State of New Jer-
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1 sey, its political jurisdictions, nonprofit organiza2 tions, and other interested parties; 

3 (3) hire and compensate staff which shall in4 clude individuals with expertise in natural, cultural, 

5 historic resources protection, and heritage program6 ming; 

7 (4) obtain money or services from any source, 

8 including any that are provided under any other 

9 Federal law or program; 

10 (5) contract for goods or services; and 

11 (6) undertake to be a catalyst for any other ac12 tivity that furthers the purposes of the heritage area 

13 and is consistent with the approved management 

14 plan. 

15 (c) PROHIBITIONS ON THE ACQUISITION OF REAL

16 PROPERTY.—The Association may not use Federal funds 

17 received under this Act to acquire real property, but may 

18 use any other source of funding, including other Federal 

19 funding, intended for the acquisition of real property. 

20 SEC. 6. MANAGEMENT PLAN. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The management plan for the 

22 heritage area shall—

23 (1) include comprehensive polices, strategies 

24 and recommendations for conservation, funding, 

25 management, and development of the heritage area; 
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1 (2) take into consideration existing State, coun2 ty, and local plans in the development of the man3 agement plan and its implementation; 

4 (3) include a description of actions that govern5 ments, private organizations, and individuals have 

6 agreed to take to protect the natural, historic, and 

7 cultural resources of the heritage area; 

8 (4) specify the existing and potential sources of 

9 funding to protect, manage, and develop the heritage 

10 area in the first 5 years of implementation; 

11 (5) include an inventory of the natural, histor12 ical, cultural, educational, scenic and recreational re13 sources of the heritage area related to the themes of 

14 the heritage area that should be preserved, restored, 

15 managed, developed, or maintained; 

16 (6) recommend policies and strategies for re17 source management which consider and detail the 

18 application of appropriate land and water manage19 ment techniques including, but not limited to, the 

20 development of intergovernmental and interagency 

21 cooperative agreements to protect the heritage area’s 

22 natural, historical, cultural, educational, scenic and 

23 recreational resources; 

24 (7) describe a program of implementation for 

25 the management plan including plans for resource 
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1 protection, restoration, construction, and specific 

2 commitments for implementation that have been 

3 made by the Association or any government, organi4 zation, or individual for the first 5 years of imple5 mentation; 

6 (8) include an analysis and recommendations 

7 for ways in which local, State, and Federal pro8 grams, including the role of the National Park Serv9 ice in the heritage area, may best be coordinated to 

10 further the purposes of this Act; and 

11 (9) include an interpretive plan for the heritage 

12 area. 

13 (b) DEADLINE AND TERMINATION OF FUNDING.—

14 (1) DEADLINE.—The Association shall submit 

15 the management plan to the Secretary for approval 

16 within 3 years after funds are made available for 

17 this Act. 

18 (2) TERMINATION OF FUNDING.—Upon comple19 tion of the 3-year period in this subsection, further 

20 funding pursuant to this Act shall only be made 

21 available to the Association for the implementation 

22 of the management plan upon approval by the Sec23 retary as provided in Section 7 of this Act. 

24 SEC. 7. DUTIES AND AUTHORITIES OF THE SECRETARY. 

25 (a) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, upon 

2 the request of the Association provide technical as3 sistance on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis 

4 and financial assistance to the heritage area to de5 velop and implement the approved management 

6 plan. The Secretary is authorized to enter into coop7 erative agreements with the Association and other 

8 public or private entities for this purpose. In assist9 ing the heritage area, the Secretary shall give pri10 ority to actions that in general assist in—

11 (A) conserving the significant natural, his12 toric, cultural, and scenic resources of the herit13 age area; and 

14 (B) providing educational, interpretive, and 

15 recreational opportunities consistent with the 

16 purposes of the heritage area. 

17 (2) OTHER ASSISTANCE.—Upon request, the 

18 Superintendent of Morristown National Historical 

19 Park may provide to public and private organiza20 tions within the heritage area, including the Associa21 tion, such operational assistance as appropriate to 

22 support the implementation of the management plan 

23 for the heritage area, subject to the availability of 

24 appropriated funds. The Secretary is authorized to 

25 enter into cooperative agreements with public and 
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1 private organizations for the purpose of imple2 menting this subsection. 

3 (3) PRESERVATION OF HISTORIC PROP4 ERTIES.—The Secretary may provide assistance to 

5 State or local government or nonprofit organizations 

6 for appropriate treatment of historic objects or 

7 structures listed or eligible for listing on the Na8 tional Register of Historic Places to further the pur9 poses of this Act. 

10 (b) APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL OF MANAGEMENT

11 PLAN.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall approve 

13 or disapprove the management plan not later than 

14 90 days after receiving the management plan. 

15 (2) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—In determining 

16 to approve the management plan, the Secretary shall 

17 consider whether—

18 (A) the Board of Directors of the Associa19 tion is representative of the diverse interests of 

20 the heritage area including governments, nat21 ural and historic resource protection organiza22 tions, education, business, and recreation; 

23 (B) the Association has afforded adequate 

24 opportunity, including public hearings, for pub-
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1 lic and governmental involvement in the prepa2 ration of the management plan; 

3 (C) the resource protection and interpreta4 tion strategies contained in the management 

5 plan, if implemented, would adequately protect 

6 the natural, historic, and cultural resources of 

7 the heritage area; and 

8 (D) the Secretary has received adequate 

9 assurances from the appropriate State and local 

10 officials whose support is needed to ensure the 

11 effective implementation of the State and local 

12 aspects of the management plan. 

13 (3) ACTION FOLLOWING DISAPPROVAL.—If the 

14 Secretary disapproves the management plan, the 

15 Secretary shall advise the Association in writing of 

16 the reasons therefore and shall make recommenda17 tions for revisions to the management plan. The Sec18 retary shall approve or disapprove a proposed revi19 sion within 60 days after the date it is submitted. 

20 (4) APPROVAL OF AMENDMENTS.—Substantial 

21 amendments to the management plan shall be re22 viewed by the Secretary and approved in the same 

23 manner as provided for the original management 

24 plan. The Association shall not use Federal funds 

25 authorized by this Act to implement any amend-
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1 ments until the Secretary has approved the amend2 ments. 

3 SEC. 8. DUTIES OF OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

4 Any Federal agency conducting or supporting activi5 ties directly affecting the heritage area shall—

6 (1) consult with the Secretary and the Associa7 tion with respect to such activities; 

8 (2) cooperate with the Secretary and the Asso9 ciation in carrying out their duties under this Act 

10 and, to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate 

11 such activities with the carrying out of such duties; 

12 and, 

13 (3) to the maximum extent practicable, conduct 

14 or support such activities in a manner which the as15 sociation determines will not have an adverse effect 

16 on the heritage area. 

17 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro19 priated for the purposes of this Act not more than 

20 $1,000,000 for any fiscal year. Not more than a total of 

21 $10,000,000 may be appropriated for the Association 

22 under this Act. 

23 (b) MATCHING FUNDS.—Federal funding provided 

24 under this Act may not exceed 50 percent of the total cost 
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1 of any assistance or grant provided or authorized under 

2 this Act. 

3 SEC. 10. SUNSET. 

4 The authority of the Secretary to provide assistance 

5 under this Act shall terminate on the day occurring 15 

6 years after the date of the enactment of the Act.

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