I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2626

To establish a system of National Historic Ball Parks, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 13, 1993

Mr. BONIOR (for himself, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. UPTON, Mr. DIXON, Mr. BARCIA

of Michigan, Mr. BEILENSON, Mr. FILNER, Mr. LEHMAN, Mr. LIPINSKI,

Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. RICHARDSON, and Mr. TORKILDSEN)

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on

Natural Resources

A BILL

To establish a system of National Historic Ball Parks, 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 ‘‘National Historic Ball

5 Park Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 As used in this Act:
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1 (1) PARK.—The term ‘‘park’’ means a stadium

2 designated as a National Historic Ball Park by sec3 tion 3.

4 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Advisory Com5 mission’’ means the National Historic Ball Park Ac6 quisition Advisory Commission established and rees7 tablished under section 7.

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

9 the Secretary of the Interior.

10 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF HISTORIC BALL PARKS.

11 In order to preserve the character of the following

12 areas and to provide for the interpretation of the signifi13 cant contribution of these areas to American culture, each

14 of the following stadiums is hereby designated as a

15 National Historic Ball Park:

16 (1) Tiger Stadium, Detroit, Michigan.

17 (2) Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts.

18 (3) Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois.

19 (4) Yankee Stadium, New York, New York.

20 SEC. 4. COOPERATION AGREEMENTS FOR PRESERVATION

21 OF NATIONAL HISTORIC BALL PARKS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall seek to enter

23 into cooperative agreements with the owners of any of the

24 parks specified in section 3 for the protection and preser-
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1 vation of the park. Each cooperative agreement shall pro2 vide—

3 (1) that the owners will hold and preserve the

4 historic property of the park and will not undertake

5 or permit the alteration or removal of historic fea6 tures or the erection of markers, structures, or

7 buildings without the prior concurrence of the Sec8 retary; and

9 (2) that the public will have reasonable access

10 to those portions of the property to which access is

11 necessary in the judgment of the Secretary for the

12 proper appreciation and interpretation of its histori13 cal and architectural value.

14 (b) TECHNICAL ADVICE.—The Secretary may provide

15 technical advice to the owners of a park in carrying out

16 this Act.

17 (c) DONATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other provi18 sion of law, the Secretary may accept and expend dona19 tions of funds, property, or services from individuals, foun20 dations, corporations, or public entities for the purpose of

21 providing services and facilities which he deems consistent

22 with the purposes of this Act.

23 (d) INTERPRETIVE CENTERS.—Pursuant to such co24 operative agreements and notwithstanding any other pro25 vision of law, the Secretary may, directly or by contract,
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1 construct interpretive facilities on real property not in

2 Federal ownership and may maintain and operate pro3 grams in connection therewith as the Secretary deems ap4 propriate in carrying out this Act.

5 SEC. 5. RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL.

6 (a) NOTIFICATION OF INTENTION TO TRANSFER

7 PARK.—If an owner of a park intends to transfer or other8 wise dispose of the park, the owner shall notify the Sec9 retary in writing of such intention.

10 (b) EXERCISE OF FIRST REFUSAL.—Within the six11 month period after receipt of notice under subsection (a),

12 the Secretary shall respond in writing as to his interest

13 in exercising a right of first refusal to acquire the park

14 under section 6. If, within such period, the Secretary de15 clines to respond in writing or expresses no interest in ex16 ercising such right, the owner may proceed to transfer

17 such interests. If the Secretary responds in writing within

18 such period and expresses an interest and intention to ex19 ercise a right of first refusal, the Secretary shall initiate

20 an action to exercise such right within six months after

21 the date of the Secretary’s response. If the Secretary fails

22 to initiate action to exercise such right within such six

23 months, the owner may proceed to otherwise transfer such

24 interests.
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1 SEC. 6. ACQUISITION OF NATIONAL HISTORIC BALL PARKS

2 BY THE UNITED STATES.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, after receiving rec4 ommendations of the Advisory Commission pursuant to

5 section 7, may, subject to the availability of funds, acquire

6 land, interests in land, and improvements thereon within

7 the boundaries of a park by donation or purchase with

8 donated or appropriated funds. Land may not be acquired

9 under this section without the consent of the owner there10 of. Each park acquired by the United States under this

11 Act shall be added to and administered as a unit of the

12 National Park System.

13 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall admin14 ister each park acquired by the United States under this

15 Act in accordance with this Act and with the provisions

16 of law generally applicable to units of the National Park

17 System, including the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish

18 a National Park Service, and for other purposes’’, ap19 proved August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 1, 2,

20 3, and 4) and the Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666;

21 16 U.S.C. 461–467).

22 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH STATE.—In

23 administering each park acquired by the United States

24 under this Act, the Secretary is authorized to enter into

25 cooperative agreements with the State in which the park

26 is located, or any political subdivision thereof, for the ren-
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1 dering, on a reimbursable basis, of rescue, firefighting,

2 and law enforcement services and cooperative assistance

3 by nearby law enforcement and fire preventive agencies

4 and for other appropriate purposes.

5 SEC. 7. NATIONAL HISTORIC BALL PARK ACQUISITION AD6 VISORY COMMISSION.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

8 (1) INITIAL ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab9 lished a National Historic Ball Park Acquisition Ad10 visory Commission for the purpose specified in sub11 section (b)(1).

12 (2) SUBSEQUENT REESTABLISHMENTS.—After

13 the termination of the Advisory Commission estab14 lished pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary,

15 upon determining in the discretion of the Secretary

16 that a situation described in paragraph (3) exists,

17 shall notify the Speaker and minority leader of the

18 House of Representatives and the majority and mi19 nority leaders of the Senate and publish notice of

20 such determination in the Federal Register. Upon

21 publication of such notice, the National Historic Ball

22 Park Acquisition Advisory Commission is reestab23 lished for the purpose specified in subsection (b)(2).

24 (3) SITUATIONS REQUIRING THE ESTABLISH25 MENT OF ADVISORY COMMISSION.—Situations which
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1 require the reestablishment of an Advisory Commis2 sion under this section include the following:

3 (A) Notification by the owner or owners of

4 the park of the desire to sell the park.

5 (B) The park is subject to, or threatened

6 with, uses which are having, or would have, an

7 adverse impact on the park.

8 (b) PURPOSE AND DUTIES.—Not later than six

9 months after members are appointed to the Advisory Com10 mission under subsection (c), the Advisory Commission—

11 (1) established under subsection (a)(1) shall

12 conduct a study and submit a report to the Sec13 retary and to the Congress with recommendations

14 concerning methods of financing the acquisition of a

15 park by the United States under section 6; and

16 (2) reestablished under section (a)(2) shall, for

17 the purpose of advising the Secretary on the pur18 chase of a park under this Act, conduct a study con19 cerning the acquisition of the park pursuant to this

20 Act and advise the Secretary on whether to acquire

21 the park and matters relating thereto, including—

22 (A) how the park can best be used for pub23 lic purposes in a manner compatible with the

24 National Park System, taking into account the
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1 location of the park and the needs of the com2 munity concerned; and

3 (B) methods of financing such acquisition.

4 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—

5 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Advi6 sory Commission shall be composed of seven mem7 bers appointed as follows:

8 (A) Two Members of the House of Rep9 resentatives, one of whom shall be appointed by

10 the Speaker, and the other shall be appointed

11 by the minority leader, of the House of Rep12 resentatives.

13 (B) Two Members of the Senate, one of

14 whom shall be appointed by the majority leader,

15 and the other shall be appointed by the minor16 ity leader, of the Senate.

17 (C) One member appointed by the Presi18 dent.

19 (D) One member appointed by the Sec20 retary of the Interior.

21 (E) One member appointed by the Chair22 person of the Ball Parks Committee of the So23 ciety for American Baseball Research, who shall

24 be a representative of the professional sport

25 with the major use of the park.
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1 (2) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed

2 for the life of the Advisory Commission, including a

3 member appointed to the Advisory Commission as a

4 Member of Congress who ceases to be a Member of

5 Congress.

6 (3) VACANCIES.—Any member appointed to fill

7 a vacancy occurring in the Advisory Commission

8 shall be appointed only for the remaining life of the

9 Advisory Commission. A vacancy in the Advisory

10 Commission shall be filled within 30 days after the

11 creation of the vacancy in the manner in which the

12 original appointment was made.

13 (4) PAY AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.—(A) Mem14 bers of the Advisory Commission shall serve without

15 pay as such.

16 (B) Each member shall receive travel expenses,

17 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accord18 ance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United

19 States Code.

20 (5) QUORUM.— Five members of the Advisory

21 Commission shall constitute a quorum but a lesser

22 number may hold hearings.

23 (6) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the

24 Advisory Commission shall be elected by the mem25 bers.
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1 (7) MEETINGS.—The Advisory Commission

2 shall meet at the call of the Chairperson or a major3 ity of its members and shall meet on a regular basis.

4 Notice of meetings and agenda shall be published in

5 local newspapers which have a distribution which

6 generally covers the area affected by the park. Advi7 sory Commission meetings shall be held at locations

8 and in such a manner as to ensure adequate public

9 involvement.

10 (d) DIRECTOR AND STAFF.—

11 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Advisory Commission

12 shall, without regard to section 5311(b) of title 5,

13 United States Code, appoint and fix the pay of a Di14 rector and such additional staff as it considers ap15 propriate. The Director and staff of the Advisory

16 Commission may be appointed without regard to the

17 provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing

18 appointments in the competitive service, and may be

19 paid without regard to the provisions of chapter 51

20 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that title relat21 ing to classification and General Schedule pay rates.

22 (2) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Advi23 sory Commission may procure temporary and inter24 mittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5,

25 United States Code.
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1 (3) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon re2 quest of the Advisory Commission, the head of any

3 Federal department or agency may detail, on a reim4 bursable basis, any of the personnel of that depart5 ment or agency to the Advisory Commission to assist

6 it in carrying out its duties under this Act.

7 (e) POWERS.—

8 (1) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Advisory

9 Commission may, for the purpose of carrying out

10 this Act, hold hearings, sit and act at times and

11 places, take testimony, and receive evidence as the

12 Advisory Commission considers appropriate.

13 (2) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any

14 member or agent of the Advisory Commission may,

15 if authorized by the Advisory Commission, take any

16 action which the Advisory Commission is authorized

17 to take by this section.

18 (3) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Advisory

19 Commission may secure directly from any depart20 ment or agency of the United States information

21 necessary to enable it to carry out this Act. Upon

22 request of the Chairperson of the Advisory Commis23 sion, the head of that department or agency shall

24 furnish that information to the Advisory Commis25 sion.
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1 (4) MAILS.—The Advisory Commission may use

2 the United States mails in the same manner and

3 under the same conditions as other departments and

4 agencies of the United States.

5 (5) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—

6 Upon the request of the Advisory Commission, the

7 Administrator of General Services shall provide to

8 the Advisory Commission, on a reimbursable basis,

9 the administrative support services necessary for the

10 Advisory Commission to carry out its responsibilities

11 under this Act.

12 (e) CHARTER.—The provisions of section 14(b) of the

13 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. Appendix; 86

14 Stat. 776), are hereby waived with respect to this Advisory

15 Commission.

16 (f) TERMINATION.—The Advisory Commission estab17 lished under subsection (a)(1) shall terminate upon the

18 submission of its report under subsection (c)(1), and each

19 Advisory Commission reestablished under subsection

20 (a)(2) shall terminate six months after the date on which

21 all members of the Advisory Commission are first ap22 pointed under subsection (c).

23 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

24 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as

25 may be necessary to carry out this Act.
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