II 

Calendar No. 655 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2831 

[Report No. 115–368] 

To redesignate Golden Spike National Historic Site and to establish the 

Transcontinental Railroad Network. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 10, 2018 

Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. LEE) introduced the following bill; which was 

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

NOVEMBER 15, 2018 

Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment and an amendment to the 

title 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To redesignate Golden Spike National Historic Site and to 

establish the Transcontinental Railroad Network. 

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 ‘‘Golden Spike 150th 

5 Anniversary Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ADJACENT LANDOWNER.—The term ‘‘adja4 cent landowner’’ means the non-Federal owner of 

5 property that directly abuts the Park boundaries. 

6 (2) HISTORICAL CROSSING.—The term ‘‘histor7 ical crossing’’ means a corridor across historical rail8 road rights-of-way within the Park— 

9 (A) that have been used by adjacent land10 owners in an open manner in the past 10 years 

11 for vehicle, farm machinery or livestock travel; 

12 or 

13 (B) where existing utility or pipelines have 

14 been placed. 

15 (3) NETWORK.—The term ‘‘Network’’ means 

16 the Transcontinental Railroad Network established 

17 under section 4. 

18 (4) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means the Gold19 en Spike National Historical Park designated under 

20 section 3. 

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

22 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di23 rector of the National Park Service. 

24 (6) SUPERINTENDENT.—The term ‘‘Super25 intendent’’ means the Superintendent of the Park. 


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1 (7) TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD.—The term 

2 ‘‘Transcontinental Railroad’’ means the approxi3 mately 1,912-mile continuous railroad constructed 

4 between 1863 and 1869 from Council Bluffs, Iowa, 

5 to San Francisco, California. 

6 SEC. 3. REDESIGNATION. 

7 (a) REDESIGNATION.—The Golden Spike National 

8 Historic Site established under the Act of July 10, 1965 

9 (79 Stat. 426), shall be known and designated as the 

10 ‘‘Golden Spike National Historical Park’’. 

11 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, map, reg12 ulation, document, paper, or other record of the United 

13 States to the Golden Spike National Historic Site shall 

14 be considered a reference to the ‘‘Golden Spike National 

15 Historical Park’’. 

16 (c) NETWORK.—The Park shall be part of the Net17 work. 

18 SEC. 4. TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD NETWORK. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish, 

20 within the National Park Service, a program to be known 

21 as the Transcontinental Railroad Network. The Network 

22 shall not include properties used in active freight railroad 

23 operations (or other ancillary purposes) or reasonably an24 ticipated to be used for freight railroad operations in the 

25 future. 


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1 (b) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.—In carrying out 

2 the Network, the Secretary shall— 

3 (1) produce and disseminate appropriate edu4 cation materials relating to the history, construction, 

5 and legacy of the Transcontinental Railroad, such as 

6 handbooks, maps, interpretive guides, or electronic 

7 information; 

8 (2) enter into appropriate cooperative agree9 ments and memoranda of understanding to provide 

10 technical assistance under subsection (d); and 

11 (3) create and adopt an official, uniform symbol 

12 or device for the Network and issue guidance for the 

13 use of such symbol or device. 

14 (c) ELEMENTS.—The Network shall encompass the 

15 following elements: 

16 (1) All units and programs of the National 

17 Park Service that are determined by the Secretary 

18 to relate to the history, construction, and legacy of 

19 the Transcontinental Railroad. 

20 (2) With the consent of each person owning any 

21 legal interest in the property, other Federal, State, 

22 local, and privately owned properties that— 

23 (A) have a verifiable connection to the his24 tory, construction, and legacy of the Trans25 continental Railroad and are included in, or deVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:02 Nov 15, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2831.RS S2831

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1 termined by the Secretary to be eligible for in2 clusion in, the National Register of Historic 

3 Places; or 

4 (B) are otherwise determined by the Sec5 retary to be connected to the history, construc6 tion, and legacy of the Transcontinental Rail7 road. 

8 (3) Other governmental and nongovernmental 

9 programs of an educational, research, or interpretive 

10 nature that are directly related to the history, con11 struction, and legacy of the Transcontinental Rail12 road. 

13 (d) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND MEMORANDA

14 OF UNDERSTANDING.—To achieve the purposes of this 

15 section and to ensure effective coordination of the Federal 

16 and non-Federal elements of the Network described in 

17 subsection (c) with National Park System units and pro18 grams of the National Park Service, the Secretary may 

19 enter into cooperative agreements and memoranda of un20 derstanding with, and provide technical assistance to, the 

21 heads of other Federal agencies, States, units of local gov22 ernment, regional governmental bodies, and private enti23 ties. 


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1 SEC. 5. AGREEMENTS AFFECTING CERTAIN HISTORICAL 

2 CROSSINGS. 

3 (a) AGREEMENTS.—At the request of an adjacent 

4 landowner, the Superintendent shall enter into an agree5 ment with the adjacent landowner regarding an existing 

6 historical crossing within the Park. 

7 (b) TERMS OF AGREEMENT.—The agreement shall 

8 provide that— 

9 (1) the adjacent landowner shall give notice to 

10 the Superintendent of a proposed activity that will 

11 affect the surface or subsurface of the historical 

12 crossing; 

13 (2) the Superintendent shall review and approve 

14 or disapprove the proposed activity within 30 days 

15 of the date that the adjacent landowner gives notice 

16 of a proposed activity under paragraph (1); 

17 (3) the Superintendent shall approve a pro18 posed activity if— 

19 (A) the adjacent landowner will restore the 

20 surface of the historical crossing within a rea21 sonable time following the completion of the 

22 proposed activity; 

23 (B) the proposed activity will last less than 

24 one month and will have limited physical impact 

25 on the surface of the historical crossing; 


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1 (C) the proposed activity has been imple2 mented by the adjacent landowner or other ad3 jacent landowners in the past; or 

4 (D) the proposed activity is the subject of 

5 a categorical exclusion under the National Envi6 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

7 et seq.); and 

8 (4) if the Superintendent disapproves the activ9 ity, the adjacent landowner may modify the proposed 

10 activity and resubmit it for review under paragraph 

11 (1). 

12 SEC. 6. EXOTIC OR INVASIVE SPECIES CONTROL. 

13 At the request of an adjacent landowner, within 30 

14 days of such a request, the Superintendent shall authorize 

15 the adjacent landowner to participate in the eradication 

16 of exotic or invasive species in the Park for a period of 

17 up to 10 years, subject to renewal. Such an authorization 

18 shall provide— 

19 (1) that the exotic or invasive species proposed 

20 for eradication is identified as such by the National 

21 Park Service; 

22 (2) that the method, timing and location of the 

23 eradication must be approved by the Superintendent; 

24 and 


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1 (3) appropriate indemnification of the adjacent 

2 landowner. 

3 SEC. 7. FUNDING CLARIFICATION. 

4 No additional funds are authorized to carry out the 

5 requirements of this Act. Such requirements shall be car6 ried out using amounts otherwise authorized. 

7 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

8 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Golden Spike 150th An9 niversary Act’’. 

10 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means the Golden 

13 Spike National Historical Park designated by section 

14 3(a). 

15 (2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means the 

16 program to commemorate and interpret the Trans17 continental Railroad authorized under section 4. 

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

19 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di20 rector of the National Park Service. 

21 (4) TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD.—The term 

22 ‘‘Transcontinental Railroad’’ means the approxi23 mately 1,912-mile continuous railroad constructed be24 tween 1863 and 1869 extending from Council Bluffs, 

25 Iowa, to San Francisco, California. 


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1 SEC. 3. REDESIGNATION. 

2 (a) REDESIGNATION.—The Golden Spike National 

3 Historic Site designated April 2, 1957, and placed under 

4 the administration of the National Park Service under Pub5 lic Law 89–102 (54 U.S.C. 320101 note; 79 Stat. 426), shall 

6 be known and designated as the ‘‘Golden Spike National 

7 Historical Park’’. 

8 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, map, regu9 lation, document, paper, or other record of the United 

10 States to the Golden Spike National Historic Site shall be 

11 considered to be a reference to the ‘‘Golden Spike National 

12 Historical Park’’. 

13 SEC. 4. TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD COMMEMORATION 

14 AND PROGRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the Sec16 retary shall establish within the National Park Service a 

17 program to commemorate and interpret the Trans18 continental Railroad. 

19 (b) STUDY.—Before establishing the Program, the Sec20 retary shall conduct a study of alternatives for commemo21 rating and interpreting the Transcontinental Railroad that 

22 includes— 

23 (1) a historical assessment of the Trans24 continental Railroad; 

25 (2) the identification of— 


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1 (A) existing National Park System land 

2 and affiliated areas, land managed by other Fed3 eral agencies, and Federal programs that may be 

4 related to preserving, commemorating, and inter5 preting the Transcontinental Railroad; 

6 (B) any properties relating to the Trans7 continental Railroad— 

8 (i) that are designated as, or could 

9 meet the criteria for designation as, Na10 tional Historic Landmarks; or 

11 (ii) that are included, or eligible for 

12 inclusion, on the National Register of His13 toric Places; 

14 (C) any objects relating to the Trans15 continental Railroad that have educational, re16 search, or interpretative value; and 

17 (D) any governmental programs and non18 governmental programs of an educational, re19 search, or interpretive nature relating to the 

20 Transcontinental Railroad; and 

21 (3) recommendations for— 

22 (A) incorporating the resources identified 

23 under paragraph (2) into the Program; and 

24 (B) other appropriate ways to enhance his25 torical research, education, interpretation, and 


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1 public awareness of the Transcontinental Rail2 road. 

3 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date on 

4 which funds are made available to carry out the study 

5 under subsection (b), the Secretary shall submit to the Com6 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 

7 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

8 the Senate a report containing the findings and rec9 ommendations of the study. 

10 (d) FREIGHT RAILROAD OPERATIONS.—The Program 

11 shall not include any properties that are— 

12 (1) used in active freight railroad operations (or 

13 other ancillary purposes); or 

14 (2) reasonably anticipated to be used for freight 

15 railroad operations in the future. 

16 (e) ELEMENTS OF THE PROGRAM.—In carrying out 

17 the Program under this section, the Secretary— 

18 (1) shall produce and disseminate appropriate 

19 education materials relating to the history, construc20 tion, and legacy of the Transcontinental Railroad, 

21 such as handbooks, maps, interpretive guides, or elec22 tronic information; 

23 (2) may enter into appropriate cooperative 

24 agreements and memoranda of understanding and 

25 provide technical assistance to the heads of other FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:02 Nov 15, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2831.RS S2831

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1 eral agencies, States, units of local government, re2 gional governmental bodies, and private entities to 

3 further the purposes of the Program and this Act; and 

4 (3) may— 

5 (A) create and adopt an official, uniform 

6 symbol or device to identify the Program; and 

7 (B) issue guidance for the use of the symbol 

8 or device created and adopted under subpara9 graph (A). 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to redesignate 

the Golden Spike National Historic Site and to establish 

a program to commemorate and interpret the Transcontinental Railroad.’’. 


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Calendar No. 655 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2831 

[Report No. 115–368] 

A BILL 

To redesignate Golden Spike National Historic Site 

Network. and to establish the Transcontinental Railroad 

NOVEMBER 15, 2018 

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the 

title 


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