Union Calendar No. 263

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2843

[Report No. 103–471]

A BILL

To establish the Wheeling National Heritage Area

purposes.in the State of West Virginia, and for other

APRIL 12, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 263

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2843

[Report No. 103–471]

To establish the Wheeling National Heritage Area in the State of West

Virginia, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 3, 1993

Mr. MOLLOHAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

APRIL 12, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on August 3, 1993]

A BILL

To establish the Wheeling National Heritage Area in the

State of West Virginia, 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 ‘‘Wheeling National Her5 itage Area Act of 1994’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

3 (1) the community of Wheeling, West Virginia,

4 and vicinity, possess important historical, cultural,

5 and natural resources, representing major heritage

6 themes of transportation and commerce and industry

7 and Victorian culture in the United States;

8 (2) the City of Wheeling played an important

9 part in the settlement of this country by serving as

10 the western terminus of the National Road in the

11 early 1800’s, by serving as one of the few major in12 land ports in the nineteenth century, by hosting the

13 establishment of the Restored State of Virginia, and

14 later the State of West Virginia during the Civil War

15 years and serving as the first capital of the new State

16 of West Virginia, through the development and main17 tenance of many industries crucial to the Nation’s ex18 pansion, including iron and steel, and textile manu19 facturing facilities, boat building facilities, glass

20 manufacturing facilities, stogie and chewing tobacco

21 manufacturing facilities, many of which are indus22 tries that continue to play an important role in the

23 Nation’s economy;

24 (3) the City of Wheeling has retained its na25 tional heritage themes with the designations of the old

26 custom house, now Independence Hall, as a National
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1 Historic Landmark; with the designation of the his2 toric suspension bridge as a National Historic Land3 mark; with five historic districts, and many individ4 ual properties in the Wheeling area listed or eligible

5 for nomination to the National Register of Historic

6 Places; and

7 (4) the heritage themes and number and diver8 sity of Wheeling’s remaining resources should be ap9 propriately retained, enhanced, and interpreted for

10 the education, benefit, and inspiration of the people

11 of the United States.

12 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to—

13 (1) recognize the importance of the history and

14 development of the Wheeling area in the cultural her15 itage of the Nation;

16 (2) provide a framework to assist the City of

17 Wheeling and other public and private entities and

18 individuals in the appropriate preservation, enhance19 ment, and interpretation of resources in the Wheeling

20 area emblematic of Wheeling’s contributions to that

21 cultural heritage; and

22 (3) allow for limited Federal, State and local

23 capital contributions for planning and infrastructure

24 investments to create the Wheeling National Heritage

25 Area, in partnership with the State of West Virginia
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1 and the City of Wheeling, West Virginia and its des2 ignees; and to provide for an economically self-sus3 taining National Heritage Area not dependent on

4 Federal assistance beyond the initial years necessary

5 to establish the National Heritage Area.

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITION.

7 As used in this Act, the term ‘‘Plan’’ refers to the Plan

8 for the Wheeling National Heritage Area, prepared for the

9 Wheeling National Heritage Area Task Force, the City of

10 Wheeling, and the National Park Service, published in Au11 gust 1992, which Plan includes—

12 (1) an inventory of the natural and cultural re13 sources in the City of Wheeling;

14 (2) criteria for preserving and interpreting sig15 nificant natural and historic resources;

16 (3) a strategy for the conservation, preservation,

17 and reuse of the historical and cultural resources in

18 the City of Wheeling and the region; and

19 (4) an implementation agenda by which the

20 State of West Virginia and local governments can

21 program their resources as well as a complete descrip22 tion of the management entity responsible for imple23 menting the Plan.
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1 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA.

2 In furtherance of the purposes of this Act, there is here3 by established the Wheeling National Heritage Area in the

4 State of West Virginia (hereinafter referred to as the

5 ‘‘Area’’). The Area shall include those lands and waters

6 within the boundary generally depicted on the map entitled,

7 ‘‘Boundary Map, Wheeling National Heritage Area, West

8 Virginia’’, which shall be on file and available for public

9 inspection in the offices of the National Park Service, De10 partment of the Interior, and in Wheeling, West Virginia.

11 SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.

12 (a) PURPOSE.—To carry out the purposes of this Act,

13 the Secretary of the Interior shall—

14 (1) assist appropriate local entities in the devel15 opment of interpretive and educational materials as

16 specified in the Plan or subsequent planning efforts

17 (for example, the interpretive master plan); and

18 (2) provide funds for capital improvements to

19 projects and initial operating assistance consistent

20 with the Plan.

21 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall, as

22 outlined in the Plan, provide technical assistance to appro23 priate local entities in the preparation of any plans or stud24 ies pursuant to the Plan.

25 (c) CAPITAL PROJECTS.—(1) Application for funds for

26 capital projects and improvements under this Act shall be
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1 submitted to the Secretary and shall include a description

2 of how the project proposed to be funded will further the

3 purposes of the Area.

4 (2) In making such funds available, the Secretary shall

5 give consideration to projects which provide a greater lever6 age of Federal funds. Any payment made shall be subject

7 to an agreement that conversion, use, or disposal of the

8 project so assisted for purposes contrary to the purposes of

9 this Act, as determined by the Secretary, shall result in a

10 right of the United States of reimbursement of all funds

11 made available to such project or the proportion of the in12 creased value of the project attributable to such funds as

13 determined at the time of such conversion, use, or disposal,

14 whichever is greater.

15 SEC. 6. DUTIES OF OTHER FEDERAL ENTITIES.

16 Any Federal department, agency or other entity con17 ducting or supporting activities directly affecting the Area

18 shall—

19 (1) consult with the Secretary of the Interior

20 with respect to such activities;

21 (2) cooperate with the Secretary of the Interior

22 in carrying out its duties under this Act and, to the

23 maximum extent practicable, coordinate such activi24 ties with the carrying out of such duties; and
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1 (3) to the maximum extent practicable, conduct

2 or support such activities in a manner which the Sec3 retary of the Interior determines will not have an ad4 verse affect on the Area.

5 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

6 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary

7 of the Interior to carry out this Act not more than—

8 (1) $5,000,000 for capital projects;

9 (2) $1,000,000 for planning and studies; and

10 (3) $500,000 for technical assistance.

11 Funds made available pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2)

12 shall not exceed 50 percent of the total costs of the project

13 to be funded.