II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2831 

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 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADJACENT LANDOWNER.—The term ‘‘adja9 cent landowner’’ means the non-Federal owner of 

10 property that directly abuts the Park boundaries. 


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1 (2) HISTORICAL CROSSING.—The term ‘‘histor2 ical crossing’’ means a corridor across historical rail3 road rights-of-way within the Park— 

4 (A) that have been used by adjacent land5 owners in an open manner in the past 10 years 

6 for vehicle, farm machinery or livestock travel; 

7 or 

8 (B) where existing utility or pipelines have 

9 been placed. 

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

11 the Transcontinental Railroad Network established 

12 under section 4. 

13 (4) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means the Gold14 en Spike National Historical Park designated under 

15 section 3. 

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

17 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di18 rector of the National Park Service. 

19 (6) SUPERINTENDENT.—The term ‘‘Super20 intendent’’ means the Superintendent of the Park. 

21 (7) TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD.—The term 

22 ‘‘Transcontinental Railroad’’ means the approxi23 mately 1,912-mile continuous railroad constructed 

24 between 1863 and 1869 from Council Bluffs, Iowa, 

25 to San Francisco, California. 


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1 SEC. 3. REDESIGNATION. 

2 (a) REDESIGNATION.—The Golden Spike National 

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

4 (79 Stat. 426), shall be known and designated as the 

5 ‘‘Golden Spike National Historical Park’’. 

6 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, map, reg7 ulation, document, paper, or other record of the United 

8 States to the Golden Spike National Historic Site shall 

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

10 Historical Park’’. 

11 (c) NETWORK.—The Park shall be part of the Net12 work. 

13 SEC. 4. TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD NETWORK. 

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

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

16 as the Transcontinental Railroad Network. The Network 

17 shall not include properties used in active freight railroad 

18 operations (or other ancillary purposes) or reasonably an19 ticipated to be used for freight railroad operations in the 

20 future. 

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

22 the Network, the Secretary shall— 

23 (1) produce and disseminate appropriate edu24 cation materials relating to the history, construction, 

25 and legacy of the Transcontinental Railroad, such as 


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1 handbooks, maps, interpretive guides, or electronic 

2 information; 

3 (2) enter into appropriate cooperative agree4 ments and memoranda of understanding to provide 

5 technical assistance under subsection (d); and 

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

7 or device for the Network and issue guidance for the 

8 use of such symbol or device. 

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

10 following elements: 

11 (1) All units and programs of the National 

12 Park Service that are determined by the Secretary 

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

14 the Transcontinental Railroad. 

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

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

17 local, and privately owned properties that— 

18 (A) have a verifiable connection to the his19 tory, construction, and legacy of the Trans20 continental Railroad and are included in, or de21 termined by the Secretary to be eligible for in22 clusion in, the National Register of Historic 

23 Places; or 

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1 tion, and legacy of the Transcontinental Rail2 road. 

3 (3) Other governmental and nongovernmental 

4 programs of an educational, research, or interpretive 

5 nature that are directly related to the history, con6 struction, and legacy of the Transcontinental Rail7 road. 

8 (d) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND MEMORANDA

9 OF UNDERSTANDING.—To achieve the purposes of this 

10 section and to ensure effective coordination of the Federal 

11 and non-Federal elements of the Network described in 

12 subsection (c) with National Park System units and pro13 grams of the National Park Service, the Secretary may 

14 enter into cooperative agreements and memoranda of un15 derstanding with, and provide technical assistance to, the 

16 heads of other Federal agencies, States, units of local gov17 ernment, regional governmental bodies, and private enti18 ties. 

19 SEC. 5. AGREEMENTS AFFECTING CERTAIN HISTORICAL 

20 CROSSINGS. 

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

22 landowner, the Superintendent shall enter into an agree23 ment with the adjacent landowner regarding an existing 

24 historical crossing within the Park. 


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

2 provide that— 

3 (1) the adjacent landowner shall give notice to 

4 the Superintendent of a proposed activity that will 

5 affect the surface or subsurface of the historical 

6 crossing; 

7 (2) the Superintendent shall review and approve 

8 or disapprove the proposed activity within 30 days 

9 of the date that the adjacent landowner gives notice 

10 of a proposed activity under paragraph (1); 

11 (3) the Superintendent shall approve a pro12 posed activity if— 

13 (A) the adjacent landowner will restore the 

14 surface of the historical crossing within a rea15 sonable time following the completion of the 

16 proposed activity; 

17 (B) the proposed activity will last less than 

18 one month and will have limited physical impact 

19 on the surface of the historical crossing; 

20 (C) the proposed activity has been imple21 mented by the adjacent landowner or other ad22 jacent landowners in the past; or 

23 (D) the proposed activity is the subject of 

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1 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

2 et seq.); and 

3 (4) if the Superintendent disapproves the activ4 ity, the adjacent landowner may modify the proposed 

5 activity and resubmit it for review under paragraph 

6 (1). 

7 SEC. 6. EXOTIC OR INVASIVE SPECIES CONTROL. 

8 At the request of an adjacent landowner, within 30 

9 days of such a request, the Superintendent shall authorize 

10 the adjacent landowner to participate in the eradication 

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

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

13 shall provide— 

14 (1) that the exotic or invasive species proposed 

15 for eradication is identified as such by the National 

16 Park Service; 

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

18 eradication must be approved by the Superintendent; 

19 and 

20 (3) appropriate indemnification of the adjacent 

21 landowner. 


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1 SEC. 7. FUNDING CLARIFICATION. 

2 No additional funds are authorized to carry out the 

3 requirements of this Act. Such requirements shall be car4 ried out using amounts otherwise authorized. 

Æ 


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