I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4720
To establish the Hudson River Valley American Heritage Area.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 12, 1994
Mr. HINCHEY (for himself, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. FISH, Mr. GILMAN, and Mrs.
LOWEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Commit-
tee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To establish the Hudson River Valley American Heritage
Area.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hudson River Valley
American Heritage Area Act of 1994’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Hudson River Valley between Yonkers,
New York, and Troy, New York, possesses impor-
tant historical, cultural, and natural resources, rep-
resenting themes of settlement and migration, trans-
portation, and commerce.
(2) The Hudson River Valley played an impor-
tant role in the military history of the American
Revolution.
(3) The Hudson River Valley gave birth to im-
portant movements in American art and architecture
through the work of Andrew Jackson Downing, Al-
exander Jackson Davis, Thomas Cole, and their as-
sociates, and played a central role in the recognition
of the esthetic value of the landscape and the devel-
opment of an American esthetic ideal.
(4) The Hudson River Valley played an impor-
tant role in the development of the iron, textile, and
collar and cuff industries in the 19th century, exem-
plified in surviving structures such as the Harmony
Mills complex at Cohoes, and in the development of
early men’s and women’s labor and cooperative orga-
nizations, and is the home of the first women’s labor
union and the first women’s secondary school.
(5) The Hudson River Valley, in its cities and
towns and in its rural landscapes—
(A) displays exceptional surviving physical
resources illustrating these themes and the so-
cial, industrial, and cultural history of the 19th
and early 20th centuries; and
(B) includes many National Historic Sites
and Landmarks.
(6) The Hudson River Valley is the home of
traditions associated with Dutch and Huguenot set-
tlements dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, was
the locus of characteristic American stories such as
‘‘Rip Van Winkle’’ and the ‘‘Legend of Sleepy Hol-
low’’, and retains physical social, and cultural evi-
dence of these traditions and the traditions of other
more recent ethnic and social groups.
(7) New York State has established a structure
for the Hudson River Valley communities to join to-
gether to preserve, conserve, and manage these re-
sources, and to link them through trails and other
means, in the Hudson River Greenway Communities
Council and the Greenway Conservancy.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are the following:
(1) To recognize the importance of the history
and the resources of the Hudson River Valley to the
Nation.
(2) To assist the State of New York and the
communities of the Hudson River Valley in preserv-
ing, protecting, and interpreting these resources for
the benefit of the Nation.
(3) To authorize Federal financial and technical
assistance to serve these purposes.
SEC. 4. HUDSON RIVER VALLEY AMERICAN HERITAGE
AREA.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a
Hudson River Valley American Heritage Area (in this Act
referred to as the ‘‘Heritage Area’’).
(b) BOUNDARIES.—The Heritage Area shall be com-
prised of the counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Columbia,
Greene, Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Westchester,
and Rockland, New York, and the Village of Waterford
in Saratoga County, New York.
(c) MANAGEMENT ENTITIES.—The management en-
tities for the Heritage Area shall be the Hudson River Val-
ley Greenway Communities Council and the Greenway
Conservancy (agencies established by the State of New
York in its Hudson River Greenway Act of 1991, in the
Act referred to as the ‘‘management entities’’). The man-
agement entities shall jointly establish a Heritage Area
Committee to manage the Heritage Area.
SEC. 5. COMPACT.
To carry out the purposes of this Act, the Secretary
of the Interior (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’)
shall enter into a compact with the management entities.
The compact shall include information relating to the ob-
jectives and management of the area, including the follow-
ing:
(1) A discussion of the goals and objectives of
the Heritage Area, including an explanation of a
proposed approach to conservation and interpreta-
tion, and a general outline of the protection meas-
ures committed to by the parties to the compact.
(2) A description of the respective roles of the
management entities.
(3) A list of the initial partners to be involved
in developing and implementing a management plan
for the Heritage Area, and a statement of the finan-
cial commitment of such partners.
(4) A description of the role of the State of
New York.
SEC. 6. MANAGEMENT PLAN.
The management entities shall develop a manage-
ment plan for the Heritage Area that presents comprehen-
sive recommendations for the Heritage Area’s conserva-
tion, funding, management and development. Such plan
shall take into consideration existing State, county, and
local plans and involve residents, public agencies, and pri-
vate organizations working in the Heritage Area. It shall
include actions to be undertaken by units of government
and private organizations to protect the resources of the
Heritage Area. It shall specify the existing and potential
sources of funding to protect, manage and develop the
Heritage Area. Such plan shall include specifically as ap-
propriate the following:
(1) An inventory of the resources contained in
the Heritage Area, including a list of any property
in the Heritage Area that is related to the themes
of the Heritage Area and that should be preserved,
restored, managed, developed, or maintained because
of its natural, cultural, historic, recreational, or sce-
nic significance.
(2) A recommendation of policies for resource
management which consider and detail application of
appropriate land and water management techniques,
including but not limited to, the development of
intergovernmental cooperative agreements to protect
the Heritage Area’s historical, cultural, recreational,
and natural resources in a manner consistent with
supporting appropriate and compatible economic via-
bility.
(3) A program for implementation of the man-
agement plan by the management entities, including
plans for restoration and construction, and specific
commitments of the identified partners for the first
5 years of operation.
(4) An analysis of ways in which local, State,
and Federal programs may best be coordinated to
promote the purposes of the Act.
(5) An interpretation plan for the Heritage
Area.
SEC. 7. AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF MANAGEMENT
ENTITIES.
(a) AUTHORITIES
OF
THE MANAGEMENT ENTI-
TIES.—The management entities may, for purposes of pre-
paring and implementing the management plan under sec-
tion 6, use Federal funds made available through this
Act—
(1) to make loans and grants to, and enter into
cooperative agreements with, States and their politi-
cal subdivisions, private organizations, or any per-
son; and
(2) to hire and compensate staff.
(b) DUTIES OF THE MANAGEMENT ENTITIES.—The
management entities shall—
(1) develop and submit to the Secretary for ap-
proval a management plan as described in section 6
within 5 years after the date of the enactment of
this Act;
(2) give priority to implementing actions as set
forth in the compact and the management plan, in-
cluding taking steps to—
(A) assist units of government, regional
planning organizations, and nonprofit organiza-
tions in preserving the Heritage Area;
(B) assist units of government, regional
planning organizations, and nonprofit organiza-
tions in establishing, and maintaining interpre-
tive exhibits in the Heritage Area;
(C) assist units of government, regional
planning organizations, and nonprofit organiza-
tions in developing recreational resources in the
Heritage Area;
(D) assist units of government, regional
planning organizations, and nonprofit organiza-
tions in increasing public awareness of and ap-
preciation for the natural, historical and archi-
tectural resources and sites in the Heritage
Area;
(E) assist units of government, regional
planning organizations and nonprofit organiza-
tions in the restoration of any historic building
relating to the themes of the Heritage Area;
(F) encourage by appropriate means eco-
nomic viability in the corridor consistent with
the goals of the Plan;
(G) encourage local governments to adopt
land use policies consistent with the manage-
ment of the Heritage Area and the goals of the
plan; and
(H) assist units of government, regional
planning organizations and nonprofit organiza-
tions to ensure that clear, consistent, and envi-
ronmentally appropriate signs identifying access
points and sites of interest are put in place
throughout the Heritage Area;
(3) consider the interests of diverse govern-
mental, business, and nonprofit groups within the
Heritage Area;
(4) conduct public meetings at least quarterly
regarding the implementation of the management
plan;
(5) submit substantial changes (including any
increase of more than 20 percent in the cost esti-
mates for implementation) to the management plan
to the Secretary for the Secretary’s approval;
(6) for any year in which Federal funds have
been received under this Act, submit an annual re-
port to the Secretary setting forth its accomplish-
ments, its expenses and income, and the entities to
which any loans and grants were made during the
year for which the report is made; and
(7) for any year in which Federal funds have
been received under this Act, make available for
audit all records pertaining to the expenditure of
such funds and any matching funds, and require, for
all agreements authorizing expenditure of Federal
funds by other organizations, that the receiving or-
ganizations make available for audit all records per-
taining to the expenditure of such funds.
If a management plan is not submitted to the Secretary
as required under paragraph (1) within the specified time,
the Heritage Area shall no longer qualify for Federal
funding.
(c) PROHIBITION ON THE ACQUISITION OF REAL
PROPERTY.—The management entities may not use Fed-
eral funds received under this Act to acquire real property
or an interest in real property. Nothing in this Act shall
preclude any management entity from using Federal funds
from other sources for their permitted purposes.
(d) ELIGIBILITY FOR RECEIVING FINANCIAL ASSIST-
ANCE.—
(1) ELIGIBILITY.—The management entities
shall be eligible to receive funds appropriated
through this Act for a period of 10 years after the
day on which the compact under section 5 is signed
by the Secretary and the management entities, ex-
cept as provided in paragraph (2).
(2) EXCEPTION.—The management entities’ eli-
gibility for funding under this Act may be extended
for a period of not more than 5 additional years,
if—
(A) the management entities determine
such extension is necessary in order to carry
out the purposes of this Act and notify the Sec-
retary not later than 180 days prior to the ter-
mination date;
(B) the management entities, not later
than 180 days prior to the termination date,
present to the Secretary a plan of their activi-
ties for the period of the extension, including
provisions for becoming independent of the
funds made available through this Act; and
(C) the Secretary, with the advice of the
Governor of New York approves such extension
of funding.
SEC. 8. DUTIES AND AUTHORITIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.
(a) DUTIES
AND
AUTHORITIES
OF
THE
SEC-
RETARY.—
(1) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may,
upon request of the management entities, pro-
vide technical and financial assistance to the
Heritage Area to develop and implement the
management plan. In assisting the Heritage
Area, the Secretary shall give priority to actions
that in general assist in—
(i) conserving the significant natural,
historic, and cultural resources which sup-
port its themes; and
(ii) providing educational, interpretive,
and recreational opportunities consistent
with its resources and associated values.
(B) 
SPENDING
FOR
NON-FEDERALLY
OWNED PROPERTY.—The Secretary may spend
Federal funds directly on non-federally owned
property to further the purposes of this Act, es-
pecially in assisting units of government in ap-
propriate treatment of districts, sites, buildings,
structures, and objects listed or eligible for list-
ing on the National Register of Historic Places.
(2) APPROVAL
AND
DISAPPROVAL
OF
COM-
PACTS, AND MANAGEMENT PLANS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in con-
sultation with the Governor of New York, shall
approve or disapprove a compact or manage-
ment plan submitted under this Act not later
than 90 days after receiving such compact or
management plan.
(B) ACTION FOLLOWING DISAPPROVAL.—
If the Secretary disapproves a submitted com-
pact or management plan, the Secretary shall
advise the management entities in writing of
the reasons therefor and shall make rec-
ommendations for revisions in the compact or
plan. The Secretary shall approve or disapprove
a proposed revision within 90 days after the
date it is submitted.
(3) APPROVING AMENDMENTS.—The Secretary
shall review substantial amendments to the manage-
ment plan for the Heritage Area. Funds appro-
priated pursuant to this Act may not be expended to
implement the changes until the Secretary approves
the amendments.
(4) PROMULGATING REGULATIONS.—The Sec-
retary shall promulgate such regulations as are nec-
essary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(b) DUTIES OF FEDERAL ENTITIES.—Any Federal
entity conducting or supporting activities directly affecting
the Heritage Area, and any unit of government acting pur-
suant to a grant of Federal funds or a Federal permit
or agreement conducting or supporting such activities,
shall to the maximum extent practicable—
(1) consult with the Secretary and the manage-
ment entities with respect to such activities;
(2) cooperate with the Secretary and the man-
agement entities in carrying out their duties under
this Act and coordinate such activities with the car-
rying out of such duties; and
(3) conduct or support such activities in a man-
ner consistent with the management plan unless the
Federal entity, after consultation with the manage-
ment entities, determines there is no practicable al-
ternative.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) COMPACTS AND MANAGEMENT PLAN.—From the
amounts made available to carry out the National Historic
Preservation Act, there is authorized to be appropriated
to the Secretary, for grants for developing a compact
under section 5 and providing assistance for a manage-
ment plan under section 6, not more than $300,000, to
remain available until expended, subject to the following
conditions:
(1) No grant for a compact or management
plan may exceed 75 percent of the grantee’s cost for
such study, plan, or early action.
(2) The total amount of Federal funding for the
compact for the Heritage Area may not exceed
$150,000.
(3) The total amount of Federal funding for a
management plan for the Heritage Area may not ex-
ceed $150,000.
(b) MANAGEMENT ENTITY OPERATIONS.—From the
amounts made available to carry out the National Historic
Preservation Act, there is authorized to be appropriated
to the Secretary for the management entities, amounts as
follows:
(1) For the operating costs of each manage-
ment entity, pursuant to section 7, not more than
$250,000 annually.
(2) For technical assistance pursuant to section
8, not more than $50,000 annually.
The Federal contribution to the operations of the manage-
ment entities shall not exceed 50 percent of the annual
operating costs of the entities.
(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—From the amounts made
available to carry out the National Historic Preservation
Act, there is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary, for grants and the administration thereof for the
implementation of the management plans for the Heritage
Area pursuant to section 8, not more than $10,000,000,
to remain available until expended, subject to the following
conditions:
(1) No grant for implementation may exceed 50
percent of the grantee’s cost of implementation.
(2) Any payment made shall be subject to an
agreement that conversion, use, or disposal of the
project so assisted for purposes contrary to the pur-
poses of this Act, as determined by the Secretary,
shall result in a right of the United States of reim-
bursement of all funds made available to such
project or the proportion of the increased value of
the project attributable to such funds as determined
at the time of such conversion, use, or disposal,
whichever is greater.
Æ
HR 4720 IH——2