(3) PREPARATION
OF
COMPACT.—Each com-
pact submitted under this title shall be prepared
with public participation and in compliance with the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
(4) INITIATION OF ACTIONS.—Actions called for
in a compact shall be initiated within a reasonable
time after designation of the National Heritage Area
and shall ensure effective implementation of the
State and local aspects of the compact.
(c) HERITAGE PLANS.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each heritage plan for-
warded to the Secretary under this title for a Na-
tional Heritage Area shall be a plan, prepared pur-
suant to the designation of a National Heritage
Area, which sets forth the strategy to implement the
goals and objectives of the area. Each such heritage
plan shall—
(A) present comprehensive recommenda-
tions for the conservation, funding, manage-
ment, and development of the area;
(B) be prepared with public participation;
(C) take into consideration existing Fed-
eral, State, county, and local plans and involve
residents, private property owners, public agen-
cies, and private organizations in the area;
(D) include a description of actions that
units of government and private organizations
could take to protect the resources of the area;
and
(E) specify existing and potential sources
of funding for the conservation, management,
and development of the area.
(2) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—Each heritage
plan forwarded to the Secretary under this title also
shall include the following, as appropriate:
(A) INVENTORY OF RESOURCES.—An in-
ventory of important natural, cultural, or his-
toric resources which illustrate the theme of the
National Heritage Area.
(B) RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR
MANAGE-
MENT.—A recommendation of policies for man-
agement of the historical, cultural, and natural
resources and the recreational and educational
opportunities of the area in a manner consistent
with the support of appropriate and compatible
economic viability.
(C) PROGRAM
AND
COMMITMENTS.—A
program for implementation of the heritage
plan by the management entity specified in the
compact for the area and specific commitments,
for the first 5 years of operation of the heritage
plan, by the partners identified in the compact.
(D) ANALYSIS
OF
COORDINATION.—An
analysis of means by which Federal, State, and
local programs may best be coordinated to pro-
mote the purposes of this Act.
(E) INTERPRETIVE PLAN.—An interpretive
plan for the National Heritage Area.
SEC. 105. MANAGEMENT ENTITIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The management entity for each
National Heritage Area shall be an entity which reflects
a broad cross-section of interests within the heritage area
and which includes—
(1) at least 1 representative of one or more
units of government in each State in which the Na-
tional Heritage Area is located; and
(2) private property owners who reside within
the National Heritage Area.
(b) DUTIES.—Each management entity for a Na-
tional Heritage Area shall fulfill each of the following re-
quirements:
(1) HERITAGE PLAN.—Not later than 3 years
after the date of the designation of the area as a
National Heritage Area, the management entity
shall develop and forward to the Secretary, and to
the Governor of each State in which the area is lo-
cated, a heritage plan.
(2) PRIORITIES.—The management entity shall
give priority to the implementation of actions, goals,
and policies set forth in the compact and heritage
plan for the area, including assisting units of gov-
ernment and others in—
(A) carrying out programs which recognize
important resource values within the National
Heritage Area;
(B) encouraging economic viability in the
affected communities;
(C) establishing and maintaining interpre-
tive exhibits in the area;
(D) developing recreational and edu-
cational opportunities in the area;
(E) increasing public awareness of and ap-
preciation for the natural, historical, and cul-
tural resources of the area;
(F) restoring historic buildings that are lo-
cated within the boundaries of the area and re-
late to the theme of the area; and
(G) ensuring that clear, consistent, and ap-
propriate signs identifying public access points
and sites of interest are put in place throughout
the area.
(3) CONSIDERATION OF INTERESTS OF LOCAL
GROUPS.—The management entity shall, in develop-
ing and implementing the heritage plan for the area,
consider the interests of diverse units of government,
businesses, private property owners, and nonprofit
groups within the geographic area.
(4) PUBLIC MEETINGS.—The management en-
tity shall conduct public meetings at least annually
regarding the implementation of the heritage plan
for the area. The management entity shall place a
notice of each such meeting in a newspaper of gen-
eral circulation in the area and shall make the min-
utes of the meeting available to the public.
SEC. 106. WITHDRAWAL OF DESIGNATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The National Heritage Area des-
ignation of an area shall continue unless—
(1) the Secretary determines that—
(A) the National Heritage Area no longer
meets the criteria referred to in section 101;
(B) the use, condition, or development of
the area is inconsistent with the criteria re-
ferred to in section 101, the compact for the
area, or the heritage plan for the area; or
(C) the National Heritage Area is no
longer supported by the residents of the area
(which may be demonstrated by a request from
the Governor of any State in which the area is
located or a petition reflecting the interest of
residents of the area); and
(2) after making a determination referred to in
paragraph (1), the Secretary submits to the Con-
gress notification that the National Heritage Area
designation of the area should be withdrawn.
(b) PUBLIC HEARING.—Before the Secretary makes
a determination referred to in subsection (a)(1) regarding
a National Heritage Area, the Secretary or a designee
shall hold a public hearing within the area.
(c) TIME OF WITHDRAWAL OF DESIGNATION.—The
withdrawal of the National Heritage Area designation of
an area shall become final 90 legislative days after the
Secretary submits to the Congress the notification referred
to in subsection (a)(2) regarding the area.
(d) RESTRICTIONS ON REDESIGNATION.—If the Na-
tional Heritage Area designation of any area is withdrawn,
such area may not be redesignated as a National Heritage
Area before the expiration of the 10-year period beginning
on the date of such withdrawal. With respect to any Na-
tional Heritage Area which is so redesignated, section
103(b)(3) shall be applied by substituting ‘‘the excess (if
any) of 10 years over the amount of time for which such
area was previously eligible for grants under this title (or
would have been so eligible but for paragraph (4))’’ for
‘‘the 10-year period beginning on the date on which the
National Heritage Area is designated’’.
SEC. 107. PRIVATE PROPERTY PROTECTION.
(a) LIMITATION ON INCLUSION OF PRIVATE PROP-
ERTY
IN NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS.—No privately
owned property shall be included within the boundaries of
any National Heritage Area unless the government of the
county, city, or town in which the property is located
agrees to be so included and submits notification of such
agreement to the Secretary. If, at any time after the des-
ignation of the area, the government of a county, city, or
town which submitted such notification requests to be re-
moved from the National Heritage Area, the Secretary
and each Governor of a State in which the National Herit-
age Area is located shall revise the compact for the Na-
tional Heritage Area to exclude the county, city, or town
from the area.
(b) PROHIBITION OF ASSISTANCE IF MANAGEMENT
ENTITY EXERCISES ZONING OR LAND USE POWERS.—
The Secretary may not provide grants or technical assist-
ance under this title with respect to any National Heritage
Area if the management entity for such area possesses or
exercises any zoning or land use regulation powers.
(c) PROHIBITION
OF CONDITIONING SIGNING
OF
COMPACT
OR AWARD
OF ASSISTANCE
ON LAND USE
CHANGES.—The Secretary may not, as a condition of
signing any compact or awarding any grant or any tech-
nical assistance under this Act, require the enactment or
modification of land use restrictions.
(d) ACCESS TO PRIVATE PROPERTY.—No provision
of this Act shall be construed to require any private prop-
erty owner to permit public access to such private prop-
erty. No provision of this Act shall be construed to modify
any provision of State law with regard to public access
to or use of private lands. Designation of a National Her-
itage Area under this Act shall not be deemed to create
any liability, or to have any effect on any liability (under
any other law), of any private property owner with respect
to any persons injured on such private property.
(e) RECOGNITION
OF AUTHORITY TO CONTROL
LAND USE.—No provision of this Act shall be construed
to modify any existing authority of Federal, State, or local
governments to regulate land use.