(A) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and all that follows 
through ‘‘For each’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) For 
each’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘Commission’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘Association’’; 
(C) by striking ‘‘Commission’s’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘Association’s’’; 
(D) by redesignating paragraph (2) as sub-
section (b); and 
(E) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively. 
TITLE VI—OIL REGION 
NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA 
SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITIONS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This title may be cited as the ‘‘Oil 
Region National Heritage Area Act’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this title, the 
following definitions shall apply: 
(1) HERITAGE
AREA.—The term ‘‘Heritage 
Area’’ means the Oil Region National Heritage Area 
established in section 603(a). 
(2) MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—The term ‘‘manage-
ment entity’’ means the Oil Heritage Region, Inc., or 
its successor entity.
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
SEC. 602. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Oil Region of Northwestern Pennsyl-
vania, with numerous sites and districts listed on the 
National Register of Historic Places, and designated 
by the Governor of Pennsylvania as one of the State 
Heritage Park Areas, is a region with tremendous 
physical and natural resources and possesses a story 
of State, national, and international significance. 
(2) The single event of Colonel Edwin Drake’s 
drilling of the world’s first successful oil well in 1859 
has affected the industrial, natural, social, and polit-
ical structures of the modern world. 
(3) Six national historic districts are located 
within the State Heritage Park boundary, in 
Emlenton, Franklin, Oil City, and Titusville, as well 
as 17 separate National Register sites. 
(4) The Allegheny River, which was designated 
as a component of the national wild and scenic rivers 
system in 1992 by Public Law 102–271, traverses the 
Oil Region and connects several of its major sites, as 
do some of the river’s tributaries such as Oil Creek, 
French Creek, and Sandy Creek.
(5) The unspoiled rural character of the Oil Re-
gion provides many natural and recreational re-
sources, scenic vistas, and excellent water quality for 
people throughout the United States to enjoy. 
(6) Remnants of the oil industry, visible on the 
landscape to this day, provide a direct link to the 
past for visitors, as do the historic valley settlements, 
riverbed settlements, plateau developments, farmlands, 
and industrial landscapes. 
(7) The Oil Region also represents a cross section 
of American history associated with Native Ameri-
cans, frontier settlements, the French and Indian 
War, African Americans and the Underground Rail-
road, and immigration of Swedish and Polish indi-
viduals, among others. 
(8) Involvement by the Federal Government shall 
serve to enhance the efforts of the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania, local subdivisions of the Common-
wealth of Pennsylvania, volunteer organizations, and 
private businesses, to promote the cultural, national, 
and recreational resources of the region in order to 
fulfill their full potential. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to enhance 
a cooperative management framework to assist the Com-
monwealth of Pennsylvania, its units of local government,
and area citizens in conserving, enhancing, and inter-
preting the significant features of the lands, water, and 
structures of the Oil Region, in a manner consistent with 
compatible economic development for the benefit and inspi-
ration of present and future generations in the Common-
wealth of Pennsylvania and the United States. 
SEC. 603. OIL REGION NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established the 
Oil Region National Heritage Area. 
(b) BOUNDARIES.—The boundaries of the Heritage 
Area shall include all of those lands depicted on a map enti-
tled ‘‘Oil Region National Heritage Area’’, numbered 
OIRE/20,000 and dated October, 2000. The map shall be 
on file in the appropriate offices of the National Park Serv-
ice. The Secretary of the Interior shall publish in the Fed-
eral Register, as soon as practical after the date of the en-
actment of this Act, a detailed description and map of the 
boundaries established under this subsection. 
(c) MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—The management entity 
for the Heritage Area shall be the Oil Heritage Region, Inc., 
the locally based private, nonprofit management corpora-
tion which shall oversee the development of a management 
plan in accordance with section 605(b).
SEC. 604. COMPACT. 
To carry out the purposes of this title, the Secretary 
shall enter into a compact with the management entity. The 
compact shall include information relating to the objectives 
and management of the area, including a discussion of the 
goals and objectives of the Heritage Area, including an ex-
planation of the proposed approach to conservation and in-
terpretation and a general outline of the protection meas-
ures committed to by the Secretary and management entity. 
SEC. 605. AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF MANAGEMENT EN-
TITY. 
(a) AUTHORITIES OF THE MANAGEMENT ENTITY.— 
The management entity may use funds made available 
under this title for purposes of preparing, updating, and 
implementing the management plan developed under sub-
section (b). Such purposes may include— 
(1) making grants to, and entering into coopera-
tive agreements with, States and their political sub-
divisions, private organizations, or any other person; 
(2) hiring and compensating staff; and 
(3) undertaking initiatives that advance the pur-
poses of the Heritage Area. 
(b) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The management entity 
shall develop a management plan for the Heritage Area 
that—
(1) presents comprehensive strategies and rec-
ommendations for conservation, funding, manage-
ment, and development of the Heritage Area; 
(2) takes into consideration existing State, coun-
ty, and local plans and involves residents, public 
agencies, and private organizations working in the 
Heritage Area; 
(3) includes a description of actions that units 
of government and private organizations have agreed 
to take to protect the resources of the Heritage Area; 
(4) specifies the existing and potential sources of 
funding to protect, manage, and develop the Heritage 
Area; 
(5) includes an inventory of the resources con-
tained 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 pre-
served, restored, managed, developed, or maintained 
because of its natural, cultural, historic, recreational, 
or scenic significance; 
(6) describes a program for implementation of 
the management plan by the management entity, in-
cluding plans for restoration and construction, and 
specific commitments for that implementation that
(B) developing recreational resources in the 
Heritage Area; 
(C) increasing public awareness of and ap-
preciation for the natural, historical, and archi-
tectural resources and sites in the Heritage Area; 
(D) the restoration of any historic building 
relating to the themes of the Heritage Area; 
(E) ensuring that clear signs identifying ac-
cess points and sites of interest are put in place 
throughout the Heritage Area; and 
(F) carrying out other actions that the 
management entity determines to be advisable to 
fulfill the purposes of this title; 
(3) encourage by appropriate means economic 
viability in the Heritage Area consistent with the 
goals of the management plan; 
(4) consider the interests of diverse governmental, 
business, and nonprofit groups within the Heritage 
Area; and 
(5) for any year in which Federal funds have 
been provided to implement the management plan 
under subsection (b)— 
(A) conduct public meetings at least annu-
ally regarding the implementation of the man-
agement plan;
(B) submit an annual report to the Sec-
retary setting forth accomplishments, expenses 
and income, and each person to which any grant 
was made by the management entity in the year 
for which the report is made; and 
(C) require, for all agreements entered into 
by the management entity authorizing expendi-
ture of Federal funds by any other person, that 
the person making the expenditure make avail-
able to the management entity for audit all 
records pertaining to the expenditure of such 
funds. 
(e) PROHIBITION
ON
THE ACQUISITION
OF REAL 
PROPERTY.—The management entity may not use Federal 
funds received under this title to acquire real property or 
an interest in real property. 
SEC. 606. DUTIES AND AUTHORITIES OF THE SECRETARY. 
(a) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.— 
(A) OVERALL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 
may, upon the request of the management entity, 
and subject to the availability of appropriations, 
provide technical and financial assistance to the 
management entity to carry out its duties under 
this title, including updating and implementing
a management plan that is submitted under sec-
tion 605(b) and approved by the Secretary and, 
prior to such approval, providing assistance for 
initiatives. 
(B) OTHER ASSISTANCE.—If the Secretary 
has the resources available to provide technical 
assistance to the management entity to carry out 
its duties under this title (including updating 
and implementing a management plan that is 
submitted under section 605(b) and approved by 
the Secretary and, prior to such approval, pro-
viding assistance for initiatives), upon the re-
quest of the management entity the Secretary 
shall provide such assistance on a reimbursable 
basis. This subparagraph does not preclude the 
Secretary from providing nonreimbursable as-
sistance under subparagraph (A). 
(2) PRIORITY.—In assisting the management en-
tity, the Secretary shall give priority to actions that 
assist in the— 
(A) implementation of the management 
plan; 
(B) provision of educational assistance and 
advice regarding land and water management
techniques to conserve the significant natural re-
sources of the region; 
(C) development and application of tech-
niques promoting the preservation of cultural 
and historic properties; 
(D) preservation, restoration, and reuse of 
publicly and privately owned historic buildings; 
(E) design and fabrication of a wide range 
of interpretive materials based on the manage-
ment plan, including guide brochures, visitor 
displays, audio-visual and interactive exhibits, 
and educational curriculum materials for public 
education; and 
(F) implementation of initiatives prior to 
approval of the management plan. 
(3) DOCUMENTATION OF STRUCTURES.—The Sec-
retary, acting through the Historic American Build-
ing Survey and the Historic American Engineering 
Record, shall conduct studies necessary to document 
the industrial, engineering, building, and architec-
tural history of the Heritage Area. 
(b) APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL OF MANAGEMENT 
PLANS.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Governor 
of Pennsylvania, shall approve or disapprove a manage-
ment plan submitted under this title not later than 90 days
after receiving such plan. In approving the plan, the Sec-
retary shall take into consideration the following criteria: 
(1) The extent to which the management plan 
adequately preserves and protects the natural, cul-
tural, and historical resources of the Heritage Area. 
(2) The level of public participation in the devel-
opment of the management plan. 
(3) The extent to which the board of directors of 
the management entity is representative of the local 
government and a wide range of interested organiza-
tions and citizens. 
(c) ACTION FOLLOWING DISAPPROVAL.—If the Sec-
retary disapproves a management plan, the Secretary shall 
advise the management entity in writing of the reasons for 
the disapproval and shall make recommendations for revi-
sions in the management plan. The Secretary shall approve 
or disapprove a proposed revision within 90 days after the 
date it is submitted. 
(d) APPROVING CHANGES.—The Secretary shall review 
and approve amendments to the management plan under 
section 605(b) that make substantial changes. Funds appro-
priated under this title may not be expended to implement 
such changes until the Secretary approves the amendments. 
(e) EFFECT OF INACTION.—If the Secretary does not 
approve or disapprove a management plan, revision, or