IB 
Union Calendar No. 216
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1862
[Report No. 108–366] 
To establish the Oil Region National Heritage Area. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 29, 2003
Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. ENGLISH, 
Mr. DOYLE, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. MURTHA, Ms. HART, 
Mr. PLATTS, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. GERLACH, 
Mr. FATTAH, Mr. HOLDEN, and Mr. SHERWOOD) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 
NOVEMBER 17, 2003
Additional sponsors: Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, and Mr. CANNON 
NOVEMBER 17, 2003 
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 April 29, 2003] 
A BILL 
To establish the Oil Region National 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; DEFINITIONS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Oil 
Region National Heritage Area Act’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this Act, the 
following definitions shall apply: 
(1) HERITAGE
AREA.—The term ‘‘Heritage 
Area’’ means the Oil Region National Heritage Area 
established in section 3(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. 2. 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.