I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2986 
To amend the Act of May 29, 1930 (Chapter 354; 46 Stat. 482; commonly 
known as the Capper-Cramton Act), to authorize a grant program to 
preserve resources in the National Capital region, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 19, 2009 
Mr. MORAN of Virginia (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, 
Mr. WITTMAN, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. 
WOLF, and Mr. HOYER) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Act of May 29, 1930 (Chapter 354; 46 Stat. 
482; commonly known as the Capper-Cramton Act), to 
authorize a grant program to preserve resources in the 
National Capital region, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘National Capital Re-
gion Land Conservation Act of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT PROGRAM. 
The Act of May 29, 1930 (Chapter 354; 46 Stat. 
482; commonly known as the Capper-Cramton Act), is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 7. GRANT PROGRAM TO PRESERVE RESOURCES IN 
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Out of amounts appro-
priated to carry out this section, the Secretary of the Inte-
rior, acting through the Director of the National Park 
Service, is authorized to make grants to covered States 
and covered local governments to assist the acquisition of 
lands and interests therein that affect or are within the 
National Capital region and that will be used for any of 
the following purposes: 
‘‘(1) Parks. 
‘‘(2) Open space. 
‘‘(3) Green space corridors that link public 
lands, lands subject to conservation restrictions, or 
a combination of such lands. 
‘‘(4) Agriculture. 
‘‘(5) Forests. 
‘‘(6) Fish and wildlife habitat. 
‘‘(7) Watershed protection. 
‘‘(8) Historic preservation. 
‘‘(9) Sensitive environmental area protection. 
‘‘(10) Public recreation. 
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‘‘(b) RESTRICTION TO CERTAIN USES.—The Sec-
retary shall require that, for each grant under subsection 
(a), any land or interest therein acquired through the as-
sistance of such grant may not be used for a purpose other 
than a purpose described in subsection (a). 
‘‘(c) GRANT
DETERMINATIONS.—In determining 
whether to make a grant under subsection (a), the Sec-
retary shall consider the following: 
‘‘(1) How the proposed acquisition furthers 
local and regional planning and policy objectives. 
‘‘(2) The amount of non-Federal funding to be 
provided for the proposed acquisition. 
‘‘(3) The relationship of the proposed acquisi-
tion to other public lands and conservation areas. 
‘‘(4) The relative need of an area for the pro-
posed acquisition due to such area’s limited or lack-
ing quality or quantity of protected resources. 
‘‘(5) Any impending threat to the resource 
under consideration for protection by the proposed 
acquisition. 
‘‘(d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Grants under sub-
section (a) shall be in an amount not to exceed 50 percent 
of the total cost of the acquisition such grant will assist, 
which includes costs relating to purchase price, appraisal, 
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survey, title clearance, and closing. The non-Federal share 
of such cost may be in cash or in kind. 
‘‘(e) APPLICABLE LAWS.—Acquisitions assisted by a 
grant under subsection (a) shall be in accord with the laws 
of the applicable covered State, including any require-
ments for appraisal and acceptable title. 
‘‘(f) TITLE AND MANAGEMENT OF LANDS.—Title to 
lands and interests therein acquired with the assistance 
of a grant under subsection (a) shall be held by the cov-
ered State or covered local government making the acqui-
sition. Management responsibilities for the lands and in-
terests may be delegated to nonprofit organizations on 
such terms and conditions deemed by the title holder to 
be in the public interest. 
‘‘(g) RELATIONSHIP
TO OTHER FEDERAL FUND-
ING.—The authority of the Secretary to make grants 
under subsection (a) is in addition to any other authority 
provided to acquire lands and interests therein for related 
purposes, except that Federal funds provided under any 
other authority may not be used for the non-Federal share 
required under subsection (d). 
‘‘(h) PLANNING GRANTS.—The Secretary is author-
ized to make grants to covered States, covered local gov-
ernments, and nonprofit organizations for the purpose of 
planning and evaluating acquisitions eligible for a grant 
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under subsection (a). The sum of the amounts of grants 
made under this subsection in a fiscal year may not exceed 
5 percent of the amount of funds appropriated to carry 
out this section in the fiscal year. 
‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 2 per-
cent of the amount of funds appropriated to carry out this 
section in a fiscal year may be used for administrative 
costs. 
‘‘(j) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROVISIONS OF THIS 
ACT.—No requirement of this Act, except a requirement 
under this section, applies to an activity under this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 
definitions apply: 
‘‘(1) COVERED
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT.—The 
term ‘covered local government’ means a political 
subdivision of a covered State. 
‘‘(2) COVERED
STATE.—The term ‘covered 
State’ means each of Maryland, Virginia, West Vir-
ginia, and the District of Columbia, including any 
department or agency thereof. 
‘‘(3) NATIONAL
CAPITAL
REGION.—The term 
‘National Capital region’ means the Washington-Ar-
lington-Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV Metropolitan 
Statistical Area as such Area is defined by the Of-
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fice of Management and Budget’s OMB Bulletin No. 
09–01, dated November 20, 2008, and as such Area 
may be revised by the Office of Management and 
Budget from time to time. 
‘‘(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di-
rector of the National Park Service. 
‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—To 
carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Secretary $50,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2010 through 2014.’’. 
Æ 
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