African American Burial Grounds Study Act

Bill: 116-s-2827
Sponsor: Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH]
Introduced: 2019-11-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Cemeteries and funerals
Department of the Interior
Executive agency funding and structure
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Historic sites and heritage areas
Monuments and memorials
Museums, exhibitions, cultural centers
Public-private cooperation
Racial and ethnic relations
Research administration and funding
U.S. history

Summary:
action_date: 2019-11-07
text: 

U.S. African-American Burial Grounds Network Act

 
This bill directs the Department of the Interior to establish the U.S. African-American Burial Grounds Network within the National Park Service (NPS). 
 
In carrying out the network, Interior, among other things, must 
 
 
review existing and new studies and reports to inform consideration of sites for the network; 
 
furnish specified technical assistance; 
 
develop a program to train states, units of local government, regional governmental bodies, organizations, educational institutions, and private entities to carry out the purposes of this bill; and
 
produce and disseminate educational and training materials related to African-American burial ground identification methods and best practices for caring for artifacts,developing interpretive tours and exhibits, preserving burial ground landscapes, heritage tourism initiatives and sources for grants (e.g., handbooks, maps, interpretive guides, or electronic information). 

 
A burial ground shall only be considered for addition to the network with the property owner's consent and at the request of an individual, landowner, private or nonprofit organization, state or local government, or another entity. 

action_date: 2020-12-20
text: 

African American Burial Grounds Study Act

 This bill directs the National Park Service (NPS) to conduct a study of ways to identify, interpret, preserve, and record unmarked, previously abandoned, underserved, or other burial grounds relating to the historic African American experience. 
In conducting the study, the NPS shall consider 
 
 
ways to engage with descendant, local, and other communities historically associated with identified burial grounds by geography, genealogy, or culture;
 
appropriate processes to identify locations of unmarked and unrecorded African American burial grounds with appropriate consideration for the privacy and safety of the burial grounds; 
 
 alternatives for providing in a public database the locations of, and information on, recorded and unrecorded African American burial grounds; 
 
 alternatives for commemorating and interpreting African American burial grounds; and 
 
 best practices for preserving burial ground landscapes and caring for artifacts.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-12-21
text: Held at the desk.
action_date: 2020-12-21
text: Received in the House.
action_date: 2020-12-21
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2020-12-20
text: Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Voice Vote. (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR S7859)
action_date: 2020-12-20
text: Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Voice Vote.(text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR S7859)
action_date: 2020-12-20
text: Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S7859)
action_date: 2020-12-20
text: Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources discharged by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2020-12-20
text: Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources discharged by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2020-03-04
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 116-367.
action_date: 2019-11-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2019-11-07
text: Introduced in Senate