Presidential Libraries Act of 1986
PL 99-323 (H.R.1349), enacted 05/27/1986

PUBLIC LAW 99-323—MAY 27, 1986 
100 STAT. 495 
Public Law 99-323 
99th Congress 
An Act 
May 27,1986 
[H.R. 1349] 
Presidential 
Libraries Act of 
1986. 
Historic 
preservation. 
44 u s e 101 note. 
Gifts and 
property. 
Real property. 
To reduce the costs of operating Presidential libraries, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled. That this Act may 
be cited as the "Presidential Libraries Act of 1986". 
RESEARCH AND MUSEUM FACIUTIES 
SEC. 2. Section 2101(1) of title 44, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting before the semicolon a comma and "and may include 
research facilities and museum facilities in accordance with this 
chapter". 
PRESIDENTIAL ARCHIVAL DEPOSITORIES 
SEC. 3. (a) Section 2112(a) of title 44, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows: 
"(a)(1) When the Archivist considers it to be in the public interest, 
the Archivist may— 
"(A)(i) accept, for and in the name of the United States, land, 
a facility, and equipment offered as a gift to the United States 
for the purpose of creating a Presidential archival depository; 
"(ii) take title to the land, facility, and equipment on behalf of 
the United States; and 
"(iii) maintain, operate, and protect the land, facility, and 
equipment as a Presidential archival depository and as part of 
the national archives system; 
"(B)(i) make agreements, upon terms and conditions the Ar-
chivist considers proper, with a State, political subdivision, 
university, institution of higher learning, institute, or founda-
tion to use as a Presidential archival depository land, a facility, 
and equipment of the State, subdivision, university, or other 
organization, to be made available by it without transfer of title 
to the United States; and 
"(ii) maintain, operate, and protect the depository as a part of 
the national archives system; and 
"(C) accept, for and in the name of the United States, gifts 
offered for the purpose of making any physical or material 
change or addition to a Presidential archival depository. 
"(2) The Archivist shall promulgate architectural and design 
standards applicable to Presidential archival depositories in order to 
ensure that such depositories (A) preserve Presidential records sub-
ject to chapter 22 of this title and papers and other historical 44 U
S
C 2201 et 
materials accepted for deposit under section 2111 of this title and (B) seq. 
contain adequate research facilities. 
"(3) Prior to accepting and taking title to any land, facility, or 
equipment under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1), or prior to 
entering into any agreement under subparagraph (B) of such para-
graph or any other agreement to accept or establish a Presidential 
archival depository, the Archivist shall submit a written report on 
Reports. 
100 STAT. 496 
PUBLIC LAW 99-323—MAY 27, 1986 
the proposed Presidential archival depository to the President of the 
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The report 
shall include— 
"(A) a description of the land, facility, and equipment offered 
as a gift or to be made available without transfer of title; 
"(B) a statement specifying the estimated total cost of the 
proposed depository and the amount of the endowment for the 
depository required pursuant to subsection (g) of this section; 
"(C) a statement of the terms of the proposed agreement, if 
any; 
"(D) a general description of the types of papers, documents, 
or other historical materials proposed to be deposited in the 
depository to be created, and of the terms of the proposed 
deposit; 
"(E) a statement of any additional improvements and equip-
ment associated with the development and operation of the 
depository, an estimate of the costs of such improvements and 
equipment, and a statement as to the extent to which such costs 
will be incurred by any Federal or State government agency; 
"(F) an estimate of the total annual cost to the United States 
of maintaining, operating, and protecting the depository; and 
"(G) a certification that such facility and equipment (whether 
offered as a gift or made available without transfer of title) 
comply with standards promulgated by the Archivist pursuant 
to paragraph (2) of this subsection. 
Reports. 
"(4) Prior to accepting any gift under subparagraph (C) of para-
graph (1) for the purpose of making any physical or material change 
or addition to a Presidential archival depository, or prior to im-
plementing any provision of law requiring the making of such a 
change or addition, the Archivist shall submit a report in writing on 
the proposed change or addition to the President of the Senate and 
the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The report shall 
include— 
"(A) a description of such gift; 
"(B) a statement specifying the estimated total cost of the 
proposed physical or material change or addition and the 
amount of the deposit in an endowment for the depository 
Post, p. 497. 
required pursuant to subsection (g) of this section in order to 
meet the cost of such change or addition; 
"(C) a statement of the purpose of the proposed change or 
addition and a general description of any papers, documents, or 
historical materials proposed to be deposited in the depository 
as a result of such change or addition; 
"(D) a statement of any additional improvements or equip-
ment for the depository associated with such change or addition; 
"(E) an estimate of the increase in the total annual cost to the 
United States of maintaining, operating, and protecting the 
depository that will result from such change or addition; and 
"(F) a certification that the depository, and the equipment 
therein will, after such change or addition, comply with the 
standards promulgated by the Archivist pursuant to paragraph 
(2) of this subsection. 
"(5) The Archivist may not— 
"(A) accept or take title to land, a facility, or equipment under 
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) for the purpose of creating a 
Presidential archival depository; 
PUBLIC LAW 99-323—MAY 27, 1986 
100 STAT. 497 
"(B) enter into any agreement under subparagraph (B) of such 
paragraph or any other agreement to accept or estabUsh a 
Presidential archival depository; or 
"(C) accept any gift under subparagraph (C) of such paragraph 
for the purpose of making any physical or material change to a 
Presidential archival depository, 
until the expiration of a period of 60 days of continuous session of 
Congress beginning on the date on which the Archivist transmits 
the report required under paragraph (3) of this subsection with 
respect to such Presidential archival depository or the report re-
quired under paragraph (4) of this subsection with respect to such 
change or addition, as the case may be.". 
(b) Section 2112(g) of title 44, United States Code, is amended to 
read as follows: 
"(g)(1) When the Archivist considers it to be in the public interest, 
the Archivist may solicit and accept gifts or bequests of money or 
other property for the purpose of maintaining, operating, protecting, 
or improving a Presidential archival depository. The proceeds of 
gifts or bequests, together with the proceeds from fees or from sales 
of historical materials, copies or reproductions, catalogs, or other 
items, having to do with a Presidential archival depository, shall be 
paid into an account in the National Archives Trust Fund and shall 
be held, administered, and expended for the benefit and in the 
interest of the Presidential archival depository in connection with 
which they were received, and for the same purposes and objects, 
including custodial and administrative services for which appropria-
tions for the maintenance, operation, protection, or improvement of 
Presidential archival depositories might be expended. 
"(2) The Archivist shall provide for the establishment in such 
Trust Fund of separate endowments for the maintenance of the 
land, facility, and equipment of each Presidential archival deposi-
tory, to which shall be credited any gifts or bequests received under 
paragraph (1) that are offered for that purpose. Income to each such 
endowment shall be available to cover the cost of facility operations, 
but shall not be available for the performance of archival functions 
under this title. 
"(3) The Archivist shall not accept or take title to any land, 
facility, or equipment under subparagraph (A) of subsection (a)(1), or 
Ante, p. 495. 
enter into any agreement to use any land, facility, or equipment 
under subparagraph (B) of such subsection for the purpose of creat-
ing a Presidential archival depository, unless the Archivist deter-
mines that there is available, by gift or bequest for deposit under 
paragraph (2) of this subsection in an endowment with respect to 
such depository, an amount for the purpose of maintaining such 
land, facility, and equipment equal to— 
"(A) the product of— 
"(i) the total cost of acquiring or constructing such facil-
ity and of acquiring and installing such equipment, multi-
plied by 
"(ii) 20 percent; plus 
"(B)(i) if title to the land is to be vested in the United States, 
the product of— 
"(I) the total cost of acquiring the land upon which such 
facility is located, or such other measure of the value of 
such land as is mutually agreed upon by the Archivist and 
the donor, multiplied by 
"(II) 20 percent; or 
100 STAT. 498 
PUBLIC LAW 99-323—MAY 27, 1986 
"(ii) if title to the land is not to be vested in the United States, 
the product o
f
— 
"(I) the total cost to the donor of any improvements to the 
land upon which such facility is located (other than such 
facility and equipment), multiplied by 
"(II) 20 percent; plus 
"(C) if the Presidential archival depository will exceed 70,000 
square feet in area, an amount equal to the product o
f
— 
"(i) the sum o
f
— 
"(I) the total cost described in clause (i) of subpara-
graph (A); plus 
"(II) the total cost described in subclause (I) or (II) of 
subparagraph (B)(i), as the case may be, multiplied by 
"(ii) the percentage obtained by dividing the number of 
square feet by which such depository will exceed 70,000 
square feet by 70,000. 
"(4) If a proposed physical or material change or addition to a 
Presidential archival depository would result in an increase in the 
costs of facility operations, the Archivist may not accept any gift 
under subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) for the purpose of making 
such a change or addition, or may not implement any provision of 
law requiring the making of such a change or addition, unless the 
Archivist determines that there is available, by gift or bequest for 
deposit under paragraph (2) of this subsection in an endowment with 
respect to such depository, an amount for the purpose of maintain-
ing the land, facility, and equipment of such depository equal to the 
difference between— 
"(A) the amount which, pursuant to paragraph (3) of this 
subsection, would have been required to have been available for 
deposit in such endowment with respect to such depository if 
such change or addition had been included in such depository 
on— 
"(i) the date on which the Archivist took title to the land, 
facility, and equipment for such depository under subpara-
Ante, p. 495. 
graph (A) of subsection (a)(1); or 
"(ii) the date on which the Archivist entered into an 
agreement for the creation of such depository under 
subparagraph (B) of such paragraph, 
as the case may be; minus 
"(B) the amount which, pursuant to paragraph (3) of this 
subsection, was required to be available for deposit in such 
endowment with respect to such depository on the date the 
Archivist took such title or entered into such agreement, as the 
case may be.". 
APPLICABILITY 
44 use 2112 
SEC. 4. Paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 2112(g) of title 44, United 
^°^- 
States Code (as added by the amendment made by section 3(b) of this 
Act) shall apply with respect to any Presidential archival depository 
created as a depository for the papers, documents, and other histori-
cal materials and Federal records pertaining to any President who 
takes the oath of office as President for the first time on or after 
January 20,1985. 
PUBLIC LAW 99-323—MAY 27, 1986 
100 STAT. 499 
STUDY OF MUSEUM OF THE PRESIDENTS 
SEC. 5. (a) The Archivist of the United States, in consultation with 
the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and the National 
Capital Planning Commission, shall study the demand for, and the 
cost, and space and program requirements of, establishing a 
museum of the Presidents. With respect to such costs, the study 
shall examine the feasibility of establishing and operating such 
museum exclusively with non-Federal funds. 
(b) Each Federal agency shall cooperate with the Archivist in 
conducting the study required by subsection (a). 
(c) In the annual report for fiscal year 1986 required by section 
2106 of title 44, United States Code, the Archivist shall include a 
statement of the results of the study required by subsection (a) and 
any recommendations of the Archivist with respect to establishing 
such a museum. 
Approved May 27, 1986. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 1349: 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 99-125 (Coram, on Government Operations). 
SENATE REPORTS: No. 99-257 (Coram, on Governraental Affairs). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: 
VoL 131 (1985): June 4, considered and passed House. 
Vol. 132 (1986): Mar. 21, considered and passed Senate, araended. 
May 13, House concurred in Senate amendment.