To grant the consent of Congress to an amendment of the Historic Chattahoochee Compact between the States of Alabama and Georgia.
PL 104-144 (H.R.2064), enacted 05/16/1996

110 STAT. 1342 
PUBLIC LAW 104-144—MAY 16, 1996 
Public Law 104-144 
104th Congress 
May 16, 1996 
[H.R. 2064] 
Historic 
preservation. 
Effective date. 
Establishment. 
An Act 
To grant the consent of Congress to an amendment of the Historic Chattahoochee 
Compact between the States of Alabama and Georgia. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. CONSENT OF CONGRESS TO THE fflSTORIC CHATTAHOO-
CHEE COMPACT BETWEEN THE STATES OF ALABAMA 
AND GEORGIA. 
The consent of Congress is given to the amendment of articles 
I, II, and III of the Historic Chattahoochee Compact between the 
States of Alabama and Georgia, which articles, as amended, read 
as follows: 
"ARTICLE I 
"The purpose of this compact is to promote the cooperative 
development of the Chattahoochee valley's full potential for historic 
preservation and tourism and to establish a joint interstate author-
ity to assist in these efforts. 
"ARTICLE II 
"This compact shall become effective immediately as to the 
States ratifying it whenever the States of Alabama and Georgia 
have ratified it and Congress has given consent thereto. 
"ARTICLE III 
"The States which are parties to this compact (hereinafter 
referred to as 'party States') do hereby establish and create a 
joint agency which shall be known as the Historic Chattahoochee 
Commission (hereinafter referred to as the 'Commission'). The 
Commission shall consist of 28 members who shall be bona fide 
residents and qualified voters of the party States and counties 
served by the Commission. Election for vacant seats shall be by 
majority vote of the voting members of the Commission board 
at a regularly scheduled meeting. In Alabama, two shall be residents 
of Barbour County, two shall be residents of Russell County, two 
shall be residents of Henry County, two shall be residents of Cham-
bers County, two shall be residents of Lee County, two shall be 
residents of Houston County, and two shall be residents of Dale 
County. In Georgia, one shall be a resident of Troup County, one 
shall be a resident of Harris County, one shall be a resident of 
Muscogee County, one shall be a resident of Chattahoochee County, 
one shall be a resident of Stewart County, one shall be a resident 
PUBLIC LAW 104-144—MAY 16, 1996 
110 STAT. 1343 
of Randolph County, one shall be a resident of Clay County, one 
shall be a resident of Quitman County, one shall be a resident 
of Early Coimty, one shall be a resident of Seminole County, and 
one shall be a resident of Decatur County. In addition, there shall 
be three at-large members who shall be selected from any three 
of the Georgia member counties listed above. The Commission at 
its discretion may appoint as many advisory members as it deems 
necessary from any Georgia or Alabama County which is located 
in the Chattahoochee Valley area. The contribution of each party 
State shall be in equal amounts. If the party States fail to appro-
priate equal amounts to the Commission during any given fiscal 
year, voting membership on the Commission board shall be deter-
mined as follows: The State making the larger appropriation shall 
be entitled to full voting membership. The total number of members 
from the other State shall be divided into the amoimt of the larger 
appropriation and the resulting quotient shall be divided into the 
amount of the smeJler appropriation. The then resulting quotient, 
rounded to the next lowest whole number, shall be the number 
of voting members from the State making the smaller contribution. 
The members of the Commission from the State making the larger 
contribution shall decide which of the members from the other 
State shall serve as voting members, based upon the level of tour-
ism, preservation, promotional activity, and general support of the 
Commission's activities by and in the county of residence of each 
of the members of the State making the smaller appropriation. 
Such determination shall be made at the next meeting of the 
Commission following September 30 of each year. Members of the 
Commission shall serve for terms of office as follows: Of the 14 
Alabama members, one from each of said coimties shall serve for 
two years and the remaining member of each county shall serve 
for four years. Upon the expiration of the original terms of office 
of Alabama members, all successor Alabama members shall be 
appointed for four-year terms of office, with seven vacancies in 
the Alabama membership occurring every two years. Of the 14 
Georgia members, seven shall serve four-year terms and seven 
two-year terms for the initial term of this compact. The terms 
of the individual Georgia voting members shall be determined by 
their place in the alphabet by alternating the four- and two-year 
terms beginning with Chattahoochee County, four years. Clay 
County, two years, Decatur County, four years, etc. Upon the expira-
tion of the originsd terms of office of Georgia members, all successor 
Georgia members shall be appointed for four-year terms of office, 
witii seven vacancies in the Georgia membership occurring every 
two years. Of the three Georgia at-large board members, one shall 
serve a four-year term and two shall serve two-year terms. 
110 STAT. 1344 
PUBLIC LAW 104-144—MAY 16, 1996 
"All board members shall serve until their successors are 
appointed and qualified. Vacancies shall be filled by the voting 
members of the Commission. The first chairman of the commission 
created by this compact shall be elected by the board of directors 
from among its voting membership. Annually thereafter, each 
succeeding chairman shall be selected by the members of the 
Commission. The chairmanship shall rotate each year among the 
party States in order of their acceptance of this compact. Members 
of the Commission shall serve without compensation but shall be 
entitled to reimbursement for actual expenses incurred in the 
perform£ince of the duties of the Commission.". 
Approved May 16, 1996. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 2064 (S. 848): 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 104-376 (Comm. on the Judiciary). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: 
Vol. 141 (1995): Nov. 9, S. 848 considered and passed Senate. 
Vol. 142 (1996): Mar. 12, H.R. 2064 considered and passed House. 
May 3, considered and passed Senate.