2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-TWO - Public Works (§§ 1 — 1104) › Chapter 1 - Public Works Projects; Acquisition of Property (§§ 1 — 32) › § 31a - Luis Muñoz Marín Scenic Route—Council

The Council for the Protection and Management of the Luis Muñoz Marín Scenic Route, hereinafter the “Council”, attached to the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority and composed of the Secretary of the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority, who shall be its Chair, the Secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce, the Secretary of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, the President of the Planning Board and the mayors of the municipalities throughout which the Scenic Route extends. Each of the members of the Council may designate a representative with decisional powers from their own agency or municipality to substitute him/her in the tasks to be carried out by the Council.
According to its needs and relevance, the Council may include any agency employee necessary to handle the matters under its responsibility in order to comply with §§ 31—31g of this title. The cooperation and disposition toward involvement with the Council of the following agencies and their officers, without affecting the authority and responsibilities thereof, shall be necessary in order to carry out the purposes of §§ 31—31g of this title: the Executive Director of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, the Executive Director of the Highway and Transportation Authority, the Executive Director of the Solid Waste Authority, the Director of the Solid Waste Authority, the Director of the National Parks Company, the Secretary of the Sport and Recreation Department, the Administrator of the Regulations and Permits Administration, the Executive Director of the Tourism Company, and the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
The Council shall hold meetings as often as it deems necessary, but not less than once every two (2) months. The Council is hereby duly constituted and authorized to make decisions with the presence of the Secretary of the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority, the President of the Planning Board and the Secretary of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources or their respective representatives.
(a) The Council shall have the following responsibilities:
(1) To prepare and adopt an annual action plan to preserve and conserve the territory comprised by the Luis Muñoz Marín Scenic Route. It shall maintain an updated inventory of the natural and cultural resources within or connected to the Scenic Route.
(2) To develop and execute programs to preserve and protect the natural, recreational, scenic, cultural, historic, and archaeological resources, and at the same time, to promote the development of tourism and to guarantee the safety of those who visit the Luis Muñoz Marín Scenic Route. To develop community awareness and education programs and seek community participation therein, as well as community identification with the Route and its resources.
(3) To establish effective systems and procedures for the evaluation of the programs to be established.
(4) To designate the necessary committees for the achievement of the purposes of §§ 31—31g of this title. To develop and expedite participation and the creation and development of private nonprofit entities, such as committees, associations, foundations or trusts for purposes that are in agreement with §§ 31—31g of this title and the objectives of the Council.
(5) To hold public hearings anywhere in Puerto Rico, whenever necessary, in order to comply with the purposes of §§ 31—31g of this title, pursuant to the provisions of §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Uniform Administrative Procedures Act of the Commonwealth de Puerto Rico”.
(6) To seek the effective coordination and collaboration of the different government agencies and private businesses, as well as citizen participation or any other cooperation needed to comply with the purposes of §§ 31—31g of this title. To promote and expedite out civic and community projects and activities associated with the Scenic Route.
(7) To establish fundraising programs. For such purposes, it shall develop or outsource from the private sector, granting priority to local artisans, artists and entrepreneurs, and shall cover the profits into a special fund, to be designated as the “Fund for the Preservation and Conservation of the Luis Muñoz Marín Scenic Route”, to be held and managed by the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, in accordance with the norms established for similar funds. All items produced shall be previously approved by the Chair of the Council.
(8) To prepare a tourism development plan that shall include, at least, the creation of a system of attractions where the tourist may visit through the Luis Muñoz Marín Scenic Route, by means of a transportation system with tour guides, for which it may request donations from the public and private sectors and outsource from private entities. Furthermore, it shall divide the Luis Muñoz Marín Scenic Route into six (6) sectors, and at the beginning of each, it shall build facilities at which tourists shall be provided with interpreters, films and other resources, a summary of the features of each sector, and main natural, recreational, scenic, cultural, historic and archaeological attractions.
(9) To promote the adoption of architectural development plans in the different municipalities that the Luis Muñoz Marín Scenic Route runs through in order to guarantee that the construction, remodeling and maintenance of the different structures in the urban center of each municipality is carried out in an orderly manner, and in harmony with the scenic, natural, recreational, historic, cultural and archaeological features of the Luis Muñoz Marín Scenic Route. The plan shall include the acquisition and restoration of the antique homes of the road keepers, plantations, tobacco warehouses and numerous structures of pictorial nature, to be used for the purposes of §§ 31—31g of this title as facilities for visitors, interpreting, lodging, businesses and services.
(10) To solicit the necessary federal, state and municipal funds to comply with the purposes of §§ 31—31g of this title. It shall carry out the necessary transactions for an annual lottery draw to be destined to the acquisition, restoration, and interpretations of soil and resources along the Scenic Route. The funds thus solicited shall be covered into the “Fund for the Preservation and Conservation of the Luis Muñoz Marín Scenic Route”, the creation of which is provided in §§ 31—31g of this title.
(b) The Council is hereby authorized to designate the necessary personnel in order to comply with its duties or to outsource, through procedures similar to those established by executive government entities, the necessary professional and consulting services which are impractical or inconvenient to obtain through the creation of regular positions.
Moreover, the government entities shall collaborate with the Council by detailing personnel, resources, data supplies or any cooperation necessary in order to comply with the purposes of §§ 31—31g of this title.
(c) Within the first ninety (90) days as of the effectiveness of this act, the Council shall draft regulations that shall be the foundation for the development of programs to be established in accordance with the purposes of §§ 31—31g of this title. Within the first one hundred eighty (180) days as of the effectiveness of this act, the Council shall draft the initial action plan, which shall be structured annually and shall define the objectives of the different programs to be developed, the strategies to achieve them and the agencies responsible for their execution.
History —June 23, 1965, p. 148, § 2; Sept. 29, 2004, No. 496, § 3.