[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1718 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1718

To amend the Weir Farm National Historic Site Establishment Act of 1990 
  to authorize the acquisition of additional acreage for the historic 
site to permit the development of visitor and administrative facilities 
   and to authorize the appropriation of additional amounts for the 
               acquisition of real and personal property.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 5, 1998

Mr. Lieberman (for himself and Mr. Dodd) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Weir Farm National Historic Site Establishment Act of 1990 
  to authorize the acquisition of additional acreage for the historic 
site to permit the development of visitor and administrative facilities 
   and to authorize the appropriation of additional amounts for the 
               acquisition of real and personal property.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. WEIR FARM NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, CONNECTICUT.

    (a) Acquisition of Land for Visitor and Administrative 
Facilities.--Section 4 of the Weir Farm National Historic Site 
Establishment Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 461 note; Public Law 101-485; 104 
Stat. 1171) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Acquisition of Land for Visitor and Administrative 
Facilities; Limitations.--
            ``(1) Acquisition.--
                    ``(A) In general.--To preserve and maintain the 
                historic setting and character of the historic site, 
                the Secretary may acquire not more than 15 additional 
                acres for the development of visitor and administrative 
                facilities for the historic site.
                    ``(B) Proximity.--The property acquired under this 
                subsection shall be contiguous to or in close proximity 
                to the property described in subsection (b).
                    ``(C) Management.--The acquired property shall be 
                included within the boundary of the historic site and 
                shall be managed and maintained as part of the historic 
                site.
            ``(2) Development.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall keep 
                development of the property acquired under paragraph 
                (1) to a minimum so that the character of the acquired 
                property will be similar to the natural and undeveloped 
                landscape of the property described in subsection (b).
                    ``(B) Parking area.--Any parking area for the 
                resulting visitor and administrative facility shall not 
                exceed 30 spaces.
                    ``(C) Sales.--Items sold in the visitor 
                facilities--
                            ``(i) shall be limited to educational and 
                        interpretive materials related to the purpose 
                        of the historic site; and
                            ``(ii) shall not include food.
            ``(3) Agreements.--Prior to and as a prerequisite to any 
        development of visitor and administrative facilities on the 
        property acquired under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 
        enter into 1 or more agreements with the appropriate zoning 
        authority of the town of Ridgefield, Connecticut, and the town 
        of Wilton, Connecticut, for the purposes of--
                    ``(A) developing the parking, visitor, and 
                administrative facilities for the historic site; and
                    ``(B) managing bus traffic to the historic site and 
                limiting parking for large tour buses to an offsite 
                location.''.
    (b) Increase in Maximum Acquisition Authority.--Section 7 of the 
Weir Farm National Historic Site Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 461 note; 
Public Law 101-485; 104 Stat. 1173) is amended by striking 
``$1,500,000'' and inserting ``$4,000,000''.
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