[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 695 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 695
To establish the Oil Region National Heritage Area.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 14, 2001
Mr. Peterson of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. Murtha, Mr. Sherwood,
Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. English, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Gekas, Mr.
Holden, Mr. Greenwood, Mr. Mascara, Ms. Hart, Mr. Weldon of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Platts, and Mr. Kanjorski) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the Oil Region National Heritage Area.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITIONS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Oil Region
National Heritage Area Act''.
(b) Definitions.--For the purposes of this Act, the following
definitions shall apply:
(1) Heritage area.--The term ``Heritage Area'' means the
Oil Region National Heritage Area established in section 3(a).
(2) Management entity.--The term ``management entity''
means the Oil Heritage Region, Inc., or its successor entity.
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Oil Region of Northwestern Pennsylvania, with
numerous sites and districts listed on the National Register of
Historic Places, and designated by the Governor of Pennsylvania
as one of the State Heritage Park Areas, is a region with
tremendous physical and natural resources and possesses a story
of State, national, and international significance.
(2) The single event of Colonel Edwin Drake's drilling of
the world's first successful oil well in 1859 has affected the
industrial, natural, social, and political structures of the
modern world.
(3) Six national historic districts are located within the
State Heritage Park boundary, in Emlenton, Franklin, Oil City,
and Titusville, as well as 17 separate National Register sites.
(4) The Allegheny River, which was designated as a
component of the national wild and scenic rivers system in 1992
by Public Law 102-271, traverses the Oil Region and connects
several of its major sites, as do some of the river's
tributaries such as Oil Creek, French Creek, and Sandy Creek.
(5) The unspoiled rural character of the Oil Region
provides many natural and recreational resources, scenic
vistas, and excellent water quality for people throughout the
United States to enjoy.
(6) Remnants of the oil industry, visible on the landscape
to this day, provide a direct link to the past for visitors, as
do the historic valley settlements, riverbed settlements,
plateau developments, farmlands, and industrial landscapes.
(7) The Oil Region also represents a cross section of
American history associated with Native Americans, frontier
settlements, the French and Indian War, African Americans and
the Underground Railroad, and immigration of Swedish and Polish
individuals, among others.
(8) Involvement by the Federal Government shall serve to
enhance the efforts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, local
subdivisions of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, volunteer
organizations, and private businesses, to promote the cultural,
national, and recreational resources of the region in order to
fulfill their full potential.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to enhance a cooperative
management framework to assist the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, its
units of local government, and area citizens in conserving, enhancing,
and interpreting the significant features of the lands, water, and
structures of the Oil Region, in a manner consistent with compatible
economic development for the benefit and inspiration of present and
future generations in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United
States.
SEC. 3. OIL REGION NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA.
(a) Establishment.--There is hereby established the Oil Region
National Heritage Area.
(b) Boundaries.--The boundaries of the Heritage Area shall include
all of those lands depicted on a map entitled ``Oil Region National
Heritage Area'', numbered ____ and dated ____. The map shall be on file
in the appropriate offices of the National Park Service. The Secretary
of the Interior shall publish in the Federal Register, as soon as
practical after the date of the enactment of this Act, a detailed
description and map of the boundaries established under this
subsection.
(c) Management Entity.--The management entity for the Heritage Area
shall be the Oil Heritage Region, Inc., the locally based private,
nonprofit management corporation which shall oversee the development of
a management plan in accordance with section 5(b).
SEC. 4. COMPACT.
To carry out the purposes of this Act, the Secretary shall enter
into a compact with the management entity. The compact shall include
information relating to the objectives and management of the area,
including a discussion of the goals and objectives of the Heritage
Area, including an explanation of the proposed approach to conservation
and interpretation and a general outline of the protection measures
committed to by the Secretary and management entity.
SEC. 5. AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF MANAGEMENT
ENTITY.
(a) Authorities of the Management Entity.--The management entity
may use funds made available under this Act for purposes of preparing,
updating, and implementing the management plan developed under
subsection (b). Such purposes may include--
(1) making grants to, and entering into cooperative
agreements with, States and their political subdivisions,
private organizations, or any other person;
(2) hiring and compensating staff; and
(3) undertaking initiatives that advance the purposes of
the Heritage Area.
(b) Management Plan.--The management entity shall develop a
management plan for the Heritage Area that--
(1) presents comprehensive strategies and recommendations
for conservation, funding, management, and development of the
Heritage Area;
(2) takes into consideration existing State, county, and
local plans and involves residents, public agencies, and
private organizations working in the Heritage Area;
(3) includes a description of actions that units of
government and private organizations have agreed to take to
protect the resources of the Heritage Area;
(4) specifies the existing and potential sources of funding
to protect, manage, and develop the Heritage Area;
(5) includes an inventory of the resources contained in the
Heritage Area, including a list of any property in the Heritage
Area that is related to the themes of the Heritage Area and
that should be preserved, restored, managed, developed, or
maintained because of its natural, cultural, historic,
recreational, or scenic significance;
(6) recommends policies for resource management which
consider and detail application of appropriate land and water
management techniques, including, but not limited to, the
development of intergovernmental and interagency cooperative
agreements to protect the Heritage Area's historical, cultural,
recreational, and natural resources in a manner consistent with
supporting appropriate and compatible economic viability;
(7) describes a program for implementation of the
management plan by the management entity, including plans for
restoration and construction, and specific commitments for that
implementation that have been made by the management entity and
any other persons for the first 5 years of implementation;
(8) includes an analysis of ways in which local, State, and
Federal programs, including the role for the National Park
Service in the Heritage Area, may best be coordinated to
promote the purposes of this Act;
(9) lists any revisions to the boundaries of the Heritage
Area proposed by the management entity and requested by the
affected local government; and
(10) includes an interpretation plan for the Heritage Area.
(c) Deadline; Termination of Funding.--
(1) Deadline.--The management entity shall submit the
management plan to the Secretary within 2 years after the funds
are made available for this Act.
(2) Termination of funding.--If a management plan is not
submitted to the Secretary in accordance with this subsection,
the management entity shall not qualify for Federal assistance
under this Act.
(d) Duties of Management Entity.--The management entity shall--
(1) give priority to implementing actions set forth in the
compact and management plan;
(2) assist units of government, regional planning
organizations, and nonprofit organizations in--
(A) establishing and maintaining interpretive
exhibits in the Heritage Area;
(B) developing recreational resources in the
Heritage Area;
(C) increasing public awareness of and appreciation
for the natural, historical, and architectural
resources and sites in the Heritage Area;
(D) the restoration of any historic building
relating to the themes of the Heritage Area;
(E) ensuring that clear, consistent, and
environmentally appropriate signs identifying access
points and sites of interest are put in place
throughout the Heritage Area; and
(F) carrying out other actions that the management
entity determines to be advisable to fulfill the
purposes of this Act.
(3) encourage by appropriate means economic viability in
the Heritage Area consistent with the goals of the management
plan;
(4) consider the interests of diverse governmental,
business, and nonprofit groups within the Heritage Area; and
(5) for any year in which Federal funds have been provided
to implement the management plan under subsection (b)--
(A) conduct public meetings at least annually
regarding the implementation of the management plan;
(B) submit an annual report to the Secretary
setting forth accomplishments, expenses and income, and
each person to which any grant was made by the
management entity in the year for which the report is
made; and
(C) require, for all agreements entered into by the
management entity authorizing expenditure of Federal
funds by any other person, that the person making the
expenditure make available to the management entity for
audit all records pertaining to the expenditure of such
funds.
(e) Prohibition on the Acquisition of Real Property.--The
management entity may not use Federal funds received under this Act to
acquire real property or an interest in real property.
SEC. 6. DUTIES AND AUTHORITIES OF THE SECRETARY.
(a) Technical and Financial Assistance.--
(1) In general.--
(A) Overall assistance.--The Secretary may, upon
the request of the management entity, and subject to
the availability of appropriations, provide technical
and financial assistance to the management entity to
carry out its duties under this Act, including updating
and implementing a management plan that is submitted
under section 5(b) and approved by the Secretary and,
prior to such approval, providing assistance for
initiatives.
(B) Other assistance.-- If the Secretary has the
resources available to provide technical assistance to
the management entity to carry out its duties under
this Act (including updating and implementing a
management plan that is submitted under section 5(b)
and approved by the Secretary and, prior to such
approval, providing assistance for initiatives), upon
the request of the management entity the Secretary
shall provide such assistance on a reimbursable basis.
This subparagraph does not preclude the Secretary from
providing nonreimbursable assistance under subparagraph
(A).
(2) Priority.--In assisting the management entity, the
Secretary shall give priority to actions that assist in the--
(A) implementation of the management plan;
(B) provision of educational assistance and advice
regarding land and water management techniques to
conserve the significant natural resources of the
region;
(C) development and application of techniques
promoting the preservation of cultural and historic
properties;
(D) preservation, restoration, and reuse of
publicly and privately owned historic buildings;
(E) design and fabrication of a wide range of
interpretive materials based on the management plan,
including guide brochures, visitor displays, audio-
visual and interactive exhibits, and educational
curriculum materials for public education; and
(F) implementation of initiatives prior to approval
of the management plan.
(3) Documentation of structures.--The Secretary, acting
through the Historic American Building Survey and the Historic
American Engineering Record, shall conduct studies necessary to
document the industrial, engineering, building, and
architectural history of the Heritage Area.
(b) Approval and Disapproval of Management Plans.--The Secretary,
in consultation with the Governor of Pennsylvania, shall approve or
disapprove a management plan submitted under this Act not later than 90
days after receiving such plan. In approving the plan, the Secretary
shall take into consideration the following criteria:
(1) The extent to which the management plan adequately
preserves and protects the natural, cultural, and historical
resources of the Heritage Area.
(2) The level of public participation in the development of
the management plan.
(3) The extent to which the board of directors of the
management entity is representative of the local government and
a wide range of interested organizations and citizens.
(c) Action Following Disapproval.--If the Secretary disapproves a
management plan, the Secretary shall advise the management entity in
writing of the reasons for the disapproval and shall make
recommendations for revisions in the management plan. The Secretary
shall approve or disapprove a proposed revision within 90 days after
the date it is submitted.
(d) Approving Changes.--The Secretary shall review and approve
amendments to the management plan under section 5(b) that make
substantial changes. Funds appropriated under this Act may not be
expended to implement such changes until the Secretary approves the
amendments.
(e) Effect of Inaction.--If the Secretary does not approve or
disapprove a management plan, revision, or change within 90 days after
it is submitted to the Secretary, then such management plan, revision,
or change shall be deemed to have been approved by the Secretary.
SEC. 7. DUTIES OF OTHER FEDERAL ENTITIES.
Any Federal entity conducting or supporting activities directly
affecting the Heritage Area shall--
(1) consult with the Secretary and the management entity
with respect to such activities;
(2) cooperate with the Secretary and the management entity
in carrying out their duties under this Act and, to the maximum
extent practicable, coordinate such activities with the
carrying out of such duties; and
(3) to the maximum extent practicable, conduct or support
such activities in a manner that the management entity
determines shall not have an adverse effect on the Heritage
Area.
SEC. 8. SUNSET.
The Secretary may not make any grant or provide any assistance
under this Act after the expiration of the 15-year period beginning on
the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 9. USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS FROM OTHER SOURCES.
Nothing in this Act shall preclude the management entity from using
Federal funds available under Acts other than this Act for the purposes
for which those funds were authorized.
SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry
out this Act--
(1) not more than $1,000,000 for any fiscal year; and
(2) not more than a total of $10,000,000.
(b) 50 Percent Match.--Financial assistance provided under this Act
may not be used to pay more than 50 percent of the total cost of any
activity carried out with that assistance.
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