[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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