[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2968 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2968

 To amend the American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996 to authorize 
 the Secretary of the Interior to establish a battlefield acquisition 
                             grant program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 19, 2002

 Mr. Sarbanes (for himself, Mr. Jeffords, and Mr. Sessions) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                    on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996 to authorize 
 the Secretary of the Interior to establish a battlefield acquisition 
                             grant program.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Civil War Battlefield Preservation 
Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) Civil War battlefields provide a means for the people 
        of the United States to understand a tragic period in the 
        history of the United States; and
            (2) according to the Report on the Nation's Civil War 
        Battlefields, prepared by the Civil War Sites Advisory 
        Commission, and dated July 1993, of the 384 principal Civil War 
        battlefields--
                    (A) almost 20 percent are lost or fragmented;
                    (B) 17 percent are in poor condition; and
                    (C) 60 percent--
                            (i) have been lost; or
                            (ii) are in imminent danger of being--
                                    (I) fragmented by development; and
                                    (II) lost as coherent historic 
                                sites.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to act quickly and proactively to preserve and protect 
        nationally significant Civil War battlefields through 
        conservation easements and fee-simple purchases of those 
        battlefields from willing sellers; and
            (2) to create partnerships among State and local 
        governments, regional entities, and the private sector to 
        preserve, conserve, and enhance nationally significant Civil 
        War battlefields.

SEC. 3. BATTLEFIELD ACQUISITION GRANT PROGRAM.

    The American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 469k) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as paragraph (3) of 
        subsection (c), and indenting appropriately;
            (2) in paragraph (3) of subsection (c) (as redesignated by 
        paragraph (1))--
                    (A) by striking ``Appropriations'' and inserting 
                ``appropriations''; and
                    (B) by striking ``section'' and inserting 
                ``subsection'';
            (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) Battlefield Acquisition Grant Program.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Battlefield report.--The term `Battlefield 
                Report' means the document entitled `Report on the 
                Nation's Civil War Battlefields', prepared by the Civil 
                War Sites Advisory Commission, and dated July 1993.
                    ``(B) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' 
                means a State or local government.
                    ``(C) Eligible site.--The term `eligible site' 
                means a site--
                            ``(i) that is not within the exterior 
                        boundaries of a unit of the National Park 
                        System; and
                            ``(ii) that is identified in the 
                        Battlefield Report.
                    ``(D) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the 
                Secretary of the Interior, acting through the American 
                Battlefield Protection Program.
            ``(2) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a 
        battlefield acquisition grant program under which the Secretary 
        may provide grants to eligible entities to pay the Federal 
        share of the cost of acquiring interests in eligible sites for 
        the preservation and protection of those eligible sites.
            ``(3) Nonprofit partners.--An eligible entity may acquire 
        an interest in an eligible site using a grant under this 
        subsection in partnership with a nonprofit organization.
            ``(4) Non-federal share.--The non-Federal share of the 
        total cost of acquiring an interest in an eligible site under 
        this subsection shall be not less than 50 percent.
            ``(5) Limitation on land use.--An interest in an eligible 
        site acquired under this subsection shall be subject to section 
        6(f)(3) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 
        U.S.C. 460l-8(f)(3)).
            ``(6) Reports.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 5 years after the 
                date of enactment of this subparagraph, the Secretary 
                shall submit to Congress a report on the activities 
                carried out under this subsection.
                    ``(B) Update of battlefield report.--Not later than 
                2 years after the date of enactment of this subsection, 
                the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that 
                updates the Battlefield Report to reflect--
                            ``(i) preservation activities carried out 
                        at the 384 battlefields during the period 
                        between publication of the Battlefield Report 
                        and the update;
                            ``(ii) changes in the condition of the 
                        battlefields during that period; and
                            ``(iii) any other relevant developments 
                        relating to the battlefields during that 
                        period.
            ``(7) Authorization of appropriations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--There is authorized to be 
                appropriated to the Secretary from the Land and Water 
                Conservation Fund to provide grants under this 
                subsection $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 
                through 2008.
                    ``(B) Update of battlefield report.--There is 
                authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
                out paragraph (6)(B) $500,000.''; and
            (4) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``as of'' and all 
                that follows through the period and inserting ``on 
                September 30, 2008.''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``and provide 
                battlefields acquisition grants'' after ``studies''.
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