[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2469 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2469

      To amend the National Historic Preservation Act to provide 
appropriation authorization and improve the operations of the Advisory 
                   Council on Historic Preservation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 20, 2004

  Mr. Talent introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To amend the National Historic Preservation Act to provide 
appropriation authorization and improve the operations of the Advisory 
                   Council on Historic Preservation.

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

SECTION 1. NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``National Historic 
Preservation Act Amendments Act of 2004''.
    (b) Reference.--A reference in this Act to ``the Act'' shall be a 
reference to the National Historic Preservation Act.
    (c) Membership of Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.--
            (1) Additional members.--Section 201(a)(4) of the Act (16 
        U.S.C. 470i(a)(4)) is amended by striking ``four'' and 
        inserting ``seven''.
            (2) Allowing designee for governor member.--Section 201(b) 
        of the Act (16 U.S.C. 470i(b)) is amended by striking ``(5) 
        and''.
            (3) Quorum.--Section 201(f) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 470i(f)) 
        is amended by striking ``Nine'' and inserting ``Eleven''.
    (d) Financial and Administrative Services for the Advisory Council 
on Historic Preservation.--Section 205(f) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 
470m(f)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(f) Financial and administrative services (including those 
related to budgeting, accounting, financial reporting, personnel and 
procurement) shall be provided the Council by the Department of the 
Interior or, at the discretion of the Council, such other agency or 
private entity that reaches an agreement with the Council, for which 
payments shall be made in advance or by reimbursement from funds of the 
Council in such amounts as may be agreed upon by the Chairman of the 
Council and the head of the agency or, in the case of a private entity, 
the authorized representative of the private entity that will provide 
the services. When a Federal agency affords such services, the 
regulations of that agency for the collection of indebtedness of 
personnel resulting from erroneous payments (5 U.S.C. 5514(b)) shall 
apply to the collection of erroneous payments made to or on behalf of a 
Council employee and regulations of that agency for the administrative 
control of funds (31 U.S.C. 1513(d), 1514) shall apply to 
appropriations of the Council. The Council shall not be required to 
prescribe such regulations.''.
    (e) Donation Authority of the Advisory Council on Historic 
Preservation.--Section 205(g) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 470m(g)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``obtain,'' and inserting ``solicit and 
        obtain,''; and
            (2) by striking ``may also receive'' and inserting ``may 
        also solicit and receive''.
    (f) Appropriation Authorization of the Advisory Council on Historic 
Preservation.--Section 212(a) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 470t(a)) is amended 
by striking ``for purposes of this title not to exceed $4,000,000 for 
each fiscal year 1997 through 2005'' and inserting ``such amounts as 
may be necessary to carry out this title''.
    (g) Effectiveness of Federal Grant and Assistance Programs in 
Meeting the Purposes and Policies of the National Historic Preservation 
Act.--Title II of the Act is amended by adding at the end the following 
new section:

``SEC. 216. EFFECTIVENESS OF FEDERAL GRANT AND ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

    ``(a) Cooperative Agreements.--The Council may enter into a 
cooperative agreement with any Federal agency that administers a grant 
or assistance program for the purpose of improving the effectiveness of 
the administration of such program in meeting the purposes and policies 
of this Act. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, such 
cooperative agreements may include provisions that modify the selection 
criteria for a grant or assistance program to further the purposes of 
this Act or that allow the Council to jointly administer a grant or 
assistance program, including participation in the selection of 
recipients, if such are not inconsistent with the grant or assistance 
program's statutory authorization and purpose.
    ``(b) Review of Grant and Assistance Programs.--The Council may--
            ``(1) review the operation of any Federal grant or 
        assistance program to evaluate the effectiveness of such 
        program in meeting the purposes and policies of this Act;
            ``(2) make recommendations to the head of any Federal 
        agency that administers such program to further the consistency 
        of the program with the purposes and policies of the Act and to 
        improve its effectiveness in carrying out those purposes and 
        policies; and
            ``(3) make recommendations to the President and the 
        Congress regarding the effectiveness of Federal grant and 
        assistance programs in meeting the purposes and policies of 
        this Act, including recommendations with regard to appropriate 
        funding levels.''.
                                 <all>