Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area Act

Findings and purpose

(a)

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)The Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area is a cohesive assemblage of natural, historic, cultural, and recreational resources that— (A)together represent distinctive aspects of American heritage worthy of recognition, conservation, interpretation, and continuing use; (B)are best managed through partnerships between private and public entities; and (C)will build upon the Kansas rural development policy and the new homestead act to recognize inherent strengths of small towns and rural communities—close-knit communities, strong local business networks, and a tradition of entrepreneurial creativity. (2)The Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area reflects traditions, customs, beliefs, folk life, or some combination thereof, that are a valuable part of the heritage of the United States. (3)The Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area provides outstanding opportunities to conserve natural, cultural, or historic features, or some combination thereof. (4)The Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area provides outstanding recreational and interpretive opportunities. (5)The Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area has an identifiable theme, and resources important to the theme retain integrity capable of supporting interpretation. (6)Residents, nonprofit organizations, other private entities, and units of local government throughout the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area demonstrate support for designation of the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area as a national heritage area and for management of the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area as appropriate for such designation. (7)Capturing these interconnected stories through partnerships with National Park Service sites, Kansas State Historical Society sites, local organizations, and citizens will augment the story opportunities within the prospective boundary for the educational and recreational benefit of this and future generations of Americans. (8)Communities throughout this region know the value of their Bleeding Kansas legacy, but require expansion of the existing cooperative framework to achieve key preservation, education, and other significant goals by working more closely together. (9)The State of Kansas officially recognized the national significance of the Bleeding Kansas story when it designated the heritage area development as a significant strategic goal within the statewide economic development plan. (10)Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance is a nonprofit corporation created for the purposes of preserving, interpreting, developing, promoting and, making available to the public the story and resources related to the story of Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring Struggle for Freedom. (11)Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance has completed a study that— (A)describes in detail the role, operation, financing, and functions of Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance, the local coordinating entity; and (B)provides adequate assurances that Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance, the local coordinating entity, is likely to have the financial resources necessary to implement the management plan for the Heritage Area, including resources to meet matching requirement for grants. (12)There are at least 7 National Historic Landmarks, 32 National Register properties, 3 Kansas Register properties, and 7 properties listed on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom that contribute to the Heritage Area as well as other significant properties that have not been designated at this time. (13)There is an interest in interpreting all sides of the Bleeding Kansas story that requires further work with several counties in Missouri interested in joining the area. (14)In 2004, the State of Kansas commemorated the Sesquicentennial of the signing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, opening the territory to settlement. (b)

Purposes

The purposes of this Act are as follows: (1)To designate a region in eastern Kansas and western Missouri containing nationally important natural, historic, and cultural resources and recreational and educational opportunities that are geographically assembled and thematically related as areas that provide unique frameworks for understanding the great and diverse character of the United States and the development of communities and their surroundings as the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area. (2)To strengthen, complement, and support the Fort Scott, Brown v. Board of Education, Nicodemus and Tallgrass Prairie sites through the interpretation and conservation of the associated living landscapes outside of the boundaries of these units of the National Park System. (3)To describe the extent of Federal responsibilities and duties in regard to the Heritage Area. (4)To further collaboration and partnerships among Federal, State, and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector, or combinations thereof, to conserve and manage the resources and opportunities in the Heritage Area through grants, technical assistance, training and other means. (5)To authorize Federal financial and technical assistance to the local coordinating entity to assist in the conservation and interpretation of the Heritage Area. (6)To empower communities and organizations in Kansas to preserve the special historic identity of Bleeding Kansas and with it the identity of the Nation. (7)To provide for the management, preservation, protection, and interpretation of the natural, historical, and cultural resources within the region for the educational and inspirational benefit of current and future generations. (8)To provide greater community capacity through inter-local cooperation. (9)To provide a vehicle, particularly in the four counties with high out-migration of population, to recognize that self-reliance and resilience will be the keys to their economic future. (10)To build upon the Kansas rural development policy, the Kansas agritourism initiative and the new homestead act to recognize inherent strengths of small towns and rural communities—close-knit communities, strong local business networks, and a tradition of entrepreneurial creativity. (11)To educate and cultivate among its citizens, particularly its youth, the stories and cultural resources of the region’s legacy that— (A)reflect the popular phrase Bleeding Kansas describing the conflict over slavery that became nationally prominent in Kansas just before and during the American Civil War; (B)reflect the commitment of American settlers who first fought and killed to uphold their different and irreconcilable principles of freedom and equality during the years of the Kansas Conflict; (C)reflect the struggle for freedom, experienced during the Bleeding Kansas era, that continues to be a vital and pressing issue associated with the real problem of democratic nation building; and (D)recreate the physical environment revealing its impact on agriculture, transportation, trade and business, and social and cultural patterns in urban and rural settings. (12)To interpret the effect of the era’s democratic ethos on the development of America’s distinctive political culture.

Definitions

In this Act: (1)

Heritage area

The term Heritage Area means the Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring Struggle for Freedom National Heritage Area in eastern Kansas and western Missouri. (2)

Local coordinating entity

The term local coordinating entity means Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance, recognized by the Secretary, in consultation with the Governors of the States, that agrees to perform the duties of a local coordinating entity under this Act. (3)

Management plan

The term management plan means the management plan for the Heritage Area developed under section 4(e). (4)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior. (5)

State

The term State means each of the States of Kansas and Missouri. (6)

Unit of local government

The term unit of local government means the government of a State, a political subdivision of a State, or an Indian tribe.

Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring Struggle for Freedom National Heritage Area

(a)

Establishment

There is established in the States the Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring Struggle for Freedom National Heritage Area. (b)

Boundaries

The Heritage Area may include the following: (1)An area located in eastern Kansas and western Missouri, consisting of— (A)Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Chantauqua, Cherokee, Clay, Coffey, Crawford, Douglas, Franklin, Geary, Jackson, Johnson, Labette, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, Neosho, Pottawatomie, Riley, Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Wilson, Woodson, Wyandotte Counties in Kansas; and (B)Buchanan, Platte, Clay, Ray, Lafayette, Jackson, Cass, Johnson, Bates, Vernon, Barton, and Jasper Counties in Missouri. (2)Contributing sites, buildings, and districts within the area that are recommended by the management plan. (c)

Map

The final boundary of the Heritage Area within the counties identified in subsection (b)(1) shall be specified in the management plan. A map of the Heritage Area shall be included in the management plan. The map shall be on file in the appropriate offices of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. (d)

Local Coordinating Entity

(1)

In general

The local coordinating entity for the Heritage Area shall be Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance, a nonprofit organization established in the State of Kansas, recognized by the Secretary, in consultation with the Governors of the States, that agrees to perform the duties of the local coordinating entity under this Act. (2)

Authorities

For purposes of developing and implementing the management plan, the local coordinating entity may— (A)make grants to, and enter into cooperative agreements with, the States, political subdivisions of the States, and private organizations; (B)hire and compensate staff; and (C)enter into contracts for goods and services. (e)

Management Plan

(1)

In general

Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds are made available to carry out this Act, the local coordinating entity shall develop and submit to the Secretary a management plan reviewed by participating units of local government within the boundaries of the proposed Heritage Area. (2)

Contents

The management plan shall— (A)present a comprehensive program for the conservation, interpretation, funding, management, and development of the Heritage Area, in a manner consistent with the existing local, State, and Federal land use laws and compatible economic viability of the Heritage Area; (B)establish criteria or standards to measure what is selected for conservation, interpretation, funding, management, and development; (C)involve residents, public agencies, and private organizations working in the Heritage Area; (D)specify and coordinate, as of the date of the management plan, existing and potential sources of technical and financial assistance under this and other Federal laws to protect, manage, and develop the Heritage Area; and (E)include— (i)actions to be undertaken by units of government and private organizations to protect, conserve, and interpret the resources of the Heritage Area; (ii)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 meets the establishing criteria (such as, but not exclusive to, visitor readiness) to merit preservation, restoration, management, development, or maintenance because of its natural, cultural, historical, or recreational significance; (iii)policies for resource management including the development of intergovernmental cooperative agreements, private sector agreements, or any combination thereof, to protect the historical, cultural, recreational, and natural resources of the Heritage Area in a manner consistent with supporting appropriate and compatible economic viability; (iv)a program for implementation of the management plan by the designated local coordinating entity, in cooperation with its partners and units of local government; (v)evidence that relevant State, county, and local plans applicable to the Heritage Area have been taken into consideration; (vi)an analysis of ways in which local, State, and Federal programs may best be coordinated to promote the purposes of this Act; and (vii)a business plan that— (I)describes in detail the role, operation, financing, and functions of the local coordinating entity for each activity included in the recommendations contained in the management plan; and (II)provides, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, adequate assurances that the local coordinating entity is likely to have the financial resources necessary to implement the management plan for the Heritage Area, including resources to meet matching requirement for grants awarded under this Act. (3)

Considerations

In developing and implementing the management plan, the local coordinating entity shall consider the interests of diverse governmental, business, and nonprofit groups within the Heritage Area. (4)

Disqualification from funding

If a proposed management plan is not submitted to the Secretary within 3 years after the date on which funds are made available to carry out this Act, the local coordinating entity shall be ineligible to receive additional funding under this Act until the date on which the Secretary receives the proposed management plan. (5)

Approval and disapproval of management plan

The Secretary shall approve or disapprove the proposed management plan submitted under this Act not later than 90 days after receiving such proposed management plan. (6)

Action following disapproval

If the Secretary disapproves a proposed management plan, the Secretary shall advise the local coordinating entity in writing of the reasons for the disapproval and shall make recommendations for revisions to the proposed management plan. The Secretary shall approve or disapprove a proposed revision within 90 days after the date it is submitted. (7)

Approval of amendments

The Secretary shall review and approve substantial amendments to the management plan. Funds appropriated under this Act may not be expended to implement any changes made by such amendment until the Secretary approves the amendment. (8)

Implementation

(A)

Priorities

The local coordinating entity shall give priority to implementing actions described in the management plan, including— (i)assisting units of government and nonprofit organizations in preserving resources within the Heritage Area; and (ii)encouraging local governments to adopt land use policies consistent with the management of the Heritage Area and the goals of the management plan. (B)

Public meetings

The local coordinating entity shall conduct public meetings at least quarterly on the implementation of the management plan. (f)

Public Notice

The local coordinating entity shall place a notice of each of its public meetings in a newspaper of general circulation in the Heritage Area and shall make the minutes of the meeting available to the public. (g)

Annual Report

For any year in which Federal funds have been made available under this Act, the local coordinating entity shall submit to the Secretary an annual report that describes— (1)the accomplishments of the local coordinating entity; and (2)the expenses and income of the local coordinating entity. (h)

Audit

The local coordinating entity shall— (1)make available to the Secretary for audit all records relating to the expenditure of Federal funds and any matching funds; and (2)require, with respect to all agreements authorizing expenditure of Federal funds by other organizations, that the receiving organizations make available to the Secretary for audit all records concerning the expenditure of the Federal funds and any matching funds. (I)

Use of federal funds

(1)

In general

The local coordinating entity shall not use Federal funds made available under this Act to acquire real property or an interest in real property. (2)

Other sources

Nothing in this Act precludes the local coordinating entity from using Federal funds made available under other Federal laws for any purpose for which the funds are authorized to be used.

Technical and financial assistance; other Federal agencies

(a)

Technical and Financial Assistance

(1)

In general

On the request of the local coordinating entity, the Secretary may provide technical and financial assistance for the development and implementation of the management plan. (2)

Priority for assistance

In providing assistance under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to actions that assist in— (A)conserving the significant cultural, historic, and natural resources of the Heritage Area; and (B)providing educational, interpretive, and recreational opportunities consistent with the purposes of the Heritage Area. (3)

Spending for non-federal property

The local coordinating entity may expend Federal funds made available under this Act on non-Federal property that— (A)meets the criteria in the approved management plan; or (B)is listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. (4)

Other assistance

The Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements with public and private organizations to carry out this subsection. (b)

Other Federal Agencies

Any Federal entity conducting or supporting an activity that directly affects the Heritage Area shall— (1)consider the potential effect of the activity on the purposes of the Heritage Area and the management plan; (2)consult with the local coordinating entity regarding the activity; and (3)to the maximum extent practicable, conduct or support the activity to avoid adverse effects on the Heritage Area. (c)

Other Assistance Not Affected

This Act does not affect the authority of any Federal official to provide technical or financial assistance under any other law. (d)

Notification of Other Federal Activities

The head of each Federal agency shall provide to the Secretary and the local coordinating entity, to the extent practicable, advance notice of all activities that may have an impact on the Heritage Area.

Private property protection

(a)

Access to Private Property

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require any private property owner to permit public access (including Federal, State, or local government access) to such private property. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify any provision of Federal, State, or local law with regard to public access to or use of private lands. (b)

Liability

Designation of the Heritage Area shall not be considered to create any liability, or to have any effect on any liability under any other law, of any private property owner with respect to any persons injured on such private property. (c)

Recognition of Authority to Control Land Use

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify any authority of Federal, State, or local governments to regulate land use. (d)

Participation of Private Property Owners in Heritage Areas

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require the owner of any private property located within the boundaries of the Heritage Area to participate in or be associated with the Heritage Area. (e)

Land Use Regulation

(1)

In general

The local coordinating entity shall provide assistance and encouragement to State and local governments, private organizations, and persons to protect and promote the resources and values of the Heritage Area. (2)

Effect

Nothing in this Act— (A)affects the authority of the State or local governments to regulate under law any use of land; or (B)grants any power of zoning or land use to the local coordinating entity. (f)

Private Property

(1)

In general

The local coordinating entity shall be an advocate for land management practices consistent with the purposes of the Heritage Area. (2)

Effect

Nothing in this Act— (A)abridges the rights of any person with regard to private property; (B)affects the authority of the State or local government regarding private property; or (C)imposes any additional burden on any property owner. (g)

Requirements for Inclusion of Private Property

(1)

Notification and consent of property owners required

No privately owned property shall be preserved, conserved, or promoted by the management plan for the Heritage Area until the owner of that private property has been notified in writing by the management entity and has given written consent for such preservation, conservation, or promotion to the management entity. (2)

Landowner withdrawal

Any owner of private property included within the boundary of the Heritage Area shall have their property immediately removed from the boundary by submitting a written request to the management entity

Savings provisions

(a)

Rules, Regulations, Standards, and Permit Processes

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to impose any environmental, occupational, safety, or other rule, regulation, standard, or permit process in the Heritage Area that is different from those that would be applicable if the Heritage Area had not been established. (b)

Water and Water Rights

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize or imply the reservation or appropriation of water or water rights. (c)

No Diminishment of State Authority

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to diminish the authority of the State to manage fish and wildlife, including the regulation of fishing and hunting within the Heritage Area.

Authorization of appropriations

(a)

In General

There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $10,000,000, to remain available until expended, of which not more than $1,000,000 may be authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year. (b)

Cost-Sharing Requirement

The Federal share of the total cost of any activity assisted under this Act shall be not more than 50 percent.

Termination of authority

The authority of the Secretary to provide assistance under this Act terminates on the date that is 15 years after the date of enactment of this Act.