[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5978 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5978

    To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special 
    resource study to determine the suitability and feasibility of 
 including the battlefields and related sites of the First and Second 
Battles of Newtonia, Missouri, during the Civil War as part of Wilson's 
Creek National Battlefield or designating the battlefields and related 
  sites as a separate unit of the National Park System, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 2006

  Mr. Blunt introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special 
    resource study to determine the suitability and feasibility of 
 including the battlefields and related sites of the First and Second 
Battles of Newtonia, Missouri, during the Civil War as part of Wilson's 
Creek National Battlefield or designating the battlefields and related 
  sites as a separate unit of the National Park System, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY, NEWTONIA CIVIL 
              WAR BATTLEFIELDS, MISSOURI.

    (a) Special Resource Study.--The Secretary of the Interior shall 
conduct a special resource study relating to the First Battle of 
Newtonia in Newton County, Missouri, which occurred on September 30, 
1862, and the Second Battle of Newtonia, which occurred on October 28, 
1864, during the Missouri Expedition of Confederate General Sterling 
Price in September and October 1864.
    (b) Contents.--In conducting the study under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) evaluate the national significance of the Newtonia 
        battlefields and their related sites;
            (2) consider the findings and recommendations contained in 
        the document entitled ``Vision Plan for Newtonia Battlefield 
        Preservation'' and dated June 2004, which was prepared by the 
        Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association;
            (3) evaluate the suitability and feasibility of adding the 
        battlefields and related sites as part of Wilson's Creek 
        National Battlefield or designating the battlefields and 
        related sites as a unit of the National Park System;
            (4) analyze the potential impact that the inclusion of the 
        battlefields and related sites as part of Wilson's Creek 
        National Battlefield or their designation as a unit of the 
        National Park System is likely to have on land within or 
        bordering the battlefields and related sites that is privately 
        owned at the time of the study is conducted;
            (5) consider alternatives for preservation, protection, and 
        interpretation of the battlefields and related sites by the 
        National Park Service, other Federal, State, or local 
        governmental entities, or private and nonprofit organizations; 
        and
            (6) identify cost estimates for any necessary acquisition, 
        development, interpretation, operation, and maintenance 
        associated with the alternatives referred to in paragraph (5).
    (c) Criteria.--The criteria for the study of areas for potential 
inclusion in the National Park System contained in section 8 of Public 
Law 91-383 (16 U.S.C. 1a-5) shall apply to the study under subsection 
(a).
    (d) Transmission to Congress.--Not later than three years after the 
date on which funds are first made available for the study under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources of the Senate a report containing--
            (1) the results of the study; and
            (2) any conclusions and recommendations of the Secretary.
                                 <all>