1.
This Act may be cited as the
Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area
Act
.
2.
(a)
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 management entity; and
(B)
provides adequate assurances
that Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance, the management 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)
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 management 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.
3.
For the purposes of this
Act:
(1)
The term management
entity means Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance, recognized by the
Secretary, in consultation with the chief executive officer of the State of
Kansas, that agrees to perform the duties of a local coordinating entity under
this Act.
(2)
The term Heritage
Area means the Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring Struggle for Freedom
National Heritage Area in eastern Kansas and western Missouri.
(3)
The term
Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
(4)
The term unit of local
government means the government of a State, a political subdivision of a
State, or an Indian tribe.
4.
Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring Struggle for Freedom National
Heritage Area
(a)
There is established in the
State of Kansas the Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring Struggle for Freedom
National Heritage Area.
(b)
The Heritage Area shall
include the following:
(1)
An area located in eastern
Kansas and western Missouri, consisting currently of Allen, Anderson, Bourbon,
Cherokee, Clay, Coffey, Crawford, Douglas, Franklin, Geary, Johnson, Labette,
Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, Neosho, Pottawatomie, Riley, Shawnee, Wabaunsee,
Wilson, Woodson, Wyandotte Counties in Kansas and tentatively including
additional counties in Kansas and western Missouri to be included in the
development of the management plan.
(2)
Contributing sites,
buildings, and districts within the area will be recommended by the management
plan.
(c)
Final boundary will be
defined during the management plan development. 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)
The management 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 chief executive officer of the State of Kansas, that
agrees to perform the duties of a local coordinating entity under this
Act.
5.
Authorities, duties, and prohibitions of the management
entity
(a)
The management entity may,
for purposes of preparing and implementing the management plan, use funds made
available under this Act to—
(1)
prepare a management plan for
the Heritage Area;
(2)
prepare reports, studies,
interpretive exhibits and programs, historic preservation projects, and other
activities recommended in the management plan for the Heritage Area;
(3)
pay for operational expenses
of the management entity incurred within the first 10 fiscal years beginning
after the date of the enactment of this Act designating the Heritage
Area;
(4)
make grants or loans to
entities defined in the management plan;
(5)
enter into cooperative
agreements with the State of Kansas, its political subdivisions, nonprofit
organizations, and other organizations;
(6)
hire and compensate
staff;
(7)
obtain money from any source
under any program or law to be used for a regrant program requiring the
recipient of such money to make a contribution in order to receive it;
(8)
contract for goods and
services; and
(9)
offer a competitive grants
program to contributing partners requiring a dollar-for-dollar match of Federal
funds.
(b)
Duties of the management entity
In addition to developing the
management plan, the management entity shall—
(1)
give priority to the
implementation of actions, goals, strategies, and standards set forth in the
management plan, including assisting units of government and other persons
in—
(A)
encouraging economic
viability in the Heritage Area in accordance with the goals of the management
plan;
(B)
establishing interpretive
exhibits in the Heritage Area;
(C)
increasing public awareness
of and appreciation for the cultural, historical, and natural resources of the
Heritage Area;
(D)
supporting the restoration of
historic buildings that are—
(i)
located in the Heritage Area;
and
(ii)
related to the themes of the
Heritage Area;
(E)
the conservation of
contributing landscapes and natural resources; and
(F)
the installation throughout
the Heritage Area of signs identifying public access points and sites of
interest;
(2)
prepare and implement the
management plan while considering the interests of diverse units of government,
businesses, private property owners, and nonprofit groups within the Heritage
Area;
(3)
conduct public meetings in
conjunction with training and skill building workshops regarding the
development and implementation of the management plan; and
(4)
for any fiscal year for which
Federal funds are received under this Act—
(A)
submit to the Secretary a
report that describes, for the year—
(i)
accomplishments of the
management entity;
(ii)
expenses and income of the
management entity;
(iii)
each entity to which a grant
was made; and
(iv)
an accounting of matching
funds obtained to meet grant guidelines;
(B)
conduct an annual audit with
a neutral auditing firm and make available for audit by Congress, the
Secretary, and appropriate units of government, all records pertaining to the
expenditure of the funds and any matching funds; and
(C)
require, for all agreements
authorizing expenditure of Federal funds by any entity, that the receiving
entity make available for audit all records pertaining to the expenditure of
their funds.
(c)
Prohibition of acquisition of real property
The management entity shall
not use Federal funds received under this Act to acquire real property or an
interest in real property.
(d)
Nothing in this Act precludes
the management entity from using Federal funds from other sources for
authorized purposes.
6.
(a)
The management entity
shall:
(1)
Not later than 3 years after
the date funds are made available for this purpose, prepare and submit a
management plan reviewed by participating units of local government within the
boundaries of the proposed Heritage Area.
(2)
Collaborate with and consider
the interests of diverse units of government, businesses, tourism officials,
private property owners, and nonprofit groups within the geographic area of the
Heritage Area in developing and implementing such a management plan.
(3)
Ensure regular public
involvement, including public meetings at least annually, regarding the
implementation of the management plan.
(b)
Contents of management plan
The management plan prepared
for the Heritage Area shall—
(1)
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;
(2)
establish criteria or
standards to measure what is selected for conservation, interpretation,
funding, management, and development;
(3)
involve residents, public
agencies, and private organizations working in the Heritage Area;
(4)
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
(5)
include—
(A)
actions to be undertaken by
units of government and private organizations to protect, conserve, and
interpret the resources of the Heritage Area;
(B)
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;
(C)
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;
(D)
a program for implementation
of the management plan by the designated management entity, in cooperation with
its partners and units of local government;
(E)
evidence that relevant State,
county, and local plans applicable to the Heritage Area have been taken into
consideration;
(F)
an analysis of ways in which
local, State, and Federal programs may best be coordinated to promote the
purposes of this Act; and
(G)
a business plan that—
(i)
describes in detail the role,
operation, financing, and functions of the management 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 management 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.
(c)
The management 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.
(d)
Disqualification from funding
If a proposed management plan
is not submitted to the Secretary within 4 years of the date of the enactment
of this Act, the management entity shall be ineligible to receive additional
funding under this title until the date on which the Secretary receives the
proposed management plan.
(e)
Approval and disapproval of management plan
The Secretary shall approve
or disapprove the proposed management plan submitted under this title not later
than 90 days after receiving such proposed management plan.
(f)
Action following disapproval
If the Secretary disapproves
a proposed management plan, the Secretary shall advise the management 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.
(g)
The Secretary shall review
and approve substantial amendments to the management plan. Funds appropriated
under this title may not be expended to implement any changes made by such
amendment until the Secretary approves the amendment.
7.
Technical and financial assistance; other Federal
agencies
(a)
Technical and financial assistance
(1)
On the request of the
management entity, the Secretary may provide technical and financial assistance
for the development and implementation of the management plan.
(2)
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 management 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)
The Secretary may enter into
cooperative agreements with public and private organizations to carry out this
subsection.
(b)
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 management
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 management entity, to the extent
practicable, advance notice of all activities that may have an impact on the
Heritage Area.
8.
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)
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)
(1)
The management 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)
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 management entity.
(f)
(1)
The management entity shall
be an advocate for land management practices consistent with the purposes of
the Heritage Area.
(2)
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.
9.
Requirements for inclusion of private property
(a)
Notification and consent of property owners required
No privately owned property
shall be governed 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 inclusion to the management
entity.
(b)
Any owner of private property
included within the boundary of the Heritage Area, and not notified under
subsection (a), shall have their property immediately removed from the boundary
by submitting a written request to the management entity.
10.
(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)
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.
(d)
Existing national heritage areas
Nothing in this Act shall
affect any national heritage area so designated before the date of the
enactment of this Act.
11.
Authorization of appropriations
(a)
There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this Act $10,000,000, of which not more than
$1,000,000 may be authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year.
(b)
The Federal share of the
total cost of any activity assisted under this Act shall be not more than 50
percent.
12.
The authority of the Secretary
to provide assistance under this Act terminates on the date that is 10 years
after the date of the enactment of this Act.