1.
This Act may be cited as the
Upper Housatonic Valley National
Heritage Area Act
.
2.
(a)
Congress finds the following:
(1)
The upper Housatonic Valley, encompassing 29 towns in the hilly
terrain of western Massachusetts and northwestern Connecticut, is a singular
geographical and cultural region that has made significant national
contributions through its literary, artistic, musical, and architectural
achievements, its iron, paper, and electrical equipment industries, and its
scenic beautification and environmental conservation efforts.
(2)
The upper Housatonic Valley has 139 properties and historic
districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places including—
(A)
five National Historic Landmarks—
(i)
Edith Wharton’s home, The Mount, Lenox, Massachusetts;
(ii)
Herman Melville’s home, Arrowhead, Pittsfield,
Massachusetts;
(iii)
W.E.B. DuBois’ Boyhood Homesite, Great Barrington,
Massachusetts;
(iv)
Mission House, Stockbridge, Massachusetts; and
(v)
Crane and Company Old Stone Mill Rag Room, Dalton, Massachusetts;
and
(B)
four National Natural Landmarks—
(i)
Bartholomew’s Cobble, Sheffield, Massachusetts, and Salisbury,
Connecticut;
(ii)
Beckley Bog, Norfolk, Connecticut;
(iii)
Bingham Bog, Salisbury, Connecticut; and
(iv)
Cathedral Pines, Cornwall, Connecticut.
(3)
Writers, artists, musicians, and vacationers have visited the
region for more than 150 years to enjoy its scenic wonders, making it one of
the country’s leading cultural resorts.
(4)
The upper Housatonic Valley has made significant national
cultural contributions through such writers as Herman Melville, Nathaniel
Hawthorne, Edith Wharton, and W.E.B. DuBois, artists Daniel Chester French and
Norman Rockwell, and the performing arts centers of Tanglewood, Music Mountain,
Norfolk (Connecticut) Chamber Music Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, and Shakespeare
& Company.
(5)
The upper Housatonic Valley is noted for its pioneering
achievements in the iron, paper, and electrical generation industries and has
cultural resources to interpret those industries.
(6)
The region became a national leader in scenic beautification and
environmental conservation efforts following the era of industrialization and
deforestation and maintains a fabric of significant conservation areas
including the meandering Housatonic River.
(7)
Important historical events related to the American Revolution,
Shays’ Rebellion, and early civil rights took place in the upper Housatonic
Valley.
(8)
The region had an American Indian presence going back 10,000
years and Mohicans had a formative role in contact with Europeans during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
(9)
The Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area has been
proposed in order to heighten appreciation of the region, preserve its natural
and historical resources, and improve the quality of life and economy of the
area.
(b)
The purposes of this Act are as follows:
(1)
To establish the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area
in the State of Connecticut and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
(2)
To implement the national heritage area alternative as described
in the document entitled Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area
Feasibility Study, 2003
.
(3)
To provide a management framework to foster a close working
relationship with all levels of government, the private sector, and the local
communities in the upper Housatonic Valley region to conserve the region’s
heritage while continuing to pursue compatible economic opportunities.
(4)
To assist communities, organizations, and citizens in the State
of Connecticut and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in identifying,
preserving, interpreting, and developing the historical, cultural, scenic, and
natural resources of the region for the educational and inspirational benefit
of current and future generations.
3.
In this Act:
(1)
The term Heritage Area means the Upper Housatonic
Valley National Heritage Area, established in section 4.
(2)
The term Management Entity means the management
entity for the Heritage Area designated by section 4(d).
(3)
The term Management Plan means the management plan
for the Heritage Area specified in section 6.
(4)
The term map means the map entitled Boundary
Map Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area
, numbered
P17/80,000, and dated February 2003.
(5)
The term Secretary means the Secretary of the
Interior.
(6)
The term State means the State of Connecticut and
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
4.
Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area
(a)
There is established the Upper Housatonic Valley National
Heritage Area.
(b)
The Heritage Area shall be comprised of—
(1)
part of the Housatonic River’s watershed, which extends 60 miles
from Lanesboro, Massachusetts to Kent, Connecticut;
(2)
the towns of Canaan, Colebrook, Cornwall, Kent, Norfolk, North
Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, and Warren in Connecticut;
(3)
the towns of Alford, Becket, Dalton, Egremont, Great Barrington,
Hancock, Hinsdale, Lanesboro, Lee, Lenox, Monterey, Mount Washington, New
Marlboro, Pittsfield, Richmond, Sheffield, Stockbridge, Tyringham, Washington,
and West Stockbridge in Massachusetts; and
(4)
the land and water within the boundaries of the Heritage Area, as
depicted on the map.
(c)
The map shall be on file and available for public inspection in
the appropriate offices of the National Park Service, Department of the
Interior.
(d)
The Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, Inc. shall be
the management entity for the Heritage Area.
5.
Authorities, prohibitions and duties of the Management
Entity
(a)
Duties of the Management Entity
To further the purposes of the Heritage Area, the management
entity shall—
(1)
prepare and submit a management plan for the Heritage Area to the
Secretary in accordance with section 6;
(2)
assist units of local government, regional planning
organizations, and nonprofit organizations in implementing the approved
management plan by—
(A)
carrying out programs and projects that recognize, protect and
enhance important resource values within the Heritage Area;
(B)
establishing and maintaining interpretive exhibits and programs
within the Heritage Area;
(C)
developing recreational and educational opportunities in the
Heritage Area;
(D)
increasing public awareness of and appreciation for natural,
historical, scenic, and cultural resources of the Heritage Area;
(E)
protecting and restoring historic sites and buildings in the
Heritage Area that are consistent with heritage area themes;
(F)
ensuring that clear, consistent, and appropriate signs
identifying points of public access and sites of interest are posted throughout
the Heritage Area; and
(G)
promoting a wide range of partnerships among governments,
organizations and individuals to further the purposes of the Heritage
Area;
(3)
consider the interests of diverse units of government,
businesses, organizations and individuals in the Heritage Area in the
preparation and implementation of the management plan;
(4)
conduct meetings open to the public at least semi-annually
regarding the development and implementation of the management plan;
(5)
submit an annual report to the Secretary for any fiscal year in
which the management entity receives Federal funds under this Act, setting
forth its accomplishments, expenses, and income, including grants to any other
entities during the year for which the report is made;
(6)
make available for audit for any fiscal year in which it receives
Federal funds under this Act, all information pertaining to the expenditure of
such funds and any matching funds, and require in all agreements authorizing
expenditures of Federal funds by other organizations, that the receiving
organizations make available for such audit all records and other information
pertaining to the expenditure of such funds; and
(7)
encourage by appropriate means economic viability that is
consistent with the purposes of the Heritage Area.
(b)
The management entity may, for the purposes of preparing and
implementing the management plan for the Heritage Area, use Federal funds made
available through this Act to—
(1)
make grants to the State of Connecticut and the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, their political subdivisions, nonprofit organizations and other
persons;
(2)
enter into cooperative agreements with or provide technical
assistance to the State of Connecticut and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
their political jurisdictions, nonprofit organizations, and other interested
parties;
(3)
hire and compensate staff, which shall include individuals with
expertise in natural, cultural, and historical resources protection, and
heritage programming;
(4)
obtain money or services from any source including any that are
provided under any other Federal law or program;
(5)
contract for goods or services; and
(6)
undertake to be a catalyst for any other activity that furthers
the purposes of the Heritage Area and is consistent with the approved
management plan.
(c)
Prohibitions on the acquisition of real property
The management entity may not use Federal funds received under
this Act to acquire real property, but may use any other source of funding,
including other Federal funding outside this authority, intended for the
acquisition of real property.
6.
(a)
The management plan for the Heritage Area shall—
(1)
include comprehensive policies, strategies and recommendations
for conservation, funding, management and development of the Heritage
Area;
(2)
take into consideration existing State, county, and local plans
in the development of the management plan and its implementation;
(3)
include a description of actions that governments, private
organizations, and individuals have agreed to take to protect the natural,
historical and cultural resources of the Heritage Area;
(4)
specify the existing and potential sources of funding to protect,
manage, and develop the Heritage Area in the first 5 years of
implementation;
(5)
include an inventory of the natural, historical, cultural,
educational, scenic, and recreational resources of the Heritage Area related to
the themes of the Heritage Area that should be preserved, restored, managed,
developed, or maintained;
(6)
recommend policies and strategies for resource management that
consider and detail the application of appropriate land and water management
techniques including, but not limited to, the development of intergovernmental
and interagency cooperative agreements to protect the Heritage Area’s natural,
historical, cultural, educational, scenic and recreational resources;
(7)
describe a program of implementation for the management plan
including plans for resource protection, restoration, construction, and
specific commitments for implementation that have been made by the management
entity or any government, organization, or individual for the first 5 years of
implementation;
(8)
include an analysis and recommendations for ways in which local,
State, and Federal programs, including the role of the National Park Service in
the Heritage Area, may best be coordinated to further the purposes of this Act;
and
(9)
include an interpretive plan for the Heritage Area.
(b)
Deadline and termination of funding
(1)
The management entity shall submit the management plan to the
Secretary for approval within 3 years after funds are made available for this
Act.
(2)
If the management plan is not submitted to the Secretary in
accordance with this subsection, the management entity shall not qualify for
Federal funding under this Act until such time as the management plan is
submitted to and approved by the Secretary.
7.
Duties and authorities of the Secretary
(a)
Technical and financial assistance
(1)
The Secretary may, upon the request of the management entity,
provide technical assistance on a reimbursable or non-reimbursable basis and
financial assistance to the Heritage Area to develop and implement the approved
management plan. The Secretary is authorized to enter into cooperative
agreements with the management entity and other public or private entities for
this purpose. In assisting the Heritage Area, the Secretary shall give priority
to actions that in general assist in—
(A)
conserving the significant natural, historical, cultural, and
scenic resources of the Heritage Area; and
(B)
providing educational, interpretive, and recreational
opportunities consistent with the purposes of the Heritage Area.
(2)
Spending for non-federally owned property
The Secretary may spend Federal funds directly on non-federally
owned property to further the purposes of this Act, especially in assisting
units of government in appropriate treatment of districts, sites, buildings,
structures, and objects listed or eligible for listing on the National Register
of Historic Places.
(b)
Approval and disapproval of Management Plan
(1)
The Secretary shall approve or disapprove the management plan not
later than 90 days after receiving the management plan.
(2)
In determining the approval of the management plan, the Secretary
shall consider whether—
(A)
the management entity is representative of the diverse interests
of the Heritage Area including governments, natural and historic resource
protection organizations, educational institutions, businesses, and
recreational organizations;
(B)
the management entity has afforded adequate opportunity,
including public hearings, for public and governmental involvement in the
preparation of the management plan;
(C)
the resource protection and interpretation strategies contained
in the management plan, if implemented, would adequately protect the natural,
historical, and cultural resources of the Heritage Area; and
(D)
the Secretary has received adequate assurances from the
appropriate State and local officials whose support is needed to ensure the
effective implementation of the State and local aspects of the management
plan.
(3)
Action following disapproval
If the Secretary disapproves the management plan, the Secretary
shall advise the management entity in writing of the reasons therefore and
shall make recommendations for revisions to the management plan. The Secretary
shall approve or disapprove a proposed revision within 60 days after the date
it is submitted.
(4)
Substantial amendments to the management plan shall be reviewed
by the Secretary and approved in the same manner as provided for the original
management plan. The management entity shall not use Federal funds authorized
by this Act to implement any amendments until the Secretary has approved the
amendments.
8.
Duties of other Federal agencies
Any Federal agency conducting
or supporting activities directly affecting the Heritage Area shall—
(1)
consult with the Secretary and the management entity with respect
to such activities;
(2)
cooperate with the Secretary and the management entity in
carrying out their duties under this Act and, to the maximum extent
practicable, coordinate such activities with the carrying out of such duties;
and,
(3)
to the maximum extent practicable, conduct or support such
activities in a manner which the management entity determines will not have an
adverse effect on the Heritage Area.
9.
Authorization of appropriations
(a)
There is authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this
Act not more than $1,000,000 for any fiscal year. Not more than a total of
$10,000,000 may be appropriated for the Heritage Area under this Act.
(b)
Federal funding provided under this Act may not exceed 50 percent
of the total cost of any assistance or grant provided or authorized under this
Act.
10.
The authority of the Secretary
to provide assistance under this Act shall terminate on the day occurring 15
years after the date of enactment of the Act.