[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1802 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1802

To require a study of the feasibility of establishing the United States 
           Civil Rights Trail System, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 20, 2009

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require a study of the feasibility of establishing the United States 
           Civil Rights Trail 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``United States Civil Rights Trail 
Special Resource Study Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY REGARDING PROPOSED UNITED STATES CIVIL 
              RIGHTS TRAIL.

    (a) Study Required.--The Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a 
special resource study for the purpose of evaluating a range of 
alternatives for protecting and interpreting sites associated with the 
struggle for civil rights in the United States, including alternatives 
for potential addition of some or all of the sites to the National 
Trails System.
    (b) Consultation.--The Secretary shall conduct the special resource 
study in consultation with appropriate Federal, State, county, and 
local governmental entities.
    (c) Study Requirements.--The Secretary shall conduct the study 
required under subsection (a) in accordance with section 8(c) of Public 
Law 91-383 (16 U.S.C. 1a-5(c)) and section 5(b) of the National Trails 
System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(b)), as appropriate.
    (d) Study Objectives.--In conducting the special resource study, 
the Secretary shall evaluate alternatives for achieving the following 
objectives:
            (1) Identifying the resources and historic themes 
        associated with the movement to secure racial equality in the 
        United States for African-Americans that, focusing on the 
        period from 1954 through 1968, challenged the practice of 
        racial segregation in the Nation and achieved equal rights for 
        all American citizens.
            (2) Making a review of existing studies and reports, such 
        as the Civil Rights Framework Study, to complement and not 
        duplicate other studies of the historical importance of the 
        civil rights movements that may be underway or undertaken.
            (3) Establishing connections with agencies, organizations, 
        and partnerships already engaged in the preservation and 
        interpretation of various trails and sites dealing with the 
        civil rights movement.
            (4) Protecting historically significant landscapes, 
        districts, sites, and structures.
            (5) Identifying alternatives for preservation and 
        interpretation of the sites by the National Park Service, other 
        Federal, State, or local governmental entities, or private and 
        nonprofit organizations, including the potential inclusion of 
        some or all of the sites in a National Civil Rights Trail.
            (6) Identifying cost estimates for any necessary 
        acquisition, development, interpretation, operation, and 
        maintenance associated with the alternatives developed under 
        the special resource study.
    (e) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds 
are made available to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 
submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 
the Senate a report containing the results of the study conducted under 
subsection (c) and any recommendations of the Secretary with respect to 
the route.
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