1.Short title; table of
contents
(a)This Act may be cited
as the Alabama Black Belt National
Heritage Area Act
.
(b)The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of
contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Purposes.
Sec. 4. Definitions.
Sec. 5. Designation of Alabama Black
Belt National Heritage Area.
Sec. 6. Local coordinating
entity.
Sec. 7. Management plan.
Sec. 8. Evaluation; report.
Sec. 9. Relationship to other Federal
agencies.
Sec. 10. Private property and regulatory
protections.
Sec. 11. Authorization of
appropriations.
Sec. 12. Use of Federal funds from other
sources.
Sec. 13. Termination of financial
assistance.
(b)The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of
contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. Designation of Alabama Black Belt
National Heritage Area.
Sec. 4. Local coordinating entity.
Sec. 5. Management plan.
Sec. 6. Evaluation; report.
Sec. 7. Relationship to other Federal
agencies.
Sec. 8. Private property and regulatory
protections.
Sec. 9. Authorization of
appropriations.
Sec. 10. Use of Federal funds from other
sources.
Sec.11. Termination of financial
assistance.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)The Black Belt
area in the lower-central portion of Alabama is a region that sustains an
abundance of natural resources, historical sites, cultural diversity, and
recreational activities shaped by its fertile black soil.
(2)The Alabama Black
Belt National Heritage Area feasibility study includes the 19 counties of Bibb,
Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes,
Macon, Marengo, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Sumter, Washington, and
Wilcox in the State of Alabama.
(3)The geography of
the Black Belt is comprised of threatened prairies, forests, and rivers that
contain incredibly diverse species of flora and fauna.
(4)The Black Belt
region struggles with a declining population, a high unemployment rate,
insufficient schools and health care, and 8 of the 100 poorest counties in the
United States.
(5)The Black Belt
region includes Moundville, the second largest Native American ceremonial
center of the Mississippian period.
(6)The Black Belt
region is characterized by its distinctive geography and its exceptionally
fertile black soil, which influenced the construction of a large network of
cotton plantations and antebellum architecture, which in turn led to the city
of Montgomery being established as the first capital of the Confederacy.
(7)The Black Belt
region was the center of the American civil rights movement, including the
historical scenes of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Selma to Montgomery
March, which led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of
1965.
(8)The Black Belt
region is home to Harper Lee, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning novel
To Kill a Mockingbird
.
(9)The Black Belt
region is home to the Gee’s Bend Quilters, whose artistic talents have been
displayed in the Smithsonian Museum and featured on United States postage
stamps.
(10)The Black Belt is
home to three units of the National Park System: the Selma to Montgomery
National Historic Trail, the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, and the
Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site.
(11)The Black Belt includes two National
Forests maintained by the Forest Service: the Talladega National
Forest-Oakmulgee District and the Tuskegee National Forest. The Bartram Trail,
a National Recreation Trail, runs through the Tuskegee National Forest.
(12)The Black Belt includes two National
Wildlife Refuges maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: the Cahaba
National Wildlife Refuge and the Choctaw National Wildlife Refuge.
(13)The Black Belt is
home to two Army Corps of Engineers projects: the Alabama River Lakes and the
Black Warrior and Tombigbee Lakes. The Corps management offices are located in
Lowndes, Marengo, and Wilcox Counties within the Black Belt. Many public
recreation and natural resources sites are managed by the Corps in these river
basins.
3.The purposes of this Act are—
(1)to recognize the significant natural and
cultural legacies of the area, as described in the study titled Alabama
Black Belt Heritage Area: Feasibility Study for National Heritage Area
Designation
, prepared for the National Park Service in March,
2009;
(2)to promote
heritage, cultural, and recreational tourism and to develop educational and
cultural programs for visitors and the general public;
(3)to recognize and interpret important events
and geographic locations of Alabama’s Black Belt region, including the
Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Selma to Montgomery March, and the region’s
exceptionally fertile soil, prairies, forests and rivers;
(4)to recognize and interpret the distinctive
role the region played in the history of the United States, including the Civil
War, with Montgomery serving as the first capital of the Confederacy and later
as the center of the American Civil Rights movement;
(5)to provide a
cooperative management framework to foster a close working relationship with
all levels of government, the private sector, and the local communities in the
region in identifying, preserving, interpreting, and developing the natural,
historical, cultural, educational, scenic, and recreational resources of the
region for the educational and inspirational benefit of current and future
generations; and
(6)to provide
appropriate linkages between units of the National Park System and communities,
governments, and organizations within the National Heritage Area.
4.2.In this Act:
(1)The term National Heritage Area
means the Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area established by this
Act.
(2)Local
coordinating entityThe term
local coordinating entity
means the Center for the Study of the
Black Belt at the University of West Alabama.
(3)The term management plan
means the plan
prepared by the local coordinating entity for the National Heritage Area in
accordance with this Act.
(4)The
term Secretary
means the Secretary of the Interior.
5.3.Designation of
Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area
(a)There
is hereby established the Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area in the
State of Alabama.
(b)
(1)The National Heritage
Area
(b)The National Heritage Area shall
consist of sites as designated by the management plan within a core area
located in Alabama, consisting of Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke,
Conecuh, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Monroe, Montgomery,
Perry, Pickens, Sumter, Washington, and Wilcox counties.
(2)The
boundaries of the National Heritage Area shall be as generally depicted on the
map titled __________
, and numbered _____, and dated _____. The
map shall be on file and available to the public in the appropriate offices of
the National Park Service and the local coordinating entity.
6.4.Local
coordinating entity
(a)The Center for the Study of the Black Belt
at the University of West Alabama shall be the local coordinating entity for
the National Heritage Area.
(b)To
further the purposes of the National Heritage Area, the local coordinating
entity shall—
(1)submit a
management plan to the Secretary in accordance with this Act;
(2)submit an annual
report to the Secretary for each fiscal year for which the local coordinating
entity receives Federal funds under this Act, specifying—
(A)the specific
performance goals and accomplishments of the local coordinating entity;
(B)the expenses and
income of the local coordinating entity;
(C)the amounts and
sources of matching funds;
(D)the amounts of
non-Federal funds leveraged with Federal funds and sources of the leveraging;
and
(E)grants made to any
other entities during the fiscal year;
(3)make available for
audit, for each fiscal year for which the local coordinating entity receives
Federal funds under this Act, all information pertaining to the expenditure of
the funds and any matching funds; and
(4)encourage economic
viability and sustainability that is consistent with the purposes of the
National Heritage Area.
(c)For
the purposes of preparing and implementing the approved management plan, the
local coordinating entity may use Federal funds received under this Act—
(1)to make grants to
political jurisdictions, nonprofit organizations, and other parties within the
National Heritage Area;
(2)to enter into
cooperative agreements with or provide technical assistance to political
jurisdictions, nonprofit organizations, Federal agencies, and other interested
parties;
(3)to hire and
compensate staff, including individuals with expertise in—
(A)natural,
historical, cultural, educational, scenic, and recreational resource
conservation;
(B)economic and
community development; and
(C)heritage
planning;
(4)to obtain funds or
services from any source, including other Federal programs;
(5)to contract for
goods or services; and
(6)to support
activities of partners and any other activities that further the purposes of
the National Heritage Area and are consistent with the approved management
plan.
(d)Prohibition on
Acquisition of Real PropertyThe local coordinating entity may
not use Federal funds received under this Act to acquire any interest in real
property.
7.5.
(a)The
management plan shall—
(1)describe
comprehensive policies, goals, strategies, and recommendations for telling the
story of the heritage of the area covered by the National Heritage Area and
encouraging long-term resource protection, enhancement, interpretation,
funding, management, and development of the National Heritage Area;
(2)include a
description of actions and commitments that Federal, State, and local
governments, private organizations, and citizens plan to take to protect,
enhance, interpret, fund, manage, and develop the natural, historical,
cultural, educational, scenic, and recreational resources of the National
Heritage Area;
(3)specify existing
and potential sources of funding or economic development strategies to protect,
enhance, interpret, fund, manage, and develop the National Heritage
Area;
(4)include an
inventory of the natural, historical, cultural, educational, scenic, and
recreational resources of the National Heritage Area related to the national
importance and themes of the National Heritage Area that should be protected,
enhanced, interpreted, funded, managed, and developed;
(5)include
recommendations for resource management policies and strategies, including the
development of intergovernmental and interagency agreements to protect,
enhance, interpret, fund, manage, and develop the natural, historical,
cultural, educational, scenic, and recreational resources of the National
Heritage Area;
(6)describe a program
for implementation of the management plan, including—
(A)performance
goals;
(B)plans for resource
protection, enhancement, interpretation, funding, management, and development;
and
(C)specific
commitments for implementation that have been made by the local coordinating
entity or any Federal, State, or local government agency, organization,
business, or individual;
(7)include an
analysis of, and recommendations for, means by which Federal, State, and local
programs may best be coordinated (including the role of the National Park
Service and other Federal agencies associated with the National Heritage Area)
to further the purposes of this Act; and
(8)include a business
plan that—
(A)describes the
role, operation, financing, and functions of the local coordinating entity and
of each of the major activities described in the management plan; and
(B)provides adequate
assurances that the local coordinating entity has the partnerships and
financial and other resources necessary to implement the management
plan.
(b)
(1)Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds are
made available pursuant to this Act to develop the management plan, the local
coordinating entity shall submit the management plan to the Secretary for
approval.
(2)If the management plan is not submitted to the Secretary
in accordance with paragraph (1), the local coordinating entity may not receive
any additional financial assistance under this Act until such time as the
management plan is submitted to and approved by the Secretary.
(c)Approval of
Management Plan
(1)Not
later than 180 days after receiving the management plan, the Secretary shall
review and approve or disapprove the management plan on the basis of the
criteria listed in paragraph (3).
(2)The
Secretary shall consult with the Governor of Alabama before approving a
management plan.
(3)In determining whether to approve a management plan, the
Secretary shall consider whether—
(A)the local
coordinating entity—
(i)represents the
diverse interests of the National Heritage Area, including Federal, State, and
local governments, natural, and historical resource protection organizations,
educational institutions, businesses, recreational organizations, community
residents, and private property owners;
(ii)has
afforded adequate opportunity for public and Federal, State, and local
governmental involvement (including through workshops and public meetings) in
the preparation of the management plan;
(iii)provides for at
least semiannual public meetings to ensure adequate implementation of the
management plan; and
(iv)has
demonstrated the financial capability, in partnership with others, to carry out
the management plan;
(B)the management
plan—
(i)describes resource
protection, enhancement, interpretation, funding, management, and development
strategies which, if implemented, would adequately protect, enhance, interpret,
fund, manage, and develop the natural, historical, cultural, educational,
scenic, and recreational resources of the National Heritage Area;
(ii)would not
adversely affect any activities authorized on Federal land under public
applicable laws or land use plans;
(iii)demonstrates
partnerships among the local coordinating entity, Federal, State, and local
governments, regional planning organizations, nonprofit organizations, and
private sector parties for implementation of the management plan; and
(iv)complies with the
requirements of this section; and
(C)the Secretary has
received adequate assurances from the appropriate State and local officials
whose support is needed that the State and local aspects of the management plan
will be effectively implemented.
(4)
(A)If the Secretary disapproves the management plan, the
Secretary—
(i)shall advise the
local coordinating entity in writing of the reasons for the disapproval;
and
(ii)may
make recommendations to the local coordinating entity for revisions to the
management plan.
(B)Not
later than 180 days after receiving a revised management plan, the Secretary
shall approve or disapprove the revised management plan.
(5)
(A)An amendment to the approved management plan that
substantially alters such plan shall be reviewed by the Secretary and approved
or disapproved in the same manner as the original management plan.
(B)The
local coordinating entity shall not use Federal funds received under this Act
to implement a substantial amendment to the management plan until the Secretary
approves the amendment.
(6)The
Secretary may—
(A)provide technical
assistance under the authority of this Act for the development and
implementation of the management plan; and
(B)enter into
cooperative agreements with interested parties to carry out this Act.
8.6.
(a)The
Secretary shall conduct an evaluation of the accomplishments of the National
Heritage Area. An evaluation conducted under this subsection shall—
(1)assess the
progress of the local coordinating entity with respect to—
(A)accomplishing the
purposes of this Act for the National Heritage Area; and
(B)achieving the
goals and objectives of the approved management plan;
(2)analyze the
Federal, State, and local government, and private investments in the National
Heritage Area to determine the impact of the investments; and
(3)review the
management structure, partnership relationships, and funding of the National
Heritage Area for purposes of identifying the critical components for
sustainability of the National Heritage Area.
(b)Not
later than 3 years before the date on which authority for Federal funding
terminates for the National Heritage Area under this Act, based on the
evaluation conducted under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit a report
to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate. The report shall
include recommendations for the future role of the National Park Service, if
any, with respect to the National Heritage Area.
9.7.Relationship to
other Federal agencies
(a)Nothing in this Act affects the authority of a Federal
agency to provide technical or financial assistance under any other law.
(b)Consultation and
CoordinationThe head of any Federal agency planning to conduct
activities that may have an impact on the National Heritage Area is encouraged
to consult and coordinate the activities with the Secretary and the local
coordinating entity to the maximum extent practicable.
(c)Nothing in this Act—
(1)modifies, alters,
or amends any law or regulation authorizing a Federal agency to manage Federal
land under the jurisdiction of the Federal agency;
(2)limits the
discretion of a Federal land manager to implement an approved land use plan
within the boundaries of the National Heritage Area; or
(3)modifies, alters,
or amends any authorized use of Federal land under the jurisdiction of a
Federal agency.
10.8.Private
property and regulatory protectionsNothing in this Act—
(1)abridges the
rights of any owner of public or private property, including the right to
refrain from participating in any plan, project, program, or activity conducted
within the National Heritage Area;
(2)requires any
property owner to permit public access (including access by Federal, State,
tribal, or local agencies) to the property of the property owner, or to modify
public access or use of property of the property owner under any other Federal,
State, tribal, or local law;
(3)alters any duly
adopted land use regulation, approved land use plan, or other regulatory
authority of any Federal, State, tribal, or local agency, or conveys any land
use or other regulatory authority to any local coordinating entity, including
development and management of energy, water, or water-related
infrastructure;
(4)authorizes or
implies the reservation or appropriation of water or water rights;
(5)diminishes the
authority of the State to manage fish and wildlife, including the regulation of
fishing and hunting within the National Heritage Area; or
(6)creates any
liability, or affects any liability under any other law, of any private
property owner with respect to any person injured on the private
property.
11.9.Authorization
of appropriations
(a)Authorization of
AppropriationsSubject to subsection (b), there are authorized to
be appropriated to carry out this Act not more than $1,000,000 for any fiscal
year. Funds so appropriated shall remain available until expended.
(b)Limitation on
Total Amounts AppropriatedNot more than
$15,000,000$10,000,000 may be appropriated
to carry out this Act.
(c)The Federal share of the total cost of any activity
under this Act shall be not more than 50 percent. The non-Federal contribution
may be in the form of in-kind contributions of goods or services fairly
valued.
12.10.Use of Federal
funds from other sourcesNothing in this Act shall preclude the local
coordinating entity from using Federal funds available under other laws for the
purposes for which those funds were authorized.
13.11.Termination of
financial assistanceThe
authority of the Secretary to provide financial assistance under this Act
terminates on the date that is 15 years after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
August 5, 2010
Reported with amendments