[Senate Report 115-295]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 509
115th Congress      }                                   {       Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session         }                                   {      115-295

======================================================================



 
   FORT SUMTER AND FORT MOULTRIE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK ACT OF 2018

                                _______
                                

                 July 11, 2018.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1459]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 1459) to establish Fort Sumter and Fort 
Moultrie National Historical Park in the State of South 
Carolina, and for other purposes, having considered the same, 
reports favorably thereon with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute and an amendment to the title and recommends that 
the bill, as amended, do pass.

                               Amendments

    Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie 
National Historical Park Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
          (1) Map.--The term ``map'' means the map entitled ``Boundary 
        Map, Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park'', 
        numbered 392/80,088, and dated August 2009.
          (2) Park.--The term ``Park'' means the Fort Sumter and Fort 
        Moultrie National Historical Park established by section 3(a).
          (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        the Interior.
          (4) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of South 
        Carolina.
          (5) Sullivan's island life saving station historic 
        district.--The term ``Sullivan's Island Life Saving Station 
        Historic District'' means the Charleston Lighthouse, the 
        boathouse, garage, bunker/sighting station, signal tower, and 
        any associated land and improvements to the land that are 
        located between Sullivan's Island Life Saving Station and the 
        mean low water mark.

SEC. 3. FORT SUMTER AND FORT MOULTRIE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established the Fort Sumter and Fort 
Moultrie National Historical Park in the State as a single unit of the 
National Park System to preserve, maintain, and interpret the 
nationally significant historical values and cultural resources 
associated with Fort Sumter National Monument, Fort Moultrie National 
Monument, and the Sullivan's Island Life Saving Station Historic 
District.
    (b) Boundary.--The boundary of the Park shall be as generally 
depicted on the map.
    (c) Availability of Map.--The map shall be on file and available 
for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the National Park 
Service.
    (d) Administration.--
          (1) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the Director 
        of the National Park Service, shall administer the Park in 
        accordance with this Act and the laws generally applicable to 
        units of the National Park System, including--
                  (A) section 100101(a), chapter 1003, and sections 
                100751(a), 100752, 100753, and 102101 of title 54, 
                United States Code; and
                  (B) chapter 3201 of title 54, United States Code.
          (2) Interpretation of historical events.--The Secretary shall 
        provide for the interpretation of historical events and 
        activities that occurred in the vicinity of Fort Sumter and 
        Fort Moultrie, including--
                  (A) the Battle of Sullivan's Island on June 28, 1776;
                  (B) the Siege of Charleston during 1780;
                  (C) the Civil War, including--
                          (i) the bombardment of Fort Sumter by 
                        Confederate forces on April 12, 1861; and
                          (ii) any other events of the Civil War that 
                        are associated with Fort Sumter and Fort 
                        Moultrie;
                  (D) the development of the coastal defense system of 
                the United States during the period from the 
                Revolutionary War to World War II, including--
                          (i) the Sullivan's Island Life Saving 
                        Station;
                          (ii) the lighthouse associated with the 
                        Sullivan's Island Life Saving Station; and
                          (iii) the coastal defense sites constructed 
                        during the period of fortification construction 
                        from 1898 to 1942, known as the ``Endicott 
                        Period''; and
                  (E) the lives of--
                          (i) the free and enslaved workers who built 
                        and maintained Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie;
                          (ii) the soldiers who defended the forts;
                          (iii) the prisoners held at the forts; and
                          (iv) captive Africans bound for slavery who, 
                        after first landing in the United States, were 
                        brought to quarantine houses in the vicinity of 
                        Fort Moultrie in the 18th century, if the 
                        Secretary determines that the quarantine houses 
                        and associated historical values are nationally 
                        significant.
    (e) Cooperative Agreements.--The Secretary may enter into 
cooperative agreements with public and private entities and individuals 
to carry out this Act.

SEC. 4. REPEAL OF EXISTING LAW.

    Section 2 of the Joint Resolution entitled ``Joint Resolution to 
establish the Fort Sumter National Monument in the State of South 
Carolina'', approved April 28, 1948 (16 U.S.C. 450ee-1), is repealed.

    Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to establish Fort Sumter 
and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park in the State of South 
Carolina, and for other purposes.''

                                Purpose

    The purpose of S. 1459 is to establish Fort Sumter and Fort 
Moultrie National Historical Park in the State of South Carolina.

                          Background and Need

    Fort Sumter National Monument was established by Congress 
on April 28, 1948 (Public Law 80-504), in legislation that 
transferred the land from what was then the Department of the 
Army to the National Park Service (NPS). Fort Sumter is located 
on an island and is accessible only by boat. Approximately one 
mile to the northeast of Fort Sumter is Fort Moultrie, which is 
situated on Sullivan's Island, and is connected to the mainland 
by a bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway.
    In 1960, the NPS accepted jurisdiction of Fort Moultrie 
under the authority of the Historic Sites Act of 1935 (Public 
Law 74-292). The NPS accepted additional lands within the 
monument boundary, including lands available for a tour boat 
facility, in 1986 (Public Law 99-637). The traditional park 
boundary also includes the Historic Coast Guard Station, which 
is located nearly a mile east of Fort Moultrie, and contains 
the park's maintenance and visitor's center. In total, the 
boundary of the park includes approximately 200 acres of land.

Fort Moultrie

    On June 28, 1776, South Carolina Patriots defeated the 
British Royal Navy in the Battle of Sullivan's Island after a 
long and hard-fought encounter at the site known today as Fort 
Moultrie. This Patriot victory marked a key point in the 
American Revolutionary War, as it was the site of the first 
major American naval victory in the war. It is now celebrated 
annually as Carolina Day. Fort Moultrie also served as a 
``companion'' in the Confederate defense of Charleston and Fort 
Sumter during the Civil War.

Fort Sumter

    Each year, nearly one million visitors travel to Fort 
Sumter National Monument and Fort Moultrie to see where the 
first shots of the Civil War were fired on April 12, 1861. 
Construction of Fort Sumter began in 1829 as part of 
congressional plans to construct 34 forts from Maine to 
Louisiana in areas considered to be weak in the American 
coastal defense system. Decades of growing strife between 
northern and southern states ultimately erupted on April 12, 
1861, when Confederate artillery opened fire on this Federal 
fort in Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumter surrendered 34 hours 
later. Union forces would try for nearly four years to take it 
back. The United States flag once again flew over Fort Sumter 
on February 18, 1865.
    S. 1459 establishes the Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie 
National Historical Park in South Carolina for the preservation 
and interpretation of the nationally significant historical 
events and cultural resources associated with Fort Sumter, Fort 
Moultrie, and Sullivan's Island Life Saving Historic District. 
The bill would establish official boundaries and directs the 
NPS to interpret historical events and activities that occurred 
in the vicinity of Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie.

                          Legislative History

    Senators Scott and Graham introduced S. 1459 on June 28, 
2017. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on S. 
1459 on July 19, 2017.
    On June 28, 2017, Rep. Sanford introduced similar 
legislation, H.R. 3099, in the House of Representatives, which 
was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources.
    In the 114th Congress, similar legislation, S. 3103, was 
introduced by Senator Scott on June 28, 2016.
    On May 17, 2018, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources met in open business session and ordered S. 1459 
favorably reported, as amended.

                        Committee Recommendation

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on May 17, 2018, by a majority voice vote 
of a quorum present recommends that the Senate pass S. 1459, if 
amended as described herein.

                          Committee Amendments

    During its consideration of S. 1459, the Committee adopted 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute. The amendment 
strikes the bill's findings, directs the National Historical 
Park to be managed as a single unit of the National Park 
System, and provides clear guidelines for interpretation of the 
existing lands managed by the NPS. The amendment is explained 
in detail in the section-by-section analysis, below.
    The Committee also adopted an amendment to the title to 
clarify that the bill, as ordered reported, establishes a 
National Historical Park, rather than a National Park.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 contains the short title.

Section 2. Definitions

    Section 2 contains definitions.

Section 3. Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park

    Subsection (a) establishes Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie 
National Historical Park in the State of South Carolina as a 
single unit of the National Park System to preserve, maintain, 
and interpret the nationally significant historical values and 
cultural resources associated with Fort Sumter National 
Monument, Fort Moultrie National Monument, and the Sullivan's 
Island Life Saving Station Historic District.
    Subsection (b) establishes the boundary of the park as 
generally depicted on the map entitled ``Boundary Map, Fort 
Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park,'' numbered 
392/80,088, and dated August 2009.
    Subsection (c) requires the map to be on file and available 
for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the NPS.
    Subsection (d)(1) requires the Secretary, acting through 
the NPS Director, to administer the Park in accordance with 
this Act and the laws generally applicable to units of the 
National Park System.
    Subsection (d)(2) directs the Secretary to provide for the 
interpretation of historical events and activities that 
occurred in the vicinity of Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie.
    Subsection (e) authorizes the Secretary to enter into 
cooperative agreements with public and private entities and 
individuals to carry out this Act.

Section 4. Repeal of existing law

    Section 4 repeals Section 2 of the Joint Resolution 
entitled, ``Joint Resolution to establish the Fort Sumter 
National Monument in the State of South Carolina,'' approved 
April 28, 1948 (16 U.S.C. 450ee-1).

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The following estimate of the costs of this measure has 
been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
    S. 1459 would redesignate the Fort Sumter National Monument 
in South Carolina, an existing unit of the National Park 
Service (NPS) system, as the Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie 
National Historical Park. The bill also would codify the 
existing boundaries of the system unit.
    Redesignating the site may require NPS to update maps, 
handouts, and signage. Based on the costs of similar tasks, CBO 
estimates that those costs would be insignificant and would be 
subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
    Enacting S. 1459 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    CBO estimates that enacting S. 1459 would not increase net 
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
    S. 1459 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Janani 
Shankaran. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                      Regulatory Impact Evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 1459. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals 
and businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 1459, as ordered reported.

                    Congressional Directed Spending

    S. 1459, as ordered reported, does not contain any 
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, 
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate.

                        Executive Communications

    The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at 
the hearing before the Subcommittee on National Parks on July 
19, 2017, follows:

   Statement of Robert Vogel, Acting Deputy Director, National Park 
 Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Before the Senate Energy & 
 Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Concerning S. 1459, 
 To Establish Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Park in the State 
               of South Carolina, and for Other Purposes

    Chairman Daines, Ranking Member Hirono, and members of the 
subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before 
you today to present the Department of the Interior's views on 
S. 1459, to establish Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National 
Park in the State of South Carolina, and for other purposes.
    The Department of the Interior supports this legislation 
with amendments described later in this statement. Notably, and 
as discussed in more detail below, we recommend using the name 
``Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park.''
    S. 1459 would redesignate Fort Sumter in a way that would 
provide well deserved recognition of Fort Moultrie. Although 
Fort Sumter is the more commonly recognized fort in Charleston 
Harbor, Fort Moultrie is of great national importance as it is 
the only site in the National Park System that preserves the 
history of the Nation's coastal defense system from 1776 
through 1947. The bill would also address a longstanding 
administrative need by officially establishing a boundary and 
management authority for this unit of the National Park System. 
The boundary would include not only Fort Sumter and Fort 
Moultrie, but also the Sullivan's Island Life Saving Station 
Historic District, which is also managed by the National Park 
Service as part of the park. These resources are associated 
with important aspects of American history, including the 
Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the development of the 
United States coastal defense system from 1776 to 1947.
    Fort Moultrie interprets coastal fortifications and defense 
from 1776 to 1947, focusing on the national response to 
continuing changes in international military technology and the 
simultaneous growth of the United States' place in world 
affairs and its concepts of national defense. Located adjacent 
to historic Fort Moultrie, Battery Jasper, constructed circa 
1899, is part of the Endicott Period System of national coastal 
defense. Located adjacent to Battery Jasper, Construction 230, 
constructed circa 1944, is an underground bunker from the World 
War II era.
    Fort Sumter was designated as a national monument and 
transferred to the Secretary of the Interior from the Secretary 
of the Army in 1948, by an act of Congress. Authority to 
administer the site as part of the National Park System was 
provided in the same law. In contrast, Fort Moultrie, Battery 
Jasper, Construction 230 (a WWII bunker currently used as a 
maintenance facility), and the U.S. Coast Guard Life Saving 
Station were conveyed from the State of South Carolina to the 
Federal government in 1961 under authority of the 1935 Historic 
Sites Act, but no boundaries were established and no directives 
were given to the National Park Service for managing it. At the 
time of the conveyance, the Secretary of the Interior did not 
issue the proper papers to formally include this property 
within the park boundary. These three structures are listed as 
contributing features of a National Register Property. As a 
result, the National Park Service has been managing Fort 
Moultrie without clear management authority or established 
boundaries for nearly 60 years.
    Although we would welcome including ``Fort Moultrie'' in 
the name of the site, the National Park Service strives to 
provide consistency in the naming of park units. To better 
align with the standard nomenclature for units of the National 
Park System, we recommend that Congress redesignate the unit as 
a national historical park rather than a national park. 
Generally, a national park contains a variety of resources and 
encompasses large land or water areas to help provide adequate 
protection of the resources.
    The existing 59 designated national parks protect, at a 
minimum, thousands of acres each and some span millions of 
acres. At approximately 235 acres, we believe Fort Sumter and 
Fort Moultrie are too small and limited in the range of 
resources the sites protect and interpret to be called a 
national park. We believe that a more fitting name for the park 
unit would be ``Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National 
Historical Park.''
    Additionally, the National Park Service would support the 
inclusion of language providing the Secretary of the Interior 
with land acquisition authority within the redesignated 
boundary of the park. Such authority to acquire lands is common 
in other national park service units and provides willing 
sellers of non-federal land within the boundary the opportunity 
to sell or donate their lands to the federal government. Such 
an arrangement benefits both the private landowner, who may be 
interested in selling or donating the land for financial 
reasons or an interest in furthering the park's ability to tell 
its story to the public, as well as the park and its visitors. 
Although the owners of private land within the park's boundary 
may not have any interest in selling their land at the current 
time, this authority provides them with the flexibility to make 
that decision in the future if circumstances change. Before the 
NPS would seek to acquire any property, whether by purchase, 
donation, or exchange, we would take into consideration the 
condition of any structures on the property that would add to 
the NPS's deferred maintenance backlog. Any funding to purchase 
land would still be subject to future appropriations from 
Congress.
    Finally, we would request a technical edit to the map 
reference, in order to substitute a more upto-date legislative 
map. We would be happy to work with the sponsor and the 
committee to develop amendments to address these points.
    Chairman Daines, this concludes my statement. I would be 
pleased to answer any questions you or other members of the 
subcommittee may have.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 To establish the Fort Sumter National Monument in the State of South 
                               Carolina.

(Public Law 80-504)

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
Secretary of the Army is authorized and directed to transfer, 
without consideration, to the Secretary of the Interior title 
to the site of the historic structure known as Fort Sumter, 
situated in Charleston Harbor, Charleston, South Carolina, 
together with such buildings and other improvements as are 
appurtenant to such site.
    [Sec. 2. The property acquired by the Secretary of the 
Interior under this joint resolution shall constitute the Fort 
Sumter National Monument and shall be a public national 
memorial commemorating historical events at or near Fort 
Sumter. The Director of the National Park Service under the 
direction of the Secretary of the Interior shall have the 
supervision, management, and control of such national monument, 
and shall maintain and preserve it for the benefit and 
enjoyment of the people of the United States, subject to the 
provisions of the Act entitled ``An Act to establish a National 
Park Service and for other purposes'', approved August 25, 
1916, as amended.] Approved April 28, 1948.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  [all]