National Heritage Area Act of 2020

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 1049 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 7, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources AN ACT To authorize a National Heritage Area Program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Dec 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1049.RFS H1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1049 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘National Heritage Area Act of 2020’’. 3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 4 this Act is as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. Sec. 3. National Heritage Area System. Sec. 4. National Heritage Area System management. Sec. 5. Study areas. Sec. 6. Local coordinating entities. Sec. 7. Property owners and regulatory protections. Sec. 8. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 9. Statutory Clarification. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The term ‘‘feasibility 8 study’’ means a study conducted by the Secretary, 9 or conducted by one or more other interested parties 10 and reviewed and approved by the Secretary, in ac- 11 cordance with the criteria and processes required by 12 section 5, to determine whether a study area meets 13 the criteria to be designated by Federal statute as 14 a National Heritage Area. 15 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 16 means any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, na- 17 tion, pueblo, village, or other community the name 18 of which is included on the list most recently pub- 19 lished by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Dec 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1049.RFS H1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1049 RFS section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian 1 Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 2 (3) LOCAL COORDINATING ENTITY.—The term 3 ‘‘local coordinating entity’’ means the entity des- 4 ignated by Federal statute to— 5 (A) carry out, in partnership with other in- 6 dividuals and entities, the management plan for 7 a National Heritage Area; and 8 (B) operate a National Heritage Area, in- 9 cluding through the implementation of projects 10 and programs among diverse partners in a Na- 11 tional Heritage Area. 12 (4) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage- 13 ment plan’’ means the management plan for a Na- 14 tional Heritage Area required under this Act. 15 (5) NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA.—The term 16 ‘‘National Heritage Area’’ means— 17 (A) each National Heritage Area, National 18 Heritage Corridor, Natural Preservation Com- 19 mission, National Heritage Canalway, National 20 Heritage Route, Heritage Corridor, Cultural 21 Heritage Corridor, Heritage Partnership, and 22 National Heritage Partnership, the Shenandoah 23 Valley Battlefields National Historic District, 24 or other area designated by Federal statute 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Dec 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1049.RFS H1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1049 RFS with the explicit purpose of establishing a na- 1 tional heritage area designated by Congress be- 2 fore or on the date of enactment of this Act; 3 and 4 (B) each National Heritage Area des- 5 ignated by Federal statute after the date of en- 6 actment of this Act, unless the law designating 7 the area exempts that area from the National 8 Heritage Area System by specific reference to 9 this Act. 10 (6) NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA SYSTEM.—The 11 term ‘‘National Heritage Area System’’ means the 12 system of National Heritage Areas established by 13 this Act. 14 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 15 the Secretary of the Interior. 16 (8) STUDY AREA.—The term ‘‘study area’’ 17 means a specific geographic area that is the subject 18 of a feasibility study under section 5. 19 (9) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 20 government’’ means the governing body of an Indian 21 Tribe. 22 SEC. 3. NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA SYSTEM. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to recognize certain 24 areas of the United States that tell nationally significant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Dec 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1049.RFS H1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1049 RFS stories and to conserve, enhance, and interpret the areas’ 1 natural, historic, scenic, and cultural resources that to- 2 gether illustrate significant aspects of our country’s herit- 3 age, there is established a National Heritage Area System 4 through which the Secretary may provide technical and 5 financial assistance to local coordinating entities to sup- 6 port the establishment, development, and continuity of 7 National Heritage Areas. 8 (b) NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA SYSTEM.—The Na- 9 tional Heritage Area System shall be composed of all Na- 10 tional Heritage Areas. 11 (c) RELATIONSHIP TO THE NATIONAL PARK SYS- 12 TEM.— 13 (1) RELATIONSHIP TO NATIONAL PARK 14 UNITS.—The Secretary shall encourage participation 15 and assistance by any unit of the National Park 16 System located near or encompassed by any Na- 17 tional Heritage Area in local initiatives for that Na- 18 tional Heritage Area that conserve and interpret re- 19 sources consistent with an approved management 20 plan for the National Heritage Area. 21 (2) APPLICABILITY OF LAWS.—National Herit- 22 age Areas shall not be— 23 (A) considered to be units of the National 24 Park System; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Dec 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1049.RFS H1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1049 RFS (B) subject to the authorities applicable to 1 units of the National Park System. 2 SEC. 4. NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA SYSTEM MANAGEMENT. 3 (a) MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 5 a National Heritage Area is included in the National 6 Heritage Area System outlined by this Act, the local 7 coordinating entity of the National Heritage Area 8 shall submit to the Secretary for approval a manage- 9 ment plan for the National Heritage Area. 10 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The management plan 11 shall— 12 (A) incorporate an integrated and coopera- 13 tive approach for the protection, enhancement, 14 and interpretation of the natural, cultural, his- 15 toric, scenic, and recreational resources of the 16 National Heritage Area; 17 (B) be developed using a comprehensive 18 planning approach that includes— 19 (i) opportunities for stakeholders, in- 20 cluding community members, local and re- 21 gional governments, Tribal governments, 22 businesses, nonprofit organizations, and 23 other interested parties— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Dec 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1049.RFS H1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 1049 RFS (I) to be involved in the planning 1 process; and 2 (II) to review and comment on 3 draft management plans; and 4 (ii) documentation of the planning 5 and public participation processes, includ- 6 ing a description of— 7 (I) the means by which the man- 8 agement plan was prepared; 9 (II) the stakeholders involved in 10 the process; and 11 (III) the timing and method of 12 stakeholder involvement; 13 (C) include— 14 (i) an inventory of— 15 (I) the resources located in the 16 National Heritage Area; and 17 (II) any other property in the 18 National Heritage Area that— 19 (aa) is related to the themes 20 of the National Heritage Area; 21 and 22 (bb) should be preserved, re- 23 stored, managed, or maintained 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Dec 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1049.RFS H1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 1049 RFS because of the significance of the 1 property; 2 (ii) comprehensive policies, strategies 3 and recommendations for the conservation, 4 funding, management, and development of 5 the National Heritage Area; 6 (iii) a description of actions that the 7 Federal, Tribal, State, and local govern- 8 ments, private organizations, and individ- 9 uals have agreed to take to protect the 10 natural, historical, cultural, scenic, and 11 recreational resources of the National Her- 12 itage Area; 13 (iv) a program of implementation for 14 the management plan by the local coordi- 15 nating entity that includes a description 16 of— 17 (I) actions to facilitate ongoing 18 collaboration among partners to pro- 19 mote plans for resource protection, 20 restoration, and construction; and 21 (II) specific commitments for im- 22 plementation that have been made by 23 the local coordinating entity or any 24 government, organization, or indi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Dec 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1049.RFS H1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 HR 1049 RFS vidual for the first 5 years of oper- 1 ation; 2 (v) the identification of sources of 3 funding for carrying out the management 4 plan; 5 (vi) analysis and recommendations for 6 means by which Federal, Tribal, State, 7 and local programs, including the role of 8 the National Park Service in the National 9 Heritage Area, may best be coordinated to 10 carry out this subsection; and 11 (vii) an interpretive plan for the Na- 12 tional Heritage Area; and 13 (D) recommend policies and strategies for 14 resource management that consider and detail 15 the application of appropriate land and water 16 management techniques, including the develop- 17 ment of intergovernmental and interagency co- 18 operative agreements to protect the natural, 19 historical, cultural, educational, scenic, and rec- 20 reational resources of the National Heritage 21 Area. 22 (3) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirements in para- 23 graph (2) shall not apply to management plans in 24 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Dec 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1049.RFS H1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 HR 1049 RFS (b) EVALUATIONS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year before 2 the authorization for Federal funding expires for a 3 National Heritage Area, the Secretary shall— 4 (A) conduct an evaluation of the accom- 5 plishments of that National Heritage Area; and 6 (B) prepare and submit a report detailing 7 the evaluation required by subparagraph (A) 8 to— 9 (i) the Committee on Natural Re- 10 sources of the House of Representatives; 11 and 12 (ii) the Committee on Energy and 13 Natural Resources of the Senate. 14 (2) EVALUATION COMPONENTS.—An evaluation 15 prepared under paragraph (1) shall— 16 (A) assess the progress of the local coordi- 17 nating entity with respect to— 18 (i) accomplishing the purposes of the 19 authorizing legislation for the National 20 Heritage Area; and 21 (ii) achieving the goals and objectives 22 of the approved management plan for the 23 National Heritage Area; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Dec 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1049.RFS H1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 HR 1049 RFS (B) analyze the Federal, Tribal, State, 1 local, and private investments in the National 2 Heritage Area to assess the impact of the in- 3 vestments; and 4 (C) review the management structure, 5 partnership relationships, and funding of the 6 National Heritage Area. 7 (3) RESULTS OF EVALUATION.—Based upon 8 the evaluation under paragraph (1), the Secretary 9 shall prepare a report with recommendations for the 10 National Park Service’s continued role, if any, with 11 respect to the National Heritage Area. If the report 12 recommends that Federal funding for the National 13 Heritage Area be— 14 (A) continued, the report shall include an 15 analysis of— 16 (i) ways in which Federal funding for 17 the National Heritage Area may be re- 18 duced or eliminated over time; 19 (ii) the appropriate time period nec- 20 essary to achieve the recommended reduc- 21 tion or elimination; and 22 (iii) justification for the continued 23 funding in light of other National Park 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Dec 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1049.RFS H1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 HR 1049 RFS Service core responsibilities and priorities; 1 or 2 (B) eliminated, the report shall include a 3 description of potential impacts on conserva- 4 tion, interpretation, and sustainability of the 5 National Heritage Area. 6 (4) UPDATES; ADDITIONAL EVALUATIONS.— 7 (A) UPDATES.—The Secretary may satisfy 8 the requirement under paragraph (1) for a Na- 9 tional Heritage Area by updating an evaluation 10 that was completed for that National Heritage 11 Area not more than 5 years before another 12 evaluation would otherwise be required under 13 paragraph (1). 14 (B) ADDITIONAL EVALUATIONS.—The Sec- 15 retary may conduct additional evaluations as 16 the Secretary deems appropriate. 17 (c) COORDINATION.—The head of any Federal agen- 18 cy planning to conduct activities that may have an impact 19 on a designated National Heritage Area is encouraged to 20 consult and coordinate these activities with the Secretary 21 and the local coordinating entity to the maximum extent 22 practicable. 23 SEC. 5. STUDY AREAS. 24 (a) FEASIBILITY STUDIES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Dec 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1049.RFS H1049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 HR 1049 RFS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may carry out 1 or certify a study to assess the suitability and feasi- 2 bility of designating a specific geographic area as a 3 National Heritage Area to be included in the Na- 4 tional Heritage Area System. 5 (2) PREPARATION.—The feasibility study shall 6 be carried out— 7 (A) by the Secretary in consultation with 8 Tribal, State, and local historic preservation of- 9 ficers, State and local historical societies, State 10 and local tourism offices, and other appropriate 11 organizations and governmental agencies; or 12 (B) by interested individuals or entities, if 13 the Secretary certifies that the completed study 14 meets the requirements of paragraph (4). 15 (3) CERTIFICATION.—Not later than 1 year 16 after receiving a study carried out by interested indi- 17 viduals or entities under paragraph (2)(B) the Sec- 18 retary shall review and certify whether the study 19 meets the requirements of paragraph (4). 20 (4) REQUIREMENTS.—A study under paragraph 21 (1) shall include analysis, documentation, and deter- 22 mination on whether the study area— 23 (A) has an assemblage of natural, historic, 24 and cultural resources that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03 [Text truncated for display. 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