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Managing America: Public Lands

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Week Ending October 26, 2007

H.R.1483 To amend the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to extend the authorization for certain national heritage areas, and for other purposes.

Grants are to be made available to assist 9 National Heritage Areas that also adds West Virginia Counties to the National Coal Heritage Area, and South Carolina Counties to the South Carolina Heritage Area.

The grants will be used to determine the viability of the Areas by conducting an evaluation of the accomplishments, investments in and management plans of the National Heritage Areas and report on them.

The HHA efforts will be a federal and local cooperative effort, including private parties, to conserve and interpret historic and cultural resources. The bill includes a statement that it is the sense of Congress that the Federal government should not fund a national heritage area in perpetuity. Federal tax dollars must be matched. There are currently 37 NHAs.

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area to consist of a 175 mile region following route 15 and the surrounding acres from Adams County, Pa, through Frederick County, MD including the Heart of the Civil War Maryland State Heritage Area looping through Brunswick, Maryland, to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, back through Loudoun County, Virginia, to the Route 15 corridor and surrounding areas encompassing portions of Loudoun and Prince William Counties, Virginia, then Fauquier County, Virginia, portions of Spotsylvania and Madison Counties, Virginia, and Culpepper, Rappahannock, Orange, and Albemarle Counties, Virginia. $1 million yearly to total no more than $15 million with a 50% Federal cost share.

The Niagara Falls National Heritage Area is established to include the area from the western boundary of the town of Wheatfield, New York, extending to the mouth of the Niagara River on Lake Ontario, including the city of Niagara Falls, New York, the villages of Youngstown and Lewiston, New York, land and water within the boundaries of the Heritage Area in Niagara County, New York, and any additional thematically related sites within Erie and Niagara Counties, New York. $1 million yearly to total no more than $15 million with a 50% Federal cost share.

The Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area is established to be comprised of the counties of Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, and Morgan; including the Wilson Dam; the Handy Home; and the Helen Keller birthplace in Alabama. $1 million yearly to total no more than $15 million with a 50% Federal cost share.

The Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area is established to include the following communities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Winchendon, Ashburnham, Ashby, Gardner, Fitchburg, Westminster, Princeton, Sterling, Leominster, Townsend, Pepperell, Lunenburg, Shirley, Lancaster, Clinton, Bolton, Harvard, Ayer, Groton, Dunstable, Westford, Littleton, Boxborough, Stow, Hudson, Maynard, Sudbury, Concord, Carlisle, Acton, Bedford, Lincoln, Lexington, Woburn, Arlington, Medford, and Malden. Additionally it shall include the following communities in the State of New Hampshire: New Ipswich, Greenville, Mason, Brookline, Milford, Amherst, Hollis, and Nashua. $1 million yearly to total no more than $15 million with a 50% Federal cost share.

The Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area is established to consist of sites as designated by the management plan within a core area located in Central Illinois, consisting of Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Coles, Cumberland, Dewitt, Douglas, Edgar, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Hancock, Henderson, Jersey, Knox, LaSalle, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Mason, McDonough, McLean, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Peoria, Piatt, Pike, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby, Tazwell, Vermillion, Warren and Woodford counties. $1 million yearly to total no more than $15 million with a 50% Federal cost share.

The Santa Cruz Valley national Heritage Area is established to consist of portions of the counties of Santa Cruz and Pima, AZ. $1 million yearly to total no more than $15 million with a 50% Federal cost share.

Other Heritage Areas added to or revised in the bill are America’s Agricultural Heritage Partnership, the Augusta Canal, Essex, Hudson River Valley, the Tennessee Civil War, Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor, the Ohio and Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor, and the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route.

Sponsor:  Rep. Ralph Regula (R-OH-16^TH)

Vote: Passed House October 23. 2007 291 to 122 RC 996. The motion to recommit the bill passed 344 to 71 RC 995.

Cost to the taxpayers: “CBO estimates that the National Park Service (NPS) would spend $6 million in 2008 and $46 million over the 2008-2012 period to implement H.R. 1483. An additional $60 million would be spent after 2012.”

Earmark Certification:   H.R. 1483 does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e) or 9(f) of rule XXI.

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