[106th Congress Public Law 529]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
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[DOCID: f:publ529.106]
[[Page 2523]]
SAINT CROIX ISLAND HERITAGE ACT
[[Page 114 STAT. 2524]]
Public Law 106-529
106th Congress
An Act
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance in
planning and constructing a regional heritage center in Calais,
Maine. <<NOTE: Nov. 22, 2000 - [S. 2485]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress <<NOTE: Saint Croix Island Heritage
Act.>> assembled,
SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 16 USC 450hh note.>> SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Saint Croix Island Heritage Act''.
SEC. 2. <<NOTE: 16 USC 450hh note.>> FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) Saint Croix Island is located in the Saint Croix River,
a river that is the boundary between the State of Maine and
Canada;
(2) the Island is the only international historic site in
the National Park System;
(3) in 1604, French nobleman Pierre Dugua Sieur de Mons,
accompanied by a courageous group of adventurers that included
Samuel Champlain, landed on the Island and began the
construction of a settlement;
(4) the French settlement on the Island in 1604 and 1605 was
the initial site of the first permanent settlement in the New
World, predating the English settlement of 1607 at Jamestown,
Virginia;
(5) many people view the expedition that settled on the
Island in 1604 as the beginning of the Acadian culture in North
America;
(6) in October, 1998, the National Park Service completed a
general management plan to manage and interpret the Saint Croix
Island International Historic Site;
(7) the plan addresses a variety of management alternatives,
and concludes that the best management strategy entails
developing an interpretive trail and ranger station at Red
Beach, Maine, and a regional heritage center in downtown Calais,
Maine, in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies;
(8) a 1982 memorandum of understanding, signed by the
Department of the Interior and the Canadian Department for the
Environment, outlines a cooperative program to commemorate the
international heritage of the Saint Croix Island site and
specifically to prepare for the 400th anniversary of the
settlement in 2004; and
[[Page 114 STAT. 2525]]
(9) only 4 years remain before the 400th anniversary of the
settlement at Saint Croix Island, an occasion that should be
appropriately commemorated.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to direct the Secretary of
the Interior to take all necessary and appropriate steps to work with
Federal, State, and local agencies, historical societies, and nonprofit
organizations to facilitate the development of a regional heritage
center in downtown Calais, Maine before the 400th anniversary of the
settlement of Saint Croix Island.
SEC. 3. <<NOTE: 16 USC 450hh note.>> DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Island.--The term ``Island'' means Saint Croix Island,
located in the Saint Croix River, between Canada and the State
of Maine.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National
Park Service.
SEC. 4. <<NOTE: 16 USC 450hh note.>> SAINT CROIX ISLAND REGIONAL
HERITAGE CENTER.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall provide assistance in planning,
constructing, and operating a regional heritage center in downtown
Calais, Maine, to facilitate the management and interpretation of the
Saint Croix Island International Historic Site.
(b) Cooperative Agreements.--To carry out subsection (a), in
administering the Saint Croix Island International Historic Site, the
Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements under appropriate terms
and conditions with other Federal agencies, State and local agencies and
nonprofit organizations--
(1) to provide exhibits, interpretive services (including
employing individuals to provide such services), and technical
assistance;
(2) to conduct activities that facilitate the dissemination
of information relating to the Saint Croix Island International
Historic Site;
(3) to provide financial assistance for the construction of
the regional heritage center in exchange for space in the center
that is sufficient to interpret the Saint Croix Island
International Historic Site; and
(4) to assist with the operation and maintenance of the
regional heritage center.
SEC. 5. <<NOTE: 16 USC 450hh note.>> AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) Design and Construction.--
(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this Act (including the design and construction of the
regional heritage center) $2,000,000.
(2) Expenditure.--Paragraph (1) authorizes funds to be
appropriated on the condition that any expenditure of those
funds shall be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis by funds
from non-Federal sources.
[[Page 114 STAT. 2526]]
(b) Operation and Maintenance.--There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as are necessary to maintain and operate
interpretive exhibits in the regional heritage center.
Approved November 22, 2000.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 2485:
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SENATE REPORTS: No. 106-319 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 146 (2000):
Oct. 5, considered and passed Senate.
Oct. 30, considered and passed House.
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