Title 16ConservationRelease 119-73

§410cccc–3 Golden Spike National Historical Park

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 1— - NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER LIX–AAA— - GOLDEN SPIKE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK › § 410cccc–3

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Rename the Golden Spike National Historic Site as the Golden Spike National Historical Park and have the National Park Service run a program to honor and explain the Transcontinental Railroad. Park = the renamed Golden Spike site. Program = the effort to commemorate and interpret the Transcontinental Railroad. Secretary = the Secretary, working through the Director of the National Park Service. Transcontinental Railroad = the about 1,912-mile continuous railroad built from 1863 to 1869 between Council Bluffs, Iowa, and San Francisco, California. Before starting the Program, the Secretary must study options. The study must include a history of the railroad; a list of related federal and other lands, historic properties (including ones that are or could be National Historic Landmarks or on the National Register), useful objects, and related government and nongovernment programs; and recommendations for how to use those resources and boost research, education, and public awareness. The Secretary must send the study results to the House Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee within 3 years after money is provided. The Program cannot include places used now or expected to be used for freight rail. The Secretary must make educational materials, can make cooperative agreements and give technical help, may create a uniform Program symbol, and must try to reach a programmatic agreement with the Utah State Historic Preservation Officer within 180 days after March 12, 2019 to allow certain low-impact uses under section 306108 of title 54. That agreement must follow law and be made with nearby landowners, Indian Tribes, and others. The Secretary must consider covered applications and approve ones that fit the agreement and law within 60 days, and must work with adjacent landowners on treating invasive species at and near the Park.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §410cccc–3

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In this section:
(1)The term “Park” means the Golden Spike National Historical Park designated by subsection (b)(1).
(2)The term “Program” means the program to commemorate and interpret the Transcontinental Railroad authorized under subsection (c).
(3)The term “Secretary” means the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Park Service.
(4)The term “Transcontinental Railroad” means the approximately 1,912-mile continuous railroad constructed between 1863 and 1869 extending from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Francisco, California.
(b)(1)The Golden Spike National Historic Site designated April 2, 1957, and placed under the administration of the National Park Service under sections 410cccc to 410cccc–2 of this title, shall be known and designated as the “Golden Spike National Historical Park”.
(2)Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the Golden Spike National Historic Site shall be considered to be a reference to the “Golden Spike National Historical Park”.
(c)(1)Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary shall establish within the National Park Service a program to commemorate and interpret the Transcontinental Railroad.
(2)Before establishing the Program, the Secretary shall conduct a study of alternatives for commemorating and interpreting the Transcontinental Railroad that includes—
(A)a historical assessment of the Transcontinental Railroad;
(B)the identification of—
(i)existing National Park System land and affiliated areas, land managed by other Federal agencies, and Federal programs that may be related to preserving, commemorating, and interpreting the Transcontinental Railroad;
(ii)any properties relating to the Transcontinental Railroad—
(I)that are designated as, or could meet the criteria for designation as, National Historic Landmarks; or
(II)that are included, or eligible for inclusion, on the National Register of Historic Places;
(iii)any objects relating to the Transcontinental Railroad that have educational, research, or interpretative value; and
(iv)any governmental programs and nongovernmental programs of an educational, research, or interpretive nature relating to the Transcontinental Railroad; and
(C)recommendations for—
(i)incorporating the resources identified under subparagraph (B) into the Program; and
(ii)other appropriate ways to enhance historical research, education, interpretation, and public awareness of the Transcontinental Railroad.
(3)Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds are made available to carry out the study under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report containing the findings and recommendations of the study.
(4)The Program shall not include any properties that are—
(A)used in active freight railroad operations (or other ancillary purposes); or
(B)reasonably anticipated to be used for freight railroad operations in the future.
(5)In carrying out the Program under this subsection, the Secretary—
(A)shall produce and disseminate appropriate education materials relating to the history, construction, and legacy of the Transcontinental Railroad, such as handbooks, maps, interpretive guides, or electronic information;
(B)may enter into appropriate cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding and provide technical assistance to the heads of other Federal agencies, States, units of local government, regional governmental bodies, and private entities to further the purposes of the Program and this section; and
(C)may—
(i)create and adopt an official, uniform symbol or device to identify the Program; and
(ii)issue guidance for the use of the symbol or device created and adopted under clause (i).
(d)(1)Not later than 180 days after March 12, 2019, the Secretary shall seek to enter into a programmatic agreement with the Utah State Historic Preservation Officer to add to the list of undertakings eligible for streamlined review under section 306108 of title 54 certain uses that would have limited physical impact to land in the Park.
(2)The programmatic agreement entered into under paragraph (1) shall be developed—
(A)in accordance with applicable laws (including regulations); and
(B)in consultation with adjacent landowners, Indian Tribes, and other interested parties.
(3)The Secretary shall—
(A)consider any application for uses covered by the programmatic agreement; and
(B)not later than 60 days after the receipt of an application described in subparagraph (A), approve the application, if the Secretary determines the application is consistent with—
(i)the programmatic agreement entered into under paragraph (1); and
(ii)applicable laws (including regulations).
(e)The Secretary shall consult with, and seek to coordinate with, adjacent landowners to address the treatment of invasive species adjacent to, and within the boundaries of, the Park.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was enacted as part of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, and not as part of Pub. L. 89–102 which comprises this subchapter.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Definition of “Secretary” Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior, see section 2 of Pub. L. 116–9, set out as a note under section 1 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 410cccc–3

Title 16Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73