§410ppp — Title 16 Conservation | U.S. Code

Summary

Creates the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park to protect and share the area’s important industrial history and its surrounding towns, farms, river, and canal. The park’s goals are to preserve and explain nationally important sites, teach the public why the Blackstone River Valley matters to U.S. history, and work with partners who already help care for the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor. Defined terms: “National Heritage Corridor” means the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor; “Park” means the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park; “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior; and “States” means Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Park includes Blackstone River State Park and these resources: Old Slater Mill National Historic Landmark District; the Slatersville, Ashton, Whitinsville, and Hopedale Village Historic Districts; the Blackstone River and its tributaries; and the Blackstone Canal. The Secretary may buy or accept donations of historic land from willing sellers or by exchange but may not use condemnation (forced sale). When enough land is acquired, the Secretary will publish a boundary map in the Federal Register and make maps available at National Park Service offices. Up to 10 acres in Woonsocket, Rhode Island may be acquired for park facilities. The Secretary will run the park under National Park Service rules, make a general management plan within 3 years after funds are provided, and consider using existing visitor sites and trails. The Secretary can help sites outside the park, and can make cooperative agreements with states, towns, and nonprofits to provide technical help and pay up to 50% of approved protection projects (federal funds must be matched dollar-for-dollar). If a funded project is later used in a way that conflicts with park purposes, the United States can require repayment equal to the federal contribution or the value increase caused by the funds. Cooperative agreements must allow reasonable public access. The park is dedicated to John H. Chafee, and a memorial to him must be displayed in the park.

Title 16, §410ppp

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The purpose of this section is to establish the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park—

(1)to help preserve, protect, and interpret the nationally significant resources that exemplify the industrial heritage of the Blackstone River Valley for the benefit and inspiration of future generations;

(2)to support the preservation, protection, and interpretation of the urban, rural, and agricultural landscape features (including the Blackstone River and Canal) of the region that provide an overarching context for the industrial heritage of the Blackstone River Valley;

(3)to educate the public about—

(A)the nationally significant sites and districts that convey the industrial history of the Blackstone River Valley; and

(B)the significance of the Blackstone River Valley to the past and present of the United States; and

(4)to support and enhance the network of partners in the protection, improvement, management, and operation of related resources and facilities throughout the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor.

(b)In this section:

(1)The term “National Heritage Corridor” means the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor.

(2)The term “Park” means the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park established by subsection (c)(1).

(3)The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior.

(4)The term “States” means—

(A)the State of Massachusetts; and

(B)the State of Rhode Island.

(c)(1)There is established in the States a unit of the National Park System, to be known as the “Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park”.

(2)The Park shall include—

(A)Blackstone River State Park; and

(B)the following resources, as described in Management Option 3 of the study entitled “Blackstone River Valley Special Resource Study—Study Report 2011”:

(i)Old Slater Mill National Historic Landmark District.

(ii)Slatersville Historic District.

(iii)Ashton Historic District.

(iv)Whitinsville Historic District.

(v)Hopedale Village Historic District.

(vi)Blackstone River and the tributaries of Blackstone River.

(vii)Blackstone Canal.

(3)(A)(i)The Secretary may acquire land or interests in land that are considered contributing historic resources in the historic sites and districts described in paragraph (2)(B) for inclusion in the Park boundary by donation, purchase from a willing seller with donated or appropriated funds, or exchange.

(ii)No land or interest in land may be acquired for the Park by condemnation.

(B)On a determination by the Secretary that a sufficient quantity of land or interests in land has been acquired to constitute a manageable park unit, the Secretary shall establish a boundary for the Park by publishing a boundary map in the Federal Register.

(C)The Secretary may include in the Park boundary any resources that are the subject of an agreement with the States or a subdivision of the States entered into under paragraph (4)(D).

(D)On the acquisition of additional land or interests in land under subparagraph (A), or on entering an agreement under subparagraph (C), the boundary of the Park shall be adjusted to reflect the acquisition or agreement by publishing a Park boundary map in the Federal Register.

(E)The maps referred to in this paragraph shall be available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the National Park Service.

(F)The Secretary may acquire not more than 10 acres in Woonsocket, Rhode Island 11 So in original. Probably should be followed by a comma. for the development of administrative, curatorial, maintenance, or visitor facilities for the Park.

(G)Land owned by the States or a political subdivision of the States may be acquired under this paragraph only by donation.

(4)(A)The Secretary shall administer land within the boundary of the Park in accordance with—

(i)this subsection; and

(ii)the laws generally applicable to units of the National Park System, including—

(I)the National Park Service Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); 22 See References in Text note below. and

(II)the Act of August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).2

(B)(i)Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds are made available to carry out this subsection, the Secretary shall prepare a general management plan for the Park—

(I)in consultation with the States and other interested parties; and

(II)in accordance with section 100502 of title 54.

(ii)The plan shall consider ways to use preexisting or planned visitor facilities and recreational opportunities developed in the National Heritage Corridor, including—

(I)the Blackstone Valley Visitor Center, Pawtucket, Rhode Island;

(II)the Captain Wilbur Kelly House, Blackstone River State Park, Lincoln, Rhode Island;

(III)the Museum of Work and Culture, Woonsocket, Rhode Island;

(IV)the River Bend Farm/Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park, Uxbridge, Massachusetts;

(V)the Worcester Blackstone Visitor Center, located at the former Washburn & Moen wire mill facility, Worcester, Massachusetts;

(VI)the Route 295 Visitor Center adjacent to Blackstone River State Park; and

(VII)the Blackstone River Bikeway.

(C)The Secretary may provide technical assistance, visitor services, interpretive tours, and educational programs to sites and resources in the National Heritage Corridor that are located outside the boundary of the Park and associated with the purposes for which the Park is established.

(D)(i)To further the purposes of this subsection and notwithstanding chapter 63 of title 31, the Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements with the States, political subdivisions of the States, nonprofit organizations (including the local coordinating entity for the National Heritage Corridor), and other interested parties—

(I)to provide technical assistance, interpretation, and educational programs in the historic sites and districts described in paragraph (2)(B); and

(II)subject to the availability of appropriations and clauses (ii) and (iii), to provide not more than 50 percent of the cost of any natural, historic, or cultural resource protection project in the Park that is consistent with the general management plan prepared under subparagraph (B).

(ii)As a condition of the receipt of funds under clause (i)(II), the Secretary shall require that any Federal funds made available under a cooperative agreement entered into under this paragraph are to be matched on a 1-to-1 basis by non-Federal funds.

(iii)Any payment made by the Secretary under clause (i)(ii) 33 So in original. Probably should be “(i)(II)”. shall be subject to an agreement that the conversion, use, or disposal of the project for purposes that are inconsistent with the purposes of this subsection, as determined by the Secretary, shall result in a right of the United States to reimbursement of the greater of—

(I)the amount provided by the Secretary to the project under clause (i)(II); or

(II)an amount equal to the increase in the value of the project that is attributable to the funds, as determined by the Secretary at the time of the conversion, use, or disposal.

(iv)Any cooperative agreement entered into under this subparagraph shall provide for reasonable public access to the resources covered by the cooperative agreement.

(5)(A)Congress dedicates the Park to John H. Chafee, the former United States Senator from Rhode Island, in recognition of—

(i)the role of John H. Chafee in the preservation of the resources of the Blackstone River Valley and the heritage corridor that bears the name of John H. Chafee; and

(ii)the decades of the service of John H. Chafee to the people of Rhode Island and the United States.

(B)The Secretary shall display a memorial at an appropriate location in the Park that recognizes the role of John H. Chafee in preserving the resources of the Blackstone River Valley for the people of the United States.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The National Park Service Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.), referred to in subsec. (c)(4)(A)(ii)(I), is act Aug. 25, 1916, ch. 408, 39 Stat. 535, which enacted section 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this title and provisions set out as a note under section 100101 of Title 54, National Park Service and Related Programs. Sections 1 to 4 of the Act were repealed and restated as section 1865(a) of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure, and section 100101(a), chapter 1003, and section 100751(a), 100752, 100753, and 102101 of Title 54 by Pub. L. 113–287, §§ 3, 4(a)(1), 7, Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3094, 3260, 3272. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. For disposition of former sections of this title, see Disposition Table preceding section 100101 of Title 54. The Act of August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.), referred to in subsec. (c)(4)(A)(ii)(II), is act Aug. 21, 1935, ch. 593, 49 Stat. 666, known as the Historic Sites Act of 1935 and also as the Historic Sites, Buildings, and Antiquities Act, which enacted sections 461 to 467 of this title. The Act was repealed and restated as section 1866(a) of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure, and section 102303 and 102304 and chapter 3201 of Title 54, National Park Service and Related Programs, by Pub. L. 113–287, §§ 3, 4(a)(1), 7, Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3094, 3260, 3272. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. For disposition of former sections of this title, see Disposition Table preceding section 100101 of Title 54. Codification In subsec. (c)(4)(B)(i)(II), “section 100502 of title 54” substituted for “section 12(b) of the National Park System General Authorities Act (16 U.S.C. 1a–7(b))” on authority of Pub. L. 113–287, § 6(e), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3272, which Act enacted Title 54, National Park Service and Related Programs.

§410ppp Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park

Summary

Title 16, §410ppp

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Citations & Metadata