16 U.S.C. § 398a: Conditions and limitations

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior may set up the Virgin Islands National Park, but only under specific rules. The park can be at most 9,500 acres total: no more than 15 acres on Saint Thomas, and up to 9,485 more acres on Saint John plus nearby small islands, rocks, and cays totaling no more than 500 acres. The Secretary can draw and adjust tentative outer boundaries to fit these limits. The Secretary may accept donations of land, buildings, and money until the United States has acquired the full 9,500 acres. Even if that would exceed the limits, the Secretary may accept or buy property on Lots 251–252 Estate Contant Enighed, Parcels 86B and 86AA Cruz Bay Quarter. Federal properties inside the chosen area can be transferred to the Secretary without extra approval if the agency in charge agrees. The park will be treated as established for administration when the United States owns at least 5,000 acres in the areas the Secretary names. A notice of the park’s establishment must be published in the Federal Register.

Title 16, §398a

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized subject to the following conditions and limitations, to proceed in such manner as he shall find to be necessary in the public interest to consummate the establishment of the Virgin Islands National Park:

(a)The acreage of the national park shall be limited to a total of not more than nine thousand five hundred acres of land area, such total to be comprised of not more than fifteen acres on the island of Saint Thomas, and not more than nine thousand four hundred and eighty-five additional acres to be comprised of portions of the island of Saint John and such small islands, rocks, and cays not in excess of five hundred acres in the general vicinity thereof as may be desirable for inclusion within the park;

(b)Tentative exterior boundary lines, to include land not in excess of the aforesaid acreage limitations, may be selected for the park in order to establish the particular areas in which land may be acquired pursuant to this section and section 398 of this title, such tentative boundaries to be selected and adjusted as may be necessary by the Secretary of the Interior;

(c)The Secretary, on behalf of the United States, is authorized to accept donations of real and personal property within the areas selected for the park until such time as the aforesaid total of nine thousand five hundred acres shall have been acquired for the park by the United States, and he may also accept donations of funds for the purposes of this section and section 398 of this title. Notwithstanding the acreage limitations and boundary designations contained in this section, the Secretary is authorized to accept through donation, or purchase from a willing seller, the real and personal property located on Lots 251–252 Estate Contant Enighed, Parcels 86B and 86AA Cruz Bay Quarter;

(d)Any Federal properties situated within the areas selected for the park, upon agreement by the particular agency administering such properties that such properties should be made available for the park, may be transferred without further authorization to the Secretary by such agency for purposes of this section and section 398 of this title;

(e)Establishment of the Virgin Islands National Park, in its initial phase, shall be and is declared to be accomplished and effective for purposes of administration when a minimum acreage of not less than five thousand acres in Federal ownership for purposes of this section and section 398 of this title shall have been acquired by the United States in specific areas containing such acquired lands to be designated by the Secretary; and

(f)Notice of the establishment of the park as authorized and prescribed by this section and section 398 of this title shall be published in the Federal Register.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1978—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 95–348 inserted provisions relating to acceptance through donation or purchase of the real and personal property located on Lots 251–252 Estate Contant Enighed.

§398a Conditions and Limitations

Summary

Title 16, §398a

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Citations & Metadata