“To establish the Fort Monroe National Historical Park in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section defines key terms for purposes of the Act, including (1) "Commonwealth" as the Commonwealth of Virginia; (2) "Map" as the map titled “Fort Monroe National Historical Park Proposed Boundary”, numbered 250/193734, and dated June 2024; (3) "Historical park" as the Fort Monroe National Historical Park established by section 3(a); and (4) "Secretary" as the Secretary of the Interior.
This section establishes the Fort Monroe National Historical Park in Virginia to preserve the historic, natural, and recreational resources of Fort Monroe and interpret (1) Old Point Comfort's role as the first landing site of captive Africans in English North America, its fortifications, and events including the War of 1812; (2) the site's development as a coastal defense facility and artillery center; (3) its Civil War history, including the 1861 Contraband Decision and United States Colored Troops; (4) associated persons and events; and (5) natural resources. The section abolishes the Fort Monroe National Monument (established by Presidential Proclamation 8750 on November 1, 2011), incorporates all monument lands and interests into the park, makes any unobligated monument funds available for the park, and deems all references to the monument to refer to the park.
This section establishes the boundary of the Historical Park as generally depicted on the Map, which shall be on file and available for public inspection in appropriate National Park Service offices. The section further authorizes the Secretary to acquire land or interests in land within the boundaries by donation, transfer, exchange, or purchase from willing sellers using donated or appropriated funds.
This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to administer the Fort Monroe National Historical Park in accordance with this Act and specified National Park System laws (i.e., 54 U.S.C. §§ 100101(a), chapter 1003, 100751(a), 100752, 100753, 102101, and chapter 3201). It further (1) preserves existing federal authority on federal lands and commonwealth or local authority on non-federal lands within park boundaries; (2) requires no net loss of commonwealth-owned buildings and structures in the Fort Monroe National Historic Landmark District, permitting replacement of lost square footage if compliant with the Secretary’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. § 306108); (3) authorizes the park superintendent to serve as an ex-officio member on boards or committees beneficial to park preservation, interpretation, or education; (4) authorizes cooperative agreements with the commonwealth or other entities for preservation of nearby non-federal resources, requiring reasonable public access, mutual agreement on exterior changes, and a federal cost share of no more than 50% (with in-kind contributions authorized); and (5) permits adaptive reuse of interiors of non-federally owned historic resources consistent with the Secretary’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.