[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3667 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 621
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3667
[Report No. 117-244]
To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National
Park Service the United States African-American Burial Grounds
Preservation Program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 16, 2022
Mr. Brown (for himself, Mr. Romney, and Mr. Casey) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources
December 12, 2022
Reported by Mr. Manchin, without amendment
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National
Park Service the United States African-American Burial Grounds
Preservation Program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``African-American Burial Grounds
Preservation Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) during the period beginning in 1619 and ending in 1865,
millions of African Americans throughout the United States were
enslaved;
(2) slaveholders often--
(A) controlled where and how deceased slaves were
buried; and
(B) prohibited the burial of slaves on valuable
land;
(3) as a result of the practices described in paragraph
(2), slave burial grounds were often confined to remote areas
or marginal property;
(4) slave burial grounds--
(A) were rarely documented; and
(B) infrequently appear on historical maps;
(5) a lack of accurate information is typical of African-
American cemeteries originating before the Civil War;
(6) following the end of slavery, many African-American
families continued to face restrictions on where the deceased
could be buried;
(7) across many areas of the United States, local laws
segregated burial sites by race;
(8) African-American burial grounds often failed to receive
the type of maintenance and recordkeeping that predominantly
White burial grounds enjoyed;
(9) many African-American burial grounds from before and
after the Civil War are in a state of disrepair or
inaccessibility due to overgrowth of vegetation, crumbling
physical structures, and other challenges;
(10) there is no official national record or database for
African-American burial ground locations;
(11) the location of many African-American burial sites is
unknown;
(12) as a result of the issues described in paragraphs (10)
and (11), the family members and descendants of the individuals
interred are unable to visit the burial sites to honor and
remember their ancestors;
(13) abandoned African-American burial grounds are often
discovered when construction projects inadvertently disturb
human remains, which slows or halts completion of the projects;
(14) the presence and location of historic African-American
burial grounds should be recorded;
(15) there should be coordinated national, State, local,
and Tribal efforts to preserve and restore African-American
burial grounds;
(16) African-American burial grounds are an integral
component of the heritage of the United States; and
(17) establishing a program to preserve previously
abandoned, underserved, and other African-American burial
grounds would help communities identify and record burial
grounds and preserve local history, while better informing
development decisions and community planning.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to authorize the National Park Service
to coordinate and facilitate Federal activities and non-Federal
activities to identify, interpret, research, preserve, and record
unmarked, previously abandoned, underserved, and other African-American
burial grounds.
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES AFRICAN-AMERICAN BURIAL GROUNDS PRESERVATION
PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Subdivision 1 of division B of subtitle III of
title 54, United States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter
3085 the following:
``CHAPTER 3086--UNITED STATES AFRICAN-AMERICAN BURIAL GROUNDS
PRESERVATION PROGRAM
``Sec.
``308601. Definitions.
``308602. United States African-American Burial Grounds Preservation
Program.
``308603. Authority to make grants.
``308604. Cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding.
``308605. Private property protection.
``Sec. 308601. Definitions
``In this chapter:
``(1) Burial ground.--The term `burial ground' means any
natural or prepared physical location, whether originally
below, on, or above the surface of the earth, into which human
remains are deposited as a part of the death rite or ceremony
of a culture.
``(2) Historic.--The term `historic', with respect to a
property, means a property that can reasonably be considered to
date back at least 50 years.
``(3) Program.--The term `Program' means the United States
African-American Burial Grounds Preservation Program
established under section 308602(a).
``Sec. 308602. United States African-American Burial Grounds
Preservation Program
``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish within the
Service, in accordance with this chapter, a program to be known as the
`United States African-American Burial Grounds Preservation Program'.
``(b) Duties of Secretary.--In carrying out the Program, the
Secretary, in consultation with the National Trust for Historic
Preservation and members of the African-American heritage community,
shall develop a program for the provision of grants in accordance with
section 308603(a).
``(c) Donations.--The Secretary may accept monetary donations to
further the purposes of this chapter.
``(d) Consent of Private Property Owner Required.--Burial grounds
shall only be considered for a grant under the Program--
``(1) with the consent of the property owner; and
``(2) at the request of an individual, landowner, private
or nonprofit organization, State, Tribal, or local government,
or other entity.
``Sec. 308603. Authority to make grants
``(a) In General.--The Secretary may make grants to other Federal
agencies, State, local, and Tribal governments, other public entities,
educational institutions, historic preservation groups, and private
nonprofit organizations in accordance with this chapter for--
``(1) the identification of historic African-American
burial grounds that may qualify for the Program;
``(2) the preservation and restoration of African-American
burial grounds;
``(3) the interpretation of African-American burial
grounds; and
``(4) related research and documentation for historic
African-American burial grounds.
``(b) Funding.--
``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated
to the Secretary to carry out this section $3,000,000 for each
of fiscal years 2023 through 2027.
``(2) Availability.--Any amounts made available for a
fiscal year under paragraph (1) that are not used during that
fiscal year shall be available for use under this section
during any subsequent fiscal year.
``Sec. 308604. Cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding
``The Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements and memoranda
of understanding with, and provide technical assistance to, the heads
of other Federal agencies, States, units of local government, Tribal
governments, regional governmental bodies, nonprofit organizations,
educational institutions, and private entities--
``(1) to achieve the purposes of this chapter; and
``(2) to ensure effective coordination of the Federal
elements and non-Federal elements provided a grant or other
assistance under the Program with System units and programs of
the Service.
``Sec. 308605. Private property protection
``Nothing in this chapter--
``(1) authorizes the Secretary to require or affect the
management or use of private property without the written
consent of the owner of the private property; or
``(2) prohibits the Secretary from providing land
management guidance or requirements relating to private
property as a condition of a grant provided to the owner of the
private property under this chapter.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters for title 54, United
States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter
3085 the following:
``3086. United States African-American Burial Grounds 308601''.
Preservation Program.
Calendar No. 621
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3667
[Report No. 117-244]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National
Park Service the United States African-American Burial Grounds
Preservation Program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
December 12, 2022
Reported without amendment