Public Law 103-433:
108 STAT. 4471
Public Law 103-433
103d Congress
An Act
To designate certain lands in the California Desert as wilderness, to establish the Death Valley
and Joshua Tree National Parks, to establish the Mojave National Preserve, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled,
( Titles 1-12 omitted, Title 11 begins at 108 STAT. 4512 )
TITLE XI-LOWER MISSISSIPPI DELTA
REGION INITIATIVES
SEC. 1101. FINDINGS.
(a) The Congress finds that-
(1) in 1988, Congress enacted Public Law 100460, establishing the Lower Mississippi Delta
Development Commission, to assess the needs, problems, and opportunities of people living
in the Lower Mississippi Delta Region that includes 219 counties and parishes within the
States of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee
(2) the Commission conducted a thorough investigation to assess these needs, problems, and
opportunities, and held several public hearings throughout the Delta Region;
(3) on the basis of these investigations, the Commission issued the Delta Initiatives Report,
which included recommendations on natural resource protection, historic preservation, and
the enhancement of educational and other opportunities for Delta residents;
(4) the Delta Initiatives Report recommended
(A) designating the Great River Road as a scenic byway, and designating other
hiking and motorized trails throughout the Delta Region
(B) that the Federal Government identify sites and structures of historic and
prehistoric importance through out the Delta Region;
(C) the further study of potential new units of the National Park System within the
Delta Region- and
(D) that Federal agencies target more monies in selected areas to institutions of
higher education in the Delta Region, especially Historically Black Colleges and
Universities.
PUBLIC LAW 103 433 OCT. 31, 1994 108 STAT. 4513
SEC. 1102. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this title, the term-
(1) "Commission" means the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission
established pursuant to Public Law 100460;
(2) "Delta Initiatives Report" means the May 14, 199O Final Report of the
Commission entitled "The Delta Initiatives: Realizing the Dream . . . . Fulfilling the
Potential";
(3) "Delta Region means the Lower Mississippi Delta Region including the 219
counties and parishes within the States of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee, as defined in the Delta Initiatives Report, except that,
for any State for which the Delta Region as defined in such report comprises more than half
of the geographic area of such State, the entire State shall be considered part of the Delta
Region for purposes of this title;
(4) "Department" means the United States Department of the Interior, unless
otherwise specifically stated;
(5) "Historically Black College or University" means a college or university that
would be considered a "part B institution" by section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2));
(6) "minority college or university" means a Historically Black College or University
that would be considered a apart B institution" by section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)) or a "minority institution" as that term is defined in section 1046
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1135d-5(3));
(7) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior, unless otherwise specifically
stated.
SEC. 1103. LOWER MISSISSIPPI DELTA REGION HERITAGE STUDY.
(a) IN GENERAL.-The Secretary, in consultation with the States of the Delta Region, the
Lower Mississippi Delta Development Center, and other appropriate Delta Region institutions, is
directed to prepare and transmit to the Congress within three years after the date of the enactment
of this title, a study of significant natural recreational, historical or prehistorical, and cultural
lands, waters sites, and structures located within the Delta Region. This study shall take into
consideration the research and inventory of resources conducted by the Mississippi River
Heritage Corridor Study Commission.
(b) TRANSPORTATION ROUTES. -(1) The study shall include recommendations on
appropriate designation and interpretation of historically significant roads, trails, byways,
waterways, or other routes within the Delta Region.
(2) In order to provide for public appreciation, education, understanding, interpretation, and
enjoyment of the significant sites identified pursuant to subsection (a), which are accessible by
public roads, the Secretary shall recommend in the study vehicular tour routes along existing
public roads linking such sites within the Delta Region.
(3) Such recommendations shall include an analysis of designating the Great River Road (as
depicted on the map entitled "Proposed Delta Transportation Network"on pages 102-103 of the
Delta Initiatives Report) and other sections of the Great River Road between Baton Rouge and
New Orleans, Louisiana and an analysis of des-
PUBLIC LAW 103-433 - Oct. 31, 1994 108 STAT. 4514
ignating that portion of the Old Antonio Road and the Louisiana Natchez Trace which extends
generally along Highway 84 from Vidalia, Louisiana, to Clarence, Louisiana, and Louisiana
Highway 6 from Clarence, Louisiana, to the Toledo Bend Reservoir, Louisiana, as a National
Scenic Byway, or as a component of the National Trails System, or such other designation as the
Secretary deems appropriate.
(4) The Secretary shall also recommend in the study an appropriate route along existing
public roads to commemorate the importance of timber production and trade to the economic
development of the Delta Region in the early twentieth century, and to highlight the continuing
importance of timber production and trade to the economic life of the Delta Region.
Recommendations shall include an analysis of designating that portion of US 166 which extends
from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Monroe, Louisiana, as a National Scenic Byway, or as a
component of the National Trails System or such other designation as the Secretary deems
appropriate.
(5) The study shall also include a comprehensive recreation interpretive, and visitor use plan
for the routes described in the above paragraphs, including bicycle and hiking paths, and make
specific recommendations for the acquisition and construction or related interpretive and visitor
information facilities at selected sites along such routes.
(6) The Secretary is authorized to make grants to States for work necessary to stabilize,
maintain, and widen public roads to allow for adequate access to the nationally significant sites
and structures identified by the study, to allow for proper use of the vehicular tour route, trails,
byways, including the routes defined in paragraphs (3) and (4) or other public roads within the
Delta Region and to implement the comprehensive recreation, interpretive, and visitor use plan
required in paragraph (5).
(C) LISTING-On the basis of the study, and in consultation with the National Trust for
Historic Preservation, the Secretary shall inventory significant structures and sites in the Delta
Region. The Secretary shall further recommend and encourage cooperative preservation and
economic development efforts such as the establishment of preservation districts linking groups
of contiguous counties or parishes, especially those that lie along the aforementioned designated
routes. The Secretary shall prepare a list of the sites and structures for possible inclusion by the
National Park Service as National Historic Landmarks or such other designation as the Secretary
deems appropriate.
SEC. 1104. DELTA REGION HERITAGE CORRIDORS AND HERITAGE AND CULTURAL
CENTERS.
(a) FINDINGS.-The Congress finds that-
(1) in 1990, the Congress authorized the Institute of Museum Services to prepare a
report assessing the needs of small, emerging, minority, and rural museums in order to
identify the resources such museums needed to meet their educational mission, to identify
the areas of museum operation in which the needs were greatest, and to make
recommendations on how these needs could best be met;
(2) the Institute of Museum Services undertook a comprehensive eighteen month
study of such needs with the assistance of two advisory groups, surveyed 524 museums from
throughout the Nation, held discussion groups in which rep-
PUBLIC LAW 103-433 - OCT. 31, 1994 108 STAT. 4515
resentatives of 25 museum groups participated, and conducted case studies of 12 museum
facilities around the Nation;
(3) on the basis of this assessment, the Institute of Museum Services issued a report
in September, 1992, entitled, "National Needs Assessment of Small, Emerging, Minority and
Rural Museums in the United States" (hereinafter "National Needs Assessment") which
found that small, emerging, minority, and rural museums provide valuable educational and
cultural resources for their communities and contain a reservoir of the Nation's material,
cultural and historical heritage, but due to inadequate resources are unable to meet their full
potential or the demands of the surrounding communities;
(4) the needs of these institutions are not being met through existing Federal
programs;
(5) fewer than half of the participants in the survey had applied for Federal assistance
in the past two years and that many small, emerging, minority and rural museums believe
existing Federal programs do not meet their needs;
(6) based on the National Needs Assessment, that funding agencies should increase
support available to small, emerging, minority, and rural museums and make specific
recommendations for increasing technical assistance in order to identify such institutions and
provide assistance to facilitate their participation in Federal programs;
(7) the Delta Initiatives Report made specific recommendations for the creation and
development of centers for the preservation of the cultural, historical, and literary heritage
of the Delta Region, including recommendations for the establishment of a Delta Region
Native American Heritage and Cultural Center and a Delta Region African American
Heritage and Cultural Center with additional satellite centers or museums linked throughout
the Delta Region;
(8) the Delta Initiatives Report stated that new ways of coordinating, preserving, and
promoting the Delta Region's literature, art, and music should be established including the
creation of a network to promote the Delta Region's literary, artistic, and musical heritage;
and
(9) wholesale destruction and attrition of archeological sites and structures has
eliminated a significant portion of Native American heritage as well as the interpretive
potential of the Delta Region's parks and museums. Furthermore, site and structure
destruction is 80 severe that an ambitious program of site and structure acquisition in the
Delta Region is necessary.
(b) IN GENERAL.-The Secretary, in consultation with the States of the Delta Region, the
Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Chairman of the National Endowment for
the Humanities, the Director of the Smithsonian Institution, the Lower Mississippi Delta
Development Center, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and appropriate African
American, Native American and other relevant institutions or organizations in the Delta Region,
is further directed to prepare and transmit to the Congress a plan outlining specific
recommendations, including recommendations for necessary funding, for the establishment of a
Delta Region Native American Heritage Corridor and Heritage and Cultural Center and a Delta
Region African American Heritage Corridor and
108 STAT. 4516 PUBLIC LAW 103-433 OCT. 31, 1994
Heritage and Cultural Center with a network of satellite or cooperative units.
(c) DELTA REGION NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE CORRIDOR AND CULTURAL
CENTER.- (1) The plan referred to in subsection (b) of this section shall include
recommendationsfor establishing a network of parks, museums, and other centers to interpret
Native American culture and heritage in the Delta Region, including a ten year development
strategy for such a network.
(2) Such plan shall include specific proposals for the development of a Native American
Heritage Corridor and Heritage and Cultural Center in the Delta Region, along with
recommendations for the appropriate Federal role in such a center including matching grants,
technical and interpretive assistance.
(3) Such plan shall be conducted in consultation with tribal leaders in the Delta Region.
(4) Such plan shall also include specific proposals for educational and training assistance for
Delta Region Native Americans to carry out the recommendations provided in the study.
(d) DELTA REGION AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE CORRIDOR AND HERITAGE
AND CULTURAL CENTER. (1) The plan referred to in subsection (b) of this section shall
include recommendations for establishing a heritage corridor or trail system, consisting of one or
two major north-south routes and several east-west-spur loops to preserve, interpret and
commemorate the African American heritage and culture in the Delta Region during all
significant historical periods.
(2) Such plan shall make specific recommendations for representing all forms of expressive
culture including the musical, folklore, literary, artistic, scientific, historical, educational, and
political contributions and accomplishments of African Americans m the Delta Region.
(3) Such plan shall make specific recommendations for implementing the findings of the
Delta Initiatives Report with respect to establishing an African American Heritage Corridor and
Heritage and Cultural Center and related satellite museums in the Delta Region, together with
specific funding levels necessary to carry out these recommendations and shall also. include
recommendations for improving access of small, emerging, minority or rural museums to
technical and financial assistance.
(4) Such plan shall be conducted in consultation with institutions of higher education in the
Delta Region with expertise in African American studies, Southern studies, archeology,
anthropology, history and other relevant fields.
(5) Such plan shall make specific recommendations for improving educational programs
offered by existing cultural facilities and museums as well as establishing new outreach
programs for elementary, middle and secondary schools, including summer programs for youth
in the Delta Region.
(e) GRANTS. (1) In furtherance of the purposes of this section, the Secretary is authorized
to make planning grants to State Humanities Councils in the Delta Region to assist small,
emerging, minority and rural museums selected on a financial needs basis in the development of
a comprehensive long term plan for these institutions. The Secretary is also authorized to make
implementation grants to State Humanities Councils in the Delta Region who, in consultations
with State Museum Associations, shall make grants to small, emerging, minority or rural
museums for the purpose
PUBLIC LAW 103-433 - OCT. 31,1994 108 STAT. 4517
of carrying out an approved plan for training personnel, improving exhibits or other steps
necessary to assure the integrity o collections in their facilities, for educational outreach
programs, or for other activities the Secretary deems appropriate including the promotion of
tourism in the region. Such institutions shall be selected competitively and on the basis of
demonstrated financial need. The Secretary is also authorized to make grants to State Humanities
Councils to update, simplify and coordinate the respective State Works Progress Administration
guides and to develop a single comprehensive guide for the Delta Region.
(2) The Secretary is authorized to provide grants and other appropriate technical assistance
to State Humanities Councils, State museum Associations, and State Arts Councils in the Delta
Region for the purpose of assessing the needs of such institutions. Such grants may be used by
these institutions to undertake such an assessment and to provide other technical, administrative
and planning assistance to small, emerging, minority or rural institutions seeking to preserve the
Delta Region's literary, artistic, and musical heritage.
(f) MUSIC HERITAGE PROGRAM.91) The plan referred to in subsection (b) of this section
shall include recommendations for establishing a Music Heritage Program, with specific
emphasis on the Mississippi Delta Blues. The plan shall include specific recommendations for
developing a network of heritage sites, structures, small museums, and festivals in the Delta
Region.
(2) The plan shall include an economic strategy for the promotion of the Delta Region's
music, through the participation of musicians, festival developers, museum operators,
universities, economic development districts, and other relevant individuals and organizations.
(g) COMPLETION DATE.-The plan authorized in this section shall be completed not later
than three years after the date funds are made available for such plan.
SEC. 1105. HISTORIC AND PREHISTORIC STRUCTURES AND SITES SURVEY
(a) ASSISTANCE.-The Secretary is authorized to provide technical and financial assistance
to Historically Black Colleges and Universities to undertake a comprehensive survey of historic
and prehistoric structures and sites located on their campuses, including recommendations as to
the inclusion of appropriate structures and sites on the National Register of Historic Places,
designation as National Historic Landmarks, or other appropriate designation as determined by
the Secretary. The Secretary shall also make specific proposals and recommendations, together
with estimates of necessary funding levels, for a comprehensive plan to be carried out by the
Department to assist Historically Black Colleges and Universities in tile preservation and
interpretation of such sites and structures.
(b) GRANTS.-In furtherance of the purposes of this section, the Secretary is authorized to
provide technical and financial assistance to Historically Black Colleges and Universities for
stabilization, preservation and interpretation of such sites and structures.
SEC. 1106. DELTA ANTIQUITIES SURVEY.
(a) IN GENERAL) The Secretary is directed to prepare and transmit to the Congress, in
cooperation with the States of the Delta Region, State Archaeological Surveys and Regional
PUBLIC LAW 103-433 OCT. 31, 1994 108 STAT. 4518
Archeological Centers, a study of the feasibility of establishing a Delta Antiquities Trail or Delta
Antiquities Heritage Corridor in the Delta Region.
(2) Such study shall, to the extent practicable, use nonintrusive methods of identifying,
surveying, inventorying, and stabilizing ancient archeological sites and structures.
(3) In undertaking this study, the Secretary is directed to enter into cooperative agreements
with the States of the Delta Region, the State Archeological Surveys, and Regional
Archeological Centers located in Delta Region institutions of higher education for on-site
activities including surveys, inventories, and stabilization and other activities which the Secretary
deems appropriate.
(4) In addition to the over 100 known ancient archeological sites located in the Delta Region
including Watson's Brake, Frenchman's Bend, Hedgepeth, Monte Sano, Banana Bayou, Hornsby,
Parkin, Toltec, Menard-Hodges, Eaker, Blytheville Mound, Nodena, Taylor Mounds, DeSoto
Mound and others, such study shall also employ every practical means possible, including
assistance from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Forest Service and Soil
Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engineers of the
Department of Defense, and other appropriate Federal agencies, to locate and confirm the
existence of a site known as Balbansha in southern Louisiana and a site known as Autiamquc in
Arkansas. The heads of these Federal agencies shall cooperate with the Secretary as the Secretary
requires on a non-reimbursable basis.
(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.-In furtherance of the purposes of this section, the Secretary
is authorized to provide technical assistance and grants to private landowners for necessary
stabilization activities of identified sites and for preparing recommendations for designating
such sites as National Landmarks or other appropriate designations as the Secretary, with the
concurrence of the landowners, determines to be appropriate.
(C) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.-The Secretary is authorized to enter into cooperative
agreements with the States, State Archeological Surveys, and Regional Archeological Centers of
the Delta Region to develop a ten-year plan for the stabilization, preservation and interpretation
of those sites and structures as may be identified by the Secretary.
SEC. 1107. HISTORIC AND ARCHEOLOGICAL RESOURCES PROGRAM.
(a) PROGRAM. - The Secretary shall conduct a comprehensive program for the research,
interpretation, and preservation of significant historic and archeological resources in the Delta
Region.
(b) ELEMENTS OF THE PROGRAM.-The program shall include, but not be limited to-
( 1) identification of research projects related to historic and archeological resources
in the Delta Region and n proposal for the regular publication of related research materials
and publications;
(2) the development of a survey program to investigate, inventory and further
evaluate known historic and archeological sites and structures and identify those sites and
structures that require additional study;
(3) identification of a core system of interpretive sites and structures that would
provide n comprehensive overview of historic and archeological resources of the Delta
Region;
PUBLIC LAW 103-433 - OCT .31, 1994 108 STAT. 4519
(4) preparation of educational materials to interpret the historical and archeological
resources of the Delta Region
(5) preparation of surveys and archeological and historical investigations of sites,
structures, and artifacts relating to the Delta Region, including the preparation of reports,
maps, and other related activities.
(C) GRANTS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. - (1) The Secretary is authorized to award
grants to qualified tribal, governmental and non-governmental entities and individuals to assist
the Secretary in carrying out those elements of the program which the Secretary deems
appropriate.
(2) The Secretary is further authorized to award grants and provide other types of technical
and financial assistance to such entities and individuals to conserve and protect historic and
archeological sites and structures in the Delta Region identified in the program prepared pursuant
to this section.
(d) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.- The Secretary shall establish a national demonstration
project for the conservation and curation of the archeological records and collections of Federal
and State management agencies in the Delta Region.
SEC. 1108. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this title.
Last updated: November 16, 2017