ExecutiveOrdersEO
Proc 7984ProclamationG.W. Bush · R

Proclamation 7984

Establishment of the African Burial Ground National Monument

President George W. Bush used the Antiquities Act to designate approximately 15,000 square feet in Lower Manhattan as the African Burial Ground National Monument, transferring administration from the General Services Administration to the National Park Service. The proclamation requires the Secretary of the Interior to develop an interagency agreement with GSA and prepare a management plan within 3 years, while withdrawing the federal lands from public disposition.

Federal Register Open PDF 71 FR 10793

Impact dates

  1. Management plan for national monument due

Key directives

  • Designate African Burial Ground as National Monument under Antiquities Act
  • Transfer administration to Secretary of the Interior through NPS
  • Develop interagency agreement with GSA Administrator
  • Prepare management plan within 3 years
  • Promulgate additional regulations as authorized by law
  • Withdraw lands from all forms of entry, location, sale, leasing, or mining

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

  • National Monument designation takes effect
  • Federal lands withdrawn from entry, sale, leasing, or mining
  • Administration transferred from GSA to NPS

Near term (90d)

—

Long term

  • Interagency agreement between NPS and GSA to be developed
  • Management plan due within 3 years (by February 27, 2009)
  • Memorial construction to proceed

Risks & tensions

  • 3-year deadline for management plan is binding but interagency agreement timing is unspecified
  • 'To the extent authorized by law' qualifier on regulatory authority creates minor uncertainty
  • Subject to valid existing rights and dominant reservation language may create future property interpretation disputes
Proclamation 7984: Establishment of the African Burial Ground National Monument · Executive Orders