54 U.S.C. § 305104 — Terms of conveyance

(a) In General. The conveyance of a historic light station^* must be made subject to conditions — including the United States keeping easements and other rights — that the Administrator^* considers necessary to make sure that: (1) any Federal aid to navigation^* at the station that is working on the date of conveyance stays United States property, and keeps being operated and maintained by the United States for as long as needed for navigation; (2) the United States keeps the right to remove, replace, or install any Federal aid to navigation at the station whenever needed for navigation; (3) the eligible entity^* does not interfere with, or allow interference with, any Federal aid to navigation, and does not get in the way of operating or maintaining it, without written permission from the head of the agency^* responsible for it; (4)(A) the eligible entity, at its own cost, uses and maintains the station following this division, the Secretary^* of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties (36 CFR part 68), and other applicable laws, and (B) any proposed changes to the station must be reviewed and approved by the Secretary, working with the State^* Historic Preservation^* Officer, for consistency with 36 CFR 800.5(a)(2)(vii) and the Secretary’s Standards for Rehabilitation (36 CFR 67.7); (5) the entity makes the station available to the general public for education, park, recreation, cultural, or historic preservation^* purposes, at reasonable times and under reasonable conditions; (6) the entity does not sell, transfer, assign, trade, or mortgage the station, any part of it, or any associated historic artifact — including a lens or lantern — unless the Secretary approves; (7) the entity does not run any commercial activity at the station or with an associated artifact unless the Secretary approves; and (8) the United States has the right to enter the station at any time without notice, to operate, maintain, and inspect any aid to navigation and to check compliance with this section, whenever advance notice isn’t possible.

(b) Maintenance of Aid to Navigation. The eligible entity does not have to maintain any Federal aid to navigation connected to the station, except for a private aid to navigation the entity is permitted to keep under section 83 of title 14.

(c) Reversion. Beyond any other condition set under this section, the conveyance must include a condition that the station, or any associated historic artifact including a lens or lantern, reverts back to the United States — at the Administrator’s option — and comes under the Administrator’s control, if: (1) the station, any part of it, or an artifact stops being available to the public for the stated purposes at reasonable times and conditions, as set out in the entity’s application; (2) the station or any part of it stops being maintained in a way that ensures it can serve, now or later, as a site for a Federal aid to navigation; (3) the station, any part of it, or an artifact stops being maintained in compliance with this division, the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards, or other applicable laws; (4) the entity sells, conveys, assigns, exchanges, or encumbers the station, any part of the historic light fixture, or an artifact, without the Secretary’s approval; (5) the entity runs commercial activity at the station or with an artifact without the Secretary’s approval; or (6) at least 30 days before the reversion, the Administrator gives the owner written notice that the station or part of it is needed for national security purposes.

(d) Light Stations Originally Conveyed Under Other Authority. If an owner who received a historic light station under some other law — one in which the United States kept a reversionary or other interest — is transferring it to someone else by sale, gift, or other means, the Secretary must review the terms of that transfer once notified, to make sure the new owner can and will comply with the conditions of the original transfer. The Secretary may require the parties involved and relevant federal agencies to supply whatever information is needed to complete this review. If the Secretary decides the new owner has not complied, or cannot comply, with those conditions, the Secretary must immediately tell the Administrator, who must then invoke any reversionary interest or take other necessary action to protect the United States’ interests.