Chap. 3.—An ACT to ratify certain acts of the State Highway Commission
and the State Highway Commissioner relating to additions heretofore
made to the State Highway System, and the conveyance of certain sections
thereof to the United States as parts of the Shenandoah-Great Smoky
Mountains National Parkway; to authorize and prescribe future similar
conveyances of remaining parts thereof and the acquisition of the lands
so conveyed or to be conveyed; to cede to the United States certain
jurisdictional powers over said lands in said parkway and to reserve to
the Commonwealth of Virginia all other powers and jurisdiction over
same. [S B 46]

Approved February 3, 1936

Whereas, pursuant to the provisions of an act designated as
chapter forty-two of the Acts of the General Assembly of nineteen
hundred and thirty-four, approved February twenty-first, nineteen
hundred and thirty-four, entitled, “an act to authorize the State high-
way commission to add to the State highway system, a road from a
point at or near Jarman’s Gap, following generally at or near the top
of the mountain in a southwesterly direction to the North Carolina, or
Tennessee line, to transfer thereof to or for the United States of
America, and to sign an agreement as to the maintenance of the
same,” the State highway commission did add to the State highway
system a route from a point at or near Jarman’s Gap and running
generally in a southwesterly direction to the North Carolina line, said
route being two hundred feet in width as determined by the State
Highway Commissioner ; and,

Whereas, pursuant to said act the said highway commissioner, by
and with the approval of the Governor, did execute a certain general
warranty deed dated December seventh, nineteen hundred and thirty-
five, which when delivered would operate to convey to the United
States of America six certain sections of said highway on said route,
designated on the maps-and plans of the Department of Highways as
State projects numbered ten hundred and seventy-one-a, ten hundred
and ninety-three-d, ten hundred and ninety-three-c, ten hundred and
ninety-three-a, ten hundred and ninety-three-b and ten hundred and
ninety-three-e; and also designated by the Department of the Interior
of the United States as sections one-a, one-p, one-q, one-r, one-s and
one-t of the Shenandoah-Great Smoky National Parkway, in Virginia;
and,

Whereas, the said highway commissioner and Governor being of
opinion, on the advice of the Attorney General of Virginia, that the
delivery of said deed to the United States, while the now existing
Virginia statutory provisions relating to the jurisdiction and govern-
mental powers of the United States over said highway or parkway
are in effect, would jeopardize the rights and powers of the Common-
wealth of Virginia to levy and collect taxes on the sale thereon of oil,
gasoline and other motor vehicle fuels, and other taxes and license
taxes, as well as the State’s power to regulate or prohibit the sale of
intoxicating liquors on said land so proposed to be conveyed, were
unwilling to deliver said deed until the General Assembly of nineteen
hundred and thirty-six should be afforded an opportunity to enact
appropriate legislation on the subject; and,

Whereas, in order to render available the money which had been
allocated to the said department of the interior for construction of a
roadway on said sections of land embraced in said deed, it was neces-
sary that said deed be placed in escrow on or before December fif-
teenth, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, so that the secretary of the
Interior would thereby be authorized to let contracts for the construc-
tion of said roadway; and,

Whereas, the said highway commissioner, by and with the approval
of the Governor, did enter into a contract, on behalf of the Common-
wealth of Virginia, with the Secretary of the Interior, on behalf of
the United States, providing for the placing of said deed in escrow
with the First and Merchants National Bank of Richmond, Virginia,
to be delivered to the United States upon the enactment of this legisla-
tion respecting the governmental jurisdiction of the United States and
the State of Virginia over said lands embraced in said deed, and over
the remaining portion of said Shenandoah-Great Smoky Mountains
Parkway; and

Whereas, the United States proposes to construct and operate a
roadway and parkway over the same lands which were added to the
State highway system from at or near Jarman’s Gap to the North
Carolina line to be known by the name of the Shenandoah-Great
Smoky Mountain National Parkway, which includes the lands em-
braced in the said deed now held in escrow, as well as other lands not
embraced in any deed yet executed by said State Highway Commis-
sioner, and which said commissioner was authorized to convey to the
United States by said act of February twenty-first, nineteen hundred
and thirty-four; and,

Whereas, the United States requires as a condition to the con-
struction of said roadway and parkway that the Commonwealth of
Virginia do convey, by general warranty deeds to the United States,
the lands embraced in said highway or parkway; now, therefore,

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, as follows:

Section 1. That the action of the State highway commission in
adding to the State highway system said route from said point at or
near Jarman’s Gap to the North Carolina line, and the action of the
State highway commissioner in determining the width of said highway,
and in executing said contract with the said Secretary of the Interior,
and in executing said deed and placing same in escrow as aforesaid,
are hereby approved, ratified and confirmed.

Section 2. The said highway commissioner is hereby authorized,
out of moneys now or hereafter appropriated for highway purposes, to
acquire, by gift, purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, any and all
outstanding rights, and titles to and easements and encumbrances
against all the said lands embraced in said addition to said highway
system, now known as the Shenandoah-Great Smoky Mountains
National Parkway, either for the purpose of curing any defects which may
exist or arise in the title to the lands embraced in said deed now held
in escrow, or in any other deed which may be substituted therefor, or
for the purpose of securing titles to lands in said highway or parkway
hereafter proposed to be conveyed to the United States, and of curing
any defects in the title thereto which may arise, either before or after
the delivery of any deed or deeds conveying same.

Section 3. The said highway commissioner is hereby authorized
and empowered by and with the approval of the Governor to transfer,
assign and convey at one time, or from time to time, by general
warranty deed or deeds, to the United States of America, or any
department, bureau, board, commission or official thereof, who will
agree to construct or improve a roadway thereon, the said land or
lands, or any part thereof, embraced in said highway, and upon such
conveyance or conveyances the lands conveyed shall cease to be a
part of the State highway system; provided, however, that if the
State cannot acquire and convey to the United States for the purposes
aforesaid any part or segment of said proposed highway or parkway,
and if the United States is, due to lack of appropriations, or for any
other reason, unable to acquire such part or parts, segment or seg-
ments, and if, by reason thereof, the United States is denied posses-
sion thereof or forced through legal proceedings to abandon posses-
sion of any segment or segments conveyed to it, then, in such event,
the highway commissioner is hereby authorized to again add any such
segment or segments to the State highway system and to construct and
maintain the same for public use and travel in connection and con-
junction with the said National Parkway adjacent thereto on both
ends, and provided, further, that the State highway commissioner is
hereby authorized to repay, out of the funds aforesaid, to the United
States any sums which the United States may have expended for
actual roadway construction on any such segment or segments prior
to being forced to abandon possession thereof as aforesaid.

Section 4. Over the lands embraced in the said deed now being
held in escrow as aforesaid, and over all other lands comprising the
said proposed Shenandoah-Great Smoky Mountains National Park-
way, which may hereafter be conveyed to the United States for the
purposes of said parkway by said State highway commissioner, the
Commonwealth of Virginia hereby cedes to the United States the
power and jurisdiction to regulate traffic thereon, to protect the said
land and property thereon belonging to the United States from
damage, depredation or destruction, and to operate and administer the
said land and property of the United States embraced in said parkway
as a National Parkway. The Commonwealth of Virginia hereby
reserves to herself all other powers and expressly and _ specifically
reserves the jurisdiction and power to levy a tax on oil, gasoline and
all other motor vehicle fuels and lubricants, on said parkway and a
tax on the sale thereof on said parkway, or on any part of the
property conveyed to the United States pursuant to this act. The
Commonwealth of Virginia hereby further reserves expressly and
specifically the jurisdiction and power to tax, license and regulate, or
to prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors on any such land so con-
veyed or to be conveyed; to tax all property, including buildings
erected thereon, not belonging to the United States; to require licenses
and impose license taxes upon any business or businesses conducted there-
on. The above powers enumerated as expressly and specifically reserved
to the Commonwealth shall not be construed as being in any respect in-
consistent with or impaired by the powers herein ceded to the United
States.

The Commonwealth of Virginia hereby further reserves unto her-
self exclusive governmental, judicial, executive and legislative powers
and jurisdiction in all civil and criminal matters, except in so far as same
may be in conflict with the jurisdiction and powers herein ceded to the
United States.

2. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby
repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.

3. An emergency existing, in that the construction of the Shenan-
doah-Great Smoky Mountains National Parkway is being jeopardized,
this act shall be in force and effect from its passage.