ONGOING NATIONWIDE PROGRAM ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT As of this report’s publication, the ACHP is actively working with several federal agencies to develop national program alternatives to address mission critical projects and property management. They include the following: • The Department of the Army intends to request a program comment for preservation of pre-1919 historic Army housing, associated buildings and structures, and landscape features. The Army’s intent in requesting this program comment is to establish a programmatic approach for complying with Section 106 regarding repetitive management actions occurring on the Army’s inventory of pre-1919 housing. • The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Nationwide Programmatic Agreement governs its Section 106 compliance activities in the 11 western states where it administers most of its surface lands and mineral estate. The agreement is set to expire in February 2024, and BLM is developing and consulting on an amendment to extend the duration of the agreement, likely for another 10 years. • DHS is developing a programmatic agreement for maintenance, repair, and upgrades to enhance agency-owned federal facility climate resiliency and sustainability. Qualified staff meeting the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards would oversee every aspect of the national programmatic agreement, along with implementation of an auditing and training program. DHS has begun consultation with SHPOs and Tribes in preparation of submitting a final agreement to the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO) and the ACHP. • NASA has identified the need for an agency-wide programmatic agreement for management of NASA assets, including routine maintenance, alteration, modification, and demolition, with a focus on highly technical and scientific facilities. The programmatic agreement would also provide an approach for the identification and management of NASA resources less than 50 years of age. • NPS Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science Directorate has initiated consultation on development of an agency request for a program comment to address its responsibilities to comply with Section 106 for regular maintenance, capital projects, and leasing at Mission 66-era (1945-1972) facilities. Current NPS data indicates it has approximately 20,000 Mission 66-era facilities that are suffering from deferred maintenance. Context Studies, Guides, and Tools for Evaluation A notable feature of several agencies’ identification efforts was the use of context studies, developed in planning for program alternatives or independently funded, to assist in present and future efforts of historic property assessment. These studies are helpful not only to federal agencies in support of their Sections 106 and 110 responsibilities, but to states, Tribes, and the private sector to identify and evaluate related properties. While requiring more effort at the outset, these studies can help save time and resources in future evaluation efforts and assist federal agencies in understanding the broader significance of the historic properties in their inventories.
HIGHLIGHTS
» BOR completed a historic context on water conveyance systems entitled “U.S Bureau of Reclamation Water Conveyance Systems in the West: Context and Evaluation Guidance” to aid in future management of their properties utilized in water distribution, in both eligibility recommendations and Section 106 effect determinations. » The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has developed a Field Guide for Historic Resources, a portable, user-friendly distillation of previous evaluations and assessments for hundreds of BPA assets. BPA also completed the Transmission Line Historic Context Report in 2023, which provides a timeline and historic background research related to the development of their historic transmission grid, the identification of 60 individually significant lines, and an evaluation framework to continue with the assessment and evaluation of transmission lines for future BPA Section 106 compliance. This effort was critical for the forthcoming BPA Transmission Line Intensive Level Survey and programmatic agreement for transmission line assets. » At the Idaho National Laboratory, as part of DOE’s commitment to strengthen the archaeological component of the Laboratory’s historic preservation program, a Precontact Context proposal has been developed. The context will include the following themes (along with associated research questions): Shoshone and Bannock Ethnohistory, Changes in the Landscape and Environment, Projectile Point Chronology, and Settlement and Subsistence. During summer 2022, with input from the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal representatives, staff from the Laboratory’s Cultural Resource Management Office, Heritage Tribal Office, and a BLM archaeologist rerecorded 10 previously recorded Precontact sites within the study area thought to represent specific property types. » In 2023, GSA released its digital Modern Era Determination of Eligibility Assessment Tool. Updated as part of a mitigation strategy for a façade enclosure project at the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in Cleveland, Ohio, the tool reflects insights gained during the two decades since the agency released the GSA Eligibility Assessment Tool as part of its Growth Efficiency and Modernism context study in 2003. Created and refined specifically to assist in the internal assessment of GSA buildings, especially those constructed after 1950, the tool applies National Register eligibility criteria through a lens that more deeply examines the design, construction, and impact of federal public buildings on the communities where they were built. » Funds were allocated and a contract awarded in 2023 to conduct a complete historical context study of National Defense Reserve Fleet sites, present and past for MARAD. This study will provide a broad historical context and a better understanding of the properties and how they relate to maritime history. » NPS completed the African American Outdoor Recreation National Historic Landmark Theme Study in 2022, which examines how race impacted the experience of and access to outdoor recreation and leisure resources for African Americans in the United States from the end of the Civil War through the early 21st century and includes typologies of related property types such as resorts, amusement parks, campgrounds, or beaches, and registration guidelines to identify and evaluate surviving examples for further study as potential NHLs. Additional information about this and other NPS theme studies is provided in a Case Study on page 36.
32
IN A SPIRIT OF STEWARDSHIP: A Report on Federal Historic Properties • 2024 | 33
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker