Infrastructure Funding Aids Preservation The IIJA was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in November 2021. The law includes funding for a wide range of infrastructure projects, including transportation, water systems, broadband Internet, and electric vehicle charging stations, among others. Regarding historic preservation, the law includes funding for several programs and initiatives that could potentially benefit historic preservation efforts. Agencies have begun reporting on projects utilizing this infrastructure funding and are looking at ways to ensure the expenditure of funds is in compliance with the NHPA and done in harmony with the protection of historic properties. MARAD reported that most of their current Section 106 planning and compliance covers undertakings initiated by grants awarded from funds in the IIJA, having reviewed, managed, and consulted on more than 120 projects in the last year alone. Similarly, the IRA, signed into law by the President in August 2022, has provided a massive boost in funding to energy and climate change-related projects. The law included billions of dollars in funding for clean energy projects, from advancements in renewable energy grid storage to electric vehicle incentives. Federal agencies across the board are working with preservation specialists toward implementing the provisions of the IRA while protecting federal historic property portfolios. Federal agencies, including NPS, BLM, USFWS, and USFS reported on projects funded through the Great American Outdoors Act of 2020, discussed in the 2021 Section 3 report. Further detail on these projects is described in a Case Study on page 62. Agencies provided a variety of responses that speak to their commitment to the projection of historic properties while implementing major infrastructure projects.
» In FY 2022, DHS received $500 million in IRA funding for sustainability and environmental projects that remain available until FY 2028. In FY 2023, nearly $8 million of total planned allocations was appropriated for projects that have an added benefit toward communities with environmental justice concerns as identified in the Center for Environmental Quality’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool as a disadvantaged community; about $12 million was allocated for environmental compliance, testing, and remediation projects; and the remaining $109 million was allocated for climate resilience, sustainability, regional consolidation, and energy efficiency projects. In FY 2024, DHS has a plan to allocate the remaining $371.3 million across all seven program categories.
» GSA reported public buildings will benefit from the IRA through projects utilizing low embodied carbon materials, particularly concrete, steel, and flat (window) glass. In September 2023, GSA’s first project using these funds was awarded to repair and restore windows in GSA’s oldest courthouse, the Lewis F. Powell Jr. Courthouse in Richmond, Virginia. Such opportunities will enable GSA to expand the scope of historic building projects typically funded by other means. » The NOAA Office of Coastal Management Grants, utilizing funds provided by the IIJA, was able to work with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to award a $3 million grant allowing the Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe, through the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, to acquire and conserve 866 acres of historic Tribal lands along the Tribe’s namesake river, the Mattaponi, within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This is the Tribe’s first opportunity to acquire ancestral lands for conservation, which will allow them to pursue future activities to enhance culturally significant fish, wildlife, and plants through habitat restoration. The conservation benefits will extend to Tribal citizens and others who enjoy the region’s coast. » The USACE San Francisco District is developing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Tribes to ensure collaboration on projects and programs on ecosystem restoration and infrastructure projects following the removal of four dams on the Klamath River. An MOU between the San Francisco District and the Yurok Tribe, for example, will allow for the restoration of more than 400 miles of newly opened fish habitat, the restoration of formerly inundated lands, and the elimination of annual toxic algae blooms which occur within existing reservoirs.
Lewis F. Powell Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Richmond, VA (Brandon Webster/GSA)
HIGHLIGHTS
» The Federal Aviation Administration has identified its Airport Traffic Control Towers Replacement Program, funded through the IIJA, as a major impetus for rehabilitation projects throughout the agency’s historic airport properties. » The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is partnering with Amtrak to initiate the Union Station Expansion Project that aims to expand and modernize the commuter rail facilities at Washington, D.C.’s Union Station. Since FRA was authorized as the managing agency of the station in 1981, Amtrak has co-leased portions of the station that directly relate to the organization’s role in facilitating intercity passenger rail service from the station. Consequently, FRA frequently partners with Amtrak to complete capital improvement projects and annual maintenance activities within the station, including the expansion project. The goals of the project are to expand Union Station’s passenger facilities, rehabilitate and repair station infrastructure, and modify the layout and siting of the station to enhance connectivity with adjacent neighborhoods. In coordination with Amtrak, FRA will also develop and implement measures designed to avoid, minimize, or mitigate any adverse effects of the expansion activities. Once the station expansion project is complete, FRA hopes that the modifications and enhancements to Union Station will facilitate economic growth in the city and attract new commuters as the historic station enters its second century.
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