FEDERAL AGENCY POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND STUDIES TO IDENTIFY AND MANAGE HISTORIC PROPERTIES Federal agencies have a variety of policies and procedures to identify and manage their historic properties. These are derived from statutes both specific (e.g., Sections 1, 106, and 110 of the NHPA; Archaeological Resources Protection Act) and general (Federal Lands Policy Management Act, National Environmental Policy Act, etc.), from Executive Orders (e.g., EO 13327, Federal Real Property Asset Management) to internal department and agency policy and requirements that implement these statutes and EOs. This reporting cycle saw several federal agencies making updates to internal policies and procedures and undertaking studies and identification efforts specific to the management of historic properties. In 2018, GSA embarked on a historic building reinvestment study comparing the cost of GSA-funded rehabilitation and GSA new construction (over a 30-year period) to
determine the relative costs of reusing historic buildings and new construction. The study confirmed that rehabilitation consistently costs less than new construction and that the disparity has increased over time. Forty rehabilitation projects completed between 1990 and 2017 averaged $180 per gross square foot, compared to 80 new construction projects averaging $297 per gross square foot, a 65 percent difference. Nineteen rehabilitation projects completed between 2001 and 2019 averaged $203 per gross square foot, compared to 15 new construction projects averaging $553 per gross square foot, 172 percent higher than the cost of rehabilitation. The study also compared operating costs, finding that 2017 utility, janitorial, and mechanical
Falcon Dam is the lowermost major multipurpose international dam and reservoir on the Rio Grande. (USIBWC)
costs in three recently rehabilitated buildings were equal to or lower than those operating costs for GSA new construction in the same location. Overall, GSA historic buildings outperformed nonhistoric buildings in energy usage by 12.3 percent, confirming that historic buildings can, with appropriate reinvestment for improved performance, offer a sound long-term real estate value and cost-effective solution for meeting federal space needs. GSA has primarily used this information to support reinvestment options and approaches that include reuse of historic buildings as opposed to larger, new construction and historic building disposal. HIGHLIGHTS ›› The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finalized revisions to its Cultural Resource Management Program (Directive 017-01, Rev. 01) and its Instruction Guide on the Implementation of a Cultural Resource Management Program (Instruction 017-01-001, Rev. 01) in Fiscal Year 2020, and the documents are currently in the final review process. ›› CBP updated its Historic Preservation Identification and Evaluation Plan in 2018 that provides best management practices and guidelines for conducting the appropriate identification, evaluation, and nomination of CBP properties to the National
40 | IN A SPIRIT OF STEWARDSHIP: A REPORT ON FEDERAL HISTORIC PROPERTY MANAGEMENT 2021
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