ACRA has provided feedback to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) on a proposed program comment on climate and communities.
The ACHP released a Proposed Program Comment on Accessible, Climate-Resilient, Connected Communities and is inviting public comments until Wednesday, October 9.
The ACHP says that “the intent of the Program Comment is to help accelerate the review of federal agency actions to rehabilitate existing housing or create new housing in existing buildings, to maintain and update buildings and their immediate environs in response to climate concerns, and to rehabilitate or create new climate-friendly transportation infrastructure. It would apply to all agencies proposing to carry out, license, permit, or fund the covered undertakings which elect to use it.”
The Program Comment would provide all federal agencies with an alternative to Section 106 for a wide range of undertakings.
The overview of ACRA’s comments states:
The Section 106 process was enacted in the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and
implemented through Council regulations at 36 CFR 800. It is an American success story which has
enabled the government and the private sector to build the infrastructure on which our society
depends, while ensuring that we do not compromise our historic and cultural heritage. More critically,
the Section 106 process ensures that states, Tribes and the public have the ability to comment on
undertakings.
For certain routine undertakings that may warrant an expedited process, the Council has worked with
stakeholders to develop tools like memoranda of agreement (MOA), programmatic agreements (PA),
program alternatives, and – where appropriate and when requested by federal agencies – program
comments. ACRA believes such approaches, when carefully and thoughtfully developed, are consistent
with the intent of the Section 106 process to balance the twin goals of development and heritage
protection.
We are deeply concerned, however, that this proposed Program Comment is so broad and all-
encompassing that it will undermine significant work conducted over decades by Council members,
state and Tribal preservation officers, cultural resource management firms and professionals, and
many others to strike an appropriate balance between those goals. ACRA also is concerned that the
process by which this Program Comment is being developed has not allowed for the thoughtful and
developed consultation, review, and feedback that such a far-reaching document demands.
Worse, by proposing that the Program Comment will be in effect for two decades, and allowing it to be
unilaterally extended by whomever holds the position of Chair, the Council could very well allow the
Section 106 process to be further undermined by exempting broad categories of undertakings from
review for virtually any policy goal.
ACRA fully supports the intended policy goals of this Program Comment, including construction of
more affordable housing and the development of buildings and transportation systems that address
the impacts of climate change. We also agree that these issues demand urgent attention from the
federal government. However, the core mission of the Council is to balance worthy policy goals like
these with the equally vital goal of avoiding irreparable harm to historic, archaeological, and
traditional cultural places and properties. This Program Comment simply does not strike that balance.
ACRA’s specific concerns with the Program Comment are summarized below.
Read ACRA’s full comments here. Members who wish to submit their own comments can do so by email to program_alternatives@achp.gov by tomorrow, Wednesday, October 9.