Long security lines and rainy weather did not dissuade hundreds of preservation advocates, including ACRA members, from going to Capitol Hill last week to make their voices heard.
As part of the 2026 Preservation Advocacy Week, almost 200 SHPOs, CRM professionals, and preservationists from across the country met with nearly 300 House and Senate offices to press the case for the sector’s top priorities before Congress:
- Strengthening the Section 106 process through stronger consultation and early coordination
- Investing in SHPOS and THPOs through the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) – including grants for technology upgrades
- Supporting improvements to the Historic Tax Credit
The centerpiece of the pitch is “250 for 250”: a campaign to honor the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence by providing $250 million for the HPF, including $25 million for states and Tribes to digitize records and improve technology, in the next fiscal year. Such funding would help accelerate project delivery by making records more easily accessible.
The need for better technology has been a constant theme in discussions in policymaking circles about ways to improve the permitting process, including at last October’s Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing about Section 106 and at the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s (ACHP) February business meeting at which they discussed potential revisions to their 800 regulations implementing Section 106.
While $250 million for the HPF is an ambitious ask (the previous high-water mark was a shade over $200 million a few years back), the bipartisan desire to reform permitting processes provides a strong foundation on which to make the request. In the coming weeks, preservation champions on Capitol Hill will begin lobbying their congressional colleagues to support the funding; watch out for action alerts from ACRA asking you to ask your representatives to support preservation and cultural resources in this semiquincentennial year.
This is the second year in a row that ACRA has partnered with preservation organizations like Preservation Action and the National Conference of SHPOs to support Advocacy Week. The event not only builds the collective voice of the preservation community as it lobbies Congress but provides a chance for the various players in preservation to connect and better understand their roles. As ACRA’s Executive Director Amanda Stratton noted in welcoming attendees, “CRM firms hold a unique space in preservation. But we are all spokes on the same wheel.”
Interior Finalizes Revised NEPA Rules
The Department of the Interior published its final revised National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rules Feb. 24, making few changes from the interim final rule (IFR) it published last summer.
The IFR partially rescinded Interior’s NEPA implementing regulations following the elimination of the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) NEPA regulations and the Supreme Court’s Seven Counties decision limiting the scope of NEPA reviews. Interior said it will maintain the majority of its NEPA procedures in a Departmental Handbook separate from the regulations.
In its comments in response to the IFR last year, ACRA reminded the Department that “[a]ny changes to the Department’s NEPA regulations do not release it from its obligations under Section 106 of NHPA and its accompanying regulations” and urged the Department to consider how its NEPA revisions will affect cultural resource reviews under NHPA.
Seeking Section 106 Successes – and Problems
As the ACHP continues to examine its 800 regulations, ACRA and its preservation partners are making the case that the vast majority of Section 106 reviews happen on time and without delay, and in many cases result in a better overall project.
ACRA wants to hear from you about examples of projects where the Section 106 consultative process led to positive outcomes, both for the underlying project and for the protection of historic properties.
We also want to hear about those reviews that did not work well, so we can better identify where some of the hiccups lie. This will enable ACRA to offer targeted solutions that address specific challenges without undermining the entire process.
If you have good case studies, please share them with us at info@acra-crm.org.