The National Park Service (NPS) today announced $1.2 million in Underrepresented Community Grants for 21 projects in 16 states and the District of Columbia. These funds will support the identification, planning, and development of nominations or amendments to the National Register of Historic Places for diverse communities.
“The National Park Service is proud to award this grant funding to state, Tribal, and local governments to help them diversify their listings in the National Register of Historic Places,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. “Since 2014, the Underrepresented Community Grants program has provided $5.75 million to better tell the varied histories and stories of all Americans, so that they may one day no longer be called underrepresented.”
(1)The spirit and direction of the Nation are founded upon and reflected in its historic heritage
(5) in the face of ever-increasing extensions of urban centers, highways, and residential, commercial, and industrial developments, the present governmental and nongovernmental historic preservation programs and activities are inadequate to insure future generations a genuine opportunity to appreciate and enjoy the rich heritage of ourNation;
(7)although the major burdens of historic preservation have been borne and major efforts initiated by private agencies and individuals, and both should continue to play a vital role, it is nevertheless necessary and appropriate for the Federal Government to accelerate its historic preservation programs and activities, to give maximum encouragement to agencies and individuals undertaking preservation by private means, and to assist State and local governments;
With passage of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in 1966, the federal government embarked on a new era of leadership in the preservation of our nation’s historic properties.
The NHPA established a partnership between the federal government and state, tribal, and local governments that is supported by federal funding for preservation activities. The National Park Service provides matching grants-in-aid from the Historic Preservation Fund to State Historic Preservation Officers, Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, and local governments certified as having qualified preservation programs. The NHPA also created the ACHP, the first and only federal agency created solely to address historic preservation issues.
The NHPA established a framework to foster a new ethic through all levels and agencies of the federal government. Section 106 of the NHPA requires federal agencies to consider the impact of their actions on historic properties and provide the ACHP with an opportunity to comment on projects before implementation. Because of Section 106, agencies have to assume responsibility for the consequences of their actions on historic properties and be publicly accountable for their decisions. Section 110 calls on all federal agencies to establish preservation programs and designate Federal Preservation Officers to coordinate their historic preservation activities.
The NHPA has been amended and expanded a number of times since its original passage. In 2014, Public Law 13-287 moved the Act’s provisions from title 16 of the United States Code to title 54, with minimal and non-substantive changes to the text of the Act and a re-ordering of some of its provisions.
View the full text of the National Historic Preservation Act.
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