摘要: |
Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, federal agencies, including the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), must consider the effect of an undertaking on historic properties. For transportation undertakings, state departments of transportation (DOTs) frequently act as the federal agency representative and evaluate the effects on historic properties as part of the transportation project development process. DOTs must be equipped not only to make such evaluations but also to clearly communicate the findings to federal agencies, State Historic Preservation Officers (SHPOs), Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs), other consulting parties, and members of the public. Federal regulation (36 CFR 800.5) makes a distinction between undertakings that adversely affect historic properties and those that do not; the latter are referred to as no-effect and no-adverse-effect findings. The criteria for determining an adverse effect is well-defined in the regulations; however, adverse effect findings account for only a small percentage of the Section 106 determinations made each year. There is less information on findings of no-effect or no-adverse-effect to historic properties. Such cases are frequently encountered in connection with transportation projects.
The objective of this research is to produce a handbook for cultural resource professionals at state DOTs and other transportation agencies on developing and effectively communicating Section 106 determinations for findings of no-effect and no-adverse-effect to historic properties from transportation projects. |