What does the Federal government shutdown mean for Section 106?

Without the enactment of new funding legislation, most Federal agencies, programs, and employees are on hiatus. Until funding is restored, the Federal government will only be acting on emergencies and matters of safety and security. How this works depends on the agency. For instance, while military operations continue uninterrupted, the Army Corps of Engineers has ceased most of its activities and civilian employees at Wright Patterson Air Force Base are on indefinite furlough. Some agencies, including the National Park Service and the Federal Communications Commission, have taken their websites down.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is closed, for the most part. However, staff whose positions are funded by arrangements with the other agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Energy, are working. Most employees are unavailable, however. So, chances are that the Council is not going to respond to requests for comment, notifications of adverse effect findings, or invitations to consult until the shutdown is over.

Despite the shutdown, most activities that were funded in Fiscal Year 2013, which ended on September 30, are not affected. So, many highway projects, building rehabs, and construction projects are proceeding. On the other hand, consultation to resolve adverse effects cannot proceed until agency staff are back at work.

If you are an applicant for a license, permit, or funding, or if you are a contractor working on a Federal undertaking, and you are unsure of the status of your undertaking, our best advice is to try and phone or email the Federal agency. If no one is available, you will probably receive an automated email or voice message saying so. We don't have any special access to agency officials, so we are unlikely to be able to reach anyone if you can't.

As information becomes available or circumstances change, we'll share what we know. For now, let's hope that a spending bill gets passed by Congress and signed by the President soon, allowing the Federal government to resume normal operations.

Cincinnati Named a Preserve America Community by First Lady

First Lady Michelle Obama has sent designation letters to three new Preserve America Communities, including Cincinnati.

With this most recent group of designations, Ohio has 21 Preserve America Communities. The program recognizes communities that use preservation of their cultural resources for sustainability and economic benefit. Preserve America Communities are located in all states and some U.S. territories. Applications for Preserve America designation can be submitted quarterly; December 1, 2013, is the next deadline. The program  is administered by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

Coordinating NEPA and Section 106

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation has issued guidance to help agencies, applicants, and consultants can better coordinate National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance and Section 106 compliance. The handbook also guides stakeholders and the public who want to influence decisions about environmental review and advises agencies on how to maximize the effectiveness of public involvement under NEPA and Section 106.

The Advisory Council plans to offer training on the handbook. We'll let you know when details become available.

Changes to Submitting Survey Reports

We are making a change to the Section 106 review process in Ohio to improve the efficiency of the process and the accessibility of information. Effective July 1, we would like all agencies and consultants to submit reports on disk as well as paper. This isn’t a major change for those of you who are already sending us disks, although you may have to format your reports differently. 

You won’t notice any real difference in the review after you’ve sent us a report. However, when a researcher or agency wants a copy of that report, we’ll be able to send a file. As with inventory forms, you will no longer have to come to our office to read and copy reports that have been submitted on or after July 1. Some earlier reports will also be available electronically, if consultants have provided them to us.

We will continue to harness technologies as they become more widely available and usable to make the review process smoother. In the future, we expect to institute such features as online review status lookup, project locations in our Online Mapping System, and—ultimately—a Web-based submission and review system. The latest change is an incremental step in that direction.

To help you get started, we have created standards for formatting you report.

If you have any questions, please contact us at (614) 298-2000 or section106@ohiohistory.org.