PRESERVATION ACTION LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
 



LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
VOLUME 23, NUMBER 09
MARCH 13, 2020

Preservation Action Submits Testimony to House Appropriations Committee in Support of Historic Preservation Priorities

Last week Preservation Action submitted written testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies as they work on drafting FY21 Interior Appropriations. This includes funding for important historic preservation programs like the Historic Preservation Fund and National Heritage Areas.

Preservation Action requests full funding at $150 million for the Historic Preservation Fund, including increases for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers and key historic preservation grant programs like the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization grant program, Civil Right Movement grants and the Save America's Treasures program. Preservation Action also supports $32 million for the Preservation Partnership Program, which supports National Heritage Areas.

In addition to our request, we thanked the committee for their continued strong support of preservation priorities and thanked the committee for expressing their concern over the proposed changes to the National Register of Historic Places. Read our full testimony to the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee.

Join us in urging Congress to support full funding for the Historic Preservation Fund. Urge your Representatives to sign-on to the FY21 House HPF Dear Colleague letter and your Senators to sign-on to the FY21 Senate HPF Dear Colleague letter The deadline for signatures is Tuesday,  March 17th.
President Announces Support for the Restore Our Parks and Full LWCF Funding. Legislation Introduced in the Senate

Last week, President Trump announced his support for the Restore Our Parks Act, which would address the deferred maintenance backlog at the National Park Service, and his support for full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at $900 million annually. Following the news, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised to bring legislation to the Senate floor.

The administration had previously expressed their support for addressing the deferred maintenance backlog at the National Park Service, but the announcement of full funding for the LWCF came as a surprise. President Trump's most recent FY21 budget request, called for a 97% cut to the LWCF.

A bipartisan group of Senators including Sen. Cory Garder (R-CO), Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) and 56 other bipartisan cosponsors introduced the Great American Outdoors Act (S. 3422) which combines the provisions of the Restore Our Parks Act and the legislation to fully fund for the LWCF. The bill would fully fund the LWCF at $900 million and provides $6.5 billion over five years to address the National Parks Service's deferred maintenance backlog, which estimated be nearly $12 billion, 43% of which is attributed to historic assets.

Urge your Senators to cosponsor S. 3422 today and to vote YES on this important legislation.

Preservation Action Submits Comments on the Proposed Changes to the National Environmental Protection Act

This week Preservation Action submitted comments to the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) responding to proposed revisions to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). As stated in our comments, the proposed changes would have a dramatic impact on historic and cultural resources.  NEPA regulations require federal agencies to consider a projects impact on the human environment, which includes historic and cultural resources. Like Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, NEPA requires public engagement and for federal agencies to consider alternatives before proceeding with a project that could impact historic resources, but does not mandate a particular outcome.  

The proposed changes would make it easier for a federal agency to move forward with a project without public engagement by expanding the use of categorical exclusions and disregarding non-technical public comments. These changes would limit the ability of the public to express concerns about a federal project. Additionally, the proposed changes would remove or reduce the requirements of federal agencies to consider "cumulative" and "indirect" impacts of a project, and instead focus on effects that have a "close causal relationship". Limiting the consideration of indirect impacts, like changes to a setting, tourism and traffic would have a huge impact on historic resources.

Preservation Action will continue to monitor the the proposed changes to NEPA. Thank you to our members and supporters for making your voices heard on this important issue. Check out Preservation Action's full comments today!

Thanks for Another Successful Preservation Advocacy Week

National Park Service Acting Director David Vela speaking at Advocacy Week 2020
Preservation Action along with our partners at the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers just concluded another great National Historic Preservation Advocacy Week in Washington, DC this week. Despite contending with a unique set of circumstances as concern over Covid-19 rises, we were joined by more than 150 participants, representing 41 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. Thank you to everyone that helped make Advocacy Week 2020 a huge success.

The gathered group of preservation advocates were fortunate to hear from national preservation leaders and policy experts on the current legislative landscape and insight on conducting successful congressional visits. We were also honored to be joined by Acting Director of the National Park Service, David Vela , Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee,  Rep. Raul Grijalva  (D-AZ) and Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY), who shared their unique perspectives on why historic preservation is important and how we could all be better preservation advocates.

The next day advocates from across the country took to the Hill and met with their members of congress in support of historic preservation priorities. In the evening, Preservation Action hosted the Champions of Historic Preservation Congressional Reception, where we thanked select members of Congress for their strong support and leadership on historic preservation.

Hill Report Forms/Follow Up

Please submit your Advocacy Week Hill Report Forms. Knowing how your meetings went is critical for our continued advocacy. You can complete your report form online or return completed forms to mail@preservationaction.org.


A s preservationists return to the their home states as Hill veterans, remember to follow-up from your congressional visits. Send a personalized thank you note and invite members and staff to tour a historic tax credit project in-district.

Preservation Action
2020 Pennsylvania Ave NW #313
Washington, DC 20006
p. 202-463-0970


Preservation Action is the only national  non-profit dedicated exclusively to lobbying for the best preservation policies at the federal level. We seek to make historic preservation a national priority by advocating to all branches of government through a grassroots constituency empowered with information and training.