Preservation Action Legislative Update
Legislative Update
Volume 25. Number 20
June 24, 2022
1. DRAFT INTERIOR FUNDING BILL OUT
2. TWO TRIBAL BILLS INTRODUCED
3. BEARS EARS AGREEMENT WITH TRIBES
4. STORIES FROM AROUND THE STATES
House Appropriations Committee Releases FY23 Draft Interior Bill Including Support for the HPF
This week the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee held the markup for their FY23 Interior Appropriations bill. This bill includes $170.825 million for the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), just below the current the FY22 enacted level of $173.072 million, but $19 million over the President's request. Once again the bill notably exceeds the current authorized level of $150 million. Overall the bill calls for $3.6 billion for the National Park Service, an increase of $378 million over enacted levels. The full breakdown for the Historic Preservation Fund is below. 

  • $82 million for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices ($8 million over FY22)
  • $26.5 million for Save America's Treasures grants (equal to FY22)
  • $10 million for competitive grants for HBCUs (equal to FY22)
  • $10 million for the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization grants (equal to FY22)
  • $26.75 million for Civil Rights Movement grants ($375,000 over FY22)
  • $3 million for the Semiquincentennial grant program ($7 million below FY22)
  • $1.25 million for Underrepresented Communities grants (equal to FY22)
  • $11.65 million for Community Project Funding ($3.622 below FY22)

Additionally, the bill includes $8.585 million for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, a $330,000 increase over FY22. The bill also fully funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at $900 million. The bill's HPF funding included $11.65 million in congressionally directed spending (or Community Project Funding) for historic preservation projects. You can view a complete list of the proposed HPF projects here.

The House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee voted to advance the bill, sending it to the full Appropriations Committee for consideration. While Preservation Action is very pleased to see much needed increases for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs) and continued strong support for programs like the African American Civil Rights grant program, we're disappointed in the decrease in overall funding for the Historic Preservation Fund. More is needed, especially as SHPOs and THPOs will face increased workloads in project reviews due to the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Preservation Action will continue to monitor the appropriations process and urge increased funding for the Historic Preservation Fund. Stay tuned for more!
Two Bills Introduced Will Improve Protection of Tribal Cultural Sites
This week, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced the Advancing Tribal Parity on Federal Lands Act (S. 4421, H.R. 8108) and the Tribal Cultural Heritage Areas Protection Act (S. 4423, H.R. 8109) in the House and Senate. These important bills would help advance Tribal management of public lands and improve protection of sacred and cultural sites

Despite most public lands consisting of ancestral homelands of Tribal Nations and existing treaty rights, current public land management laws do not adequately protect these rights or interest of Tribal Nations. The Tribal Parity on Federal Lands Act would prohibit the sale of public lands containing Tribal cultural sites, authorize Tribal governments to acquire public lands, increase Tribal consultation, and require the consideration of Tribal cultural sites in acquisition decisions. The Tribal Cultural Heritage Areas Protection Act would direct public land management to identify Tribal cultural areas, establish a national Tribal Cultural Areas System within public lands, and provide authority to Tribal Nation to manage these areas.

Both bills were introduced in the House with companion legislation in the Senate and were referred to the House Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee respectively. Learn more about these import bills!
Native American Tribes to Co-Manage Bear Ears National Monument
This week the Biden Administration reached a cooperative agreement with 5 Native American Tribes; the Hopi Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, and the Pueblo of Zuni on the management of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. The agreement will provide the 5 Tribes who've inhabited the region for centuries, more say over the day to day management of the National Monument and marks the first time Native American Tribes will co-manage a National Monument.

President Obama first established Bears Ears National Monument, a profoundly sacred area to many Tribes in southeast Utah, and rich in cultural and historical sites. President Trump dramatically shrank the National Monument by 85% in 2017. President Biden restored and slightly expanded the original boundary of the National Monument in October of last year.

The agreement could set a precedent for similar land management arrangements between other tribes. Learn more about this important agreement.
National News
Stories From Around the States
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.