The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has published a webpage with advocacy resources regarding the proposed changes to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The toolkit includes background information, talking points, next steps, and other guides to navigate the public comment process.

 

For the last two months, the draft has been under review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and is set to be published in the Federal Register for public comment but had not yet been at the time of writing. Once the draft is published in the Federal Register, the public will potentially have 30 days to comment. As mentioned in previous LASN reporting, it is worth noting that revisions may be altered by the time they are made public, particularly with the industry outrage caused by the initial announcement.

In late July, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) voted to move forward with revisions to 36 CFR Part 800 that would allegedly transform the process by which federal agencies engage with the historical preservation review process. Controversy with these changes arose when the previously approved 30-day revision and 60-day public comment timeline was ignored, leaving council members with one week and no advanced notice on what the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO) declared "a fundamental rewrite" of the federal government's involvement in historic preservation.

LASN will continue to monitor the situation.