Coalition Defends National Monuments

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On May 25, 2017, the Coalition for American Heritage addressed the current Department of Interior national monuments review in a letter submitted in official public comments. Signing on to the letter are some of the nation’s most pre-eminent historic preservation organizations, including the American Anthropological Association, American Cultural Resources Association, Archaeological Institute of America, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Preservation Action, US/ICOMOS, Society for American Archaeology, and the Society for Historical Archaeology.

You can read the letter here. Our comments underline the importance of national monuments for preserving our heritage, and for the national tourism industry. We provided recommendations on how the DOI can balance stewardship and access to public lands under the existing monument system.

As of May 30th, the Department has received over 123,000 public comments regarding the national monuments review, which are opposing the review at a ratio of 100 to 1. A national consortium of photographers have published a free e-book Land Almost Lost showing the beauty of some of the monuments under threat.

To add your voice, click here to submit your own public comments!

Dept. of the Interior Opens Public Comment on National Monuments

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President Trump has ordered a review of national monuments designated since 1996. The Antiquities Act, signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, allows presidents to designate “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of scientific interest.” The Antiquities Act was a careful compromise between the rights of government agencies to shelter vulnerable resources on federal land, the property rights of western landowners and industries, and the preservation concerns of historians and archaeologists. Nearly every U.S. President, beginning with Theodore Roosevelt and regardless of political party, has used this executive privilege to preserve cultural sites of the highest national importance.

The Department of the Interior is now soliciting public comment on our national monuments. You can read the notice and a list of monuments under review here. The Coalition for American Heritage has prepared draft comments that you can personalize to make your views known on the record. Submit your comments today here.

What the Spending Deal Means for Heritage Preservation

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Congress reached a deal this weekend to fund the government through the end of this fiscal year, September 30, 2017. The spending bill is available here (all 1600 pages!)

What does the spending deal mean for heritage preservation?

  • Save America’s Treasures Grants are Back! This grant program, which supports preservation of nationally significant sites, structures and artifacts, had not been funded in recent years. The $5 million appropriated must be matched by grantees with non-federal funds.
  • Historic Preservation Fund appropriated at $80.9 million:
    • $47,925,000 to States ($1 million increase for SHPOs over FY 2016)
    • $10,485,000 to Tribes ($500,000 increase for THPOs over FY 2016)
    • In addition to $5 million for Save America’s Treasures grants, $13 million is appropriated for competitive grants to preserve the sites and stories of the Civil Rights Movement; $500,000 for competitive grants for the survey and nomination of properties to the National Register that are associated with underrepresented communities; and $4 million for grants to historically black colleges and universities.
  • National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities Get Increase! Both endowments are funded at $150 million, meaning they each get a $2 million increase!
  • National Park Service Fully Funded and Centennial Projects Supported: NPS is fully funded, with an additional $81 million appropriated for Centennial projects / maintenance backlog.
  • BLM Gets a Foundation: Establishes a Bureau of Land Management Foundation to accept charitable contributions to support BLM’s mission, including stewardship of cultural and archaeological treasures on public lands
  • National Science Foundation gets level funding.

Coalition Responds to FCC’s Plans to Change NHPA Reviews

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Last week the Coalition for American Heritage filed comments on the Federal Communications Commission’s plans to exempt 5G wireless facilities from certain types of historical reviews. The 55-page Draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry contemplates that “The Commission would open a comprehensive review of the legal framework for infrastructure deployment reviews, to identify regulatory barriers and examine how the Commission could act to remove or reduce these barriers…The NPRM would also open a review of FCC rules and procedures for historic preservation (NHPA) and environmental (NEPA) review.”

While FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai claimed in a blog post that such measures were necessary to facilitate speedy construction of next-generation technologies, the Coalition pointed out that the NHPA review process already has flexibility to tailor historic reviews to the needs of a specific agency or industry. Additionally, the Coalition noted that many of the delays experienced by wireless providers arise from chronic underfunding for the state and tribal historic preservation offices charged with reviewing historical compliance, or the FCC’s own processes, rather than underlying structural issues with Section 106.

In its comments, the Coalition stresses that American heritage is a shared community value, a multi-billion-dollar industry, and a significant contributor to a healthy quality of life. Our comments propose several alternative ways the FCC can improve the historic review process without excluding local communities from reviews of projects that have the potential to impact them. You can read the complete Coalition response here. The Coalition looks forward to working with the FCC to find innovative solutions that balance our nation’s wireless infrastructure with preservation of non-renewable historic resources.

The FCC meets April 20 to vote on whether to proceed with publishing the Draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register. Once it is published, there will be a 90-day public comment period. We welcome Coalition supporters to provide their own feedback on the FCC’s proposed changes and to help with future comments on this issue. To volunteer your expertise, please email us.

Webinar: Yes You Can! Advocating and Lobbying as a Nonprofit

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Join Us for a Free Webinar!
Thursday, May 4
2:30-3:30pm EDT
Register Today

In this webinar, we’ll dispel the common myth that 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations are not allowed to lobby. Armed with specific examples for heritage organizations, we’ll walk through how your organization can engage in advocacy and lobbying activities without jeopardizing its IRS status. Learn how your organization can provide much-needed policy expertise to lawmakers, spread the word among your supporters about legislation that will affect programs important to them, and leverage your membership to make a difference on issues that matter. You’ll leave with concrete next steps your organization can take to stand up for heritage without raising eyebrows at the IRS. Register Today.

Our Presenter:

Attorney Marion Werkheiser is a founding partner of Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC, a law, policy, and strategy firm for the heritage sector based in Washington, D.C. Marion has advised nonprofits on how to engage in advocacy for more than a decade, and she is a registered lobbyist representing the Coalition for American Heritage and likeminded heritage organizations in Washington. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Marion is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and California.

President Trump Orders Agencies to Roll Back Regulations on Energy Development

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On March 28th, President Trump issued an Executive Order entitled “Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth.” In addition to rescinding key pieces of the Obama administration’s environmental agenda, the Order requires federal departments and agencies to begin a review process that will likely result in the rolling back of Obama-era regulations designed to prepare the country for climate change and reduce pollutants such as carbon and methane. This loosening of regulations on fossil fuel industries signals President Trump’s intent to withdraw from climate change action.

Although President Trump’s order stops short of withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, the directive is clearly aimed at preventing regulatory overreach.  It mandates that federal agencies present to the OMB a plan for reviewing all agency actions (regulations, orders, guidelines, policies, etc.) that “potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources, with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy resources.” Interestingly, the Order specifically states that agencies are not required to review “agency actions that are mandated by law.” In fact, the Order states multiple times that it is not intended to interfere with or change any requirements imposed by law – presumably meaning that regulations mandated by NHPA and NEPA will be unaffected.

Nevertheless, because it rescinds the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s 2016 guidelines, President Trump’s order will reduce pressure on federal agencies to factor climate change into NEPA reviews. However, if agencies begin producing environmental reviews without considering greenhouse gas effects, litigation will certainly ensue, with plaintiffs alleging that under NEPA, agencies legally cannot disregard climate change. Courts will therefore remain at the crux of such considerations no matter how much President Trump attempts to loosen the regulatory reins.

While these strokes of the pen will result in some quick changes for agency programs, many potential impacts of President Trump’s order will be more delayed.  Rescinding or revising current regulations will trigger lengthy formal rule-making procedures, which can take up to two years. Court challenges will also hinder implementation of President Trump’s order in the short term and perhaps dampen its practical significance.

Analyzing the White House’s Budget Blueprint

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The White House and OMB have released “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again.”

This outline reiterates the current administration’s commitment to developing an infrastructure package and indicates that infrastructure will be part of the full budget released later this spring.

The budget blueprint seeks to eliminate a number of programs and sources of funding, including:

  • The National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts
  • The community development block grant program at HUD ($3 billion per year)
  • Funding for National Heritage Areas (“which are more appropriately funded locally”)
  • Treasury Department would eliminate the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) grants. CDFIs are used by local communities to finance historic preservation projects and to deploy new markets tax credits.

The blueprint likewise aims to shrink budgets across the board:

  • Overall 12% decrease for the Interior Department ($1.5 billion reduction)
  • Reduces funding for any new federal land acquisition
  • State Department dramatically cut by 28.7%. Educational and Cultural Exchange programs cut except for Fulbright.
  • Transportation cut by 12.7%: “Limits funding for the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Program (New Starts) to projects with existing full funding grant agreements only. Future investments in new transit projects would be funded by the localities that use and benefit from these localized projects.” This program funds light rail, heavy rail, commuter rail, streetcar, and bus rapid transit projects.
  • EPA gets a dramatic cut (31.4%).
  • Small Business Administration gets 5% decrease; SBA outreach centers will be reorganized.
  • Army Corps of Engineers would get a 16.3% decrease in funding.

Other items of note include:

  • Interior Department: “Strengthens the Nation’s energy security by increasing funding for DOI programs that support environmentally responsible development of energy on public lands and offshore waters. Combined with administrative reforms already in progress, this would allow DOI to streamline permitting processes and provide industry with access to the energy resources America needs, while ensuring taxpayers receive a fair return from the development of these public resources.”
  • Tribes at DOI: “Supports tribal sovereignty and self-determination across Indian Country by focusing on core funding and services to support ongoing tribal government operations. The Budget reduces funding for more recent demonstration projects and initiatives that only serve a few Tribes.”
  • Increase investment in deferred maintenance in the National Parks
  • “Leverages taxpayer investment with public and private resources through wildlife conservation, historic preservation, and recreation grants. These voluntary programs encourage partnerships by providing matching funds that produce greater benefits to taxpayers for the Federal dollars invested.”

The Union of Concerned Scientists published a helpful blog post that explains the budget process and how these recommendations fit in.

Executive Order on Reorganizing the Administrative State

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On March 13th, President Trump issued an Executive Order “On a Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch.”

Another step in President Trump’s plan to “deconstruct the administrative state,” this order focuses on reducing the size of the executive branch by reorganizing – and eliminating – federal agencies. The stated purpose of the order is to “improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the executive branch” through a reorganization that would “eliminate unnecessary agencies…components of agencies, and agency programs.” Complemented by President Trump’s recently-released budget plan and January hiring freeze memorandum, the order challenges domestic programs and the federal workforce.

The cost- and function-cutting measures that President Trump seeks to impose will not, however, result in an immediate reorganization of the entire executive branch. The order directs each agency to devise a “proposed plan to reorganize the agency, if appropriate,” and to submit it to OMB within six months. Not every agency will find such reorganization “appropriate,” nor will lawmakers give President Trump unilateral authority to reinvent the federal administrative system. President Trump will need to work together with Congress in order to realize his goals.

Waters of the United States Rule

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On February 28, 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order on “Restoring the Rule of  Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the ‘Waters of the United States’ Rule (WOTUS).”

Another effort to roll back Obama-era environmental protections, the order directs the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers to revise or repeal WOTUS, which applies to approximately 60% of bodies of water in the US. The order thus amounts to an attempt to redefine, and thereby shrink, the federal government’s permitting jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. Reduced federal jurisdiction would result in fewer projects that need permits; a requirement for fewer permits would, in turn, result in fewer Section 106 reviews.

Although President Trump has offered few clues about the path his administration will take to eliminate or rewrite the rule, the process will not be quick. Key administrative positions at both the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers remain unfilled, meaning that major players in what will be a convoluted and drawn-out review process are still missing. Moreover, rewriting or repealing WOTUS would require a rulemaking of its own, which requires Federal Register notice and a comment period – a process that can take up to two years.

Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda

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On February 24th, President Trump issued an Executive Order on “Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda.”

This Order requires agencies to designate an official as the “Regulatory Reform Officer” to enforce compliance with previous Executive Orders on regulatory reform. Agencies also must create a Regulatory Reform Task Force to evaluate existing regulations and make recommendations for repeal, modification, or replacement.

Note that similar efforts were made under the Obama Administration and the Clinton Administration, although taken together with other executive orders by President Trump, it is clear the effort is part of a broader Administration-wide goal of reducing and repealing regulations.