The Coalition for American Heritage wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in support of S 2827, the African-American Burial Grounds Network Act, a bill to protect and preserve historic African-American burial grounds.

The Coalition applauds Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) for introducing the bill in the U.S. Senate. A similar bill, HR 1179, was introduced in the U.S. House earlier this year by Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) and Rep. Don McEachin (D-VA).

In the letter to the Senate committee, the Coalition detailed the need for a national network of burial grounds and asked the committee to pass the bill as quickly as possible. 

Sixty-five other organizations from across the nation joined the Coalition on the letter. To read a full copy, click here.

It’s early October, but we’re already in Fiscal Year 2020. Another possible federal government shutdown looms on the horizon as fights over funding for a border wall remain unresolved. However, recent passage of a continuing resolution ensures that the federal government will be funded through November 21^st.

In the meantime, the House and Senate must finish passing bills to fund federal agencies. Then, representatives from the two chambers negotiate the differences between their bills before passing a final, compromise piece of legislation.

It appears likely that funding for key preservation projects will again rise this year, based on the numbers now being discussed. The figures in the House bill are noticeably higher than those in the Senate bill, which is still pending. While the Senate Appropriations Committee has finalized its work on the Interior appropriations bill, it could still be amended during the vote on the floor of the Senate.

The chart below shows how much money was appropriated for specific preservation programs last year (FY 19), how much is included in the House-passed bill for FY 20, and how much money the Senate Appropriations Committee approved for FY 20.

In response to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s (ACHP) request for stakeholder input on its strategic plan, the Coalition for American Heritage wrote a letter highlighting areas in which the ACHP could reduce conflicts over proposed developments, promote best practices in preservation, and use new technologies to protect America’s historic legacy. Read a full copy of the letter here.

Read our latest update from Washington for details on the record-high funding levels for preservation in legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Find out about the new Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and learn how she plans to approach her job. See photos from the American Cultural Resources Association’s “CRM Day on the Hill 2019.” Get an overview of preservation policy in our July newsletter.

On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $383 billion spending package that includes record-high funding levels for preservation and the endowments, a strong rebuke of National Park Service plans to re-write regulations governing the National Register nominations process, and support for greater diversity in America’s heritage sites. If enacted, the bill would fund seven of the 15 fifteen federal departments for FY 2020, which begins on October 1. Next, the U.S. Senate is expected to pass its version of bills to fund the federal agencies. Without a deal on budget caps, however, a government shutdown is still possible later this year.

The Fiscal Year 2020 Interior-Environment funding bill includes $121.66 million for the Historic Preservation Fund. This represents a $19 million increase over last year’s funding. It is also $88,988,000 more than President Trump requested for the program. According to the bill, the funds would be allocated as follows:

• $53,675,000 for State Historic Preservation Offices, an increase of $4,000,000 above last year
• $13,735,000 for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, a $2,000,000 increase
• $23,250,000 for competitive grants to document, interpret, and preserve historical sites associated with the struggle for civil rights, an increase of $8,000,000 above the enacted level, including:
  • $17,500,000 for competitive grants to the African American Civil Rights, an increase of $3,000,000
  • $5,000,000 to establish a new civil rights grant program that would preserve and highlight the sites and stories associated with securing civil rights for All Americans, including women, American Latino, Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and LGBTQ Americans
  • $750,000 for grants to under-represented communities
• $16,000,000 for the Save America’s Treasures grant program, an increase of $3,000,000 to preserve our nation’s most significant historic and cultural resources
• $10,000,000 for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities grant program, an increase of $2,000,000

The bill provides $167.5 million for both the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.

It also includes a $3 million increase for the Bureau of Land Management’s cultural resources management account for a total of $20.303 million. The legislation directs that half of that go toward updating the predictive modeling and data analysis capabilities of the National Cultural Resources Information Management System, which allows for better siting and planning decisions leading to more efficient project implementation.

In a report accompanying the legislation, the House Appropriations Committee expressed concerns with the NPS effort to alter regulations governing the nomination of properties to the National Register. Their concerns echoed many of the issues that the Coalition for American Heritage raised in our comment letter on the proposed rule. The Committee said that it is troubled by the NPS’s failure to consult with other federal land management agencies, state and tribal historic preservation officers, and other key stakeholders during the proposal’s development or conduct required consultation. The Committee urged the NPS to withdraw the proposed rule, consult with key stakeholders on the issues it is trying to resolve, and enter into meaningful government-to-government consultation with affected tribes prior to finalizing changes to the regulation.

The report also directed the National Park Service (NPS) to study Hispanic representation in heritage sites and report back to the Committee within 6 months after passage of the Act.