Home Historic Preservation Programs & Officers Federal Multiagency: National Contingency Plan Introduction

In June 1997, the Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation signed a nationwide Programmatic Agreement (PA) that establishes national policy and procedures for the protection of cultural resources during emergency response under the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). Other signatories were the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); U.S. Department of Transportation, Coast Guard; the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO); and the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Federal agencies that comprise the National Response Team (NRT) include EPA; U.S. Coast Guard; U.S. Department of the Interior; National Park Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; U.S. Department of Defense; and the U.S. Department of Energy. NCSHPO also participated in the development of the PA. Responsibility for implementation of the NCP has been delegated to the U.S. Coast Guard for coastal areas and the EPA for inland areas.

Links:

Programmatic Agreement on Protection of Historic Properties During Emergency Response Under the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan

Background Information: Emergency Response Under the National Contingency Plan

Background on the formation of the NRT Ad Hoc Committee on Cultural Resources and the development of the programmatic agreement

Read the ACHP's Questions and Answers regarding treatment of historic properties in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

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