Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

FHWA – ACHP Partnership

The ACHP’s FHWA Program is managed by a full time senior staff member who serves as the FHWA Liaison and the principle point of contact for handling FHWA program and project review. The position is within the Office of Federal Agency Programs (OFAP) at the ACHP. In addition to assisting FHWA divisions in completing Section 106 review, the ACHP’s Liaison and Transportation Policy Team work with FHWA and the Department of Transportation on the development of legislation, regulations, and implementing guidance for programs with the potential to affect historic properties. The tangible results of the partnership between FHWA and the ACHP include the execution of over 40 statewide Programmatic Agreements (PAs) and amended PAs for streamlining Section 106 review; guidance and case studies included on this website; a nationwide exemption from review for the Interstate Highway System; a Program Comment that addresses Section 106 consideration for qualifying post-1945 common bridges; and the development and delivery of training in Section 106 and Native American consultation.

News

FHWA signed an innovative Programmatic Agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, Georgia Department of Transportation, and the Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer in December 2019. Read more.

ACHP Section 106 Tools and Guidance

1. ACHP e106 information
If your agency would like to submit an adverse effect notification to the ACHP, invite the ACHP to participate in Section 106 consultation, or propose to develop a project Programmatic Agreement for complex or multiple undertakings, your agency can now notify the ACHP by using our electronic Section 106 documentation submittal system.

2. FHWA Template Statewide Programmatic Agreement for the Federal-Aid Highway Program
This template can be used to help assist FHWA and State DOT agencies in developing a statewide Programmatic Agreement for the Federal-Aid Highway Program.

3. ACHP’s Guidance on Agreement Documents (GAD)
If your agency has determined that there will be adverse effects to a historic property(ies), or would like to address a series of undertakings where the effects are not known to historic properties, then the ACHP’s GAD will assist your agency in concluding the Section 106 process when a Memorandum of Agreement or Programmatic Agreement is needed.

4. NEPA and NHPA: A Handbook for Integrating NEPA and Section 106
Developed by the ACHP and the Council on Environmental Quality, this handbook provides guidance to environmental and historic preservation practitioners to coordinate NEPA and Section 106 to improve environmental reviews.

5. Consultation with Indian Tribes & Native Hawaiian Organizations in the Section 106 Review Process
The ACHP developed guidance to assist federal agencies with Section 106 tribal and Native Hawaiian consultation.

6. ACHP Program Comment for Post-1945 Concrete and Steel Bridges
In 2012, the ACHP has issued a Program Comment that eliminates historic review requirements under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act for the repair or replacement of common post-1945 concrete and steel bridges, if appropriate measures in the State DOT and FHWA are undertaken.

7. ACHP Interstate Highway Exemption
In 2005, the ACHP issued the Interstate Highway Exemption, which relieves Federal agencies from the requirement of taking into account the effects of their undertakings on the Interstate Highway System, except with regard to certain individual elements or structures that are part of the system.

8. ACHP FHWA Programmatic Agreement Checklist
Developed by the ACHP and used by staff, this checklist can be utilized by those developing and/or reviewing Section 106 agreement documents.