Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Today, The Hill published ACHP Chair Sara Bronin’s op-ed which calls for modernizing federal historic preservation standards to meet today’s pressing needs.

Bronin writes: “At their best, these standards help preserve the historic buildings, homes, schools, and places of worship that form the soul of our communities. But when applied too rigidly and without regard to the needs of communities, they become yet another source of red tape and an obstacle in efforts to expand housing, retrofit buildings for climate change, and spur economic growth.”

ACHP members and staff visited two Washington D.C. historic sites with important African American histories during their spring business meeting activities in March. They toured Tudor Place, the plantation owned by the family of Martha Washington and a National Historic Landmark, and Mt. Zion Cemetery, which was almost lost to history before being added to the National Register of Historic Places. Lisa Fager, Executive Director of Black Georgetown Foundation, led a tour of the cemetery, including a peek into a vault used to hide those escaping slavery through the Underground Railroad. Expert Member Charles “Sonny” Ward was moved by one stop on the tour.

Washington, D.C.–The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) today announced the allocation of more than $30 million in funding, including $750,000 for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), to enhance permitting efficiency across the federal government. The ACHP will develop a plan for a centralized geolocation database of U.S. historic properties to allow federal agencies and project sponsors to accurately and efficiently identify and avoid impacts on historic properties.

By: Morgan Garrow
Rutgers University Intern

Members of the ACHP met in Washington, DC, on March 21 to discuss a variety of topics around their historic preservation mission. They passed a motion to enact the Policy Statement on Indigenous Knowledge and Historic Preservation as well as discussed proposed modifications to the Operating Procedures, continued a dialogue about suggested changes to federal historic preservation standards, and discussed a climate heritage office and program alternatives in the works regarding housing and telecommunications.