Washington, D.C.—President Donald J. Trump today submitted his fiscal year 2021 budget request to Congress, seeking $7.4 million in funding for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP).
“The President’s budget request is good news for the ACHP, supporting our mission of promoting the preservation, enhancement, and sustainable use of the nation’s diverse historic resources,” ACHP Chairman Aimee Jorjani said. “The funding will enhance our capabilities to work with agencies and stakeholders through an efficient and collaborative review process.”
A key ACHP function is overseeing the federal historic preservation review process established by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Section 106 requires federal agencies to consider the effects of projects, carried out by them or subject to their assistance or approval, on historic properties and provide the ACHP an opportunity to comment on these projects prior to a final decision on them.
The budget request, if approved by the Congress, will support the ACHP’s expanding work with federal agencies to develop tailored approaches to meet their Section 106 review responsibilities under the NHPA. This type of adaptation can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of reviews and streamline routine reviews while focusing effort on the historic properties most important to communities. These approaches–known as program alternatives—have been used widely for telecommunications, transportation, and other infrastructure projects and have created successful nationwide approaches to managing entire categories of projects and historic properties.
The resources also will enable the ACHP to continue its efforts to engage all Americans in the national historic preservation program. These range from increasing citizen access to and participation in the Section 106 process to advancing training in preservation crafts and encouraging young people to pursue careers in historic preservation.
The President’s budget request represents an almost 6 percent increase over the FY 2020 request of $7 million and is slightly above the final FY 2020 appropriation of $7.378 million.