Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation wants to ensure citizens, federal agency staff, those seeking federal permits and other assistance, and preservation partners have tools to assist them in factoring historic preservation into federal project planning through the Section 106 review process.

References for those new to the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act

• The Section 106 regulations, “Protection of Historic Properties,” 36 CFR Part 800

The following resources provide strategies for handling infrastructure Section 106 reviews specific to federal agencies or project types. They include Section 106 program alternatives that tailor the requirements of the regulations for particular situations.

Welcome to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's (ACHP) Guidance on Section 106 agreement documents. Section 106 agreement documents play a critical role in documenting a federal agency's commitment to carry out and conclude their responsibilities under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (54 U.S.C. § 306108). This guidance is provided to assist federal agencies, states, Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, applicants, local governments, consulting parties, and the public in developing, implementing, and concluding such agreements.

Download a pdf copy of this handout.

Section 800.4(b)(1) of the Section 106 regulations states that federal agency officials shall make a “reasonable and good faith effort” to identify historic properties.This guidance was developed to assist federal agencies and consulting parties in determining what constitutes a reasonable and good faith identification effort. 

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), worked with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) to develop a prototype programmatic agreement (PPA) under 36 CFR § 800.14(b)(4) of the regulations implementing Section 106, “Protection of Historic Properties” (36 CFR Part 800). The PPA was authorized in 2014.