The Commission and Its Authority
In November 1986, Congress enacted the Commemorative Works Act (P.L. 99-652), which established complete federal authority over the location and authorization of memorials on any land owned by the General Services Administration or National Park Service. The legislation covered all land owned by these agencies, whether in the District of Columbia, the United States, or overseas. The law also established the National Capital Memorial Commission. Congress reconstituted the advisory commission as the National Capital Memorial Commission, made it independent of the Department of the Interior, and gave it statutory authority to approve or reject the approval and siting of memorials and monuments.
The 1986 legislation added the Secretary of Defense to the commission's membership. It also required that at least 10 years must elapse until an event can be commemorated. A person must be dead for 25 years before a memorial can be erected in their honor.
In 1997, the National Capital Memorial Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts and National Capital Planning Commission established a Joint Task Force on Memorials to coordinate their joint responsibilities. In 2000, the Joint Task Force issued a new policy for the design and placement of memorials and monuments in the national capital area. The policy led to the Commemorative Zone Policy — a master plan identifying avalabile remaining space on the National Mall for memorials. This master plan kept most of the mall open and devoted to green space. Additional space in and around the city of Washington appropriate for memorials and monuments was also identified, and the agencies agreed to approve sites only in these areas through 2050. The master plan also provided design guidelines for memorials and monuments. These guidelines were intended to move designers away from the traditional statue or granite slab and toward "living memorials" that incorporated green space.
Read more about this topic: National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission
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