National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 - National Historic Preservation Act

National Historic Preservation Act

The National Historic Preservation Act was signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson on October 15, 1966. This act established several institutions: Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, State Historic Preservation Office, National Register of Historic Places, and the Section 106 review process. The Section 106 Process is further explained and defined in 36 CFR Part 800.

Meeting four times a year, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation consists of 23 members from both public and private sectors, with the chairman appointed by the president. The Council’s role is to advise the President and Congress on historic preservation issues, to develop policies and guidelines handling any conflicts of federal agencies, and to participate in the Section 106 review process.

The National Register of Historic Places, overseen by the National Park Service, is nation's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects worthy of preservation, and are officially designated "historic properties" regardless of whether they are archaeological or historic. To be eligible for listing, a property must meet one of four criteria and have sufficient integrity. Being listed on or eligible for listing on the National Register does not automatically prevent damage or destruction but it qualifies these approved properties for grants, loans, and tax incentives.

The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and Officer was established by the NHPA to coordinate statewide inventory of historic properties, nominate properties to the National Register, maintain a statewide preservation plan, assist others, and advise and educate locals. There are a total of 59 SHPO officers, one for each state with eight additional ones, which include the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and others.

Read more about this topic:  National Historic Preservation Act Of 1966

Famous quotes containing the words national, historic, preservation and/or act:

    “The return of the asymmetrical Saturday was one of those small events that were interior, local, almost civic and which, in tranquil lives and closed societies, create a sort of national bond and become the favorite theme of conversation, of jokes and of stories exaggerated with pleasure: it would have been a ready- made seed for a legendary cycle, had any of us leanings toward the epic.”
    —Marcel Proust (1871–1922)

    “We are becoming like cats, slyly parasitic, enjoying an indifferent domesticity. Nice and snug in “the social” our historic passions have withdrawn into the glow of an artificial cosiness, and our half-closed eyes now seek little other than the peaceful parade of television pictures.”
    —Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)

    “Men are not therefore put to death, or punished for that their theft proceedeth from election; but because it was noxious and contrary to men’s preservation, and the punishment conducing to the preservation of the rest, inasmuch as to punish those that do voluntary hurt, and none else, frameth and maketh men’s wills such as men would have them.”
    —Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)

    “You can’t take back an act you were able to think.”
    —Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)