National Trust for Historic Preservation: Return to home page

Previously, the National Trust and the National Preservation Partners Network (NPPN) released Issue Briefs on four key topics facing the preservation movement:

• Affordable housing and density
• Diversity, inclusion, and racial justice
• Preservation trades and workforce development
• Sustainability and climate action

Designed to highlight key challenges related to each topic and identify opportunities for solutions and new approaches, the Issue Briefs, and other resources are available on the new Preservation Priorities Task Force website (https://www.preservationpriorities.org).

The Issue Briefs were developed through the Preservation Priorities Task Force—a partnership between the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Preservation Partners Network. Formed in 2020, this two-year project is designed to support statewide and local organizations by providing new resources and grants to tackle these issues. The task force includes four working groups, one for each issue, plus a steering committee and a communications subcommittee. To date, more than 50 preservation practitioners have joined working groups, representing 23 states and dozens of organizations.

Not intended as comprehensive studies, the four Issue Briefs are designed to build mutual understanding, spark conversation, and inspire action. Preservation organizations and advocates are encouraged to use the Issue Briefs in any number of ways—as guides for discussions with community leaders and stakeholders, background for outreach to potential partners, support materials for fundraising efforts, and more.

The Preservation Priorities Task Force is supported by the Moe Family Fund for Statewide and Local Partners, which is providing grants for innovative demonstration projects related to the four priorities. The first round of grant recipients will be announced later this fall. The Preservation Fund for Eastern Massachusetts of the National Trust for Historic Preservation is supporting production of these Issue Briefs.

Infographics Available

The Preservation Priorities Task Force has released infographics on: affordable housing and density; diversity, inclusion, and racial justice; preservation trades and workforce development; and sustainability and climate action.

These graphics are meant for organizations and advocates to use as starting points for discussions with community leaders and stakeholders, quick overview of topics for outreach to potential partners, support materials for fundraising efforts, and more.

See and download the infographics on the PPTF website. A marketing kit is also available to learn how to use these and spread the word through your channels!

Today, July 23, 2024, the House of Representatives is considering the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2025 (H.R. 8998) on the floor and a bipartisan amendment led by Representatives Adams (D-NC) and Fitzpatrick (R-PA) would secure the initial funding of $3 million for the National Park Service African American Burial Grounds Preservation Program. Your voice is critical for the preservation movement to achieve funding for this vital program.

Congress needs to hear from you TODAY about the importance of the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Program before a vote on the House floor.

Please join the National Trust in asking your House Representative to support the bipartisan Adams/Fitzpatrick/Beatty/McClellan/Williams/Raskin amendment:

1. To easily connect with House offices, call the Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121.
2. Introduce yourself as a constituent.
3. Explain to House offices:

"For many years, African American burial grounds across the nation have suffered from a state of disrepair or are inaccessible, and many remain undocumented.

These sacred places for tribute and memory are integral to the shared story of our American heritage.

Please support the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Program by supporting the bipartisan Adams/Fitzpatrick amendment for $3 million in the Interior, Environment, and Related Federal Agencies FY 2025 appropriations bill to enable the launch of this program.

Help us preserve more and preserve better!"

On June 28th, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a highly anticipated decision overturning the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine, which had previously required courts to be extremely deferential to federal agency decisions when interpreting statutes, based on the expertise of the administrative branch of government. As a result, courts will now be given a lot more leeway to overturn federal agency decisions, including regulations.

While there has been much anxiety about the potential implications of this decision by the Supreme Court, federal historic preservation law is likely to be less threatened than other arenas, for several reasons.

First, the regulations implementing Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act have been specifically upheld by the courts, and the new Supreme Court decision states, “we do not call into question prior cases” that upheld agency actions and regulations.

Second, the new Supreme Court decision states that, “when a particular statute delegates authority to an agency . . . , courts must respect the delegation . . .” In the case of Section 106, Congress has specifically directed the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to “promulgate regulations as it considers necessary to govern the implementation of section [106] in its entirety.” [54 U.S.C. § 304108(a).

Third, it is important to keep in mind that historic preservation advocates are often in the position of challenging federal agency decisions, and urging courts to be less deferential to agencies whose decisions are inconsistent with the Section 106 regulations. We have also successfully challenged regulations themselves on occasion, including surface mining regulations, FCC regulations, and the Army Corps of Engineers’ notorious Appendix C regulations (recently revoked by the Corps, after a number of court decisions declaring them unlawful).

The National Trust will be featuring this important topic at our upcoming conference on historic preservation law on September 12, and we encourage you to register for the conference.

Meanwhile, we are conferring with our partners to determine the most effective course of action going forward and will keep our colleagues and partners informed along the way. We remain fully committed to ensuring that preservation laws are there to benefit future generations.

On March 11, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the President’s FY 2025 Budget Request.

This request is the first official step in the FY 2025 Federal Appropriations process.

The President’s budget request is just that: a request. This outlines the Administration’s priorities and goals for the coming fiscal year, but it is Congress who officially appropriates, not the President.

For the National Park Service, the FY25 request is $3.6 billion, a net increase of $101.1 million over the recently passed FY 2024 level, an approximately 2.9% increase.

However, this requested increase does not extend to the HPF. The 2025 budget includes $151.4 million for HPF programs, a decrease of $37.266 million – a proposed 20 percent reduction – from the enacted FY 2024 level.

This includes a notable cut to the Save America’s Treasures competitive grant program, as well as zero funding for the Semiquincentennial Celebration grant program. It should be noted the President’s budget does not account for any Congressionally Directed Spending.

The long-anticipated conclusion of the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations process included some disappointments and several positive developments.

Amidst a political environment with House Republicans seeking deep spending cuts, the Historic Preservation Fund saw a disappointing reduction from FY23 enacted levels ($204.515 million) to FY24 ($188.666 million), an approximate decrease of 7%.

It is worth noting, however, that the FY24 appropriated level of funding for the HPF remains well above the authorized level of funding to be deposited in the HPF each year ($150 million) – highlighting the need for an increase in the program’s authorized funding.

The Semiquincentennial, Save America’s Treasures, and Paul Bruhn Revitalization grant programs within the HPF experienced funding reductions, but the bill retained a sizeable amount of Congressionally Directed Spending (formerly known as earmarks) in the Senate, totaling $19.766 million for 51 specific preservation projects.

Included in the FY24 funding package were several notable preservation wins:

• Lawmakers and preservationists celebrated the inclusion of an extension for the HPF’s funding authorization until September 30, 2024.
• Bill language protecting cultural and natural resources at Minidoka National Historic Site by restricting implementation for installation of thousands of wind turbines in the vicinity
• Bill language maintaining the prohibition on drilling in Chaco Canyon until the completion of a cultural resources investigation mandated in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.