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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.

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.

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 U.S. House of Representatives began their holiday recess on December 14, while the U.S. Senate has delayed their adjournment until later this month. Your advocacy for historic preservation priorities can be very effective over the holidays, and here are three ways to engage with your federal decisionmakers over the next few weeks:

1. Most members of Congress send out a regular newsletter to their constituents. Sign up for newsletters from your U.S. Representative and your U.S. Senators to learn more about what their priorities are, what legislation they’ve sponsored, and if they will be hosting any upcoming town hall discussions. Don’t know who represents you?
   1. Enter your zip code on https://www.house.gov to find your U.S. Representative.
   2. Select your state on https://www.senate.gov/states/statesmap.htm to find your U.S. Senators.
2. Take action from home by visiting our Action Center. You can send personalized messages to your Congressional delegation about current preservation priorities including the Historic Preservation Fund, the Historic Tax Credit, National Historic Trail Designation for Route 66, and more!
3. Invite your elected officials to visit a local historic site that’s important to you and your community.