Governmental Affairs – Society for Historical Archaeology

Nicole Grinnan — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 20:19:21 +0000

By Terry Klein, Executive Director, SRI Foundation

The new year brings a news political reality to Washington, D.C. The most significant political change from last year is the Republican takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives. While the Republican majority is narrow, it gives Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) the authority to decide which bills receive votes in the chamber. Likewise, the new Republican chairs of the House committees will determine which bills get hearings and votes in committee.

House Republican leaders have pledged to use their leadership roles to convene hearings to examine the Biden administration’s record and to build support for their legislative proposals. Expect to see the House Republicans sharply question Department of Interior officials on Biden administration energy policies during televised hearings. Speaker McCarthy will likely pass many bills that are doomed in the Democratic-controlled Senate. These “messaging bills�?are opportunities for House Republicans to demonstrate their policy priorities and signal to their voters what they value. However, it is widely understood that Senate Majority Leader Schumer will not bring many of these largely partisan bills up for a vote in the Senate, so such legislation has no viable path to enactment. To have a real chance of passage, a bill must get significant buy-in from House Republicans, Senate Democrats, and secure 60 votes in the Senate.

One possibility for bipartisan agreement is a bill to streamline the federal permitting process. Despite substantial interest in the issue, Senator Manchin’s (D-WV) efforts to pass a bill failed twice in the Senate last year. He’s still committed to the goal, however. Just last week, he and Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), the new chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, were meeting to negotiate the details of a federal permitting bill.

Federal permitting reform remains a hot topic because of the recent massive investments in American infrastructure. All that investment will generate lots of cultural resources management work. As funding from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, in addition to the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, flows to communities across the country, there will be high demand to secure permits for new projects. This demand may keep public and Congressional attention focused on how to improve the federal permitting process. House Republican leaders reportedly plan to unveil a major bill promoting greater energy production by promoting energy development on public lands, easing mining regulations, and streamlining the federal permitting process. Details of that legislation will likely become available in March, according to recent news reports. We’ll be on the lookout for any provisions that could threaten historic resources by narrowing the scope of impacts that are considered, reducing public involvement, or imposing unrealistic deadlines for environmental reviews. We’ll also be mobilizing support for a bill to reauthorize the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), which funds the work of State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, competitive grant programs, and the National Register of Historic Places. At present, Congressional authorization for this important program is set to expire on September 30, 2023. We will work with key members of Congress to support a bill that extends the authorization of the HPF and increases the total authorization level, which has remained unchanged since 1977. As part of our efforts to secure funds for the national historic preservation program, we’ll be advocating for full funding of the new African American Burial Grounds Preservation Program, which was authorized in the omnibus spending bill last December. SHA members have advocated for this program over the past five years, and we will continue working to ensure its success. In addition to monitoring legislative activity, SHA Government Affairs will continue working with the administration to develop regulations that enhance America’s historic preservation program. The administration’s plans for 2023 include revisions to several regulations that will directly impact historical archaeology: the rules governing the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Traditional Cultural Properties, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) proposal to end its use of Appendix C. Each one of these proposals includes an opportunity for the public to weigh in on the changes under consideration. SHA submitted a letter supporting many of the administration’s proposed changes to NAGPRA. We applauded efforts to ensure timely completion of the repatriation process, inclusion of indigenous knowledge, and a greater focus on enforcement. However, we also recognized that NAGPRA consultations involve significant amounts of work for tribes and urged the administration to identify sources of funding to help tribes complete the process. As the administration works to develop and stand up this new program, we will help keep SHA members and other stakeholders informed about each step of the process.

In the upcoming months, we’ll be submitting comments on the National Register Revised Bulletin 38: Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties. At present, the National Park Service is conducting consultation and outreach on the upcoming revisions. The deadline for comments is April 30, 2023, so SHA members have time to evaluate the proposed changes and raise any concerns they may have. We look forward to incorporating your feedback into a thoughtful, substantive comment letter this spring.

Finally, we are very pleased to see the USACE decision to rescind Appendix C, something that the Coalition has been urging the Army to do for several years. Appendix C procedures were never approved as a counterpart regulation by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). The procedures have been problematic in several ways and have left the USACE vulnerable to litigation. Furthermore, the Appendix C procedures have been applied inconsistently across the country and have limited the USACE’s ability to be a good steward of America’s cultural heritage. According the new proposal, USACE would instead rely on ACHP’s regulations and joint USACE/ACHP guidance for implementation of Section 106.

The changed political landscape this year increases the likelihood of a highly politicized hearings and a robust debate on energy development. Prospects for enactment of any significant new legislation are low, however, given the power split in Washington and the compromises that would be required. SHA will continue working to support a strong historic preservation program through legislative lobbying and participation in the regulatory notice and comment process. If you are interested in getting involved, please consider joining SHA’s Government Affairs Committee! If interested, please contact Terry Klein at tklein@srifoundation.org or Marion Werkheiser (marion@culturalheritagepartners.com). We look forward to working alongside you to advance the protection of our historical archaeological heritage!

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Governmental Affairs – Society for Historical Archaeology

Mark Freeman — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 22:02:12 +0000

Results of the January 9, 2021 Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) Government Affairs Advocacy Session:
“Interpreting the 2020 Election: What the Results Mean for Historical Archaeology.�?br /> SHA 2021 Virtual Annual Conference

Session Organizers:
Marion Werkheiser, SHA’s government affairs consultant
Terry Klein, Chair, SHA Government Affairs Committee

In the first part of this session Marion Werkheiser reviewed the results of the 2020 election and what these results will mean for historic preservation and historical archaeology. Terry Klein then discussed the SHA’s Government Affair Committee’s top three initiatives to be advanced under the new Administration. These initiatives are linked to the new Administration’s environmental and social justice agenda. These initiatives will also have a strong likelihood of success given the new Administration’s appointees to head up federal agencies such as the Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Council on Environmental Quality. The Government Affairs Committee’s three top initiatives are:

Promoting historic preservation.
Promoting diversity and social justice in historic preservation.
Tackling climate change and its impact on historical archaeological sites and other heritage resources.

In the second part of the session, Klein and Werkheiser asked session participants to provide their ideas on how SHA can best advance these initiatives over the next few years. Session participants were asked to help develop an action plan for each initiative that addressed the following:

What should SHA do? Identify the top action items.
Who should SHA talk to about in order to best advance these action items? Government? Private sector? Others? What is the message?
Who may be our partners in carrying out these action items? How do we engage them?
Who within SHA or associated with SHA should take the lead in carrying out these action items?

Session participants were also asked if there were any other initiatives that SHA should pursue. The following is a summary of the session participants discussions and recommendations:

Promoting Historic Preservation

We are five years from the 250th celebration of the nation. Session participants recommended building on and becoming part of this celebration as a way to advance both historic preservation and promoting diversity and social justice in historic preservation. Action items can include:

Telling the fuller story of the American experience.
Educating the public about the diversity of our nation and the value of that diversity.
Showcasing Native American sites both in the East and in the West dating to the time of European contact.
Using the celebration as an opportunity to promote the National Historic Preservation Act and increasing historic preservation funding.
Working closely with organizations already involved in the celebration, including, but not limited to the National Park Service, the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCHSPO), the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO), other tribal organizations (including Native American tourism organizations), and state-specific groups and organizations.
Establishing a SHA task force for the celebration and involve all SHA committees.
Encouraging SHA members to get involved in preparations for the celebration at the local level.

In terms of other action items related to promoting historic preservation, session participants recommended:

Raising the profile of archaeology in the historic preservation community so that archaeology is understood to be an integral part of historic preservation �?not separate from it.
Developing a one-pager on archaeology, what it does and why it is vital to communities and society in general. SHA members should use this one-pager when meeting with federal, state, and local officials, and also members of the public. Note in the one-pager (and through other platforms) that archaeology is not just excavation. Archaeologists are involved in the preservation of sacred places of value to many different communities. Preservation of sacred places is a useful entry point for building historic preservation coalitions.

Promoting Diversity and Social Justice in Historic Preservation

In terms of action items related to this initiative, session participants recommended:

Increasing coordination with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) professionals who work on environmental justice issues.
Increasing national recognition of Native American and African American sites, especially in terms of listing these sites on the National Register of Historic Places. Current application of the criteria for listing on the National Register (e.g., aspects of integrity) are not conducive to these types of sites. These sites are too often identified as not having sufficient integrity and as a result are not worthy of listing. This approach ignores the nature of these sites and the communities that built and used these sites.
Documenting the extent to which African American sites have been listed on the National Register and state registers. In addition, use information on these listed sites to promote African American history.
Documenting and showcasing to the public all of the work and research on federal lands involving African American sites and other sites of underrepresented communities. There is a wealth of untapped information and histories.
Increasing funding to the National Register for improving legacy record digitization and public access to the information in these records. And also increase funding for digitizing state site records. Funding should also be made available for maintaining these federal and state site databases.
Working with the American Battlefield Protection Program to increase the number of Native American sites from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 on the Program’s list.

Climate Change and Its Impact on Historical Archaeological Sites and Other Heritage Resources

In terms of action items related to this initiative, session participants recommended:

Advocating for the management and protection of sites in the U.S. territories, which are especially vulnerable.
Using the archaeological record and archaeological research to inform policy makers on the impacts and responses to climate change. The past has lessons that can be applied to current understanding and decision-making involving climate change.
Working with federal agencies, such as FEMA, to advance pro-active planning for the management and protection of terrestrial and underwater sites impacted by climate change, and this includes promoting increased agency funding for pre-disaster planning and mitigation.
Supporting and funding programs that use members of the public (citizen scientists) to identify and monitor coastal sites in the U.S. and U.S. territories being impacted by climate change.

Additional Government Affairs Initiative

Session participants identified an additional initiative that addressed the archaeological labor force. SHA, in partnership with other organizations such as the American Cultural Resource Association and the Register of Professional Archaeologists, should:

More effectively support the people actually doing archaeology.
Demonstrate to policy makers at the federal and state level, the economic benefits of jobs in archaeology. When meeting with members of Congress and state officials to advocate for historic preservation, we should include discussions on the archaeology labor force and its economic benefits to communities. Also, include this topic in the one-pager discussed above.

In closing, session participants recommended developing a webinar for SHA members on the results of this session. This webinar should also discuss how SHA members can actively participate in and support the advancement of these government affairs initiatives.

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Governmental Affairs – Society for Historical Archaeology

Mark Freeman — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 19:36:44 +0000

The Society for Historical Archaeology’s (SHA) Government Affairs Committee is busy planning for the new Administration and new Congress. We invite you to join us for a robust, interactive discussion of SHA’s legislative and policy priorities during our session at SHA’s virtual 2021 conference, on Saturday, January 9. The session is entitled “Interpreting the 2020 Election: What the Results Mean for Historical Archaeology.�?/p> Over the next two years, we’ll focus our advocacy on three themes: promoting preservation, increasing diversity, and confronting climate change.

SHA will lobby for increased funding for historic preservation and counter attempts to curtail reviews of projects that may impact heritage and cultural resources.
We will promote diversity within the discipline and support federal, state, and local preservation policies that tell the stories of underrepresented communities, and that protect the places valued by these communities.
We will also advocate for policies that respond to climate change and the threat it poses to archaeological sites in the U.S. and around the world.

The Committee is planning to hit the ground running with the new Congress in January, arranging virtual meetings with Members to discuss our priorities and develop relationships. We have already begun engaging with the Biden transition team to raise awareness about historical archaeology and urgent topics, including supporting appointments to critical positions within the government. We look forward to sharing more at our conference session and hearing your ideas about how SHA can best advance these initiatives. Please join us at the January 9th session. This will be an opportunity for you actively participate in these important advocacy efforts.

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Governmental Affairs – Society for Historical Archaeology

Christopher Matthews — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 19:21:26 +0000

I am happy to announce that the SHA has signed on as a partner organization for the upcoming March for Science, to be held in Washington DC and many other locations across the United States on April 22, 2017. The March for Science is a gathering of people concerned that scientific knowledge and the scientific process has come under attack and who want to have their voices heard by the new administration and congress. The organizers and steering committee of the march come from varied fields in the sciences, including social sciences, as well as science education and journalism. They include Valorie Aquino, an archaeologist! SHA is excited to join with several other scientific organizations such as the American Anthropological Association, Sigma Xi, Earth Day Network, Union of Concerned Scientists, American Association of University Professors, and many others in supporting this important action for justice and evidence-based policies. Here is the mission statement of the March for Science:

The March for Science champions robustly funded and publicly communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity. We unite as a diverse, nonpartisan group to call for science that upholds the common good and for political leaders and policy makers to enact evidence based policies in the public interest.

You can learn more at the March website here: //www.marchforscience.com/

I have also set up a new Facebook group: SHA @ March for Science. Please join the group to keep up to date with the SHA’s role in the march and to find other historical archaeologists near you can march with!

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Governmental Affairs – Society for Historical Archaeology

Eden Burgess — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 15:13:39 +0000

SHA Member Sarah Miller visits Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) On June 24 and 25, the Society for Historical Archaeology visited several members of Congress and their staffers to urge them to support reauthorization of the Historic Preservation Fund. President Joe Joseph, President-Elect Mark Warner, and member Sarah Miller made approximately 10 visits to the House and Senate. They also met with the Bureau of Land Management to discuss new planning guidance, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the National Park Service to discuss SHA’s development of an initiative to identify, preserve, and protect historic African-American burial grounds. These visits are critical to developing relationships and advancing SHA’s priorities in Washington.

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Governmental Affairs – Society for Historical Archaeology

Cultural Heritage Partners — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 20:54:10 +0000

For the first time in almost ten years, the National Park Service (NPS) is revising the Tentative List of nominees to the World Heritage List. Inclusion on the Tentative List is a necessary prerequisite to being nominated by the United States to the World Heritage List. NPS has asked US/ICOMOS to structure an Expert Consultation for the revisions to identify and prioritize themes in U.S. cultural resources that fill gaps identified in the World Heritage List. US/ICOMOS seeks inter-disciplinary input to insure inclusion of a wide variety of themes, such as the “archaeological sites or landscapes of global significance�?theme. If you would like to participate, please register and respond to the survey here. You can join one or more moderated professional discussions, and follow the on-line discourse.

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Governmental Affairs – Society for Historical Archaeology

Cultural Heritage Partners — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 15:21:21 +0000

A lot of news (and panic) is rapidly circulating among the preservation and archaeological communities as the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act �?the DRIVE Act (S. 1647, sponsored by Sen. Inhofe (R-OK)) �?makes its way through Congress. It passed the Senate on July 30 as an amendment to H.R. 22.

Drawing everyone’s ire is Section 11116 of H.R. 22 (formerly Section 1116 of the Senate’s DRIVE Act), which in part orders the Secretary of Transportation to “align, to the maximum extent practicable, with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4231 et seq.) and section 306108 of title 54 [Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act].�?Commentaries on Section 11116 express deep concern that it will eliminate review under Department of Transportation Act Section 4(f), which mandates that the administering department at the federal DOT may not approve the use of a Section 4(f) property unless a determination is made that there is no prudent and feasible alternative to the use of the property and the action includes all possible planning to minimize harm, or that the use will have a de minimis (i.e., trifling or minimal) impact on the property.

National Trust President & CEO Stephanie Meeks published a widely circulated op-ed in The Hill’s Congress Blog on July 29, arguing that “Section 11116 �?essentially guts the requirement that transportation projects take the least harmful alternative around a historic landmark, if avoiding it altogether isn’t ‘feasible and prudent.’�?/p>

Clarifying Section 11116

Section 11116 would not completely eliminate 4(f) reviews. Rather, it states that if the DOT determines there is no feasible and prudent alternative to avoid use of an historic site (that is, properties listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places), the Secretary shall inform applicable SHPOs and THPOs, the ACHP, and the Department of Interior of the determination and ask for their concurrence. If they all concur, then the DOT can satisfy the requirements of Section 4(f) through treatment of the historic site as stipulated in a Section 106 memorandum of agreement or programmatic agreement. Currently, if the DOT uses a historic site or other protected property and the impact is not de minimis, the DOT prepares an individual Section 4(f) evaluation, which can be a time consuming process. (The Federal Highway Administration has five programmatic evaluations that it can apply to a project, if appropriate, which are basically streamlined individual evaluations.) The 4(f) evaluation requires the DOT to demonstrate that there are no feasible and prudent alternatives that avoid the use of the Section 4(f) property, and if there are no such alternatives, the DOT identifies measures to minimize harm to the property. Under the proposed changes in Section 11116, if the parties agree that there is no feasible and prudent alternative that avoids impacts to an historic site, then the impacts on the site are not taken into account in the individual Section 4(f) evaluation process. Also, the proposed changes will have little impact upon archaeological resources, since 4(f) protection only rarely applies to archaeological sites. As the Federal Highway Administration’s and Federal Transit Administration’s Section 4(f) regulations explain, a National Register listed or eligible archaeological site is not protected under Section 4(f) if the site is important chiefly because of what can be learned by data recovery and has minimal value for preservation in place. Finally, with the House in recess until after Labor Day, the Act has a minimal chance of progressing, particularly because lawmakers are unlikely to agree on how to pay for a long-term transportation bill. That being said, there is concern among state DOTs that involving Interior in this new review process might actually delay projects rather than streamline them, since Interior already takes months to approve Section 4(f) reviews. Accordingly, involving Interior in the concurrence process might further slow down project delivery, and grow the incentive to reduce protections for historic sites. Also, the Act would place the burden of consulting with the DOT to determine what is feasible and prudent on SHPOs, THPOs, and the ACHP, a task outside their NHPA-mandated responsibilities. It appears that while there are ample grounds to oppose Section 11116, and to watch this and other transportation proposals closely for impacts on historic and archaeological resources, we should resist the urge to panic.

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Governmental Affairs – Society for Historical Archaeology

Cultural Heritage Partners — Wed, 04 Feb 2015 01:05:47 +0000

Society for Historical Archaeology members are invited to join the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO) and Preservation Action for Preservation Advocacy Week, March 2-4, 2015! Preservation Action and NCSHPO organize Preservation Advocacy Week each year, bringing over 250 preservationists to Washington, DC to promote sound federal preservation policy and programs. Active participation from SHA members will ensure that historical archaeology is an integral part of the preservation discussion.

Highlights:

Programming on Monday afternoon, March 2.
Hill visits on Tuesday, March 3.
Reception on the Hill on Tuesday evening, 5:30 pm.

The preliminary program is available at //www.preservationaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/preservation-advocacy-week-prelim-program-2015.pdf.

Cultural Heritage Partners, SHA’s governmental affairs consultant, is planning to take SHA members attending Advocacy Week to the Hill to visit Congress. This is a great opportunity to meet with your Congressional representatives and to discuss the value of historic preservation and historical archaeology!

Please email Marion Werkheiser and let us know if you plan to attend!

marion@culturalheritagepartners.com

NCSHPO has secured a room block at the Fairfax Embassy Row hotel. Rooms are $239/single, $259 double and you can book by calling 1-888-627-8439, code 7266. More competitive rates may be available at other hotels in Dupont Circle (check out www.hotwire.com or www.kayak.com). We encourage you to stay in the Dupont Circle neighborhood for convenient access to Preservation Advocacy Week events and Metro transportation.

Please register at: //www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=1663726

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Governmental Affairs – Society for Historical Archaeology

Cultural Heritage Partners — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 17:45:09 +0000

The government affairs update in May included a long list of issues being pursued and monitored by SHA and its government relations counsel Cultural Heritage Partners. To ensure that key members of Congress know about SHA and its priorities, President Charlie Ewen, President-Elect Joe Joseph, and Eden Burgess of Cultural Heritage Partners went to the Hill for a full day of meetings on June 20. The group visited six Congressional offices to discuss National Science Foundation funding and the FIRST Act, the Military LAND Act, MAP-21 reauthorization, and the value of archaeological research and education. Check out Charlie in front of the Capitol!

As a follow-up, the SHA board plans to schedule a webinar, hosted by Cultural Heritage Partners, on Tuesday, July 22 at noon ET to prepare members for SHA’s first annual Invite Your Lawmakers Day. Congress members typically spend the August recess (August 2 to September 7) in their home states and districts, providing the perfect opportunity for visits to your projects. SHA will be encouraging its members to invite local, state and federal lawmakers –�?and the press �?to visit nearby sites and digs and learn why archaeology matters. SHA’s Invite Your Lawmakers Day is tentatively set for August 20, 2014 (confirmation forthcoming).

Please watch for an invitation to the Cultural Heritage Partners webinar, and for announcements for SHA’s Invite Your Lawmakers Day. Contact Eden Burgess with any questions in the meantime �?eden@culturalheritagepartners.com or 703-965-5380.

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Governmental Affairs – Society for Historical Archaeology

Cultural Heritage Partners — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 10:59:42 +0000

May was an eventful month for the Society for Historical Archeology’s Governmental Affairs Committee and SHA’s government affairs counsel, Cultural Heritage Partners. A number of proposals were introduced and discussed in both houses of Congress. While these changes are intended to make aspects of historic preservation easier and more efficient, they fall woefully short in the eyes of the archeological community and can endanger historic preservation.

Section 1303 of the “MAP-21 Reauthorization Act,�?which is the reauthorization of the current transportation legislation, proposes to use the Section 106 process as a means to fulfill some of the current requirements of Section 4(f) of the transportation act. The goal is to reduce what is perceived as duplication between Section 106 and Section 4(f).
The Military LAND Act (Section 2816 in NDAA, H.R. 4435) would amend the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) by allowing any federal agency that manages property to block or revoke the listing of a historic property on the National Register of Historic Places, as a National Historic Landmark or on the World Heritage List by invoking “reasons of national security.”
The FIRST Act (H.R. 4186) would create of a new level of review at the National Science Foundation to determine if research is worthy of federal funding and “in the national interest.�?The House also amended the appropriations bill for NSF to include a provision shifting millions of dollars from social sciences to physical sciences.
NPS is considering a proposal to amend the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) to include “landscapes�?as a property type and “landscape architecture�?as an area of significance. SHA sent a letter to Stephanie Toothman stating its reasons for opposing the proposal, and will meet with her in June.

SHA has submitted several letters addressing the proposals, explaining why they damage historic preservation, or are ineffective or simply unnecessary. SHA does not stand alone in its opposition. The American Cultural Resources Association joined with SHA against the proposed changes to Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act. The Department of Defense provided testimony on the Military LAND Act, stating that it is unwanted and unnecessary; the Preservation Partners are also opposing Section 2816 in the NDAA (formerly the Military LAND Act). SHA and Cultural Heritage Partners are working to avoid these potentially expensive and unnecessary changes. We want to keep Congress from fixing what isn’t broken.

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