Dear USET/USET SPF Family,
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to rescind Appendix C from its Regulatory Program’s permitting regulations at 33 CFR 325. This action would ensure that USACE is in appropriate compliance with the Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (Sec. 106 NHPA) regulations (36 CFR 800) approved by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). The USACE Appendix C regulations were first adopted in 1980 to outline permitting procedures for the protection of historic properties. However, despite continued efforts by USACE to issue interim guidance of its Appendix C regulations to comply with 36 CFR 800, the Appendix C regulations continues to result in inconsistency and confusion regarding the extent and appropriateness of USACE review in its permitting regulations pertaining to historic properties.
USACE has also announced that it will be hosting two separate Public and Tribal Virtual Meetings on the proposed rule. Details regarding the upcoming Virtual Meetings are as follows—
Public Virtual Meeting
Tribal Virtual Meeting
USET SPF has long opposed the continued use of and reliance on the Appendix C regulations by USACE. This has resulted in the adoption of USET Resolution No. 2004:002, “Revision of the U.S. Corps of Engineers’ Appendix C (Procedures for the Protection of Historic Properties)”, and most recently, comments filed by USET SPF to USACE on August 2, 2022. In our comments, we specifically stated that the continued use of the Appendix C regulations undermines USACE’s Tribal Consultation Policy and do not explicitly recognize the authority of Tribal Nations to attach religious and cultural significance to sacred sites. Further, the Appendix C regulations do not explicitly recognize the ability of Tribal Nations to be consulting parties in review of places listed, or eligible for listing, as a historic property in the National Register of Historic Places. USET SPF strongly urged USACE to rescind its Appendix C regulations and adopt the Sec. 106 NHPA regulations promulgated by the ACHP at 36 CFR 800. USET SPF is pleased that USACE has finally issued this proposed rule to rescind its Appendix C regulations to become compliant with ACHP’s regulations and plans to submit comments in support of this proposal.
The comment deadline on the proposed rule is Tuesday, April 9, 2024 and comments can be submitted to regulations.gov under Docket No. ID COE-2023-0004. Comments can also be emailed to historicpropertyreg@usace.army.mil with “COE-2023-0004” in the email subject line.
For more information, please contact Brian Howard, USET SPF Senior Policy Analyst, at bhoward@usetinc.org.
|