Dear USET/USET SPF Family,
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a Dear Tribal Leader Letter announcing Tribal consultations on its draft Sec. 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (Sec. 106) Nationwide Programmatic Agreement for Climate Resiliency and Sustainability Projects at DHS-Owned Facilities (Draft NPA). As of September 2023, the DHS owned real property portfolio consists of approximately 8,000 buildings, 37,000 structures, and 68,000 acres of land across the U.S. From Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 through 2028 DHS plans to fund hundreds of projects across the U.S. to increase sustainable buildings, reduce square footage, enhance resilience, utilize renewable energy, conduct environmental compliance and remediation, and benefit environmental justice communities.
In acknowledgement that DHS conducts operational activities on Tribal Lands, DHS is inviting Tribal Nations to consult on a Nationwide Programmatic Agreement (NPA) regarding maintenance, repair, and upgrades to improve climate resiliency and sustainability, reduce energy and water consumption, and increase use of renewable energy at DHS-owned facilities. The Draft NPA was composed in coordination with the National Council on Historic Preservation and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers. DHS has also held conversations over the past year with the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers. To gather additional input from Tribal Nations on the draft NPA, DHS has announced that it will be hosting Tribal informational and listening sessions.
Details regarding the upcoming Tribal informational and listening sessions on the draft NPA are as follows—
Date/Time: Monday, October 2, 2023 from 11:00am to 12:30pm ET
Date/Time: Monday, October 2, 2023 from 4:00pm to 5:30pm ET
Requests for one-on-one Tribal consultation, or to submit comments to DHS on the Draft NPA, must be received by DHS by October 30, 2023 and emailed to sep-ephp@dhs.hq.gov. Questions should be directed to Sarah Koeppel, DHS Deputy Federal Preservation Officer, by emailing sarah.koeppel@hq.dhs.gov or calling (202) 868-2759.
For more information, please contact Brian Howard, USET SPF Senior Policy Analyst, at bhoward@usetinc.org.
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