Preservation Action remains strongly opposed to the harmful preservation provisions in the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (S. 5653), as revised by the manager’s amendment released over the weekend. This bill is severely flawed and would have a devastating impact on core historic preservation protections afforded by the National Historic Preservation Act.
The amendment makes some modest changes, but it leaves the bill’s central flaws in place. The bill continues to completely cut the public out of the process and fundamentally weaken meaningful consultation with states and tribes. Federal officials would still have the unilateral authority to set aside mitigation whenever they decide other considerations outweigh historic preservation. Additionally, the bill would still severely limit the courts’ ability to stop the destruction of historic places. While the amendment includes tweaks on when Section 106 review would apply, it continues to exclude nearly all federally funded projects from review and limit what impacts count as harm.
Section 106 works because it brings communities to the table before decisions are final. These changes would not make permitting faster. They would shut out the people who know these places best, and they would lead to more conflict and delay.
Preservation Action supports making federal permitting more efficient and predictable, and we stand ready to work with Congress on real reforms. But this bill was written behind closed doors without input from the historic preservation community and completely upends a 60-year-old law that communities across the country depend on.
We continue to urge Congress to OPPOSE on this deeply flawed bill without the complete removal of the historic preservation title. In light of the growing vocal opposition to this bill, we ask the Senate to reconsider their approach.