1. United States
2. Fla.
3. Letter

Protect Section 106 and the threats to the National Historic Preservation Act. The proposed regulatory rewrite of Section 106 would silence the voices of the public and Tribal Nations and transfer all decision making to federal agencies and developers. The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA) guts the National Historic Preservation Act and will fundamentally alter historic preservation review, consultation duties, review timelines, and access to judicial remedies. These review times are essential to protecting and preserving the environment and history of this nation. Together, these overhauls to the statutory and regulatory framework of the NHPA will devastate Tribes' and public's ability to protect and preserve historic places and would dramatically curtail public participation in federal decisions that affect local communities. Why don't you want the public's voice to be heard? These changes strip federal preservation law of the language for meaningful consultation, change the definition of consultation, eliminate the requirements for “avoidance, minimization, and mitigation,” eliminate protections for Traditional Cultural Landscapes, and imperil thousands of significant cultural and historical sites who will not meet the new definition of “historic.” They are a betrayal of Congress’s intent when it passed the NHPA sixty years ago, and a betrayal of the government-to-government relationship with Tribal Nations. Which is exactly what happened just before the Trail of Tears. The government lied and backed out of promised protections. Don't do it again.