[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 95 (Tuesday, May 18, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27085-27087]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12055]
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 95 / Tuesday, May 18, 1999 /
Notices
[[Page 27085]]
ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Recommended Approach for Consultation on Recovery of Significant
Information From Archaeological Sites
AGENCY: Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
ACTION: Notice of guidance.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with Secs. 800.5 and 800.6 of its revised
regulations (36 CFR part 800, ``Protection of Historic Properties,''
published today) implementing Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
is publishing a recommended approach for consultation by Federal
agencies, State Historic Preservation Officers, Tribal Historic
Preservation Officers, and others on the effects of Federal, federally-
assisted, and federally-licensed or -permitted undertakings on
archaeological sites. The Council has determined that issuance of this
guidance is consistent with the Council's revised regulations. The full
text of the guidance is reproduced under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section of this notice.
DATES: This guidance is effective on June 17, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Those wishing to comment on this guidance should direct such
comments to: Executive Director, Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation, Old Post Office Building, 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., #
809, Washington, DC 20004; FAX (202) 606-8647; e-mail achp@achp.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ronald D. Anzalone, Assistant to the
Executive Director, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Old Post
Office Building, 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., # 809, Washington, DC
20004, (202) 606-8523.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The full text of the guidance, with the
model Memorandum of Agreement, is reproduced below.
Recommended Approach for Consultation on Recovery of Significant
Information From Archaeological Sites
Background
Sections 800.5 and 800.6 of the Council's revised regulations,
``Protection of Historic Properties'' (36 CFR part 800) detail the
process by which Federal agencies determine whether their undertakings
will adversely affect historic properties, and if they will, how they
are to consult to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the adverse effects in
order to meet the requirements of Section 106 to ``take into account''
the effects of their undertakings on historic properties.
One such category of historic properties is comprised of
prehistoric or historic archaeological resources. The National Register
of Historic Places defines an archaeological site as ``the place or
places where the remnants of a past culture survive in a physical
context that allows for the interpretation of these remains'' (National
Register Bulletin 36, ``Guidelines for Evaluating and Registering
Historical Archaeological Sites and Districts,'' 1993, p. 2). Such
properties may meet criteria for inclusion in the National Register of
Historic Places for a variety of reasons, not the least of which may be
because ``they have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information
important to prehistory or history'' (National Register Criteria for
Evaluation, 36 CFR 60.4).
In the context of taking into account the effects of a proposed
Federal or federally-assisted undertaking on any district, site,
building, structure, or object that is included in or eligible for
inclusion in the National Register, potential impacts to archaeological
sites often need to be considered. Appropriate treatments for affected
archaeological sites, or portions of archaeological sites, may include
active preservation in place for future study or other use, recovery or
partial recovery of archaeological data, public interpretive display,
or any combination of these and other measures.
Archaeological Sites and Their Treatment
The nature and scope of treatments for such properties should be
determined in consultation with other parties, but in the Council's
experience they generally need to be guided by certain basic
principles:
The pursuit of knowledge about the past is in the public
interest.
An archaeological site may have important values for
living communities and cultural descendants in addition to its
significance as a resource for learning about the past; its appropriate
treatment depends on its research significance, weighed against these
other public values.
Not all information about the past is equally important;
therefore, not all archaeological sites are equally important for
research purposes.
Methods for recovering information from archaeological
sites, particularly large-scale excavation, are by their nature
destructive. The site is destroyed as it is excavated. Therefore
management of archaeological sites should be conducted in a spirit of
stewardship for future generations, with full recognition of their non-
renewable nature and their potential multiple uses and public values.
Given the non-renewable nature of archaeological sites, it
follows that if an archaeological site can be practically preserved in
place for future study or other use, it usually should be (although
there are exceptions). However, simple avoidance of a site is not the
same as preservation.
Recovery of significant archaeological information through
controlled excavation and other scientific recording methods, as well
as destruction without data recovery, may both be appropriate
treatments for certain archaeological sites.
Once a decision has been made to recover archaeological
information through the naturally destructive methods of excavation, a
research design and data recovery plan based on firm background data,
sound planning, and accepted archaeological methods should be
formulated and implemented. Data recovery and analysis should be
accomplished in a thorough, efficient manner, using the most cost-
effective techniques practicable. A responsible archaeological data
recovery plan should provide for reporting and dissemination of
results, as well as interpretation of what has been learned so that it
is understandable and accessible to the public. Appropriate
arrangements for curation of archaeological materials and records
should be made. Adequate time and funds should be budgeted for
fulfillment of the overall plan.
Archaeological data recovery plans and their research
designs should be grounded in and related to the priorities established
in regional, state, and local historic preservation plans, the needs of
land and resource managers, academic research interests, and other
legitimate public interests.
Human remains and funerary objects deserve respect and
should be treated appropriately. The presence of human remains in an
archaeological site usually gives the site an added importance as a
burial site or cemetery, and the values associated with burial sites
need to be fully considered in the consultation process.
Large-scale, long-term archaeological identification and
management programs require careful consideration of management needs,
appreciation for the range of archaeological values represented,
periodic synthesis of research and other
[[Page 27086]]
program results, and professional peer review and oversight.
Resolving Adverse Effects Through Recovery of Significant Information
From Archaeological Sites
Under 36 CFR 800.5, archaeological sites may be ``adversely
affected'' when they are threatened with unavoidable physical
destruction or damage. Based on the principles articulated above, the
Council recommends that the following issues be considered and
addressed when archaeological sites are so affected, and recovery of
significant information from them through excavation and other
scientific means is the most appropriate preservation outcome.
If this guidance is followed, it is highly unlikely that the
Council would decide to enter the consultation process under 36 CFR
800.6 or raise objections to the proposed resolution of adverse effects
in a given case, unless it is informed of serious problems by a
consulting party or a member of the public.
1. The archaeological site should be significant and of value
chiefly for the information on prehistory or history they are likely to
yield through archaeological, historical, and scientific methods of
information recovery, including archaeological excavation.
2. The archaeological site should not contain or be likely to
contain human remains, associated or unassociated funerary objects,
sacred objects, or items of cultural patrimony as those terms are
defined by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
(25 U.S.C. 3001).
3. The archaeological site should not have long-term preservation
value, such as traditional cultural and religious importance to an
Indian tribe or a Native Hawaiian organization.
4. The archaeological site should not possess special significance
to another ethnic group or community that historically ascribes
cultural or symbolic value to the site and would object to the site's
excavation and removal of its contents.
5. The archaeological site should not be valuable for potential
permanent in-situ display or public interpretation, although temporary
public display and interpretation during the course of any excavations
may be highly appropriate.
6. The Federal Agency Official should have prepared a data recovery
plan with a research design in consultation with the SHPO/THPO and
other stakeholders that is consistent with the Secretary of the
Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, the
Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology
and Historic Preservation, and the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation's Treatment of Archaeological Properties: A Handbook. The
plan should specify: (a) The results of previous research relevant to
the project; (b) research problems or questions to be addressed with an
explanation of their relevance and importance; (c) the field and
laboratory analysis methods to be used with a justification of their
cost-effectiveness and how they apply to this particular property and
these research needs; (d) the methods to be used in artifact, data, and
other records management; (e) explicit provisions for disseminating the
research findings to professional peers in a timely manner; (f)
arrangements for presenting what has been found and learned to the
public, focusing particularly on the community or communities that may
have interests in the results; (g) the curation of recovered materials
and records resulting from the data recovery in accordance with 36 CFR
part 79 (except in the case of unexpected discoveries that may need to
be considered for repatriation pursuant to NAGPRA); and (h) procedures
for evaluating and treating discoveries of unexpected remains or newly
identified historic properties during the course of the project,
including necessary consultation with other parties.
7. The Federal Agency Official should ensure that the data recovery
plan is developed and will be implemented by or under the direct
supervision of a person, or persons, meeting at a minimum the Secretary
of the Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards (48 FR 44738-
44739).
8. The Federal Agency Official should ensure that adequate time and
money to carry out all aspects of the plan are provided, and should
ensure that all parties consulted in the development of the plan are
kept informed of the status of its implementation.
9. The Federal Agency Official should ensure that a final
archaeological report resulting from the data recovery will be provided
to the SHPO/THPO. The Federal Agency Official should ensure that the
final report is responsive to professional standards, and to the
Department of the Interior's Format Standards for Final Reports of Data
Recovery Programs (42 FR 5377-79).
10. Large, unusual, or complex projects should provide for special
oversight, including professional peer review.
11. The Federal Agency Official should determine that there are no
unresolved issues concerning the recovery of significant information
with any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization that may attach
religious and cultural significance to the affected property.
12. Federal Agency Officials should incorporate the terms and
conditions of this recommended approach into a Memorandum of Agreement
or Programmatic Agreement, file a copy with the Council per
Sec. 800.6(b)(iv), and implement the agreed plan. The agency should
retain a copy of the agreement and supporting documentation in the
project files.
Model Memorandum of Agreement
[See Attached Form]
MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT FOR RECOVERY OF SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION
FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE(S)--------------------------------------------
(list)-------------------------------------------------------------
UNDERTAKING:-----------------------------------------------------------
STATE:-----------------------------------------------------------------
AGENCY:----------------------------------------------------------------
Whereas, in accordance with 36 CFR Part 800, the [Federal
Agency] acknowledges and accepts the advice and conditions outlined
in the Council's ``Recommended Approach for Consultation on the
Recovery of Significant Information from Archaeological Sites,''
published in the Federal Register on [date of publication]; and
Whereas, the consulting parties agree that recovery of
significant information from the archaeological site(s) listed above
may be done in accordance with the published guidance; and
Whereas, the consulting parties agree that it is in the public
interest to expand funds to implement this project through the
recovery of significant information from archaeological sites to
mitigate the adverse effects of the project; and
Whereas, the consulting parties agree that Indian Tribes or
Native Hawaiian organizations that may attach religious or cultural
importance to the affected property(ies) have been consulted and
have raised no objection to the work proposed; and
Whereas, to the best of our knowledge and belief, no human
remains, associated or unassociated funerary objects or sacred
objects, or objects of cultural patrimony as defined in the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C. 3001),
are expected to be encountered in the archaeological work;
Now, therefore, the [Federal Agency] shall ensure that the
following terms and conditions, including the appended
Archaeological Data Recovery Plan, will be implemented in a timely
manner and with adequate resources in compliance with the National
Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470).
OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
Modification, amendment, or termination of this
agreement as necessary shall be accomplished by the signatories in
the same manner as the original agreement.
[[Page 27087]]
Disputes regarding the completion of the terms of this
agreement shall be resolved by the signatories. If the signatories
cannot agree regarding a dispute, any one of the signatories may
request the participation of the Council to assist in resolving the
dispute.
This agreement shall be null and void if its terms are
not carried out within 5 (five) years from the date of its
execution, unless the signatories agree in writing to an extension
for carrying out its terms.
Agency Official:-------------------------------------------------------
date:--------------------------------------------------------------
State Historic Preservation Officer:-----------------------------------
date:--------------------------------------------------------------
Tribal Historic Preservation Officer: Official:------------------------
date:--------------------------------------------------------------
Other Public or Private Entity:----------------------------------------
date:--------------------------------------------------------------
(as applicable)
[Attach Archaeological Data Recovery Plan here]
[End of Form]
Dated: May 7, 1999.
John M. Fowler,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 99-12055 Filed 5-17-99; 8:45 am]
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