Contributed by: Preservation League of NYS
Organization: Preservation League of NYS
Dated Posted: July 26, 2026

As you have no doubt heard, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) is proposing to dramatically overhaul the regulations governing the implementation of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. While it was understood that there has been a move afoot to revise the regulations, by all accounts the speed and dramatic nature of this most recent effort came as a surprise. In response, national, state, and local organizations are assessing the current situation and determining how best to effectively respond.

Click here to visit Cultural Heritage Partners' "War Room for threats to Section 106," which they have been continually updating with information, resources, and press links.

The changes in their current form would completely reorient the Section 106 process from one that embraces public participation, consultation, and compromise, to one that consolidates agency control over the process. It reduces situations in which Section 106 will be applied, and when it is, the proposal greatly limits the scope of potential impacts. What this means in practice is that consultation with SHPOs, THPOs, indigenous tribes, and others, becomes optional and at the agency’s own discretion. It is up to the agencies to decide when the public interest will come into play. It goes on to exclude more projects from review and provides options to skip the review process altogether. It even goes so far as to limit what is considered “historic” to only those places that include or once included tangible human improvements, and further, that these areas must be “geographically compact,” — a real threat to sacred areas and rural historic districts, among others.

We are hearing that it is highly likely that ACHP will vote to approve this draft TOMORROW, Friday, July 24. From there, it will be reviewed by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the White House. Once it is printed in the Federal Register, a public comment period will commence. It is highly likely that litigation will follow.

While the public comment period has yet to open, it is not too early to communicate your concerns to your state and federal representatives. The links below provide additional information that you may find helpful. This includes details on a July 30 National Trust webinar on the subject. In the meantime, we will monitor the process and stay in touch with opportunities to make our voices heard.

Click here for a fact sheet from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Click here to register for the National Trust's July 30 webinar, Section 106 Regulations Under Threat.

Updates from Preservation Action.

From NCSHPO: "The End of Section 106 as We Know It?"

From the Architect's Newspaper: "Proposed changes to Section 106 of National Historic Preservation Act draw pushback from preservationists and legal experts"

From The Washington Post: "Trump officials seek to weaken historic-preservation reviews of projects"