Preserving the History of the Department
 The Department of Energy has a strong sense of responsibility for its material heritage. Owning some of the twentieth century's most historically significant physical properties, DOE maintains an active historic preservation program dedicated to preserving and interpreting the Department's heritage. The Office of History and Heritage Resources is DOE's lead office in this effort.
The Chief Historian serves as the Department's Federal Preservation Officer (FPO), a position mandated by Section 110(c) of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
In December 1999, the Departmental Corporate Board on Historic Preservation, composed of senior program office managers, approved a complex-wide historic preservation strategy concentrating initially on the Manhattan Project. The centerpiece of the strategy is the Manhattan Project Preservation Initiative. The initiative has focused primarily on the eight Manhattan Project Signature Facilities. During the past several years, efforts to identify potential preservation options and partnerships for the Signature Facilities have intensified. A significant development was the passage of the “Manhattan Project National Historical Park Study Act” (Public Law 108-340) in late 2004, which directs the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, to conduct a special resource study of the Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Hanford sites (Dayton, Ohio was later added) “to assess the national significance, suitability, and feasibility of designating 1 or more sites within the study area as a unit of the National Park Service.” Former Deputy Secretary Sell directed the FPO to serve as the primary point of contact for DOE on this important initiative to ensure that “in consultation with the Secretary of Energy” is meaningful.
Following eight public scoping meetings between March and June 2006 to gather public comments, the NPS study team began the internal significance, suitability, and feasibility phase and is currently developing preliminary alternatives for managing the resources under study. In January 2007, the FPO and the Deputy FPO met with NPS officials of the Seattle office of the Pacific West region to discuss the Hanford B Reactor in terms of the study. In addition, the FPO participated in a three-day summit involving the four NPS regions and the NPS Denver Service Center in late February. The FPO also met with regional planning directors in Washington in late June. Another round of public meetings is scheduled for fall 2007, at which time preliminary management alternatives will be presented for public comment.
A subsequent initiative, the Cold War Preservation Initiative, is looking at the preservation and interpretation of DOE's Cold War-era sites, facilities, and artifacts.
The Office of History and Heritage Resources is DOE's lead office in implementing Executive Order 13287, Preserve America, signed by President Bush on March 3, 2003. As part of a broader White House initiative called Preserve America, the Executive Order seeks to promote the protection, enhancement, and contemporary use of the historic properties owned by the Federal Government. Agencies are tasked with inventorying their historic properties and assessing the suitability of the properties to contributing to community economic development initiatives, including heritage tourism. The Office of History and Heritage Resources drafted an Executive Order status report due September 30, 2004. The report, reviewed by the Historic Preservation Executive Committee, summarized the Department’s current historic preservation and cultural resources program, identified issues that need to be addressed, and, in coordination with the Office of Health, Safety and Security and the General Counsel, included a section demonstrating that DOE rules and regulations provide for effective implementation of the Order. The Office of History and Heritage Resources, again with field input and Executive Committee review, also prepared a report due September 30, 2005, that was combined with those of other Federal agencies for submission to the President by the Department of Interior. When the Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation met with former Deputy Secretary Sell in February 2006 to discuss entering into an interagency agreement to implement the Executive Order, Chairman John Nau II told the Deputy Secretary that DOE’s 2005 report was one of the two or three best submitted (72 federal agencies are required to report). The Office of History and Heritage Resources continues to work on Executive Order implementation and will prepare the next progress report, which is due September 30, 2008.
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