II. NOMINATING PROPERTIES TO THE NATIONAL REGISTER

The National Register nomination process begins with the identification of potentially eligible properties by State and local governments, private property owners, developers, historical societies, non-profit community organizations, and neighborhood and professional associations. Often, the identification is a result of a comprehensive survey taken to locate National Register eligible properties. Federal, State, or local governments and planning agencies often sponsor these surveys. Many National Register properties, however, are listed as a result of efforts by private property owners to recognize aspects of local or regional history and to bring attention to these important places.

Once a property is identified and evaluated to be significant, it must be documented. Documentation takes the form of a physical description of the property, statement of significance, bibliography, photographs and maps, and sometimes additional information. Each element provides the information necessary for the evaluation of a resource's eligibility for listing in the National Register. As the uses for National Register documentation continue to expand, the necessity of having dependable and accurate information increases as well.

Standardizing the way in which information is presented helps streamline evaluation. Therefore, the National Park Service has standard forms for all nominations to the National Register. Each piece of information necessary to evaluate the resource has a specific place on the National Register Registration Form. Most spaces on the form correspond to an element in the National Register Information System (NRIS), the database of all properties listed in, determined eligible for, or under consideration for listing in the National Register.

Through the NRIS, researchers may access information in a variety of ways: such as by location, areas and periods of significance, significant persons, architectural style, and cultural affiliation. Because the NRIS is the primary vehicle through which information on historic places is accessed, it is important that the information it contains is reliable. The integrity of the NRIS database, therefore, rests with the accuracy and consistency of the information included in the National Register Registration Form for each property.

National Register Bulletin: How to Complete the National Register Registration Form, and National Register Bulletin: How to Complete the Multiple Property Documentation Form, offer specific guidance on completing each section of the appropriate form. Copies of instructions and a computer template of the National Register Registration Form are available from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, 1849 C St., NW, Room NC 400, Washington, D.C. 20240. 36 CFR Part 60 outlines procedures for nominating properties to the National Register of Historic Places. Properties are nominated to the National Register by the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) of the State in which the property is located or by the Federal Preservation Officer (FPO) for properties under Federal ownership or control.

Ordinarily, private individuals, local governments,consultants, or the SHPO staff prepares State nomination forms. A State Historic Preservation Review Board comprising professionals in the fields of American history, architectural history, architecture, archeology, and other related disciplines, then evaluates the nominations. The review board makes a recommendation to the SHPO either to approve the nomination if, in the board's opinion, it meets the National Register criteria, or to disapprove the nomination if it does not. If the review board and the SHPO agree on the eligibility of the property, the nomination is forwarded to the National Park Service in Washington, D.C. to be considered for listing. When the review board and the SHPO disagree on the eligibility of the property, the National Park Service will make the final decision on whether to list the property. In both cases, the National Park Service decides within 45 days whether the property will be listed.

While the SHPO reviews the proposed nomination, property owners and local officials are notified of the intent to nominate. Local officials and property owners may comment on the nomination, and owners of private property may object to or concur with the nomination. If the owner of a private property or the majority of owners for a property or district with multiple owners objects to the nomination, the SHPO forwards the nomination to the National Park Service for a determination about whether the property is eligible for listing. While these properties are not listed, the National Register retains information on the property, including the nomination form, and enters them in the NRIS with a notation that they have been determined eligible for listing.

Federal agencies survey and evaluate properties within their jurisdictions and prepare nominations to the National Register. FPOs must allow the SHPO for the State in which the property is located an opportunity to comment on the nomination before it is forwarded to the National Park Service. Properties may also be added to the National Register when they are designated as historic by the President, Congress, or the Secretary of Interior, as happens with National Historic Landmarks and units of the National Park System.

The Secretary of the Interior may designate properties possessing exceptional values or qualities in interpreting the heritage of the United States as National Historic Landmarks. National Park Service historians, architectural historians, archeologists, and others study these properties within the context of major themes in American history. Nominations are forwarded to the National Park System Advisory Board, which recommends action to the Secretary of the Interior. Properties that are designated National Historic landmarks are simultaneously listed in the National Register.

When it is the most appropriate way to protect the nation's natural and historical heritage, the President, by proclamation, or Congress, by legislation, has the authority to create units of the National Park System. Units of the National Park System designated for their historical value are simultaneously listed in the National Register.