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With passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966, Congress made the Federal Government a full partner and a leader in historic preservation. The Federal Government's role would be to provide leadership for preservation, and foster conditions under which modern society and prehistoric and historic resources can exist in productive harmony. An underlying motivation in passage of the Act was to transform the Federal Government from an agent of indifference, frequently responsible for needless loss of historic resources, to a responsible steward for future generations.

As amended in 1992, Section 110 of the Act outlines a broad range of responsibilities for Federal agencies. Section 110 calls for among other things Federal agencies to establish preservation programs, commensurate with their mission and the effects of their activities on historic properties, that provide broadly for careful consideration of historic properties and the designation of qualified Federal Preservation Officers to coordinate their historic preservation activities.

Finally, in 2003, the ACHP published advisory guidelines to assist Federal agencies with real property management responsibilities in preparing the assessments and reports outlined in Executive Order 13287, "Preserve America." Agencies are encouraged to use the advisory guidelines as a template to ensure that adequate, complete, and useful information is submitted to the ACHP.

Updated June 26, 2007

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