Collection Mandates

In an effort to manage its vast museum collections more responsibly, the Department of the Interior (DOI) established policies and procedures for managing museum collections and created the Interior Museum Program.  Departmental Manual 411, "Managing Museum Property," set the policy for the collection, management, and care of museum property for all DOI bureaus. Note museum property is a subset of the larger personal property category within DOI, thus property law and regulations apply.

Both "Curation of Federally Owned and Administered Archeological Collections" (36 CFR Part 79) and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), and its implementing regulations (43 CFR Part 10), affect management of Reclamation's archaeological collections.Some of the other key laws, regulations, and policies underlying Reclamation's responsibility for managing its museum collections include: National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, as amended Federal Property Management Regulations (FPMR) (41 CFR Part 101) Reclamation's Supplements to the FPMR, Preservation of American Antiquities (43 CFR Part 3) Protection of Archaeological Resources (43 CFR Part 7), The Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standard (SFFAS) of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board also provides requirements for reporting museum property. SFFAS 6  - Accounting for Property, Plant, and Equipment (PP&E) SFFAS 8  - Supplementary Stewardship Reporting SFFAS 14 - Amendments to Deferred Maintenance Reporting [(amends SFFAS' 6 and 8)] SFFAS 16 - Amendments to Accounting for PP&E: Multi-Use Heritage Assets [(amends SFFAS' 6 and 8)].

Also refer to CRM Reclamation Policies and Guidance and general CRM mandates