Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) requires that federal agencies consider the effects of their projects on historic properties. Historic properties are any prehistoric or historic district, site, building, structure, or object included in, or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) maintained by the Secretary of the Interior. Washington Union Station is listed in the NRHP, and there are several NRHP-listed historic districts and individual properties in the neighborhoods surrounding the station.
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s (ACHP) Section 106 implementing regulations in 36 CFR Part 800 http://www.achp.gov/regs-rev04.pdf define a four-step decision making process for compliance with Section 106. The four steps are:
The result of consultation could be a legally binding Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) or a Programmatic Agreement (PA).
Consulting parties in the Section 106 process include the federal agency, the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), the ACHP, grantees, representatives of local governments, and organizations, businesses, and members of the general public who have an economic, social or cultural interest in the project
FRA initiated Section 106 consultation with the District of Columbia State Historic Preservation Officer for the Washington Union Station Expansion Project (the Project) in November 2015. FRA then worked with the SHPO to identify consulting parties, who were formally invited to participate in the Section 106 consultation process in March 2016.
The Section 106 process is being coordinated with the development of the Project’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In addition to meeting with consulting parties, FRA will provide information at public meetings held throughout the NEPA process about the Project’s potential to affect historic properties.
This website will be updated with relevant materials as the Section 106 process moves forward.