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IN THIS ISSUE:
Feature Stories:
Legislative Updates:
Announcements:
FEATURE
STORIES:
CONGRESS
PASSES FY''02 BUDGET RESOLUTION AND PRESIDENT SIGNS
RECORD TAX CUT INTO LAW; "HISTORIC HOMEOWNERSHIP
ASSISTANCE ACT" INTRODUCED IN SENATE
Congress passed a budget resolution (H.Con. Res. 83)
prior to the Memorial Day recess that increases
discretionary spending by 4.2% for fiscal year 2002 and
President Bush signed the largest tax cut in 20 years
($1.35 trillion over 11 years) on June 7. However,
despite the best efforts of preservationists, the
historic homeownership tax credit was not included in
the final tax bill signed by the President.
Senator John Breaux (D-LA) introduced the "Historic
Homeownership Assistance Act" (S. 920) in the Senate on
May 21. Senators Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Bob Graham
(D-FL), James Jeffords (I-VT), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Carl
Levin (D-MI), Robert Torricelli, (D-NJ), Zell Miller
(D-GA) and Max Cleland (D-GA) have co-sponsored the bill
to date. Breaux has also circulated a "Dear Colleague"
letter in the Senate to gain support for the bill.
Another Round of Tax Cuts?
Now that the
Bush tax cut is in place, attention has turned to the
next opportunity to win approval of a broad array of tax
reductions and other incentives that were not included
in the first major tax bill. However, the defection of
Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT) from the Republican party and
the resulting change in leadership and control of the
Senate to the Democrats will have an effect on the
consideration of any future tax cuts this year. Before
the change in control of the Senate, the speculation was
that a minimum wage bill would be the likely vehicle for
passing tax items outside the President's plan, such as
the historic homeownership tax credit. Business and
corporate lobbying interests played up the idea that the
minimum wage bill was going to be the legislative
vehicle for a second round of tax cuts. However, the
ascendancy of the Democrats to the majority and the
continuing flack over an organizational resolution in
the Senate threaten to derail any serious negotiations
over a second tax package, which would likely require 60
votes to ensure it against a potential filibuster. In
addition, Congressional lawmakers are also beginning to
publicly question the validity of the budget surplus
projections in the wake of the passage of the first tax
cut, which provided the impetus for even considering a
second round of tax cuts. While there is ample evidence
to think that a second round of tax cuts may be a
possibility, the goal for preservation advocates, in the
interim, is to gain as many sponsors of the "Historic
Homeownership Assistance Act" (H.R. 1172/S. 920) as
possible.
Action Needed
Advocates should urge their Members of Congress to
co-sponsor the "Historic Homeownership Assistance Act"
(H.R. 1172/S. 920). Visit the National Trust's Congressional
Advocacy Center to view our alert on the
homeownership tax credit and see if your Member of
Congress is a cosponsor of either the House or Senate
bill. Our goal is to reach 218 sponsors in the House and
51 in the Senate. If your Member is not a cosponsor, we
urge you to write or call your representative or
Senators (use the US Capitol Switchboard at
202-224-3121) and ask for his or her support for the
bill. You can also use our Congressional Advocacy Center
from the National Trust's home page to compose letters
of support for the historic homeownership tax credit to
send directly to your Members of Congress via e-mail by
simply typing your zip code into the "Take Action"
box.
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"SAVE AMERICA'S TREASURES" PROGRAM (SAT) FUNDING
RESTORED IN ADMINISTRATION'S BUDGET AMENDMENT TO
CONGRESS
President Bush submitted an amendment to his FY'02 to
Congress on May 7 requesting $30 million for the "Save
America's Treasures" (SAT) program from the Historic
Preservation Fund (HPF). The Administration's budget
amendment revises its total request for the HPF to
$67.055 million in FY'02. The Bush budget that was
delivered to Congress on April 9 had zeroed out SAT
funding and left the future of the program in limbo.
Preservationists were pleased to hear of this policy
reversal and rejoiced at the prospect that SAT program
may finally be garnering the respect it deserves in
order to continue receiving annual funding. Since its
inception in 1999, the SAT program has identified almost
$3 billion of unmet need in funding for historic
preservation projects.
The Bush budget amendment also included new language
that requires "all projects to be funded shall be
approved by the Secretary of the Interior in
consultation with the President's Committee on the Arts
and Humanities prior to the commitment of grant funds."
The President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities was
created by executive order in 1982. Individual projects
would still be eligible to receive only one grant under
the program.
House Passes FY'02 Interior Bill
The House passed the FY'02 Interior Appropriations
Bill (H.R. 2217, H. Rept. 107-103) by a vote of 376-32
on June 21. The House bill includes $77 million for the
Historic Preservation Fund, with $30 million for the
"Save America's Treasures" program and $5 million for
the National Trust to create a one-time "Historic Sites
Fund" to address emergency maintenance and repairs at
the Trust's 20 historic sites. However, the States and
tribal preservation programs received $39 million and $3
million, respectively -- considerably less than their
FY'01 funding. The States were cut $7.495 million and
the tribes lost $2.56 million from last year. Overall,
the HPF was reduced by $17.139 million from FY'01.
The Senate is expected to mark up of the Interior
Bill after the July 4th congressional recess. Continued
pressure and advocacy will be needed to ensure that
Senate appropriators retain funding for the Save
America's Treasures Program and the National Trust's
Historic Sites Fund, as well as restore cuts in funding
levels for the States and tribes passed by the House.
Stay tuned for breaking developments and alerts on
appropriations in the coming weeks.
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LEGISLATIVE NEWS
Rahall Amendment on National Monuments Passes
House
Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) sponsored an
amendment to the FY'02 Interior Appropriations bill
which prohibits the expenditure of funds -- for any
pre-leasing or leasing activities under either the
Mineral Leasing Act and the Outer Continental Shelf
Lands Act -- in national monuments created by various
Presidents since passage of the Antiquities Act in 1906.
The Rahall amendment was a victory for advocates of both
natural resource conservation and cultural resource
protection in national monuments. The Rahall amendment
passed the House on June 21 by a vote of 242 to
173.
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National Monument Fairness
Act of 2001 (H.R. 2114)
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID)
introduced H.R. 2114 on June 7 that would gut the
Antiquities Act of 1906. The bill's fatal flaw is a
provision that "sunsets" all new national monuments over
50,000 acres within two years of designation unless
Congress approves the designation, leaving such lands
subject to development threats. The Act has given the
President the unique authority to protect public lands
from imminent and irreparable harm and has been used
judiciously since 1906. Case in point: all but three
Presidents have made use of the Antiquities Act to
protect the special qualities of our federal lands from
potential harm. Since the passage of the Antiquities Act
of 1906, over one hundred national monuments have been
designated. The National Trust opposes any efforts to
weaken the Antiquities Act, as well as any efforts to
undercut protections afforded America's newest national
monuments and any future monument declarations.
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Post Office Community Partnership Act of 2001
(H.R. 1861, S. 897)
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) and
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced legislation on
May 16 that would require the U.S. Postal Service to
extend procedures regarding the closing or consolidation
of a post office to the relocation or construction of a
post office. In addition to outlining a 60-day
notification requirement for community contact
procedures, the bill also requires the Postal Service to
comply with any applicable zoning, planning, or land use
laws (including design guidelines, building codes, and
all other provisions of law) in considering post office
closings, consolidations and relocations.
Preservationists have been battling to keep post offices
located in their downtown areas for years to help
preserve community character and prevent urban sprawl.
Senators Wayne Allard (R-CO), James Jeffords (R-VT),
Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Carl Levin (D-MI) joined
Senator Baucus as cosponsors of S. 897. S. 897 has been
referred to the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs
and H.R. 1861 was referred to the Committee on
Government Reform.
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Historically Women's Public Colleges or
Universities Historic Building Restoration and
Preservation Act (H.R. 1623)
Introduced by Rep.
Charles Pickering (R-MS), H.R. 1623 would authorize $16
million annually for five years from the HPF for
matching grants to preserve and restore historic
buildings and structures located on the campuses of the
nation's historically women's public colleges. The bill
would earmark $2 million each to the following eight
women's colleges in FY'02 : Mississippi University for
Women in Columbus, Mississippi; Georgia College and
State University in Milledgeville, Georgia; University
of North Carolina in Greensboro, North Carolina;
Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina;
University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama; Texas
Woman's University in Denton, Texas; University of
Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha, Oklahoma; and
Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. The bill requires
historically women's colleges to a minimum 50 percent
match of federal funding which can include in-kind
contributions. The bill was introduced on April 26 and
referred to the House Committee on Resources and the
Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public
Lands on May 3.
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Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Reauthorization (H.R. 1606)
Introduced by Rep.
Jim Clyburn (D-SC), H.R. 1606 would amend the "Omnibus
Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996" to
authorize significantly more funding for the
preservation of historic structures located on the
campuses of the nation's 103 historically black colleges
and universities (HBCUs). The Omnibus Parks bill
initially authorized HBCUs funding at $29 million, which
expired at the end of fiscal year 2001. The Clyburn bill
would authorize $530 million for HBCUs and require only
a 30% match. H.R. 1606 was introduced on April 26 and
referred to the House Committee on Resources. It was
subsequently referred to the House Subcommittee on
National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands on May
2.
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Brownfields (S. 350)
Brownfields
legislation (S. 350) passed the Senate by a vote of 99-0
on April 25. Many brownfield sites contain older and
historic commercial structures that would be eligible
for cleanup and assessment funding under the
Senate-passed bill. A draft version of a House
brownfields bill is being circulated by Rep. Paul
Gillmor (R-OH) which is purportedly more restrictive of
the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ability to
intervene in state-supervised brownfields cleanups than
S. 350. At issue is the notion of "finality" -- the
point at which parties who develop brownfield sites are
free from future liability. Gillmor, the chairman of the
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment
and Hazardous Materials, believes that S. 350, as passed
by the Senate, falls short of adequately restricting
EPA's authority and wants to see a stronger guarantee of
"finality". Gillmor has a strong ally in the National
Governors Association, which issued a statement saying
that "S. 350 gives way too much discretion to EPA." NGA
wants more specific conditions under which EPA can
override a state cleanup certification -- otherwise
"brownfields will continue to go undeveloped." Gillmor's
draft bill attempts to provide an "assurance of
finality" to state cleanup authorities, developers and
investors that the federal government will only
intervene in a cleanup under very limited circumstances,
such as when contamination has migrated or will migrate
across a state line. Gillmor's draft bill would
authorize $1 billion over 5 years ($200 million annually
- the same level as the Senate bill) but would reserve
$50 million annually for "petroleum-related cleanups".
The Gillmor draft bill would also make "more seriously
contaminated sites" eligible for brownfields program
money and would streamline the federal permit process
for brownfield cleanups. Gillmor's Subcommittee on
Environment and Hazardous Materials has scheduled a
hearing on S. 350 and the House draft bill on June
27.
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"Rebuilding America's Infrastructure" (H.R.
1564).
Introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH),
H.R. 1564 would authorize $50 billion annually for
mortgage loans at 0% interest so that State and local
governments can invest in certain infrastructure
projects, including rehabilitation. The bill's lending
guidelines would require at least 20% of all loans made
to states, local governments and Indian reservations be
invested in public school infrastructure and facilities
or other public educational facilities. Although the
bill, does not define clearly "public school
infrastructure" (for example, new construction vs. rehab
work), the National Trust is monitoring the bill as a
potential funding source for rehabilitation of older and
historic neighborhood schools. H.R. 1564 does cite State
departments of education data identifying at least $300
billion in unmet school infrastructure needs. H.R. 1564
was introduced on April 24 and referred to the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the
Committee on Budget and the Financial Services
Committee. The bill was subsequently referred to the
subcommittees on Aviation, Coast Guard and Maritime
Transportation, Railroads, and Water Resources and the
Environment on April 25.
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"Constitutional Land Acquisition Act" (H.R.
1592)
Introduced by Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX),
H.R. 1592 would amend Title I of the Land and Water
Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to protect the rights of
an owner of non-Federal real property located within
boundaries of a Federal unit as a consequence of the
acquisition of lands for that unit, or adjacent to
Federal lands acquired with amounts made available under
the '65 Act. The bill would amend the Act to include
"property acquisition requirements" that must be met in
order to complete a Federal acquisition, including the
consent of the owner and specific approval by an Act of
Congress. The property rights restrictions placed on
LWCF acquisitions would be significant under H.R. 1592
and could pose a problem for the federal government in
setting aside public lands for natural conservation,
historic and cultural resource protection purposes. H.R.
1592 was introduced on April 25 and referred to the
House Committee on Resources.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS AND SHORT TAKES
Mainella Named Director of National Park
Service
Fran Mainella was named Director of the National Park
Service by President Bush on June 4. Mainella previously
served as the Director of the Division of Recreation and
Parks for the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection and has over 30 years of experience in the
field of parks and recreation. Mainella's previous
public service experience includes being president of
the National Association of State Park Directors and the
National Recreation and Park Association, as well as
secretary of Florida A & M University's Landscape
Design and Management Program's Advisory Council.
Mainella also served as the Outdoor Recreational State
Liaison Officer for the state of Florida and was
responsible for administering Land and Water
Conservation Fund grants. She is a current member of the
Florida Tourism Commission and the statewide
Eco-Tourism/Heritage Tourism Committee.
As Director of Florida's state parks, Mainella
administered and oversaw the management of 153 state
parks consisting of more than 500,000 acres. Her
supervision of eight bureaus, two offices, and over 1000
employees led to many accomplishments for the Florida
Park Service. In 1999, at the National Recreation and
Park Association Annual Congress meeting in Nashville,
Tennessee, the National Sporting Goods Association
awarded the prestigious "State Parks Gold Medal" to
Florida's state park system, recognizing it as the best
state park system in all 50 states.
Mainella's
confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy Committee
will take place on June 27.
National Trust Advisors'
Meeting Washington a Major Success
The National Trust's Board of Advisors held their
biannual meeting in Washington, D.C. May 19-21, which
culminated with a special day of lobbying on Capitol
Hill on May 22 to help advocate for the Trust's public
policy agenda with their individual Members of Congress.
By all accounts the meetings and lobbying efforts were a
major success. Advisors went to Capitol Hill and lobbied
for passage of the historic homeownership tax credit, a
$5 million historic sites fund for the National Trust's
20 historic sites, full funding ($150 million) for the
Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) and the national
preservation program, and post office legislation. Kudos
to Gordon Kerr and Stacey Mahaney in Public Policy and
Margaret Welsh of the Trust's Resource Center for a
terrific job in organizing the myriad of activities that
the Advisors enjoyed.
Transportation Enhancements News
Reauthorization of ISTEA and TEA-21 won't begin in
earnest until early in 2003 (it's the 108th Congress
that will reauthorize TEA-21), but the Administration
and most of the transportation advocacy groups are
already preparing their wish lists and developing
strategies to achieve them. In the meantime, below are
the latest developments on the transportation and
historic preservation front.
- The National Trust has an updated version of a now
classic book on the transportation enhancements
program. Building on the Past, Travelling to the
Future: A Preservationists Guide to the Federal
Transportation Enhancements Program, Second
Edition has arrived from the printer and is being
widely distributed. We want historic preservation
projects to win a larger share of transportation
enhancements funds, which amount to over $600 million
per year and, in most states, the historic
preservation share of the program is too low. The
updated version of this book is packed with practical
information about ways to plan successful projects and
contains many inspirational project examples. Contact
Stacey Mahaney in the Public Policy Department at
(202) 588-6255 to obtain your copy of the book or
write to policy@nthp.org.
- The National Trust is about to embark on a major
study for the Federal Transit Administration on
historic preservation's contributions to transit
centers and transit-oriented development. Transit
ridership is growing, and interest in transit
solutions to traffic congestion has never been
greater.
- In September, the National Trust and the American
Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials, the professional association of state
transportation agencies, will hold the first historic
preservation and transportation conference. Next year,
the Trust's Rural Heritage Program will be hosting its
third national Saving Historic Roads conference. The
Trust's regional offices, our statewide partners, the
Law and Public Policy departments, and rural heritage
are all increasingly involved helping local
communities all over the country deal with state
transportation agencies as they work to protect and
enhance their historic resources. For further
information about these activities or general
transportation enhancements program questions, contact
Dan Costello in the Public Policy Department at (202)
588-6167 or write to mailto:dan_costello@nthp.org.
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Preservation Advocate News is published by the
National Trust's Department of Public Policy and
distributed via e-mail to its grass roots advocacy
network. For further information contact: National Trust
for Historic Preservation, Department of Public Policy,
1785 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20036,
202-588-6254 (phone), 202-588-6038 (fax), policy@nthp.org
(e-mail). To sign up directly for e-mail delivery, visit
the National Trust's Congressional Advocacy Center at http://capwiz.com/nthp/home.
Richard Moe, President
Kathryn Higgins, Vice
President for Public Policy
Gordon Kerr, Director of
Federal Relations
Staff Writers: Carl Wolf, Dan
Costello
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