Introduction to the Secretary of the Interior's Archeology and Preservation Standards

What they are

The Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation were issued by the National Park Service as a notice in the Federal Register, taking effect on September 29, 1983. They are not regulations and don't set or interpret agency policy: they give technical advice on archeological and historic preservation work and methods.

They were prepared under sections 101 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, after consulting State Historic Preservation Officers, Federal Preservation Officers (including those of the Departments of Agriculture and Defense, the Smithsonian Institution and the General Services Administration), the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and others.

Why they exist

Drawing on nearly twenty years of intensive preservation work at the federal, state and local levels, the standards aim to:

• organize what has been learned about preservation activities;
• describe the results federal agencies, states and others should achieve when they identify, evaluate, register and treat historic properties;
• bring the many organizations doing preservation into one systematic effort to preserve the nation's cultural heritage.

Who should use them

• Federal agency staff managing cultural resources under section 110 of the act on federal land. (The separate section 110 guidelines mentioned in 1983 as "in preparation" have since been finalized.)
• State Historic Preservation Offices, which decide on preserving historic properties in their states under the relevant regulations and the Historic Preservation Fund Grants Management Manual, and serve as the hub for preservation planning and a statewide repository of information.
• Local governments wanting a comprehensive approach to identifying, evaluating, registering and treating historic properties.
• Anyone else who needs basic technical standards for preservation work.

How they are organized

Three parts: the Standards; the Guidelines; and recommended technical sources, listed after each set of guidelines, which users are expected to consult for specific cases.

Review: the Standards for Rehabilitation had just been revised after 5 years of field use. For everything else, users were invited to send written comments; the Park Service planned a thorough review, with federal and state agencies, after the first full year, and further reviews as needed.

What has changed since 1983

The Park Service has not republished the full standards since 1983, but has updated parts of them:

• where it has formally revised a section in the Federal Register — such as the Historic Preservation Project standards and the treatment definitions — the online version strikes through the 1983 text and links to the new material;
• where the 1983 text is out of date but hasn't been formally replaced, such as the technical information, it is struck through and current information and links are added;
• bracketed notes are not part of the text published in the Federal Register.

Next in the series: Preservation Planning Standards

Sources

Based on "Introduction," Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation, National Park Service, from the notice at 48 FR 44716; a work of the United States government in the public domain.