FAQs on Historic and Archaeological Preservation

State Historic Preservation Office FAQs (click here)

#1: How Do I Tell If My Project Needs to be Submitted for Review?

Actions that will require evaluation under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and 26CFR Part 800 meet one of the following criteria:

1. The project takes place on federal or Indian land.
2. The action will require a federal license or permit at some point.
3. The project will received federal funds in the form of a grant, loan, etc.
4. The action is assisted in some fashion by a federal agency.

(also keep in mind that some federal agencies have relinquished their responsibilities to a state entity-e.g, EPA to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality; Office of Surface Mining to the Oklahoma Department of Mines ….)

#2: What Conditions Would Make an Archaeological Site Eligible for the National Register?

Under conditions of 36CFR Part 60.4, one of the following criteria must be met

"The quality of significance in American history, architecture, archeology, and culture iis present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects of state and local importance that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and

a. that are associated with the events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of history; or
b. that are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
c. that embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, method of construction, or that represent the work or a master, or that possess high artistic value, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
d. that have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.