[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 95 (Tuesday, May 18, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27085-27087]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12055]



  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 95 / Tuesday, May 18, 1999 / 
Notices  

[[Page 27085]]



ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION


Recommended Approach for Consultation on Recovery of Significant 
Information From Archaeological Sites

AGENCY: Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

ACTION: Notice of guidance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with Secs. 800.5 and 800.6 of its revised 
regulations (36 CFR part 800, ``Protection of Historic Properties,'' 
published today) implementing Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act of 1966, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 
is publishing a recommended approach for consultation by Federal 
agencies, State Historic Preservation Officers, Tribal Historic 
Preservation Officers, and others on the effects of Federal, federally-
assisted, and federally-licensed or -permitted undertakings on 
archaeological sites. The Council has determined that issuance of this 
guidance is consistent with the Council's revised regulations. The full 
text of the guidance is reproduced under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section of this notice.

DATES: This guidance is effective on June 17, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Those wishing to comment on this guidance should direct such 
comments to: Executive Director, Advisory Council on Historic 
Preservation, Old Post Office Building, 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., # 
809, Washington, DC 20004; FAX (202) 606-8647; e-mail [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ronald D. Anzalone, Assistant to the 
Executive Director, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Old Post 
Office Building, 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., # 809, Washington, DC 
20004, (202) 606-8523.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The full text of the guidance, with the 
model Memorandum of Agreement, is reproduced below.

Recommended Approach for Consultation on Recovery of Significant 
Information From Archaeological Sites

Background

    Sections 800.5 and 800.6 of the Council's revised regulations, 
``Protection of Historic Properties'' (36 CFR part 800) detail the 
process by which Federal agencies determine whether their undertakings 
will adversely affect historic properties, and if they will, how they 
are to consult to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the adverse effects in 
order to meet the requirements of Section 106 to ``take into account'' 
the effects of their undertakings on historic properties.
    One such category of historic properties is comprised of 
prehistoric or historic archaeological resources. The National Register 
of Historic Places defines an archaeological site as ``the place or 
places where the remnants of a past culture survive in a physical 
context that allows for the interpretation of these remains'' (National 
Register Bulletin 36, ``Guidelines for Evaluating and Registering 
Historical Archaeological Sites and Districts,'' 1993, p. 2). Such 
properties may meet criteria for inclusion in the National Register of 
Historic Places for a variety of reasons, not the least of which may be 
because ``they have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information 
important to prehistory or history'' (National Register Criteria for 
Evaluation, 36 CFR 60.4).
    In the context of taking into account the effects of a proposed 
Federal or federally-assisted undertaking on any district, site, 
building, structure, or object that is included in or eligible for 
inclusion in the National Register, potential impacts to archaeological 
sites often need to be considered. Appropriate treatments for affected 
archaeological sites, or portions of archaeological sites, may include 
active preservation in place for future study or other use, recovery or 
partial recovery of archaeological data, public interpretive display, 
or any combination of these and other measures.

Archaeological Sites and Their Treatment

    The nature and scope of treatments for such properties should be 
determined in consultation with other parties, but in the Council's 
experience they generally need to be guided by certain basic 
principles:
     The pursuit of knowledge about the past is in the public 
interest.
     An archaeological site may have important values for 
living communities and cultural descendants in addition to its 
significance as a resource for learning about the past; its appropriate 
treatment depends on its research significance, weighed against these 
other public values.
     Not all information about the past is equally important; 
therefore, not all archaeological sites are equally important for 
research purposes.
     Methods for recovering information from archaeological 
sites, particularly large-scale excavation, are by their nature 
destructive. The site is destroyed as it is excavated. Therefore 
management of archaeological sites should be conducted in a spirit of 
stewardship for future generations, with full recognition of their non-
renewable nature and their potential multiple uses and public values.
     Given the non-renewable nature of archaeological sites, it 
follows that if an archaeological site can be practically preserved in 
place for future study or other use, it usually should be (although 
there are exceptions). However, simple avoidance of a site is not the 
same as preservation.
     Recovery of significant archaeological information through 
controlled excavation and other scientific recording methods, as well 
as destruction without data recovery, may both be appropriate 
treatments for certain archaeological sites.
     Once a decision has been made to recover archaeological 
information through the naturally destructive methods of excavation, a 
research design and data recovery plan based on firm background data, 
sound planning, and accepted archaeological methods should be 
formulated and implemented. Data recovery and analysis should be 
accomplished in a thorough, efficient manner, using the most cost-
effective techniques practicable. A responsible archaeological data 
recovery plan should provide for reporting and dissemination of 
results, as well as interpretation of what has been learned so that it 
is understandable and accessible to the public. Appropriate 
arrangements for curation of archaeological materials and records 
should be made. Adequate time and funds should be budgeted for 
fulfillment of the overall plan.
     Archaeological data recovery plans and their research 
designs should be grounded in and related to the priorities established 
in regional, state, and local historic preservation plans, the needs of 
land and resource managers, academic research interests, and other 
legitimate public interests.
     Human remains and funerary objects deserve respect and 
should be treated appropriately. The presence of human remains in an 
archaeological site usually gives the site an added importance as a 
burial site or cemetery, and the values associated with burial sites 
need to be fully considered in the consultation process.
     Large-scale, long-term archaeological identification and 
management programs require careful consideration of management needs, 
appreciation for the range of archaeological values represented, 
periodic synthesis of research and other

[[Page 27086]]

program results, and professional peer review and oversight.

Resolving Adverse Effects Through Recovery of Significant Information 
From Archaeological Sites

    Under 36 CFR 800.5, archaeological sites may be ``adversely 
affected'' when they are threatened with unavoidable physical 
destruction or damage. Based on the principles articulated above, the 
Council recommends that the following issues be considered and 
addressed when archaeological sites are so affected, and recovery of 
significant information from them through excavation and other 
scientific means is the most appropriate preservation outcome.
    If this guidance is followed, it is highly unlikely that the 
Council would decide to enter the consultation process under 36 CFR 
800.6 or raise objections to the proposed resolution of adverse effects 
in a given case, unless it is informed of serious problems by a 
consulting party or a member of the public.
    1. The archaeological site should be significant and of value 
chiefly for the information on prehistory or history they are likely to 
yield through archaeological, historical, and scientific methods of 
information recovery, including archaeological excavation.
    2. The archaeological site should not contain or be likely to 
contain human remains, associated or unassociated funerary objects, 
sacred objects, or items of cultural patrimony as those terms are 
defined by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act 
(25 U.S.C. 3001).
    3. The archaeological site should not have long-term preservation 
value, such as traditional cultural and religious importance to an 
Indian tribe or a Native Hawaiian organization.
    4. The archaeological site should not possess special significance 
to another ethnic group or community that historically ascribes 
cultural or symbolic value to the site and would object to the site's 
excavation and removal of its contents.
    5. The archaeological site should not be valuable for potential 
permanent in-situ display or public interpretation, although temporary 
public display and interpretation during the course of any excavations 
may be highly appropriate.
    6. The Federal Agency Official should have prepared a data recovery 
plan with a research design in consultation with the SHPO/THPO and 
other stakeholders that is consistent with the Secretary of the 
Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, the 
Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology 
and Historic Preservation, and the Advisory Council on Historic 
Preservation's Treatment of Archaeological Properties: A Handbook. The 
plan should specify: (a) The results of previous research relevant to 
the project; (b) research problems or questions to be addressed with an 
explanation of their relevance and importance; (c) the field and 
laboratory analysis methods to be used with a justification of their 
cost-effectiveness and how they apply to this particular property and 
these research needs; (d) the methods to be used in artifact, data, and 
other records management; (e) explicit provisions for disseminating the 
research findings to professional peers in a timely manner; (f) 
arrangements for presenting what has been found and learned to the 
public, focusing particularly on the community or communities that may 
have interests in the results; (g) the curation of recovered materials 
and records resulting from the data recovery in accordance with 36 CFR 
part 79 (except in the case of unexpected discoveries that may need to 
be considered for repatriation pursuant to NAGPRA); and (h) procedures 
for evaluating and treating discoveries of unexpected remains or newly 
identified historic properties during the course of the project, 
including necessary consultation with other parties.
    7. The Federal Agency Official should ensure that the data recovery 
plan is developed and will be implemented by or under the direct 
supervision of a person, or persons, meeting at a minimum the Secretary 
of the Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards (48 FR 44738-
44739).
    8. The Federal Agency Official should ensure that adequate time and 
money to carry out all aspects of the plan are provided, and should 
ensure that all parties consulted in the development of the plan are 
kept informed of the status of its implementation.
    9. The Federal Agency Official should ensure that a final 
archaeological report resulting from the data recovery will be provided 
to the SHPO/THPO. The Federal Agency Official should ensure that the 
final report is responsive to professional standards, and to the 
Department of the Interior's Format Standards for Final Reports of Data 
Recovery Programs (42 FR 5377-79).
    10. Large, unusual, or complex projects should provide for special 
oversight, including professional peer review.
    11. The Federal Agency Official should determine that there are no 
unresolved issues concerning the recovery of significant information 
with any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization that may attach 
religious and cultural significance to the affected property.
    12. Federal Agency Officials should incorporate the terms and 
conditions of this recommended approach into a Memorandum of Agreement 
or Programmatic Agreement, file a copy with the Council per 
Sec. 800.6(b)(iv), and implement the agreed plan. The agency should 
retain a copy of the agreement and supporting documentation in the 
project files.

Model Memorandum of Agreement

[See Attached Form]

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT FOR RECOVERY OF SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION

FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE(S)--------------------------------------------
    (list)-------------------------------------------------------------

UNDERTAKING:-----------------------------------------------------------
STATE:-----------------------------------------------------------------
AGENCY:----------------------------------------------------------------

    Whereas, in accordance with 36 CFR Part 800, the [Federal 
Agency] acknowledges and accepts the advice and conditions outlined 
in the Council's ``Recommended Approach for Consultation on the 
Recovery of Significant Information from Archaeological Sites,'' 
published in the Federal Register on [date of publication]; and
    Whereas, the consulting parties agree that recovery of 
significant information from the archaeological site(s) listed above 
may be done in accordance with the published guidance; and
    Whereas, the consulting parties agree that it is in the public 
interest to expand funds to implement this project through the 
recovery of significant information from archaeological sites to 
mitigate the adverse effects of the project; and
    Whereas, the consulting parties agree that Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations that may attach religious or cultural 
importance to the affected property(ies) have been consulted and 
have raised no objection to the work proposed; and
    Whereas, to the best of our knowledge and belief, no human 
remains, associated or unassociated funerary objects or sacred 
objects, or objects of cultural patrimony as defined in the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C. 3001), 
are expected to be encountered in the archaeological work;
    Now, therefore, the [Federal Agency] shall ensure that the 
following terms and conditions, including the appended 
Archaeological Data Recovery Plan, will be implemented in a timely 
manner and with adequate resources in compliance with the National 
Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470).

OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

     Modification, amendment, or termination of this 
agreement as necessary shall be accomplished by the signatories in 
the same manner as the original agreement.

[[Page 27087]]

     Disputes regarding the completion of the terms of this 
agreement shall be resolved by the signatories. If the signatories 
cannot agree regarding a dispute, any one of the signatories may 
request the participation of the Council to assist in resolving the 
dispute.
     This agreement shall be null and void if its terms are 
not carried out within 5 (five) years from the date of its 
execution, unless the signatories agree in writing to an extension 
for carrying out its terms.
Agency Official:-------------------------------------------------------
    date:--------------------------------------------------------------

State Historic Preservation Officer:-----------------------------------
    date:--------------------------------------------------------------

Tribal Historic Preservation Officer: Official:------------------------
    date:--------------------------------------------------------------

Other Public or Private Entity:----------------------------------------
    date:--------------------------------------------------------------
(as applicable)

[Attach Archaeological Data Recovery Plan here]

[End of Form]

    Dated: May 7, 1999.
John M. Fowler,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 99-12055 Filed 5-17-99; 8:45 am]
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