On October 26, 2018, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) issued a "Program Comment for Vacant and Underutilized Properties" at the request of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Program Comment provides VA with an alternative way to meet its responsibilities under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The Program Comment enables VA to proceed with certain undertakings following an expedited review process that complements VA's real property priorities in finding uses for its vacant and underutilized properties.
The Program Comment only applies to vacant and underutilized properties previously evaluated for eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). For a property to be subject to the Program Comment it must have been reported to the Federal Real Property Profile (FRPP) as vacant (i.e., less than 50% occupancy) or underutilized (i.e., the current function does not require all the available space) and listed as such for at least 12 consecutive months.
As this is the fourth year of implementation, VA has again provided the ACHP with documentation to fulfill the requirements of Section 3 "Annual Publication and Review of VA's Real Property Portfolio" of the Program Comment. Section 3 requires that for each year the Program Comment is in effect, VA will provide the ACHP with:
(a) A composite list of properties that could be subject to the Program Comment should an applicable undertaking covered by the Program Comment be proposed; and
(b) A narrative explaining its conclusion that historic utilitarian properties may be eliminated without endangering the continued National Register eligibility of the historic districts in which they are located.
The ACHP is responsible for hosting a publicly accessible web page that features information on the VA Program Comment (https://www.achp.gov/VA/VAProgramComment) and, each year upon receipt of the list and narrative from VA, posting the composite list of properties and narrative on that web page and emailing the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO), State Historic Preservation Officers (SHPOs), Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs), Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations (NHOs), interested Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs), and ACHP members about its availability, along with a reminder about the timeframes outlined below.
Interested parties may request additional information and/or send comments to VA concerning properties on the composite list for a period of 30 days after this email is sent. For instance, any interested party may: provide VA with additional information on a property and/or any associated land that it would like VA to take into consideration when proposing any future undertakings for said property; comment on and/or provide relevant information about the relationship between any buildings on the composite list to the campus setting; or comment on and/or provide relevant information about the presence of or potential effects to cultural landscapes, traditional cultural properties, and/or properties of traditional religious and cultural significance to Indian tribes or NHOs. VA will respond to such requests and comments.
Also within this 30-day period, SHPOs, THPOs, Indian tribes, and NHOs may object to VA in writing if there is a discrepancy between their files and the eligibility evaluations in VA's Capital Asset Inventory (CAI), and/or they believe the elimination of one or more utilitarian properties within particular historic districts in their states could (individually or cumulatively) endanger the continued eligibility of such districts. If any of these parties provide VA such an objection within the 30-day period, VA will either resolve the objection with the party or refer the matter to the ACHP for comments. Upon receipt of the referral, the ACHP has 15 days to provide comments to VA. VA will consider any such timely comments. Thereafter, and prior to proceeding with an undertaking involving the properties at issue, VA will notify the relevant party and the ACHP as to its final decision on the issue.
The deadline for requesting additional information, sending comments, and/or providing an objection to VA regarding the properties on the list is Friday, August 26, 2022.
Please direct all correspondence to VA's acting Federal Preservation Officer (FPO) Héctor M. Abreu-Cintrón. Here is his contact information:
Héctor M. Abreu-Cintrón, AIC PA
Federal Preservation Officer (FPO)
Department of Veterans Affairs
202.632.5775 (office)
hector.abreu@va.gov
If you have any questions about the Program Comment, please contact Vanessa Hanvey, VA Liaison, at vhanvey@achp.gov, or by telephone at 202-517-0224.
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Robert Burns AIA
Historic Resources Committee Advisory Group
Richmond VA
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