The U.S. Code contains a number of principled definitions related to monuments of history and culture. Historic monuments are areas, territories, buildings, structures, objects listed in the National Register.
Currently, federal legislation on the protection and use of historic and cultural monuments is codified in the U.S. Code of Laws in Sect. 16, Protection (Conservation):
- National Parks, Military Parks, Monuments, and Seashores;
- Historic places, buildings, sites, and antiquities.
The primary laws are:
- The American Historic Districts, Buildings, Antiquities, and Other Sites of National Significance Act of 1935;
- The Nationally Significant Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended 1970, 1973, 1980;
- Public Buildings Comprehensive Use Act.
Concept and Types of Historical and Cultural Monuments
The U.S. Code contains a number of principled definitions related to historical and cultural monuments.
Historic monuments are areas, territories, buildings, structures, and sites listed on the National Register. This definition extends to the remains and ruins of listed sites, as well as their descriptions.
Preservation is identification, evaluation, inventorying and documentation, revitalization, acquisition, protection, management, rehabilitation, restoration, stabilization, use, reconstruction, and any combination of the listed definitions.
A historic preservation district is an area of several residential urban neighborhoods that contains historic monuments, buildings with the same or similar architectural characteristics, or is a single cultural unit.
Inventory and Registration of Monuments of History and Culture
The National Monument Preservation Act of 1966 gave the Secretary of the Interior the responsibility to compile a National Register, listing areas, territories, buildings, structures, and other objects of American historical, architectural, archaeological, technological, and cultural value.
After consultation with historical and archaeological preservation organizations and societies, the Secretary shall determine the criteria on the basis of which a monument may be placed on the National Register. He also has the power to revise these criteria. State governments may recommend to the Minister the listing of a particular monument.
Monuments meeting the criteria developed are entered on the Register on the recommendation of the state governments or local municipalities and individual citizens. The Minister considers whether or not to include them in the National Register: upon nomination within 45 days, and upon recommendation within 90 days.
Ensuring the preservation, maintenance and use of cultural monuments
The most significant federal act regulating the protection of historical and cultural monuments is the Law on the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments of National Importance of 1966.
In it, the Federal Government declares the challenges it faces:
In cooperation with other States, States, local governments, Indian tribes, private organizations, and individuals:
- To take measures (including those of a financial and technical assistance nature) to improve the conditions in which our modern society and historical heritage can exist in fruitful harmony and meet the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations.
- To exercise leadership in the preservation of the historic heritage of the United States and the international community of nations.
- To use historic monuments owned or controlled by the Federal Government for the benefit and inspiration of present and future generations.
- To promote the preservation of non-Federal owned historic monuments, and to promote to the maximum extent possible the activities of organizations and individuals engaged in private preservation of monuments.
- To promote the public and private protection and use of all natural elements of historic buildings.
- Assist states, local municipalities, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to expand their activities and programs for historic preservation and use.
Responsibility for the preservation of national historic and cultural monuments is vested in the Secretary of the Interior.
The Preservation of American Historic Districts, Buildings, Antiquities, and Other Sites of National Significance Act of 1935 authorized the Secretary of the Interior to:
- accumulate, collate, and preserve plans, charts, drawings, photographs, and other information on historic sites, buildings, and other objects, and objects of national significance in terms of their archaeological value;
- compile a survey of historic sites, buildings, and archaeological sites to determine which ones are of exceptional value as monuments or sites that illustrate the history of the United States;
- to conduct necessary research and investigation to obtain correct and accurate information about certain places, buildings, and sites;
- in the name of the United States, receive by gift, purchase, or otherwise acquire property of historical or archaeological interest;
- enter into contracts and agreements with states, municipalities, corporations, associations, and individuals for the protection, preservation, maintenance, or public use of historic or archaeological sites;
- To work for the restoration, reconstruction, rehabilitation, preservation and maintenance of historic places, buildings and sites, and historic or archaeological properties of national significance, and to open and maintain a museum, if necessary;
- to install commemorative plaques and commemorative signs;
- if necessary, to form corporations for the restoration, reconstruction, use, and preservation of a particular historical or archaeological site;
- develop educational programs related to historical and archaeological sites of national importance; disseminate relevant information and data;
- to take all necessary measures to exercise its powers in this field, and to issue the relevant regulations and ordinances.
The Ministry of the Interior finances the programs for the protection of historical and cultural monuments.
Subsidies are granted under certain conditions (alignment of activities with the general plan of historic preservation activities approved by the Minister; reporting on activities conducted; assumption of facility maintenance costs after program completion) and in an amount not exceeding 70% of total costs.
State historic preservation programs must provide for:
- The appointment by the governor of the state of a special official (state historic preservation commissioner) with responsibility for implementing the programs;
- creation of a board to coordinate activities in this area (chaired by the state historic preservation commissioner);
- creation of conditions for broad public participation in the implementation of these programs, including the possibility of recommending inclusion of a historic monument in the National Register.
Periodically, but at least once every four years, the Secretary of the Interior must evaluate the performance of states’ preservation programs. If the Secretary concludes that such program does not meet the requirements of federal preservation laws, he or she may revoke it and suspend, in part or in whole, grants to the state concerned.
The commissioner of historic preservation has the rights and duties to:
- Conduct a general review of state historic monuments, in cooperation with federal and state agencies, local municipalities, private organizations, and individuals;
- Submit monuments for inclusion in the National Register;
- Develop and implement an overall preservation plan for state historic monuments;
- administer funds received in federal aid for the preservation of state monuments;
- advise the appropriate federal and state agencies and municipalities on monument preservation matters;
- cooperate with the Secretary of the Interior and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, as well as other federal and state agencies, municipalities, and individuals in the preservation of monuments;
- To inform the public, to train public assistants who volunteer to assist with federal and state historic preservation programs;
- To cooperate with municipalities in their development of local preservation programs and to assist in their implementation.
State governments may enter into contracts and agreements with “any qualified philanthropic organization or educational institution” in carrying out their monument preservation responsibilities.
In addition to the aforementioned grant opportunity, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the appropriate Conservation Commissioner, may provide direct coverage of the costs of preserving monuments on the National Register. The direct cost recovery fund shall be 10% of all funds allocated by the Minister to carry out the preservation powers vested in him or her. This fund may be used for the training and professional development of specialists engaged in the restoration of monuments, and for assistance to individual citizens engaged in the preservation of a particular monument included in the National Register.
The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the appropriate Conservation Commissioner, may provide a grant or loan to an Indian tribe or a philanthropic charitable organization representing an ethnic minority to preserve its cultural heritage.
The Secretary of the Interior, in carrying out his or her duties in the preservation and use of historic and cultural monuments, is authorized to cooperate with or receive assistance and support from any federal, state or municipal agency, from any educational or scientific institution, from any patriotic association and from private individuals. Such professional or technical assistance may be paid for out of the funds appropriated by Congress for the preservation of monuments.
If necessary, technical advisory committees may be formed for matters relating to the restoration or reconstruction of a particular historic building or structure.
In addition to the Secretary of the Interior, other officials are responsible for historic and cultural preservation. The Law of 1966. (1980 revision) provides that heads of all federal departments are responsible for historic preservation of monuments under their jurisdiction.
The U.S. Code contains a provision authorizing the Secretary of Defense to make surveys and investigations of all “battlefields within the continental United States on which United States or 13 Colonial forces have fought against a common enemy. Such studies and surveys are to be taken as the basis for general plans and projects to commemorate these places of military glory.
Each year, the Secretary of Defense of the United States should submit to Congress, through the President, a report on the work done under the above provision and the recommendations arising therefrom.
In order to protect buildings of historic, architectural, and cultural value, Congress passed the Comprehensive Public Buildings Act of 1976. It called for a series of measures to be implemented by the head of the Department of Public Buildings. In particular, the administrator of public buildings was authorized to acquire and use for federal services facilities in buildings of special value; to encourage commercial, cultural, and educational services to be located in such buildings; to provide public access to such facilities, etc. The Administrator is required to conduct his activities in cooperation with state governors and local officials responsible for public buildings; the Administrator of Public Buildings is informed by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation about the availability of buildings of special value that may be used for federal institutions.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of Public Buildings, and the Director of the Smithsonian Institution, to establish regulations to control the preservation of historic monuments under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government.
The Secretary of the Interior has the authority to issue regulations on rules of conduct on historic landmarks. All National Park Service officials have the authority to detain violators of these regulations and refer them to the nearest commissioner (park police officer), who may issue an arrest warrant. Violators can also be arrested directly by the Park Police.
If a government agency intends to erect a dam or dike, or intends to license any private corporation to do so, it must give the minister prior written notice of its intention. The notice must specify the size of the dam and the approximate boundaries of the flood zone. It must also specify the properties that are within the proposed flood zone and that may be of historical or archaeological interest.
If any federal agency concludes, either on its own or as a result of written notification by an appropriate historic and archaeological preservation organization, that its activities in carrying out any federal program may cause the gratuitous loss or destruction of scientific, historical, and archaeological monuments, such agency shall notify the Secretary of the Interior in writing. It must also provide him with the necessary information about its activities. The agency may require the Minister to make the necessary arrangements for the restoration or preservation of such monuments.
The Minister of the Interior, upon receipt of such written notification, shall take steps within 60 days to explore the feasibility of preventing such destruction. In doing so, he may pay compensation for the delay in carrying out the work which was planned by the department or corporation concerned.
The Secretary of the Interior must provide federal agencies, state governments, municipalities, private organizations and individuals, as well as “other nations” and international organizations with information regarding training for preservationists, preservation techniques and methods, and relevant federal, state, and local programs.
The President of the United States awards annual monetary awards, upon recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior, to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to historic preservation.
The Secretary of the Interior has significant, ever-increasing funds at his disposal. For example, while in fiscal year 1966, the year the National Monument Preservation Act was passed, the U.S. Congress appropriated $2 million for historic preservation, in 1967 it appropriated $22 million, $400,000, and in 1987, $150 million. – In 1987, $150 million was appropriated to the historic preservation fund.
Responsibility for violating the law
A person who violates the rules and regulations issued by the Secretary of the Interior on historic preservation is subject to a substantial monetary fine.
Persons who without the permission of the Secretary of the Interior (or other ministers for the territory under their jurisdiction) conduct archaeological excavations, appropriate excavated objects, destroy them or otherwise damage them are subject to a pecuniary penalty or imprisonment for up to 90 days, or both.
Characteristics of the U.S. Landmarks Preservation System
A distinctive feature of the U.S. historic preservation system is the high degree of decentralization. For example, the states directly manage the identification and registration of monuments. The states administer federal grants, transferring a substantial part of these funds to municipal governments, private individuals and public organizations, as well as supplementing them with their own subsidies.
The federal government and the states only provide moral and material incentives to preserve monuments, but do not directly control the condition of monuments (with the exception of properties owned by them). Nevertheless, it is difficult to agree with the view that monument preservation oversight in the U.S. is “almost entirely at the mercy of public and private organizations.
The fact is that the states have delegated the right to regulate the use of historical and architectural monuments to the municipalities, and, as a rule, at the lowest level of government there is a strict control in this area.
On the local level, special commissions are created that make decisions on assigning the status of a monument, determine the boundaries of historic districts, and have the right to prohibit the demolition and alteration of the appearance of valuable buildings by private owners. The interests of the latter are taken into consideration: for example, the municipal authorities can give them tax incentives or fully exempt them from paying real estate taxes, allow the sale of the so-called “air rights” (in which case the purchaser of these rights has the opportunity to erect a building in the neighborhood of the monument with dimensions exceeding the standards approved for the area).
Thus, the U.S. now has a complex and generally effective system of preservation of monuments, characterized by a combination of recognition of the public value of preserving national heritage and respect for the interests of building owners. Its success is based on a traditionally strong citizen initiative expressed by numerous civic organizations, federal and state government coordination and material support, and extensive municipal government authority and activity.