Section 106 and 110

Section 106 and 110
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (user guide) requires Federal agencies to take into account the effects of their undertakings on historic properties and afford the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, in Washington, D.C., a reasonable opportunity to comment. The undertaking is the Society’s request for a change to the Program of Preservation and Utilization (PPU), and the historic property is the Fort Snelling National Historic Landmark.

The purpose of Section 106 is to identify historic properties potentially affected by the undertaking, assess the proposed action’s effects and seek ways to avoid, minimize or mitigate adverse effects to sites listed on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Public Involvement
Section 106 emphasizes public involvement and consultation with parties specifically interested in the preservation and protection of the historic site or sites under review. (See Parts 800.1 and 800.2). Under the process, “Certain individuals and organizations with a demonstrated interest in the undertaking may participate as consulting parties due to the nature of their legal or economic relation to the undertaking or affected properties, or their concern with the undertaking's effects on historic properties.” If you or your organization wishes to be a consulting party, please contact us by mail, fax or email us:

Mississippi National River and Recreation Area National Park Service
Suite 105
111 East Kellogg Boulevard
Saint Paul, MN 55101-1256
Fax: [phone]

National Historic Landmarks
The above goals are far stronger for National Historic Landmarks, as defined by Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act and the Advisory Council’s regulations (36 CFR Part 800.10). The Advisory Council’s regulations state:

(a) Statutory requirement. Section 110(f) of the act requires that the agency official, to the maximum extent possible, undertake such planning and actions as may be necessary to minimize harm to any National Historic Landmark that may be directly and adversely affected by an undertaking.

See Section 106 Consultation on Historic Landmarks.

For Historic Landmarks, the National Historic Preservation Act, its implementing regulations and National Park Service guidance all emphasize avoiding or minimizing harm. Mitigation should be a last resort, as it assumes an adverse effect that is compensated for by some other action. The adverse effect, however, still occurs. Whether a site is a Historic Landmark or not, we do not assume mitigation at the outset and ignore ways to avoid or minimize adverse effects in the planning process.

Section 106 stresses consultation early in the planning process, so the public and consulting parties can explore ways to avoid and minimize adverse effects. To this end, it also emphasizes that the public and consulting parties have the opportunity to consider a broad range of alternatives. (See 36 CFR Parts 800.1 and 800.6)

The area that could be impacted by the proposed project is outlined on the Area of Potential Effect map.