TPS News

Federal Tax Incentives for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings Annual Report for 2022 Released

March 1, 2023

The Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2022 highlights $6.56 billion investment in the rehabilitation of historic buildings. With over 48,000 completed projects since its enactment in 1976, the program has leveraged over $122.90 billion in private investment in the rehabilitation of historic properties—spurring the rehabilitation of historic structures of every period, size, style, and type in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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New Technical Preservation Services Websites

October 25, 2022

Technical Preservation Services is pleased to announce the launch of our new websites.

The National Park Service web presence (nps.gov) is presented through a content management system that provides a consistent appearance and features across all park, program, and office websites. The TPS web content has now been moved to the content management system and into two new websites,

• Technical Preservation Services, and
• Historic Preservation Tax Incentives.

There are several navigation aids throughout each site; the photo grid on the home page echoes the items in the black navigation bar, and the system automatically generates a site index of first- and second-level pages at the bottom of every page. Preservation by Topic has been updated to help you find information.

Compare the first- and second-level navigation of the old and new websites.

You will notice two changes in the websites' content. The first is that the information formerly found under "The Standards" tab has been split between the two new sites. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings are located in the Technical Preservation Services site. The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation (regulatory for the tax incentives program) are located in the Historic Preservation Tax Incentives site, along with the guidance on applying the Standards that has been developed in the context of the tax incentives program.

The second change is that the Preservation Briefs are presented only as pdfs while we evaluate how to present them online.

All pages in the old website are permanently redirected to the home page of Technical Preservation Services, and bookmarks to pages on the old site will go to this page until updated.

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Flood Adaptation Guidelines Now Available in Print

October 3, 2022

Technical Preservation Services is pleased to announce that the Guidelines on Flood Adaptation for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings are now available in printed format. Copies of the printed publication can be purchased from the U.S. Government Bookstore. Alternatively, you can go to the GPO Bookstore and enter the search term “flood.”

The Guidelines on Flood Adaptation are designed to provide information on adapting historic buildings to be more resilient to flooding in a manner that will preserve their historic character and meet The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. These Guidelines outline adaptation methods that lower the flood risk of a property. The goal of this document is to achieve greater resilience while minimizing the impacts to the historic character of a building. The Guidelines provide information concerning professional flood adaptation methods and techniques along with preservation considerations and strategies for successfully planning such a project.

This publication was developed with support from subject matter experts representing Federal Preservation Officers, State Historic Preservation Offices, Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, Certified Local Governments, and non-profit preservation organizations.

The Guidelines on Flood Adaptation for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings are also available online along with frequently asked questions and a recorded introductory webinar.

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Report on the Economic Impact of the Historic Tax Credit for Fiscal Year 2021 Released

September 29, 2022

Technical Preservation Services (TPS), National Park Service, has released the Annual Report on the Economic Impact of the Historic Tax Credit for Fiscal Year 2021. A National Park Service press release highlighted the $7.7 billion in GDP and 135,000 jobs generated by the credit in FY 2021. TPS collaborates with the Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School for Planning and Public Policy to prepare the report.

The report highlights the annual positive economic impacts resulting from the Federal Historic Tax Credit and includes information on the cumulative economic impacts since the certification of the first completed rehabilitation project in 1978.

In addition, the report focuses on three successful projects certified in FY 2021, the Cook County Hospital Administration Building, Chicago, Illinois; the Beloit Water, Gas & Electric Company Powerhouse, Beloit, Wisconsin; and the Coca-Cola Bottling Plant, Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Status of TPS Operations

Updated March 29, 2022

The Technical Preservation Services (TPS) office continues to be open and operating normally. Following an extended period of operating largely remotely in response to Covid-19, TPS staff are now generally working on a hybrid basis with both in-office and telework days.

Continuing an operational change begun while working remotely, TPS will continue to send a "notice of decision" to the applicant electronically as application decisions are issued. A copy of the official signed decision will be mailed to the applicant as soon as possible thereafter, but there may be up to a 1-to-2-week delay from the time the electronic notice is received.

A few State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs) are continuing to operate on an electronic-submission basis: Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Minnesota, Utah, Washington. Please contact the SHPO office should you have questions concerning their specific operations before submitting any tax incentive applications.

We will keep you apprised of any new developments or changes in our operations should Federal workplace safety guidance change. Please subscribe to our email list to receive the latest information.