News and
Events
HURRICANE
KATRINA
Beauvoir, the final home of
Jefferson Davis - U.S. Senator, Secretary of War, and only
President of the Confederacy - before Hurricane Katrina (top)
and after (bottom).
Image courtesyof the Mississipi
Heritage Trust
Click here
for other photographs from the Mississippi Heritage Trust of the
impacts of Hurricane Katrina on historic resources in Mississippi.
Legislation
On March 13, 2006, Representative Jerry
Lewis (R-CA) introduced H.R.4939, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations
Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery,
2006 bill.
Several days later on March 16, 2006, the
bill was passed by the House of Repsentatives. Regarding historic
preservation, $3million will go towards the State Historic Preservation
Offices (SHPOs) in the affected states for necessary expenses
related to the consequences of Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes
of the 2005 season.
The bill was taken up by the Senate in April
and amended. On May 4, 2006, the bill passed the Senate. The Senate
recommended $83 million for historic preservation to aid in the
redevelopment of the hurricane-affected states. $3million of this
will go toward SHPOs to facilitate the increased Section 106 workload
and $80million will be for grants supporting the restoration of
historic structures destroyed by the hurricanes. The grants would
also be administered by the SHPOs.
Upon passage of their bill, the Senate appointed
conferees to reconcile the differences between their proposal
and that of the House of Representatives. The Senate conferees
were:
Thad Cochran (R-MS); Ted Stevens (R-AK);
Arlen Specter (R-PA); Pete Domenici (R-NM); Christopher Bond (R-MO);
Mitch McConnell (R-KY); Conrad Burns (R-MT); Richard Shelby (R-AL);
Judd Gregg (R-NH); Robert Bennett (R-UT); Larry Craig (R-ID);
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX); Mike DeWine (R-OH); Sam Brownback
(R-KS); Wayne Allard (R-CO); Robert Byrd (D-WV); Daniel Inouye
(D-HI); Patrick Leahy (D-VT); Tom Harkin (D-IA); Barbara Mikulski
(D-MD); Harry Reid (D-NV); Herb Kohl (D-WI); Patty Murray (D-WA);
Byron Dorgan (D-ND); Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); Richard Durbin (D-IL);
Tim Johnson (D-SD); Mary Landrieu (D-LA).
On May 23, 2006, the House of Representatives
named their conferrees:
Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Bill Young (R-FL), Ralph
Regula (R-OH), Harold Rogers (R-KY), Frank Wolf (R-VA), Jim Kolbe
(R-AZ), James Walsh (R-NY), Charles Taylor (R-NC), David Hobson
(R-OH), Henry Bonilla (R-TX), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), David Obey
(D-WI), John Murtha (D-PA), Martin Sabo (D-MN), Alan Mollohan
(D-WV), Jonh Olver (D-MA), Peter Visclosky (D-IN), Nita Lowey
(D-NY), and Chet Edwards (D-TX).
On June 8, 2006, the House and Senate conferees
agreed to $43million in supplemental spending - $3million directed
toward SHPOs to facilitate the increased Section 106 workload
and $40million in grants to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
The grants will be distributed through SHPOs, in consultation
with the National Park Service. Preference will be given, but
not limited to, properties located within National Heritage Areas,
owner-occupied houses and those with an “ability to spend
funds expeditiously.” Grants will not require a non-Federal
matching requirement. The funds will remain available until September
30, 2007.
The Aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina
With initial operations after Hurricane
Katrina focused on health and safety issues, efforts are now getting
underway to assesss the damage to the Gulf Coast's considerable
historic and cultural landmarks.
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) has established field offices in Alabama, Louisiana,
and Mississippi
- FEMA and the State Historic Preservation
Officers (SHPOs) in the affected states have organized assessment
teams to survey the damage and undertake the the required Section
106 field work
The NCSHPO, in coordination with the National
Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation Action, and other
partners are working to ensure that the massive rehabilitation
and rebuilding effort in the Gulf Coast does not exclude historic
preservation. As noted by Richard Moe, the President of the National
Trust for Historic Preservation, “We all know that Katrina
is one of the greatest human tragedies in the nation’s history
– but it also could be the greatest cultural catastrophe
America has ever experienced. Rebuilding is essential, but it
must acknowledge the historic character of one of the nation’s
most distinctive regions.”
Preservationist's Progress:
“Historic Preservation vs. Katrina: What Role Should Federal,
State and Local Governments Play in Preserving Historic Properties
Affected by this Catastrophic Storm?”
House of Representatives Government
Reform Committee Subcommittee on Federalism and the Census hearing
on November 1, 2005
Representative Mike Turner (R-OH), chairman
of the Subcommittee, opened the hearing by stating, "[a]s
we all know, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast on
August 29, 2005 heavily damaging the entire region. The storm
will be the costliest in US history and may be the greatest
natural disaster ever to hit our nation. The first priority,
of course, is rebuilding the lives, communities and businesses
impacted by the storm. Nonetheless, historic preservation should
be part of our response – both as an economic revitalization
tool and to save our historic legacy. "
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Initial Feedback from Preservation-Friendly
Relief Concepts Good
September 23, 2005
Preservationists, led by the National
Trust, presented a package including preservation grantsand
a historic homeowner tax credit. The proposals have been, in
general, well-received. The ask for the grants-in–aid
has been upped to $60 million - $10 million more than the original
figure considered last week. There is some concern, though,
that the historic homeowner tax credit supports gentrification
which may result in tweaking the applicant income in the tax
credit language. Those crafting the hurricane relief package
may add also language from the Community Restoration and Revitalization
Act (H.R.3159). H.R. 3159 proposes improvements that would make
the existing rehabilitation tax credit easier to use and would
increase the tax credit from 20% to 40% for the first $1 million
dollars spent on qualified rehabilitation work. If passed, the
tax credit would be available only to those within the Hurricane
Katrina Disaster Area.
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Paying for Katrina:
Proposals Now on the Table Could Impact Preservation Nationwide
September 23, 2005
The total cost of Hurricane Katrina still
remains to be seen. Some believe the price tag to be much less
than the $200 billion reported in the press earlier this week
while others, like Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), believe the
figure to be closer to $250 billion in Louisiana alone. Lawmakers
are divided about where to find the money. The third supplemental
appropriation supporting Katrina-related relief may occur next
week, although Hurricane Rita and the slowing daily cost of
Katrina relief could push that into October. The Congressional
Quarterly reported on Wednesday, September 21st that Louisiana’s
congressional delegation plans to introduce legislation next
week requesting a larger share of off shore oil-lease revenues
to help fund the Katrina recovery effort. This has the potential
to impact historic preservation because funding for Historic
Preservation Fund programs, including State Historic Preservation
Offices, Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, Preserve America,
and Save America’s Treasures comes from this revenue.
Next week, the House of Representatives
will hold hearings on appropriations for Katrina relief for
the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Army Corps
of Engineers, and the Department of Transportation.
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Preservationists Deliver Recommendations:
Historic Homeowner Tax Credits and Grants in Aid Designed to
Help Neighborhoods
September 16, 2005
Earlier this week, preservation organizations
in Washington D.C. met to discuss a proposal for a historic
preservation component of an economic relief package now under
consideration by Congress. The proposal includes a recommendation
for a temporary historic homeowner tax credit for properties
affected by Hurricane Katrina. The Disaster Relief Historic
Homeownership Assistance Act would provide a 30% credit on qualified
expenditures made by a taxpayer as a part of rehabilitation
and repair work to a qualified historic property. The credit
would be capped at $40,000 for individuals, or $20,000 for a
married couple filing jointly.
The bill is particularly sensitive to
low-income homeowners. If the credit allowable exceeds what
the taxpayer would normally pay - a $30,000 annual adjusted
gross income for individuals or $60,000 for a married couple
filing jointly - the taxpayer could claim a refund in the amount
of the excess.
As proposed, the tax credit would expire
at the end of 2010.
The credit complements a proposed grants-in-aid
package of $50 million over 2 years for preservation projects
and planning. The Historic Preservation Disaster Relief Grants
would be administered by the State Historic Preservation Officers
(SHPOs) and distributed to non-federal owners of National Register
or National Register-eligible properties in Louisiana, Mississippi
and Alabama.
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Federal Agencies Coordinate Response
September 16, 2005
While the federal response to help the
hurricane-damaged Gulf Coast is still focused on life safety
and other immediate needs, some federal agencies have plans
for aiding in the repair and rehabilitation of historic resources
affected by the disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
and the Department of Interior are among the primary agencies
funding historic rehabilitation and repair.
FEMA’s support for work constituting
historic rehabilitation is still under consideration. HUD sent
a staff of 45 out with FEMA staff and determined that approximately
436,000 government assisted housing units had been destroyed,
displacing 1.1 million people. In addition to accommodating
this pressing and monumental need, HUD will be reprogramming
and accelerating Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.
The latter are often used to rehabilitate historic properties.
As noted in last week’s update, FEMA is establishing mobile
units in disaster areas to provide support for Section 106 compliance.
Earlier this week, the President appointed
an interagency task force that will be charged with considering
how to rebuild New Orleans. The task force will include specialists
in urban planning and urban design.
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Hurricane Katrina Response and
Historic Resources: Implications for Preservation Funding and
Rehabilitation Tax Credits
September 9, 2005
The federal government yesterday approved
another $51.8 billion in spending to aid in recovery efforts
in the Gulf Coast, bringing the total so far to more than $62
billion. Congress is now focusing on an economic stimulus package
conceived to help affected areas, and are considering how to
incentivize recovery through tax breaks to industry and business.
At the same time, Representative Jim McCrery (R-LA) has drafted
a bill that would provide a credit against income tax to individuals
who rehabilitate historic homes located in the Hurricane Katrina
Disaster Area. The bill, if successful, would provide a 30%
tax credit for rehabilitation and repair activity consistent
with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation
if $5000 or more is spent on repairs. Representative McCrery
and Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) are working together on the
bill.
How H.R.3159, the Community
Restoration and Reinvestment Act, which makes technical
improvements to the existing commerical credit, might fare within
discussions of stimulating the economy of disaster-affected
areas, is a question the bill's advocates are now asking. The
latter bill was re-reintroduced by Representative Phil English
(R-PA) on June 30, 2005 and currently has 30 cosponsors.
It is still too early to understand what
impact the federal emergency will have on spending for HPF programs,
although Katrina's rising price tag could have an impact on
all agencies.
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A Report from
New Orleans
Patricia Gay, the Executive Director of
the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans, toured many of
the 18 National Register Historic Districts in New Orleans on
September 5th. Click here to read
her "report".
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Resources
- from the Florida SHPO. . .
- from the Georgia SHPO. . .
- from the North Carolina SHPO. . .
From the Heritage Emergency
National Task Force
- Disaster resources for libraries,
archives, museums, and historic sites and districts are available
at www.heritagepreservation.org/programs/TFHurricanePub.htm.
- An assessment form, supply lists,
and other tools from the Field Guide to Emergency Response can
be downloaded at www.heritagepreservation.org/pubs/fgforms.htm.
- The American Institute for
Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works maintains a force
of 64 “rapid responders” trained to assess damage
and initiate salvage of cultural collections after a disaster
has occurred. Cultural institutions needing assistance should
contact the AIC office at 202-452-9545 for a referral.
- Many regional conservation
centers offer free telephone advice and other services. Contact
the Regional Alliance for Preservation at 1-800-843-8492.
- “Save Your Treasures the
Right Way“ provides simple guidelines for the public to
help them salvage family photographs and other heirlooms. A
copy is attached. Find other resources for the public at www.heritagepreservation.org/programs/TFHurricanePub.htm.
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Links to other
websites
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