The Bureau of Ocean Energy Managment, Regulation and Enforcement's Historic Preservation Program

Abstract

Abstract In consultation with the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, every Federal agency is responsible for developing an effective historic preservation program. The purpose of this program is to identify, evaluate, and nominate historic properties to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), provide protection of historic properties, under the jurisdiction or control of the agency as well as those properties not under the auspices of the agency but subject to be potentially affected by agency-permitted actions. The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) also requires that agency preservation-related activities are carried out in consultation with other Federal, State, and local agencies, Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian Organizations (NHO), and the private sector, and that the procedures for compliance with Section 106 of the Act be consistent with regulations issued by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). Furthermore, the Act stipulates that an agency may not grant assistance, a license or permit to an applicant who damages or destroys a historic property with the intent of avoiding the requirements of Section 106. This paper will discuss the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement's (BOEMRE) Historic Preservation Program in the Gulf of Mexico Region (GOMR), and highlight how the agency conducts its regulatory responsibility under the National Historic Preservation Act with respect to oil and gas development on the Outer Continental Shelf. Introduction The Department of the Interior's (DOI), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), is the federal agency responsible for overseeing the safe and environmentally responsible development of energy and mineral resouces on the Outer Continetal Shelf (OCS). As such, the BOEMRE is responsible for Historic Preservation throughout the Federal waters on the OCS. Historic Preservation Every Federal agency is responsible for developing an effective historic preservation program in consultation with the Secretary of the Department of the Interior. These Federal historic preservation programs shall be coordinated by each agency's Federal Preservation Officer. The preservation and use of historic properties and their careful consideration in agency planning and decision making are in the public interest, are consistent with the declaration of policy set forth in the NHPA, and must be a fundamental part of the mission of any Federal Agency (NPS and ACHP 1998).