Section 106 - Public Engagement for SRF PA with SHPO
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Water Quality Resources
Public Engagement for SRF PA with SHPO
The United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 7, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources State Revolving Fund, in consultation with the Iowa State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) are developing a new statewide programmatic agreement (PA) for the CWSRF Program and DWSRF Program. This PA will guide compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (Section 106) under 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 800. This page is intended to provide resources related to this process and to initiate public engagement.
The purpose of this Programmatic Agreement is twofold:
First, it clarifies the boundaries of the DNR's authority to implement the Section 106 process for both SRF funding from the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act through the Standard Project Review language.
Second, the PA excludes certain activities from a full SHPO review in the Section 106 process, when projects have limited potential of negatively impacting historic properties.
Both these features of this PA will streamline the Iowa SRF funding process to allow wastewater and drinking water treatment projects to move quickly towards completion.
Primary PA Objectives
Improve the efficiency of reviews for CWSRF and DWSRF projects requiring compliance with Section 106.
Ensure consistency between the CWSRF and the DWSRF Program Section 106 review processes.
Allow Iowa SRF professionally qualified staff to identify projects that can be excluded from SHPO Review and reported annually to SHPO.
Identify EPA, DNR, SHPO, ACHP Responsibilities
Consult consistently with Native American tribes.
Contact
Public comments and questions regarding this Programmatic Agreement can be emailed to IA-Exclusion-PA@epa.gov
Important Announcements and Deadlines
The draft PA is now available under the resources tab for review and comment. Written comments on the Draft PA will be accepted through February 15, 2024.
Email comments to: IA-Exclusion-PA@epa.gov or mail comments to: EPA Region 7 WD/WAG/SRF 1201 Renner Blvd Lenexa, KS 66219
Programmatic agreement among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7, the Iowa State Historic Preservation Office, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, regarding section 106 Compliance for Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act State Revolving Fund Programs.
A nationwide DWSRF PA would need to be developed by EPA headquarters in partnership with the ACHP, SHPOs from each state, and other consulting parties. EPA Region 7 has not been contacted by EPA headquarters about any such development.
The Iowa SHPO needed to be involved early on to assist in developing the list of excluded projects. With a PA, the ACHP needs to be invited early on in the process to provide comments on the PA and help guide the consultation process. Additionally, we wanted to have the excluded list complete to be able to share with the larger group of consulting parties.
By law, the capitalization grants are provided to Agencies authorized to administer the program at the State level. For both the CW and DWSRF, Set-Aside funding is provided to Tribes. EPA works with the Indian Health Service to administer that funding. This proposed PA will not impact that funding. Currently, in Iowa, no funds have been loaned to Tribes for projects on reservations.
The draft PA Tribal communication section includes Iowa SRF’s work with the Tribes to date, EPA’s offer for consultation, etc. The draft PA allows the DNR to notify and conduct consultation with Tribes, on behalf of the EPA, regarding individual projects covered by this Agreement where a Tribe or Tribes may have an interest. Any Tribe that may have an interest in an individual project, however, may request to consult directly with the EPA at any time, at which point the EPA will lead any further consultation on the project with that Tribe.
The language for unanticipated discoveries is similar to what would be in a project-level Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) or project-level Programmatic Agreement (PA) and to a certain extent, contract documents. The unanticipated discoveries requirements in the draft PA were reviewed by both the Iowa SHPO and the Office of the State Archaeologist.
Tier 1 will be reviewed and excluded from SHPO review by the environmental review specialist. Tier 2 will be reviewed and excluded from SHPO review by an SOI qualified contractor.
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