Proposed Changes to Historic Places Program, Jan. 24

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) has formed a Rule Advisory Committee to review the agency’s proposed changes to Oregon Administrative Rules governing Oregon’s administration of the federal National Register of Historic Places program. The Committee begins a series of four meetings later this month to review the proposed changes. All meetings are open to the public and will start at 9 a.m. in the Card room of the Willamette Heritage Center, 1313 Mill Street SE, Salem. Meeting schedule: January 28; February 10; February 25; March 10. Meeting agendas will include discussions about: counting property owners and objections; how Tribal governments, state agencies and local jurisdictions participate in the nomination process; administrative functions like staff duties, public notices and hearing procedures; and determining circumstances that would exempt nominations from public disclosure, e.g., protecting culturally-sensitive information. Ian Johnson, associate deputy state historic preservation officer, says recent contentious National Register nominations spurred OPRD into reviewing Oregon’s rules for the National Register program. “We identified discrepancies between state and federal rules, so we’re moving to fix those issues and refine the state rules to work better for Oregonians,” said Johnson.  Committee members were appointed by OPRD and drawn from Tribal, state, county and local governments, preservation and natural resource organizations, and citizens with an interest in the National Register program. OPRD will consider the committee’s recommendations and present the proposed rule changes to the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Commission. If the Commission approves the proposal, OPRD will begin the public rulemaking process later this year. More information about rulemaking is available on the OPRD website: oregon.gov/oprd/RULES/Pages/Rulemaking%20Notices.aspx The National Register of Historic Places was established as part of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and is maintained by the National Parks Service. Individuals who require special accommodations to attend the meetings should contact Tracy Collis, OPRD executive support specialist, at least three days in advance of a meeting by calling (503) 986-0690.