Fairbanks preservation panel weighs federal rule limiting its role

A federal rule rewrite would end requirements that agencies notify the Fairbanks North Star Borough about projects affecting historic sites, or seek its comments.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation voted July 24 to advance the proposal, which revises the federal historic review process. It is under White House regulatory review and then goes to the Federal Register for a 30-day public comment period.

Supporters say the rewrite would streamline review and clarify agency authority. Cultural Heritage Partners, a law and policy firm that works on preservation, wrote in an analysis that it would "effectively eliminate the consultative Section 106 process as we know it."

Tribes and the Tanana-Yukon Historical Society are also consulting parties under the current process and could lose that standing.

The borough's Historic Preservation Commission, which advises but does not set policy, takes up comments Sept. 1.