Four Georgia agencies recently signed an agreement that will streamline the approval process for historic preservation during highway construction.
The agreement covers all types of transportation improvement projects and both historic and archaeological preservation. It ensures collaboration and efficiency in documentation by establishing procedures for signatories to follow.
The agreement also clarifies how the agencies conduct consultations with Native American tribes, review projects, post review discoveries, and identify and treat human remains. It delegates certain activities to the Georgia Department of Transportation’s (GDOT) Cultural Resources to coordinate with federally recognized tribes.
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation signed the agreement as an invited signatory, and the Cherokee and Catawba Indian nations signed as concurring parties.
Previous agreements did not include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). This resulted in projects being reintroducing for multiple rounds of approvals.
GDOT has been working since December 2017 with USACE, the Federal Highway Administration, the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Savannah District, and Georgia’s 20 federally recognized American Indian Tribes. The groups worked to develop a programmatic approach for transportation projects throughout the state.
The agreement is under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.