To amend the National Historic Preservation Act, and for other purposes.

Summary: National Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 2006 - Amends the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) to prohibit a State Historic Preservation Officer from having any authority to require an applicant for federal assistance, permit, or license to identify historic properties outside the undertaking's area of potential effects.

Declares that, if the State Historic Preservation Officer, Tribal representative, or Tribal Historic Preservation Officer fails to respond within 30 days after an adequately documented finding of either "no historic properties affected" or "no adverse effect," the federal agency may assume that the State Historic Preservation Officer or Tribal Historic Preservation Officer has no objection to the finding.

Specifies additional criteria for certification of local governments to implement the NHPA.

Extends through FY2015 the period of funding for the Historic Preservation Fund.

Expands: (1) from five to eight the number of federal agencies on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (Council); and (2) from nine to eleven the number of Council members constituting a quorum. Permits the Governor serving on the Council to designate a substitute to serve in such Governor's capacity on the Council.

Grants the Council discretion to reach an agreement with any federal agency other than the Department of the Interior, or with a private entity, to provide the Council with financial and administrative services.

Authorizes the Council to enter into cooperative agreements with any federal agency that administers a grant or assistance program for the purpose of improving the effectiveness of program administration.

Permits such cooperative agreements to: (1) modify the selection criteria for a grant or assistance program to further NHPA purposes; or (2) allow the Council to participate in the selection of recipients.

Authorizes the Council to: (1) review the operation of any federal grant or assistance program to evaluate its effectiveness in meeting NHPA purposes and policies; (2) make recommendations to the head of the federal agency that administers such program to further the consistency of the program with NHPA purposes and policies and to improve its effectiveness in carrying out such purposes and policies; and (3) make recommendations to the President and Congress regarding the effectiveness of federal grant and assistance programs in meeting those purposes and policies, including recommendations with regard to appropriate funding levels.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Historic Preservation Act 
Amendments of 2006''.

SEC. 2. HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER RESPONSIBILITIES.

    Section 101(b) of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 
470a(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) The State Historic Preservation Officer shall have no 
        authority to require an applicant for Federal assistance, 
        permit, or license to identify historic properties outside the 
        undertaking's area of potential effects as determined by the 
        Federal agency in accordance with the regulations implementing 
        section 106.
            ``(8) If the State Historic Preservation Officer, Tribal 
        representative, or Tribal Historic Preservation Officer fails 
        to respond within 30 days after an adequately documented 
        finding of `no historic properties affected' or `no adverse 
        effect' as provided in the regulations implementing section 
        106, the Federal agency may assume that the State Historic 
        Preservation Officer or Tribal Historic Preservation Officer 
        has no objection to the finding.''.

SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL CRITERIA FOR CERTIFICATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO 
              CARRY OUT NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT.

    Section 101(c)(1) of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 
U.S.C. 470a(c)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (D);
            (2) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph (F);
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following new 
        subparagraph:
                    ``(E) agrees that it shall not use any eligibility 
                determination regarding the inclusion of any property 
                or District on the National Register to initiate local 
                regulatory requirements unless the entity provides full 
                due process protection to the owner or owners of the 
                property or District through a hearing process; and''; 
                and
            (4) in the matter below the subparagraphs, by striking 
        ``through (E)'' and inserting ``through (F)''.

SEC. 4. HISTORIC PRESERVATION FUND.

    Section 108 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 
470h) is amended by striking ``2005'' and inserting ``2015''.

SEC. 5. ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION.

    (a) Membership.--Section 201 of the national historic preservation 
act (16 U.S.C. 470i) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(4), by striking ``four'' and 
        inserting ``seven'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``(5) and (6)'' and 
        inserting ``paragraph (6)''; and
            (3) in subsection (f), by striking ``Nine'' and inserting 
        ``Eleven''.
    (b) Financial and Administrative Services.--Section 205(f) of such 
Act (16 U.S.C. 470m(f)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(f) Financial and administrative services (including those 
related to budgeting, accounting, financial reporting, personnel and 
procurement) shall be provided the Council by the Department of the 
Interior or, at the discretion of the Council, such other agency or 
private entity that reaches an agreement with the Council, for which 
payments shall be made in advance or by reimbursement from funds of the 
Council in such amounts as may be agreed upon by the Chairman of the 
Council and the head of the agency or, in the case of a private entity, 
the authorized representative of the private entity that will provide 
the services. When a Federal agency affords such services, the 
regulations of that agency for the collection of indebtedness of 
personnel resulting from erroneous payments, prescribed under section 
5514(b) of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to the collection 
of erroneous payments made to or on behalf of a Council employee, and 
regulations of that agency for the administrative control of funds 
under sections 1513(d) and 1514 of title 31, United States Code, shall 
apply to appropriations of the Council. The Council shall not be 
required to prescribe such regulations.''.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 212(a) of the Act (16 
U.S.C. 470t(a)) is amended by striking ``for purposes of this title not 
to exceed $4,000,000 for each fiscal year 1997 through 2005'' and 
inserting ``such amounts as may be necessary to carry out this title''.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVENESS OF FEDERAL GRANT AND ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS IN 
              MEETING PURPOSES AND POLICIES OF THE NATIONAL HISTORIC 
              PRESERVATION ACT.

    The National Historic Preservation Act is amended by inserting 
after section 215 (16 U.S.C. 470v-1) the following new section:

``SEC. 216. EFFECTIVENESS OF FEDERAL GRANT AND ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

    ``(a) Cooperative Agreements.--The Council may enter into a 
cooperative agreement with any Federal agency that administers a grant 
or assistance program for the purpose of improving the effectiveness of 
the administration of such program in meeting the purposes and policies 
of this Act. Such cooperative agreements may include provisions that 
modify the selection criteria for a grant or assistance program to 
further the purposes of this Act or that allow the Council to 
participate in the selection of recipients, if such provisions are not 
inconsistent with the statutory authorization and purpose of the grant 
or assistance program.
    ``(b) Review of Grant and Assistance Programs.--The council may--
            ``(1) review the operation of any Federal grant or 
        assistance program to evaluate the effectiveness of such 
        program in meeting the purposes and policies of this Act;
            ``(2) make recommendations to the head of the Federal 
        agency that administers such program to further the consistency 
        of the program with the purposes and policies of this Act and 
        to improve its effectiveness in carrying out those purposes and 
        policies; and
            ``(3) make recommendations to the President and the 
        Congress regarding the effectiveness of Federal grant and 
        assistance programs in meeting the purposes and policies of 
        this Act, including recommendations with regard to appropriate 
        funding levels.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 25, 2006.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.