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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10116 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                               H. R. 10116

 To direct the Secretary of Interior to submit to Congress a report on 
   the National Park Service's interpretation and application of the 
     Standards for Rehabilitation for use of the Federal Historic 
                  Preservation Tax Incentives program.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 12, 2024

Mr. Magaziner introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To direct the Secretary of Interior to submit to Congress a report on 
   the National Park Service's interpretation and application of the 
     Standards for Rehabilitation for use of the Federal Historic 
                  Preservation Tax Incentives program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report on the 
Service's interpretation and application of the Secretary's Standards 
for Rehabilitation pertaining to use of the Program to--
            (1) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 
        Senate.
    (b) Contents.--The report required under subsection (a) shall 
include the following:
            (1) Data on the processing of Program Applications during 
        the 10 years immediately before the date of the enactment of 
        this Act, including--
                    (A) the average time a Program Application is in 
                the system, from the date it is submitted to the State 
                Historic Preservation Office by the applicant until it 
                is approved or denied by the Service, presented by 
                project size, type, and parts 1, 2, and 3 of the 
                Program Application;
                    (B) the annual average number of--
                            (i) hold notices annually;
                            (ii) conditions placed on the approval 
                        under part 2 of the Program Application;
                            (iii) denied applications;
                            (iv) projects approved under part 2 of the 
                        Program Application; and
                            (v) Program Applications withdrawn.
            (2) A description of the following:
                    (A) Areas of improvement to and recommendations for 
                the Standards to remove barriers to the development of 
                affordable housing while safeguarding Federal historic 
                preservation.
                    (B) Opportunities for the Secretary to update or 
                provide additional guidance to facilitate--
                            (i) the conversion of nonresidential 
                        buildings into housing;
                            (ii) the remediation of environmental, 
                        health, and safety hazards;
                            (iii) inclusion of energy efficient 
                        upgrades and integration of sustainability 
                        features;
                            (iv) access for persons with disabilities; 
                        and
                            (v) removal of other barriers to use raised 
                        by users and beneficiaries of the Program.
                    (C) The specific steps the Service has taken in the 
                10 years immediately before the date of the enactment 
                of this Act to improve or clarify the interpretation of 
                the Standards to support affordable housing 
                development.
                    (D) The most frequent issues that Program users, 
                State reviewers, and other stakeholders raise when 
                developing affordable housing projects and the steps 
                the Service has taken to address those issues, 
                including details of the process of the Service for 
                soliciting, collecting, and incorporating feedback on 
                the Service interpretation of the Standards.
                    (E) The process that the Service uses to decide 
                when to update guidance, including guidelines, 
                preservation briefs, bulletins regarding interpretation 
                of the Standards, and tax-incentive guidance, for 
                implementing the Standards and whether resource 
                limitations are affecting the ability of the Service to 
                update such guidance.
            (3) Recommendations of the Secretary regarding updates and 
        improvements that can be made to the Standards and the 
        implementation by the Service of the Standards and accompanying 
        guidelines to--
                    (A) make the Program more compatible with 
                affordable housing needs;
                    (B) ensure historic properties are protected from 
                climate risk; and
                    (C) take into consideration economic and technical 
                feasibility.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the Federal 
        Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program.
            (2) Program application.--The term ``Program Application'' 
        means the Historic Preservation Certification Application.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (4) Service.--The term ``Service'' means the National Park 
        Service.
            (5) Standards.--The term ``Standards'' means the Department 
        of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation for the Federal 
        Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program under part 67 of 
        title 36, Code of Federal Regulations.
                                 <all>
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