Opinion ID: 691304
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The DCFMA-BZA's compliance with the FMA

Text: 41 The plaintiffs argue that if the DCFMA-BZA had jurisdiction over Turkey's proposal, then it did not substantially comply with D.C. and federal law concerning historic preservation, as required by FMA Sec. 206(d)(2). They therefore support the district court's conclusion that the DCFMA-BZA was required to submit Turkey's proposal to the ACHP, and argue against the conclusion that the DCFMA-BZA satisfied the requirements of the FMA concerning local law by submitting the proposal to the HPRB and the MAHP. Conversely, the defendants challenge the district court's ruling with respect to substantial compliance with federal law and argue in support of its decision with respect to local law. 42 The FMA requires the DCFMA-BZA to consider six factors in making a determination under Sec. 206. One of these factors is: 43 Historic preservation, as determined by the [DCFMA-BZA] in carrying out this section; and in order to ensure compatibility with historic landmarks and districts, substantial compliance with District of Columbia and Federal regulations governing historic preservation shall be required with respect to new construction and to demolition of or alteration to historic landmarks. 44 22 U.S.C. Sec. 4306(d)(2). The district court concluded that under this provision, the DCFMA-BZA was required to comply substantially with the NHPA and [D.C.Law 2-144]. NTHP I, 834 F.Supp. at 452. Although the statute speaks in the passive voice and thus fails to state clearly who or what must substantially comply with the applicable regulations, we believe it is the project, not the Board. In practice, however, this determination does not advance the issue very far, because compliance with these laws, in this case at least, is not as much a matter of meeting any specific standard as it is of submitting the proposal to the appropriate regulatory body or bodies for review and comment. Thus, the plaintiffs argue that the proposal had to be reviewed--at some point--by the MAHP and the ACHP; the defendants argue that referral to the HPRB fully satisfied the requirements of the statute.
45 We do not reach the question whether anyone was required to submit the proposal to the MAHP, because the DCFMA-BZA in fact referred Turkey's plan to the MAHP. The plaintiffs' argument therefore reduces to an assertion that the DCFMA-BZA was required to wait for a determination by the MAHP before approving Turkey's proposal. 46 The FMA requires the DCFMA-BZA to make a final determination on a chancery proposal within six months of receiving an application. 22 U.S.C. Sec. 4306(c)(3). The DCFMA-BZA received Turkey's application on September 18, 1990 and referred it to the MAHP promptly on September 26. On March 15, 1991, only a few days before the six months had run, the DCFMA-BZA made its decision without having heard back from the MAHP. Nor is there any indication in the record that the MAHP was about to respond. For the DCFMA-BZA to have waited upon the MAHP would have been inconsistent with its statutory timetable and would have imported into the process just the sort of indeterminate delay that the FMA was meant to keep out of the process for approving chancery improvements. See H.R.Conf.Rep. No. 693 at 41 (seeking to establish an expeditious process which will avoid ... extensive and overlapping proceedings).
47 The issue of substantial compliance with federal regulations is more complex. The DCFMA-BZA, though established concurrently in federal and District of Columbia law, is a local, not a federal, body. See NTHP I, 834 F.Supp. at 451. Section 206 of the FMA requires the DCFMA-BZA to consider historic preservation as determined by the Board ... in carrying out this section. 22 U.S.C. Sec. 4306(d)(2). As noted above, the FMA requires the DCFMA-BZA to consider only whether an applicant has substantially, not strictly, complied with federal historic preservation regulations. One searches in vain, however, for any substantive federal regulations with which Turkey's project could be in or out of substantial compliance. See 36 C.F.R. parts 61 and 800. In fact, the only relevant historic preservation requirement is in a statute, not a regulation, and is procedural: under Sec. 106 of the NHPA a federal agency must first refer to the ACHP for advice any project it proposes to fund or to license. 48 Consequently, the plaintiffs argue, and the district court agreed, that the DCFMA-BZA should have submitted Turkey's proposal to the ACHP. While they have not raised any substantive challenge to the DCFMA-BZA's determination that the existing building is of marginal architectural quality and that the historic preservation criterion has been satisfied, they suggest that the procedure for resolving a difference between a federal agency and the ACHP, see 36 C.F.R. part 800, could bring about a more appropriate resolution of their dispute with the DCFMA-BZA. As the plaintiffs acknowledge, however, an agency need not heed any advice it receives from the ACHP. 49 There is no indication in any statute or regulation that the federal dispute-resolution process would be applicable were the ACHP to receive a referral from a local rather than a federal agency. The NHPA contemplates that the ACHP will review the policies and programs of Federal agencies, whereas no provision is made for the ACHP to review the individual determinations of a local body. 16 U.S.C. Sec. 470j(a)(6). On the contrary, the NHPA contemplates that the states will create, and the ACHP will approve, state programs responsible for carrying out the purposes of the [NHPA] at the local level. 36 C.F.R. Sec. 61.2(b). (The District of Columbia is considered a state for purposes of these regulations. See 36 C.F.R. Sec. 61.2(o)). 50 In view of the state-federal relationship sketched in the NHPA, the defendants argue that whatever substantial compliance requires when there are no substantive federal standards with which to comply, it was sufficient for the DCFMA-BZA to submit Turkey's proposal to the HPRB and to consider that body's advice in making its final determination regarding the proposal. We agree. 51 The federal historic preservation concerns raised by Turkey's proposal were addressed to and by the HPRB, then considered by the DCFMA-BZA, in much the same way that they would have been addressed to and by the ACHP in the case of a federal agency's proposal. To require the DCFMA-BZA to submit all proposals to the ACHP would overread a statute that directs the DCFMA-BZA alone to consider whether there has been substantial compliance with federal regulations. In this case the DCFMA-BZA's referral of the matter to the HPRB brought it well within the limits of substantial compliance, whatever the precise boundaries of that concept may be. We therefore reverse the district court's holding that the DCFMA-BZA was required to submit Turkey's proposal to the ACHP for review.