119-hr2448

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2448 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2448

 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

 March 27, 2025

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; and
        (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            (v) Program Applications withdrawn.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.
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