[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 36, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 36CFR60.2]

[Page 301-302]
 
              TITLE 36--PARKS, FORESTS, AND PUBLIC PROPERTY
 
      CHAPTER I--NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 
PART 60_NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 60.2  Effects of listing under Federal law.

    The National Register is an authoritative guide to be used by 
Federal, State, and local governments, private groups and citizens to 
identify the Nation's cultural resources and to indicate what properties 
should be considered for protection from destruction or impairment. 
Listing of private property on the National Register does not prohibit 
under Federal law or regulation any actions which may otherwise be taken 
by the property owner with respect to the property.
    (a) The National Register was designed to be and is administered as 
a planning tool. Federal agencies undertaking a project having an effect 
on a listed or eligible property must provide the Advisory Council on 
Historic Preservation a reasonable opportunity to comment pursuant to 
section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as 
amended. The Council has adopted procedures concerning, inter alia, 
their commenting responsibility in 36 CFR part 800. Having complied with 
this procedural requirement the Federal agency may adopt any course of 
action it believes is appropriate. While the Advisory Council comments 
must be taken into account and integrated into the decisionmaking 
process, program decisions rest with the agency implementing the 
undertaking.
    (b) Listing in the National Register also makes property owners 
eligible to be considered for Federal grants-in-aid for historic 
preservation.

[[Page 302]]

    (c) If a property is listed in the National Register, certain 
provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1976 as amended by the Revenue Act 
of 1978 and the Tax Treatment Extension Act of 1980 may apply. These 
provisions encourage the preservation of depreciable historic structures 
by allowing favorable tax treatments for rehabilitation, and discourage 
destruction of historic buildings by eliminating certain otherwise 
available Federal tax provisions both for demolition of historic 
structures and for new construction on the site of demolished historic 
buildings. Owners of historic buildings may benefit from the investment 
tax credit provisions of the Revenue Act of 1978. The Economic Recovery 
Tax Act of 1981 generally replaces the rehabilitation tax incentives 
under these laws beginning January 1, 1982 with a 25% investment tax 
credit for rehabilitations of historic commercial, industrial and 
residential buildings. This can be combined with a 15-year cost recovery 
period for the adjusted basis of the historic building. Historic 
buildings with certified rehabilitations receive additional tax savings 
by their exemption from any requirement to reduce the basis of the 
building by the amount of the credit. The denial of accelerated 
depreciation for a building built on the site of a demolished historic 
building is repealed effective January 1, 1982. The Tax Treatment 
Extension Act of 1980 includes provisions regarding charitable 
contributions for conservation purposes of partial interests in 
historically important land areas or structures.
    (d) If a property contains surface coal resources and is listed in 
the National Register, certain provisions of the Surface Mining and 
Control Act of 1977 require consideration of a property's historic 
values in the determination on issuance of a surface coal mining permit.