[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 43, Volume 1]

[Revised as of October 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 43CFR17.260]



[Page 399-400]

 

                    TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR

 

PART 17_NONDISCRIMINATION IN FEDERALLY ASSISTED PROGRAMS OF THE DEPARTMENT

OF THE INTERIOR--Table of Contents

 

          Subpart B_Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap

 

Sec.  17.260  Historic Preservation Programs.



    (a) Definitions. For the purposes of this section, Historic 

Preservation Programs are those that receive Federal financial 

assistance that has preservation of historic properties as a primary 

purpose.

    Historic properties means those buildings or facilities that are 

listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic 

Places, or such properties designated as historic under a



[[Page 400]]



statute of the appropriate State or local governmental body.

    Substantial impairment means a permanent alteration that results in 

a significant loss of the integrity of finished materials, design 

quality or special character.

    (b) Obligations. (1) A recipient shall operate any program or 

activity involving Historic Preservation Programs so that when each part 

is viewed in its entirety it is readily accessible to and usable by 

handicapped persons. This paragraph does not necessarily require a 

recipient to make each of its existing historic properties or every part 

of an historic property accessible to and usable by qualified 

handicapped persons. Methods of achieving accessibility include:

    (i) Making physical alterations which enable qualified handicapped 

persons to have access to otherwise inaccessible areas or features of 

historic properties;

    (ii) Using audio-visual materials and devices to depict otherwise 

inaccessible areas or features of historic properties;

    (iii) Assigning persons to guide qualified handicapped persons into 

or through otherwise inaccessible portions of historic properties;

    (iv) Adopting other innovative methods to achieve accessibility.



Because the primary benefit of an Historic Preservation Program is the 

experience of the historic property itself, in taking steps to achieve 

accessibility, recipients shall give priority to those means which make 

the historic property, or portions thereof, physically accessible to 

handicapped individuals.

    (2) Where accessibility cannot be achieved without causing a 

substantial impairment of significant historic features, the Secretary 

may grant a waiver of the accessibility requirement. In determining 

whether accessibility can be achieved without causing a substantial 

impairment, the Secretary shall consider the following factors:

    (i) Scale of property, reflecting its ability to absorb alterations;

    (ii) Use of the property, whether primarily for public or private 

purpose;

    (iii) Importance of the historic features of the property to the 

conduct of the program or activity; and,

    (iv) Cost of alterations in comparison to the increase in 

accessibility.



The Secretary shall periodically review any waiver granted under this 

section and may withdraw it if technological advances or other changes 

so warrant.

    (c) Advisory Council comments. Where the property is federally owned 

or where Federal funds may be used for alterations, the comments of the 

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation shall be obtained when 

required by section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 

1966, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470), and 36 CFR part 800, prior to 

effectuation of structural alterations.



[47 FR 29546, July 7, 1982, as amended at 55 FR 28912, July 16, 1990; 68 

FR 51377, Aug. 26, 2003]