Section 106


The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, requires federal undertakings take into account the effect of the undertaking on any district, site, building, structure, or object included in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.


This process, commonly known as Section 106, has three main goals:


Identify historic and prehistoric properties eligible for or listed in the National Register.                                                                         Assess the effects of the undertaking on those properties.
Seek ways to avoid, minimize, or mitigate any adverse effects on historic properties.


A federal undertaking can encompass a broad range of federal activities. The activity may be an action by the federal agency itself, the granting of funds from a federal agency, or a permit approval by a federal agency.


Examples of federal activities include construction, rehabilitation and repair projects, demolition, licenses, permits, loans, loan guarantees, grants, federal property transfers, and many other types of federal involvement.
Whenever one of these activities has the potential to affect historic and
prehistoric properties, a Section 106 review must be completed


The 106 Guidelines for Architectural Surveys offer help for those working with the Section 106 process.

Please note New Procedures for submitting Section 106 projects information below.

Guidelines for Section 106 Review in Light of the Federal Communications Commission as of March 7, 2005.

Alabama Historical Commission Guidelines for Section 106 Review in Light of the Federal Communications Commission Programmatic Agreement

As of March 7, 2005, the new Federal Communication Commission Programmatic Agreement has taken effect. This requires new procedures for submitting Section 106 projects, and use of the Alabama Historical Commission structures survey files. The new Programmatic Agreement requires that cell tower projects include file searches for resources concerning determining a project's visual effect. The files available for review include the Alabama Historical Commission survey files, National Register nominations, Alabama Register nominations, and a list of properties that have received state tax incentives. When assessing direct effects researchers will have to perform sufficient field and archival research to make determinations of National Register significance as per section VI D.2 (page 19) of the Programmatic Agreement.

An inventory of Historic Properties determined eligible for the National Register (NR) as a result of Section 106 projects completed before March 7, 2005 is not available. Researchers are not required to search all previous 106 reports for NR eligibility statements on Historic Properties when assessing the visual effect of their project as per VI D.1 (page 17-18) of the FCC PA. So that we may have a searchable record of these eligible structures in the future, all Section 106 projects MUST include a completed structure survey form for each structure surveyed. All portions of the survey forms will need to be completed, including a determination of eligibility. It is strongly recommended that qualified people who meet the Secretary of Interior's Standards for history, architecture or architectural history complete survey forms. We will not approve any Section 106 Cultural Resource Assessment if the structure survey forms are incomplete, regardless of whether it is a FCC project or not.

To research the Alabama Historical Commission’s Survey & Registration files (Architectural Survey, Alabama Register, & National Register), an appointment must be made at least 2 working days in advance.  Appointment times are available Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 11:30 am and 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm.  When requesting an appointment, please provide the county(ies) of interest, an emergency contact number where you can be reached the day of your appointment, and if you prefer the morning and/or afternoon appointment.  The Alabama Historical Commission is closed on all official state holidays. Contact Lee Anne Wofford, Architectural Survey & Cemetery Program Coordinator at (334)230-2659 for further information and to make appointments.

AHC Research Policy (see attached document)

AHC Copy Policy (see attached document)

For any additional questions concerning Section 106 surveys, please see Alabama Guidelines: Preparing Reports for Historic Architectural Resources under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and Alabama Historical Commission Policy for Archaeological Survey and Testing in Alabama. Both are available from the Alabama Historical Commission.