Update: October 30, 2026

Docomomo US Opposes Federal Legislation That Would Weaken Historic Preservation Protections

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (S. 5653) threatens Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Docomomo US is joining a national effort to oppose the legislation as written and urges our members to take action.

For 60 years, Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) has helped ensure that the federal government considers the effects of its projects and decisions on historic properties. The process brings federal agencies together with Tribal Nations, State Historic Preservation Offices, local governments, preservation organizations, and communities to identify historic resources, understand potential impacts, and seek ways to avoid, minimize, or mitigate harm.

Now, this longstanding protection faces another serious threat. The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (S. 5653), introduced in the Senate on September 30, proposes sweeping changes to federal permitting laws, including provisions that would fundamentally weaken Section 106.

Docomomo US strongly opposes the legislation as written and is participating in the national effort led by Cultural Heritage Partners through 106 Strong to defend the National Historic Preservation Act. 

What Is at Stake?

Although the bill is presented as an effort to streamline federal permitting and accelerate development, its proposed changes go far beyond improving efficiency. As currently written, the legislation would:

• Narrow the historic resources protected by law. Changes to the definition of federal undertakings and adverse effects would remove many projects and impacts from meaningful review, potentially leaving historic buildings, cultural landscapes, sacred sites, and historic districts vulnerable.
• Weaken the voices of Tribal Nations, states, and communities. Restrictive deadlines and changes to consultation could prevent those with essential local, cultural, and historical knowledge from meaningfully participating in decisions affecting places they value.
• Give federal agencies greater unilateral authority. The legislation would allow agencies to make decisions that diminish the role of consultation and the consideration of preservation outcomes.
• Constrain accountability and judicial review. Proposed limits could make it more difficult to challenge decisions that fail to adequately consider historic resources.
  
  

These concerns are detailed in an October 2026 letter from national preservation organizations to the bill's Senate sponsors. The coalition makes clear that the legislation inaccurately shifts responsibility for project delays away from federal agencies, which control much of the review process, and instead places new restrictions on consulting parties.

Read the National Preservation Coalition's letter to Congress.

 

Efficiency Should Not Come at the Expense of Preservation

Docomomo US supports efforts to make federal review processes more efficient, predictable, and effective. But weakening preservation protections is not the answer.

Section 106 is designed to identify potential conflicts early, bring the right people to the table, and find practical solutions before decisions are finalized. According to the national preservation coalition, approximately 120,000 federal undertakings undergo Section 106 review each year, but only about two percent result in adverse effects. The average review is completed in approximately 16 days.

The overwhelming majority of reviews are completed quickly and without controversy. When delays occur, they can stem from federal agency indecision, staffing shortages, lengthy internal timelines, and unclear guidance—not simply from preservation consultation.

The answer is to address those challenges directly, not to exclude historic resources from review or diminish the voices of the people who know and care for them.

Development and preservation are not mutually exclusive. Section 106 has helped communities identify significant places, improve project designs, consider alternatives, and find ways for development to move forward more responsibly. We must preserve the opportunity for those conversations to take place.

 

Join 106 Strong: Defend Our History, Protect Our Future

Cultural Heritage Partners is leading the 106 Strong campaign, a national coalition of preservation advocates, Tribal Nations, and allied organizations working to oppose the legislation as written. The campaign is calling on the Senate to reject the bill's damaging preservation provisions and address permitting reform through a more transparent and responsible process.

Docomomo US is proud to participate in this effort. On Monday, November 9, 2026, we will join preservation partners and advocates at the U.S. Capitol for a rally calling on Congress to protect the National Historic Preservation Act. The Senate is expected to consider the legislation as it returns to Washington.

We encourage Docomomo US members, supporters, and colleagues to participate in the rally and to take action even if they cannot travel to Washington.

How You Can Help

1. Contact your senators and representatives.
   Ask them to oppose S. 5653 as written and protect the historic preservation provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act. Share a local example of a place where Section 106 helped identify, understand, preserve, or improve a historic resource. Personal stories demonstrate what is at stake far more effectively than abstract arguments about regulations.
2. Join the November 9 rally.
   Stand with Docomomo US and our national preservation partners at the U.S. Capitol. Visit 106 Strong for rally information and registration details.
3. Use the resources available through 106 Strong and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
   These resources include advocacy materials, bill analyses, talking points, and tools for contacting Congress.
   106 Strong: The Statutory Fight
   National Trust for Historic Preservation: Understanding and Responding to Federal Permitting Reform
   National Preservation Coalition Letter on S. 5653
   National Trust Advocacy Resources
4. Help keep the issue visible.
   Share the campaign with your networks, preservation organizations, professional colleagues, and community groups. This is a national issue that affects places in every state and communities of every size.

The National Historic Preservation Act has protected America's shared heritage for six decades. We cannot allow efforts to streamline federal permitting to dismantle those protections or silence the communities they were designed to serve.

Docomomo US will continue working with Cultural Heritage Partners, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and our partners across the preservation community to defend Section 106 and advocate for meaningful, responsible reform.

Join us in telling Congress: protect our history, protect community voices, and oppose S. 5653 as written.

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Update: August 28, 2026

 

Section 106 Is Under Threat. Here’s What We’re Doing About It.

 

When Docomomo US first wrote about the proposed changes to Section 106 in July, we warned that the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) was considering sweeping changes that could fundamentally weaken one of the most important tools communities have to participate in decisions affecting historic places. Since then, the situation has become even more urgent—and the preservation community has come together in an unprecedented way to respond.

 

The ACHP voted on July 24 to advance its proposed revisions to the Section 106 regulations for further review. The changes would significantly reduce public participation, weaken the role of consulting parties, eliminate important elements of the existing consultation process, and give federal agencies substantially more control over decisions affecting historic properties and cultural resources.

 

For Docomomo US, these proposed changes represent an overreach. Section 106 is not simply a set of bureaucratic requirements. It is a mechanism for bringing communities, Tribes, preservation organizations, state and local governments, and federal agencies to the table before decisions are made. It is one of the ways that the public can have a meaningful voice in what happens to places that matter to them. And it is important to remember what Section 106 actually does: development still happens. But it can happen in a more responsible way.

 

A Broader Fight for Historic Places

 

Recently, Docomomo US participated in a meeting at the national offices of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in Washington, DC, convened and led by Cultural Heritage Partners and joined by colleagues from across the cultural heritage and preservation community.

 

The meeting helped put the current fight over Section 106 into a broader context. We are confronting three interconnected threats:

 

1. The treatment of Washington, DC’s monuments and historic places.

The demolition of the East Wing of the White House, proposed alterations and now the possibility of demolition at the Kennedy Center, and threats to other nationally significant sites including the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and the Reflecting Pool demonstrate the extraordinary vulnerability of our shared cultural heritage when established protections and review processes are treated as obstacles rather than safeguards. These places belong not to any one administration, but to the American public, and their future should be shaped through transparent, accountable processes that respect their historic and cultural significance. 

2. The assault on the Section 106 Process.

The proposed Section 106 regulations would dramatically change how the federal government consults with communities and considers historic resources. Preservation partners are closely monitoring the next steps in the regulatory process and preparing for the upcoming 30-day public comment period. Given the scope of the proposed changes and the concerns they have raised, litigation is also likely to follow.

3. Congressional efforts to streamline permitting by minimizing regulations.

The group discussed the broader push to reduce or eliminate regulatory requirements in the name of speeding development. We support responsible development and efficient government. But streamlining should not mean silencing communities, eliminating consultation, or removing the ability to identify historic places before they are lost.

 

Taken together, these developments make clear that this is about more than one regulation. It is about whether communities will continue to have a meaningful voice when federally funded, licensed, or permitted projects affect places with cultural and historic significance.

 

600+ Organizations Are Speaking Up

On August 27, Docomomo US joined more than 600 organizations representing approximately 5 million Americans in signing an open letter to Congress calling on lawmakers to protect and strengthen Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The coalition includes preservation organizations, architectural organizations, archaeologists, museums, Tribal Nations and organizations, Main Street organizations, environmental groups, historians, and community advocates from across the country.

 

The breadth of this coalition matters. Section 106 is not a niche preservation issue. It is part of the infrastructure of public participation in federal decision-making.

 

The coalition agreed on four immediate asks of Congress:

• Reject the ACHP's proposed regulations and formally record opposition during the federal review process.
• Reject statutory changes that would weaken Section 106, whether proposed independently or as part of a broader permitting package.
• Defend Congress's authority against executive efforts to narrow, circumvent, or evade preservation laws enacted by Congress.
• Seek meaningful improvements to Section 106 based on facts and data—improvements that make the process more effective and efficient without sacrificing the rights, voices, and protections that make consultation meaningful.
  
  

This Is an Opportunity to Reenergize Our Movement 

For decades, preservation advocates have used Section 106 to bring important places to light, give communities a seat at the table, and find better solutions when development threatens historic resources. Docomomo US has participated in Section 106 reviews involving Modern landmarks including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Weyerhaeuser Corporate Headquarters, and the Chet Holifield Federal Building. We are currently participating in the review of the proposed redesign of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, and we were newly added an a consulting party to the changes surrounding Dulles International Airport.

What You Can Do

This fight will not be won by one organization. It will be won by a broad coalition of people who understand that historic places are part of the fabric of our communities and that the public deserves a voice in decisions that affect them.

 

Start by thinking about the Section 106 stories in your own community. What building, landscape, neighborhood, archaeological site, or cultural resource was identified, understood, preserved, documented, or improved because the process brought people to the table?

 

We want to hear those stories—and collectively we need Congress to hear them, too.

 

Docomomo US will continue working with Cultural Heritage Partners, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the AIA, and our many partners across the cultural heritage community to defend a meaningful Section 106 process, defend federal properties including the Kennedy Center and advocate for improvements that make Section 106 stronger, not weaker.

 

Follow Docomomo US, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Cultural Heritage Partners for updates and action alerts as this effort moves forward.

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July 23, 2026

 

On Friday, July 18, the Vice Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) circulated a proposal that would fundamentally alter—and, in many respects, dismantle—the federal Section 106 review process as it has existed for decades. The ACHP is expected to vote on the proposal this Friday. If approved by a majority of Council members, it will be released for a 30-day public comment period. 

Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act is the federal review process that requires agencies to consider the effects of federally funded, licensed, or permitted projects on properties listed in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. It ensures that preservation organizations, local communities, Tribes, State Historic Preservation Offices, and other consulting parties have an opportunity to participate in decisions affecting our nation's historic resources. 

Docomomo US has participated as a consulting party in numerous Section 106 reviews involving nationally significant Modern resources, including the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, the Weyerhaeuser Corporate Headquarters in Federal Way, Washington, and the Chet Holifield Federal Building in Laguna Niguel, California. We are currently consulting on the proposed redesign of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, and advocating for the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building, which was determined ineligible for listing in the National Register prior to it reaching the 50-year threshold. 

Docomomo US strongly opposes the proposed changes to the Section 106 regulations, which would significantly reduce public participation, weaken the role of consulting parties, and shift greater decision-making authority to federal agencies.

 

We encourage our members to contact their representatives in Congress and submit comments to the ACHP during the public comment period. 

Docomomo US will be an active participant in efforts to oppose these changes and preserve a meaningful Section 106 process. We are grateful for the leadership and collaboration of our colleagues at Cultural Heritage Partners, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers, and many other preservation organizations working together on this important issue. 

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How You Can Help:

• Contact your congressional representatives in the House and Senate

• Stay tuned for the results of the ACHP vote on Friday July 24, then follow guidance for submitting public comment

• Attend the National Trust webinar on July 30

• If you know of a project where federal agencies are already cutting corners in the Section 106 process, contact Cultural Heritage Partners confidentially on Signal (marionchp.106) or by email.

   

To support our advocacy efforts for Section 106 and all of the other modern sites we champion, please consider a donation and select “Advocacy Fund” from the drop-down menu.

Sources:

“ACHP Proposes New Regulations that Devastate Protections for Historic Properties,” Cultural Heritage Partners. Accessed July 23, 2026.

 

“Section 106 is Under Threat,” National Trust for Historic Preservation. Accessed July 23, 2026.