National Park Service Report on Hawaii State Historic Preservation Division Operations, July 2009

8/9/2019 National Park Service Report on Hawaii State Historic Preservation Division Operations, July 2009

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Report on Hawaii StateHistoric Preservation DivisionOperationsMarch 19,2010


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United States Department of the InteriorNATIONAL PARK SERVICE

1849 C Street,N.W.Washington,D.C. 0240

Ms. Laura H. Thielen, Cha irpersonDepartment of Land and Natural ResourcesPost Office Box 621Honolulu;.Hawaii 96809Dear Ms. Thielen:The National Park Service has designated the Hawaii State H istoric Preservation DivisionCSHPD) as a "h igh risk grantee." This action is not taken lightly. and comes only after multipleattempts to help the SHPD correct serious deficiencies identified in audits goin gba ck as f ar as2002. Our report on the most recent audit is attached and is the basis for making thisdesignation.

) The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) authorizes the National Park Service to makeannual grants to help states carry out p reservation responsibilities delegated to them by the law.The National Park Service is required to conduct periodic audits to ensure that theseresponsibilities are being met. Our audit shows that H awaii has significant operational problemsin several mandated activities, including Survey & Inventory, Review & Com pliance, NationalRegister of Historic Places, Certified ~ o c a l o v e rn m en t dministration, and Historic.Preservation Planning, leading to our finding that the state is not m eeting its obligations under- -the National HistoricPreservation Act.We have identified corrective actions to address the problem s and established a two-yeartimeline for implementation. Failure to mee t milestones will result in the suspension of Hawaii'sannual grant. At the end of two years, the National Park S ervice will review the operations ofthe SHPD. If all corrective measures have been satisfactorily implemented, Hawaii SH PD willbe removed from high-risk status.As you know, we detailed National Park Service staff to SHPD in 2008 and 2009 to providetechnical assistance. We will now establish a new position in our Pacific West Regional O fficein Honolulu to oversee the corrective action plan. This oversight will extend to all Federally-mandated ac tivities, and, in collabora tion with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation,will review all Section 106 determinations to ensure that qualified staff are conducting reviews.


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The National Park Service is committed to helping the SH PD meet its ob ligations under theNHPA as we believe the loss of grant funds and removal of Hawaii's approved program statu swould negatively impact the economy of the state and have far reaching effects. Without anapproved S tate Historic Preservation Program:Matching grant agreemen ts between the National Park Service and Hawaii in excessof $1.1 million could be jeopardizedAUncertainty in how government agencies operating in Haw aii comply with Federaland state laws could cause serious delays in economic stimulus and other Federally-funded co nstruction projectsFederal assistance provided through the SHPD could be restricted or unavailable tothe citizens and property owners of HawaiiDelays could occur in properties nominated to the National Register of HistoricPlaces, which would adversely affect their eligibility for Federal and state historicpreservation tax incentives, and/or for historic preservation grant programsThere could be irreparable harm to locally and nationally significant historicproperties of importance to the people of Hawaii and the nation.Staff from our regional office are available to discuss the details of this report with you. Welook forward to working with you to m ake the SH PD an effective partner in the National HistoricPreservation Program.Sincerely,

-- DirectorAttachmentcc: Honorable Linda Lingle, Governor of HawaiiHonorable Daniel K. Akaka, United States SenateHonorable Daniel K. Inouye, Unites S tates SenateHonorable Mazie K. Hirono, United States House of Rep resentatives


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National Park ServiceReport on Hawaii StateHistoric Preservation Division Operations

TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................ist of Acronym s 3...............................................................................xecutive Summ ary 4.........................................................................................ntroduction 7

Section 1 "Programmatic R equirements of State Historic Preservation Offices" .. 8.......................................................ection 2 "Overview of Findings" 12..................................................................urvey and Inventory Program 17......................................................................rogram Requirements 17...............................................indings - Survey and Inventory Program 18.....................................................andated Corrective Actions 21Recommendations ................................................................. 22.........................................................eview and C ompliance Program Area 23.............................................................rogram Requirements 23.......................................................indings -Re view and Compliance 25Mandated Corrective Actions.................................................... 33Recommendations .................................................................36.........................................................................ational Register Program 37......................................................................rogram Requirements 37Findings -National Register Program Area ............................................. 39.....................................................andated Corrective Actions 43...................................................................ecommendations 44.....................................................ocal Gov ernment Certification Program 45.......................................................................rogram Requirements 45...................................................................indings - CLG Program 47.......................................................andated Corrective Actions 48..................................................................ecommendations 49

.......................................................istoric Preservation Planning P rogram 50.......................................................................rogram Requirements 50Findings - Historic Preservation Planning Program ....................................1.....................................................andated Corrective Actions 60Recommendations ..................................................................3...............................................................................ull list of appendices 64


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LIST OFACRONYMS

NPS -National Park ServiceSHPD - Slate Historic Preservation Division (H awaii)The ActINHPA - National Historic Preservation ActH PF - Historic P reservation FundSHPO - State Historic Preservation OfficeCLG - Certified Local GovernmentOMB - Office of Management and BudgetDO1 -Department of the InteriorOIG - Office of Inspector General (DO I)FY - Fiscal YearACHP - Advisory C ouncil on H istoric PreservationPWRH - Pacific West Region, Hono lulu (NFS)W A S 0 - Washington Support Office (NPS)G Is - Geographic Information SystemM OA -Memorandum of AgreementP A - Programmatic A greementARRA - American Recovery and Reinvestment ActRC - Review and ComplianceMCA - Mandated Corrective ActionsDO D -Department of DefenseNEPA -National Environmental Protection ActNR - National Reg ister of Historic PlacesHABSIHAER - Historic American Building Survey/H istoric Am erican Engineering RecordHPR B -Historic Places Review BoardNAPC - National Alliance of Preservation Com missions


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Executive SummaryIn July 200 9, the National Park Service (NPS) conducted a technical site visit and evaluation of) the Hawaii S tate Historic Preservation Division (SHPD), in accord ance with the NationalHistoric P reservation Act (the Act), as amended, 36 CFR 6 1.4 ,43 CFR 12.83, and the HistoricPreserva tion Fund G rant Man ual, Chapter 1 F, which requires the National Park Service toconduc t periodic program au dits to ensure that S tate Historic Preservation Offices meetapplicable accou ntability standards and that major aspects of the Sta te's program are consistentwith the mandates of the Act. The scope of the National Park Service review was limited to theFedera l historic preservation program areas that are defined in Section 1 01 B.3of the NationalHistoric Preserva tion Act and funded by the Na tional Park Service through an annu al grant fromthe Historic Preservation Fund.The N PS conducted this visit as the result of a pattern of seve ral years of recurrent problems withSHPD's performance in conducting the federally mandated HPF activities. In December 2002,the Hawaii S tate Auditor issued a report on its comprehensive audit of the Haw aii Dep artmen t ofLand and Natural Reso urces, including the SHP D. This report identified mismanagem ent withinthe S HPD that resulted in significant program matic and financial risks for NPS-funded g rantactivities.In 200 4, in response to the State Aud it, the Department of Interior Office of Inspector General(OIG ) investigated the National Park Service 's ov ersight of the HPF-fimded activities in Haw aii.Th e OIG concluded that the NPS had not taken sufficient steps to mon itor the SH PD 's correc tionof problems identified in the State Aud it. In Octob er of 2007, the OIG again reviewed the NPS 'soversight o f the SHP D and its adm inistration of its HPF-funded activities, and concluded thatseveral of the corrective actions recomm ended in the 2002 audit report had not beenimplem ented, likely impacting the SH PD 's adm inistration of Federally-m andated historicpreservation respon sibilities.In order to m onitor the correction of the problems identified in the State audit, NPS com piled alist of items for SHPD to subm it to NPS in o rder to docum ent compliance with the State Aud it'srecomm endations. From 2007 - 2009 NPS staff provided technical assistance SHPD, both inHawaii and from its Washington, DC, offices to insure that all HPF program requirements weremet. Because the SH PD continued to dem onstrate problems m eeting basic requirem ents of theHPF, N PS assembled a team of historic preservation and grants managem ent professionals tovisit the SHPD offices to evaluate its compliance with HPF-funded activities, and to create atechnical assistance plan for the office. The NPS team consisted of:

Documents

National Park Service Report on Hawaii State Historic Preservation Division Operations, July 2009