Environmental compliance leads within the BPA Environmental Planning and Analysis group, and the Pollution Prevention and Abatement group, coordinate with cultural resources staff to accomplish cultural resource compliance for new construction and O&M hydropower. Some examples include construction of new transmission lines and substations, rebuilding and/or re-conductoring existing transmission lines, and replacing transmission line structures, access road construction or improvement, and other activities.
BPA Transmission Systems Cultural staff work within the Section 106 process of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 which requires that the proposed project-related impacts (effects) upon cultural resources be taken into consideration by federal agencies. Federal agencies are responsible for addressing and resolving for adverse effects to historic properties caused by the federal undertaking. Historic properties may be considered any district, site, building, structure, object, or historic property of religious and cultural significance to Indian Tribes that is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
As part of the National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 process we consult with State Historic Preservation Officers (SHPO), Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs), affected Tribes, and any agency (state or federal) whose land we are working on. So when does it become an action to initiate Section 106? Plain and simple, if we are disturbing the ground or enabling another entity to disturb the ground, it’s an action, and we have to initiate Section 106! as originally designed.