DOE/RL-97-56

Summary

The Historic Buildings Programmatic Agreement (DOE 1996a) is the mechanism which now directs National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 compliance within the Hanford Site Manhattan Project and Cold War Era Historic District. Among other things, it links the District to a mitigation strategy.

The District is a tool that allows one resource - the Hanford Site - to stand for all the individual buildings which comprise it. Using a cross-classification based on processes and operational requirements, all non-exempt buildings were classified according to type and evaluated for significance as contributing or non contributing properties to the District. A representative sample of buildings was drawn from the list of contributing properties to serve as focal points for discussions within the final treatment report.

The Historic Buildings Sitewide Treatment Plan is the implementing document which states how the effects of project actions on the District will be taken into account. It describes the components of the final treatment report, identifies which properties will be individually documented, and what specific measure will be required. Taken together, these three documents set the parameters within which DOE-RL will release all Manhattan Project and Cold War Era buildings on the Hanford Site from future cultural resource reviews.