Written by Pat Lally

Last night, the House passed a major package of energy and oil spill provisions dubbed the CLEAR Act. Why is this good news for preservationists? The legislation contains a provision that would fully fund the Historic Preservation Fund at its entire authorized level of $150 million. Not since its inception in 1976 has the Historic Preservation Fund received full funding to carry out the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act. In fact, since 2001, appropriations have declined from $94 million to less than $80 million.

What this provision means is that all funds collected from Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing (the source of revenue for the Historic Preservation Fund) would be dedicated to supporting national preservation programs. Now, imagine for just a moment what great preservation work our movement will accomplish with full funding of $150 million. I'm normally not an exclamation mark kind of a guy, but wow!

Our next step is to switch chambers to the Senate, where the Historic Preservation Fund is not fully funded in the current mark-up. We will be targeting our advocacy efforts so that similar language from the House works its way into the final bill. We don't know when the Senate will act on its version, but we promise to keep you posted – literally. Stay tuned next week for a regularly scheduled "On the Hill," where I'll explore in more detail some of the great news we've been hearing about federal funding for historic preservation.

At the end of the day, this is an important victory for preservationists. There has not been an active bill before Congress in a decade to address full funding for the Historic Preservation Fund. And even amid opposition to our efforts to get this provision enacted in the House, we prevailed because of your advocacy – your e-mails to Congress, your persistence in getting this passed.

Thank you.

Pat Lally is the congressional affairs director for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Stay tuned for a behind-the-scenes look at how preservation policy is made through his weekly posts from the Hill.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded non-profit organization, works to save America's historic places.

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