Helpful Links
Programmatic Agreement
DOE executed a Programmatic Agreement (PA) with the California State Historic Preservation Officer for the proposed cleanup of Area IV and the Northern Buffer Zone of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory to comply with the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
In development of the PA, DOE consulted with numerous Consulting Parties (see Attachment 3 of the PA) and held two public comment periods that began in October 2018 and February 2019. DOE will continue to
consult with the Consulting Parties, and seek and consider public comment as described in the PA.
The Programmatic Agreement can be downloaded here.
Programmatic Agreement Annual Reports
2019-2020 Programmatic Agreement Annual Report
2021 Programmatic Agreement Annual Report
Monitoring and Inadvertent Discovery Plan for Tribal and Archaeological Monitors
The Monitoring and Inadvertent Discovery Plan provides protocols for conducting tribal and archaeological monitoring during remediation activities in Area IV and the Northern Buffer Zone (NBZ) of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL).
The Monitoring and Inadvertent Discovery Plan can be downloaded here.
The following links provide information developed by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), a federal agency that generally oversees the operation of the Section 106 process.
- ACHP’s Introduction to Section 106: https://www.achp.gov/protecting-historic-properties/section-106-process/introduction-section-106
- ACHP’s Protecting Historic Properties: A Citizen’s Guide to Section 106 Review: https://www.achp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2017-01/CitizenGuide.pdf
- ACHP Guidance on Section 106 Agreements: https://www.achp.gov/initiatives/guidance-agreement-documents
- Section 106 of the NHPA Implementing Regulations (36 CFR Part 800): https://www.achp.gov/sites/default/files/regulations/2017-02/regs-rev04.pdf
Cultural and Biological Studies Protect SSFL Environment and History
Protecting the environment and history of Area IV at Santa Susana Field Laboratory is a key goal during the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) studies and cleanup of contamination there.
Biological studies identify threatened and endangered plant and animal species that may be located at the site so that scientists and technicians can avoid damage to the environment while they study potential contamination in the area.
Cultural studies identify historical artifacts and other features at the site so that they can be taken into account during studies and cleanup.
The findings in these studies are taken into consideration in two crucial ways:
- As a part of work plans and actual procedures for studies of contamination at the site
- As a part of evaluations of potential environmental impacts when scientists develop options for cleanup of contamination. These potential impacts will be included in documents such as the (federally-mandated) Environmental Impact Statement or the (state-mandated) Environmental Impact Report.