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SPONSOR: |
Tripp |
DATE TYPED: |
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HB |
HJM 7 |
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SHORT TITLE: |
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SB |
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ANALYST: |
Gonzales |
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APPROPRIATION
|
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
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Indeterminate |
Recurring |
Road
Fund |
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$10.0 |
Non-Recurring |
General
Fund |
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Responses
Received From
Historic
Preservation Division, Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA)
State
Highway and Transportation Department (SHTD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
House Joint Memorial 7 requests (1) the Office of Cultural
Affairs to recognize
Significant
Issues
This memorial recognizes
This memorial assumes that the recognition of
· promote
tourism in the towns along its route;
· encourage
preservation of the highway and the communities along the highway;
· encourage
New Mexicans and tourists to learn about the rich history associated with the
highway; and
· encourage other states to
preserve the transcontinental highway and its history.
Properties listed on either the State or
National Registers are subject to the requirements of the Prehistoric
and Historic Sites Preservation Act of 1989 Sections
The Historic
Preservation Division indicated it would need to:
(1) assess whether US60 has
sufficient integrity to warrant consideration for nomination to the State and
National registers;
(2) clarify whether the
nomination should focus on simply the road and its associated engineering
features (the roadbed, bridge crossings, culverts, and bypassed alignments) or
whether a more comprehensive nomination should be prepared that would include
an intensive-level survey of associated motels, gas stations, signage and
related historic archaeological sites segments of the road.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
There is no appropriation contained in the
bill. The scope of the nomination will
affect the amount of funding required. A consultant would have
to be hired to research, survey, and prepare a nomination for either a road
only or more comprehensive nomination that includes associated properties such
as motels, gas stations, signage and related historic archaeological sites segments
of the road. Funding
for research, preparation of the nomination, and coordination with the Cultural
Properties Review Committee and the Keeper of the National Register. The Office of Cultural Affairs estimates that
an initial survey, assessment and research, and finding would cost $10.0 with
the cost increasing to $25.0 for completion of a comprehensive nomination.
According to the SHTD, on a project by project basis, the SHTD environmental review process would be more costly since additional time would be needed in order to provide environmental and cultural resource approvals. Historic preservation restrictions could cause delays in project development and force the Department to choose improvements that otherwise would not be warranted. A quick look at the FY 03-08 STIP identifies nine improvement projects to US 60. Any or all of these could be impacted by a listing of US 60 on the State and National Registers.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
There would be minor
administrative and staffing implications to the Historic Preservation Division
of the Office of Cultural Affairs.
SHTD indicates that
once US60 were placed on the State and National Registers, there could be
substantial implications on the agency’s environmental and project development
personnel.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The memorial requests the OCA to recognize US60 as a place
of historical importance and to nominate United States highway 60 to the state
register of cultural properties and to the national register of historic places;
however, field and archival research is
necessary to determine which segments of the road and associated features are
eligible for listing on the state and/or national registers. Furthermore, the Cultural Properties Review
Committee reviews nominations for listing on the State Register and recommends
properties to the National Park Service for the National Register.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
OCA proposes the following alternative:
“Because of the unknown
integrity of the highway and the possible management problems for a state
register-listed in-use facility, an alternative is to survey and nominate only
bypassed or off-system sections of roadway that have retained their
integrity. Such segments may exist as
county or local roads. A second approach
is to research and survey the highway as part of a State and National Register
Multiple Property Documentation Form, from which individual buildings
associated with US60, rather than the highway, would be nominated to the
registers. The individually nominated
buildings, such as gas stations, motels, and landmarks, would provide a history
of the building and the road that could assist efforts to promote tourism, by
providing text that could be used for interpretive signage or walking
brochures. A third approach is to
designate the highway as an official Byway, with an emphasis on its historical
significance. Several states have tried
this approach, marking sections of similar historic transcontinental highways,
such as the
JMG/prr