Resource Significance Framework
NASA Agency-Wide Approach for the Management of Resources Less than 50 Years of Age
Introduction
As defined by the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), resources less than 50 years of age (<50) are generally not eligible for listing (i.e., they are not historic properties) unless they possess exceptional importance under the Criteria. However, NASA is a young agency with a scientific mission that makes it atypical among Federal agencies in both the character of its historic properties and the nature of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 undertakings. NASA’s achievements are often immediately and broadly recognized as exceptionally important, and as such NASA has the responsibility to consider the historical significance of the facilities associated with those achievements. At the same time, NASA must maintain state-of-the-art facilities to support its mission, which requires that the agency continually assess, modify, recycle, demolish, and construct facilities. In this environment, identification and management of historic properties <50 is more challenging and requires an approach that is tailored to NASA.
The goal of the RSF is to deliver a programmatic approach for the identification and management of NASA <50 real property assets that can be easily applied at NASA Centers through:
- Building a model for identifying assets <50 most likely to be eligible for listing in the NRHP under CCG—a Resource Significance Framework (RSF); and
- Incorporating streamlined management of assets <50 into an agency-wide Section 106 Programmatic Agreement (NPA)
This RSF provides a representative sample of NASA’s most historically significant achievements (Apex Events) of the last 50 years (i.e., 1973) in four major Areas—Aeronautics, Human Exploration and Operations, Science, and Architecture—and a summary discussion of the significant themes within which these achievements may be understood for purposes of NRHP evaluation (Themes). The representative achievements are then used to characterize the types of properties (Exemplary Property Types) with the greatest ability to convey NRHP historical significance under CCG. The analysis forms the basis of a predictive model (RSF Model) that assesses the likelihood of a <50 asset to be eligible for listing in the NRHP. NASA can then use the RSF Model to guide management of unevaluated real property assets <50, thereby enabling the agency to use its limited financial and staff resources in a more efficient and strategic manner. This approach to assets <50 has been incorporated into an NPA, currently in draft form, aimed at focusing NASA’s limited resources on assets with the greatest ability to convey the historical significance of NASA’s achievements to the public.
