FY2023 Historic Preservation Fund- African American Civil Rights- Preservation Grants

Background
The National Park Service’s (NPS) African American Civil Rights Grant Program (AACR) aims to document, interpret, and preserve the sites and stories of the full history of the African American struggle to gain equal rights as citizens from the transatlantic slave trade forward. The program funds history and preservation projects using the NPS report, Civil Rights in America, A Framework for Identifying Significant Sites, as a guide in determining the appropriateness of proposed projects and properties. AACR Preservation Grants are funded by the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), administered by the NPS, and will fund a broad range of preservation projects for historic sites including: architectural services, historic structure reports, preservation plans, and physical preservation to structures. Grants are awarded through a competitive process and do not require non-Federal match.

Grant Details
Preservation projects must range from $75,000 to $750,000 in federal share. No more than 20% of the total budget may go toward pre-preservation costs such as architectural or engineering services. Grant applications that solely involve pre-preservation work must range from $15,000 to $75,000. Grants fund physical preservation of historic sites to include historic districts, buildings, sites, structures, and objects. Projects must comply with applicable laws such as Section 106, 110, and NEPA, and execute a preservation covenant/easement. Eligible costs include pre-preservation studies, architectural plans and specifications, historic structure reports, preservation plans, and the repair and rehabilitation of historic properties according to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation. Properties must be listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places or designated a National Historic Landmark.

Eligibility Requirements
Eligible applicants include State governments, local governments, nonprofits, educational institutions, and Federally Recognized Indian Tribes. Grants are not available for sites or collections owned by the NPS. Cost sharing or matching is not required but may be considered as a competitive factor. Applicants should consider the addition of match as part of a concise and well-defined project that might be part of or a phase of a much larger project.

Period of Performance
Projects receiving funding through this Notice of Funding Opportunity will start once funding has been secured and awards have been made. Agreements are not effective until released through Grant Solutions by the NPS Financial Assistance Awarding Officer (FAAO). Do not anticipate a start date sooner than 6 months following the application deadline.

Grant Value
$24 million is provided for the AACR Grant Program to include both preservation and history projects.