WTC site damage assessment map, Sept 21, 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

To the west of the World Trade Center is Battery Park City and the World Financial Center constructed on landfill from the excavation foi the WTC. Battery Park City is a collaboratively planned waterfront residential community interspersed with commercial buildings and open spaces along a mile-long esplanade and marina. Portions of the development may eventually be designated historic landmarks, but Battery Park City presently does not meet the minimum age threshold.

Section 101(b)(4) of NEPA established a federal policy of conserving the historic and cultural, as well as the natural, aspects of our national heritage. Regulations implementing NEPA stipulate that federal agencies consider the consequences of their actions on historic and cultural resources (40 CFR Part 1502.16[g]). Numerous other laws, regulations, and executive orders define other requirements for protecting cultural resources, but the primary requirements are those of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). NHPA mandates that as federal projects, or federally funded or approved projects, are planned and implemented, the responsible federal agencies give due consideration to historic properties, which are defined as districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects included in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Regulations for Protection ofHistoric Properties (36 CFR Part 800) implement NHPA by defining a process for demonstrating such consideration through consultation with State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (Council), and other interested organizations and individuals such as American Indian communities.

To be eligible for inclusion in the National Register, properties ordinarily must be at least 50 years old (unless they are exceptionally significant), and must be important in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or culture, at the national, state, or local level. They also must possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and meet at least one of the four following criteria:

• Criterion A: be associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history • Criterion B: be associated with the lives of persons significant in our past • Criterion C: embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, that represent the work of a master or possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction • Criterion D: have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history (National Register ofHistoric Places, 36 CFR Part 60.4) The types of cultural resources within the project area that may be eligible for the National Register include archaeological resources, historical buildings and structures, and potentially, traditional cultural places. The Section 106 process is defined by the regulations for Protection ofHistoric Properties includes the following steps:

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