C.F.R. » Title 36 » CHAPTER I—NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR › PART 60—NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

36 C.F.R. § 60.3

Definitions

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(a) Building. A building is a structure created to shelter any form of human activity, such as a house, barn, church, hotel, or similar structure. Building may refer to a historically related complex such as a courthouse and jail or a house and barn.

Examples Molly Brown House (Denver, CO) Meek Mansion and Carriage House (Hayward, CA) Huron County Courthouse and Jail (Norwalk, OH) Fairntosh Plantation (Durham vicinity, NC)

(b) Chief elected local official. Chief elected local official means the mayor, county judge, county executive or otherwise titled chief elected administrative official who is the elected head of the local political jurisdiction in which the property is located.

(c) Determination of eligibility. A determination of eligibility is a decision by the Department of the Interior that a district, site, building, structure or object meets the National Register criteria for evaluation although the property is not formally listed in the National Register. A determination of eligibility does not make the property eligible for such benefits as grants, loans, or tax incentives that have listing on the National Register as a prerequisite.

(d) District. A district is a geographically definable area, urban or rural, possessing a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects united by past events or aesthetically by plan or physical development. A district may also comprise individual elements separated geographically but linked by association or history.

Examples Georgetown Historic District (Washington, DC) Martin Luther King Historic District (Atlanta, GA) Durango-Silverton Narrow-Gauge Railroad (right-of-way between Durango and Silverton, CO)

(e) Federal Preservation Officer. The Federal Preservation Officer is the official designated by the head of each Federal agency responsible for coordinating that agency's activities under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, and Executive Order 11593 including nominating properties under that agency's ownership or control to the National Register.

(f) Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places. The Keeper is the individual who has been delegated the authority by NPS to list properties and determine their eligibility for the National Register. The Keeper may further delegate this authority as he or she deems appropriate.

(g) Multiple Resource Format submission. A Multiple Resource Format submission for nominating properties to the National Register is one which includes all or a defined portion of the cultural resources identified in a specified geographical area.

(h) National Park Service (NPS). The National Park Service is the bureau of the Department of Interior to which the Secretary of Interior has delegated the authority and responsibility for administering the National Register program.

(i) National Register Nomination Form. National Register Nomination Form means (1) National Register Nomination Form NPS 10-900, with accompanying continuation sheets (where necessary) Form NPS 10-900a, maps and photographs or (2) for Federal nominations, Form No. 10-306, with continuation sheets (where necessary) Form No. 10-300A, maps and photographs. Such nomination forms must be “adequately documented” and “technically and professionally correct and sufficient.” To meet these requirements the forms and accompanying maps and photographs must be completed in accord with requirements and guidance in the NPS publication, “How to Complete National Register Forms” and other NPS technical publications on this subject. Descriptions and statements of significance must be prepared in accord with standards generally accepted by academic historians, architectural historians and archeologists. The nomination form is a legal document and reference for historical, architectural, and archeological data upon which the protections for listed and eligible properties are founded. The nominating authority certifies that the nomination is adequately documented and technically and professionally correct and sufficient upon nomination.

(j) Object. An object is a material thing of functional, aesthetic, cultural, historical or scientific value that may be, by nature or design, movable yet related to a specific setting or environment.

Examples Delta Queen Steamboat (Cincinnati, OH) Adams Memorial (Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, DC) Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge (Sumpter, OR)

(k) Owner or owners. The term owner or owners means those individuals, partnerships, corporations or public agencies holding fee simple title to property. Owner or owners does not include individuals, partnerships, corporations or public agencies holding easements or less than fee interests (including leaseholds) of any nature.

(l) Site. A site is the location of a significant event, a prehistoric or historic occupation or activity, or a building or structure, whether standing, ruined, or vanished, where the location itself maintains historical or archeological value regardless of the value of any existing structure.

Examples Cabin Creek Battlefield (Pensacola vicinity, OK) Mound Cemetery Mound (Chester vicinity, OH) Mud Springs Pony Express Station Site (Dalton vicinity, NE)

(m) State Historic Preservation Officer. The State Historic Preservation Officer is the person who has been designated by the Governor or chief executive or by State statute in each State to administer the State Historic Preservation Program, including identifying and nominating eligible properties to the National Register and otherwise administering applications for listing historic properties in the National Register.

(n) State Historic Preservation Program. The State Historic Preservation Program is the program established by each State and approved by the Secretary of Interior for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, and related laws and regulations. Such program shall be approved by the Secretary before the State may nominate properties to the National Register. Any State Historic Preservation Program in effect under prior authority of law before December 12, 1980, shall be treated as an approved program until the Secretary approves a program submitted by the State for purposes of the Amendments or December 12, 1983, unless the Secretary chooses to rescind such approval because of program deficiencies.

(o) State Review Board. The State Review Board is a body whose members represent the professional fields of American history, architectural history, historic architecture, prehistoric and historic archeology, and other professional disciplines and may include citizen members. In States with approved State historic preservation programs the State Review Board reviews and approves National Register nominations concerning whether or not they meet the criteria for evaluation prior to their submittal to the NPS.

(p) Structure. A structure is a work made up of interdependent and interrelated parts in a definite pattern of organization. Constructed by man, it is often an engineering project large in scale.

Examples Swanton Covered Railroad Bridge (Swanton vicinity, VT) Old Point Loma Lighthouse (San Diego, CA) North Point Water Tower (Milwaukee, WI) Reber Radio Telescope (Green Bay vicinity, WI)

(q) Thematic Group Format submission. A Thematic Group Format submission for nominating properties to the National Register is one which includes a finite group of resources related to one another in a clearly distinguishable way. They may be related to a single historic person, event, or developmental force; of one building type or use, or designed by a single architect; of a single archeological site form, or related to a particular set of archeological research problems.

(r) To nominate. To nominate is to propose that a district, site, building, structure, or object be listed in the National Register of Historic Places by preparing a nomination form, with accompanying maps and photographs which adequately document the property and are technically and professionally correct and sufficient.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1987–2026 · leading case: Ctr. for Bio. Diversity v. Mark Esper, 958 F.3d 895 (9th Cir. 2020).
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Ctr. for Bio. Diversity v. Mark Esper, 958 F.3d 895 (9th Cir. 2020). · cites it 3× “The court explained that the Okinawa dugong fulfilled each element of the definition of an “object” under 36 C.F.R. § 60.3 (j), which is sufficient to qualify as “property” under the NHPA.”
Brown v. Parks & Rec. Dep't, 443 P.3d 1170 (Or. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 3× “36 CFR § 60.3 (h). Nominations submitted by State Historic Preservation Officers, prepared under approved State Historic Preservation Programs, and approved by NPS, are one way that the NPS adds properties to the National Register of Historic Places.”
City of South Pasadena v. Slater, 56 F. Supp. 2d 1106 (C.D. Cal. 1999). “36 C.F.R. § 60.3 (d). It appears that the historic districts at issue here are significant because of the aesthetics rather than the history involved.”
Pres. Coalition of Erie Cnty. v. Fed. Transit Admin., 129 F. Supp. 2d 551 (W.D.N.Y. 2000). “- 36 C.F.R. § 60.3 (m). Any agency whose project impacts resources that may be eligible for the National Register must consult with SHPO to determine whether National Register criteria are met, and, if so, whether the project will adversely affect the resources.”
St. Charles Assocs., Ltd. v. United States, 671 F. Supp. 1074 (D. Maryland 1987). “), plaintiff urges that the word “site” in the regulations at issue should be given the same meaning assigned to that term in the National Register regulation. The Court disagrees.”
Clark Cnty.- Winchester Heritage Comm'n v. Thomas Norton (Ky. Ct. App. 2021). · cites it 4× “” 36 C.F.R. § 60.3 (h). In turn, the National Park 4 Code of Federal Regulations.”
Thomas Norton v. Joy Beasley (6th Cir. 2022). · cites it 2× “36 C.F.R. § 60.3 (f). 3 No. 21-6053, Norton, et al.”
United Daughters Of The Confederacy, NC Div. (N.C. Ct. App. 2020). “3021 (2018); 36 CFR § 60.3 (f); 36 CFR § 60.15 . The record is undisputed.”
Aspen Specialty Ins. Co. v. The Quarters Condo. Owners Ass'n, Inc. (M.D. Tenn. 2024). “” 36 C.F.R. § 60.3 (d). A structure, by definition, includes a building, but it also encompasses “engineering project[s]” that may be “large in scale,” such as a bridge, tower, or lighthouse.”
1000 Friends Protecting Historic Benicia v. City of Benicia CA1/3 (Cal. Ct. App. 2026). “1; see also 36 C.F.R. § 60.3 [historic district is “a geographically definable area, urban or rural, possessing a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects united by past events or aesthetically by plan or physical development.”
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