(a) Sec. 48(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 90 Stat. 1519, as amended by 100 Stat. 2085, and Sec. 170(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 94 Stat. 3204, require the Secretary to make certifications of historic district statutes and of State and local districts, certifications of significance, and certifications of rehabilitation in connection with certain tax incentives involving historic preservation. These certification responsibilities have been delegated to the National Park Service (NPS); the following five regional offices issue certifications for the States listed below them.
(b) The Washington office of the NPS establishes program direction and considers appeals of certification denials. The procedures for obtaining certifications are set forth below. It is the responsibility of owners wishing certifications to provide sufficient documentation to the Secretary to make certification decisions. These procedures, upon their effective date, are applicable to future and pending certification requests, except as otherwise provided herein.
(c) States receiving Historic Preservation Fund grants from the Department participate in the review of requests for certification, through recommendations to the Secretary by the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO). The SHPO acts on behalf of the State in this capacity and, therefore, the NPS is not responsible for any actions, errors or omissions of the SHPO.
(1) Requests for certifications and approvals of proposed rehabilitation work are sent by an owner first to the appropriate SHPO for review. State comments are recorded on National Park Service Review Sheets (NPS Forms 10-168 (d) and (e)) and are carefully considered by the Secretary before a certification decision is made. Recommendations of States with approved State programs are generally followed, but by law, all certification decisions are made by the Secretary, based upon professional review of the application and related information. The decision of the Secretary may differ from the recommendation of the SHPO.
(2) A State may choose not to participate in the review of certification requests. States not wishing to participate in the comment process should notify the Secretary in writing of this fact. Owners from such nonparticipating States may request certifications by sending their applications directly to the appropriate NPS regional office listed above. In all other situations, certification requests are sent first to the appropriate SHPO.
(d) The Internal Revenue Service is responsible for all procedures, legal determinations, and rules and regulations concerning the tax consequences of the historic preservation provisions