South Carolina Code of Regulations
Chapter 12 - SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
Article 1 - GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTIFIED LOCAL GOVERNMENT (CLG) PROGRAM IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Section 12-100 - Introduction

The Certified Local Government (CLG) program in South Carolina promotes community preservation planning and heritage education through a partnership with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) that facilitates funding, technical assistance and training. Through local preservation planning, CLGs are better prepared to manage future growth and encourage economic development while protecting the historic and pre-historic resources that are significant to their community, to the state, and to the nation.

Certified local governments (CLGs) are eligible to apply to the SHPO for matching funds earmarked for "certified local governments". In order to become certified, a local government must meet certain requirements, among them to have enacted a historic preservation ordinance and to have appointed a historic preservation commission to monitor changes to historic properties. The CLG program also encourages local preservation planning and educational activities.

Since the enactment of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the nation's historic preservation program, administered by the United States Department of the Interior, has operated as a decentralized partnership between the states and the federal government. This program called for the states to identify, evaluate, and protect historic resources and provided federal aid to assist the states in this activity. In South Carolina, the State Historic Preservation Program is administered by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History whose Director is the State Historic Preservation Officer. In 1980, Congress, recognizing the crucial role of the local government in the preservation of our cultural resources, passed the National Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 1980 ( PL 96-515 ), making it possible for local governments to be involved formally in the National Historic Preservation Program. This law provided the legal basis for certification of local governments and the formation of a federal-state-local preservation partnership. The National Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 1992 ( PL 102-575 ) modified the certification requirements. In sum, the National Historic Preservation Act as amended ( 16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) provides the legal framework for the national historic preservation partnership.

This document sets forth South Carolina's procedures, based on the federal act and the rules for implementing that act developed by the Department of the Interior ( 36 CFR 61 ), for local certification and funds transfer.