§302302 Program evaluation

Summary

The Secretary must check each approved State program at least every 4 years, working with the Council on the appropriate parts of the law and with the State Historic Preservation Officer, to see if the program follows the rules. If a major part of a program is not following the rules, the Secretary can disapprove it and pause any contracts or agreements with the State and the State Historic Preservation Officer until the program is fixed, unless the Secretary believes it will be fixed within a reasonable time. The Secretary will also set up oversight rules with State Historic Preservation Officers to keep programs consistent and high quality without creating heavy review work. For money controls, the Secretary can allow a State’s own fiscal audit and management system instead of Federal systems if it matches accountability standards and has independent peer review. The Secretary may do fiscal audits when needed and must make sure programs meet the required accountability standards.