§307101 World Heritage Convention

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior must run and coordinate U.S. participation in the World Heritage Convention. The Secretary can act personally or use other Interior Department officers. The Secretary must work with the Secretary of State, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Council. When working with other countries or international groups, expenses should be paid with any available local foreign currency. The Secretary must regularly nominate places the United States finds to be internationally important, but only if they were already found to be nationally important. Each nomination must show legal protections for the site (for example, easements or covenants). Before nominating, the Secretary must notify the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Non-Federal property cannot be nominated unless the owner agrees in writing. Before approving any project outside the United States that might harm a World Heritage site or a country’s equivalent of the National Register, the federal agency in charge must consider how to avoid or reduce the harm.