15.121  State historic preservation officer.
  1.  The director shall appoint and the governor shall certify the state historic preservation officer pursuant to federal requirements. The recommendations and decisions of the state historic preservation officer shall be subject to the review and approval of the director of the economic development authority.
  2.  The state historic preservation officer shall conduct historic preservation activities pursuant to federal and state requirements, including but not limited to all of the following:
  a.  Identifying and documenting historic properties.
  b.  Preparing and maintaining a state register of historic places, including those listed on the national register of historic places.
  c.  Conducting historic preservation activities pursuant to federal and state requirements.
  d.  Publishing matters of historical value to the public, and pursuing historical, architectural, and archaeological research and development which may include but is not limited to continuing surveys, excavation, scientific recording, interpretation, and publication of the historical, architectural, archaeological, and cultural sites, buildings, and structures in the state.
  e.  Developing standards and criteria for the preservation, restoration, and maintenance of historical sites.
  3.  Pursuant to section 103A.42, the state historic preservation officer, in response to an adequately documented request, shall issue an opinion stating whether a property is either included in or appears to meet criteria for inclusion in the national register of historic places.
  4.  Pursuant to section 8A.712, subsection 6, paragraph “h”, the state historic preservation officer must approve a city or county government as a certified local government prior to a grant or loan fund award to the city or county government for a project in the historic preservation category.
  5.  Pursuant to section 15.122, the state historic preservation officer shall require that a rural electric cooperative or a municipal utility that is constructing an electric distribution and transmission facility for which it is receiving federal funding conduct an archeological site survey.
  6.  Pursuant to section 427.16, subsections 4 and 12, the state historic preservation officer shall be responsible for approving applications for certified substantial rehabilitation.
  7.  Before modifying a historical site in a manner that could impact a site’s listing on, or eligibility for, the national register of historic places, a state agency which owns, manages, or administers the historical site must consult with the state historic preservation officer to ensure the proper management, maintenance, and development of the site. The state agency and the state historic preservation officer may, at the discretion of the state historic preservation officer, enter into an agreement relating to the proper management, maintenance, and development of the site. The authority may, in consultation with the state historic preservation officer, adopt rules to implement this subsection.
2023 Acts, ch 19, §2126; 2024 Acts, ch 1182, §172, 173
Subsection 2, NEW paragraph e
NEW subsection 7