Appendix 1
Excerpts from the Public Resources Code


Excerpts from Public Resources Code Section 5020.1:

(h) "Historic district" means a definable unified geographic entity that possesses a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects united historically or aesthetically by plan or physical development.

(i) Historical landmark" means any historical resource which is registered as a state historical landmark pursuant to Section 5021.

(j) "Historical resource" includes, but is not limited to, any object, building, structure, site, area, place, record, or manuscript which is historically or archaeologically significant, or is significant in the architectural, engineering, scientific, economic agricultural, educational, social, political, military, or cultural annals of California.

(k) "Local register of historic resources" means a list of properties officially designated or recognized as historically significant by a local government pursuant to a local ordinance or resolution.

(q) "Substantial adverse change" means demolition, destruction, relocation, or alteration such that the significance of an historical resource would be impaired.

Subdivision (g) of Public Resources Code Section 5024.1:

(g) A resource identified as significant in an historical resource survey may be listed in the California Register if the survey meets all of the following criteria:

(1) The survey has been or will be included in the State Historic Resources Inventory.

(2) The survey and the survey documentation were prepared in accordance with office procedures and requirements.

(3) The resource is evaluated and determined by the office [of Historic Preservation] to have a significance rating of Category 1 to 5 on DPR Form 523.

(4) If the survey is five or more years old at the time of its nomination for inclusion in the California Registry, the survey is updated to identify historical resources which have become eligible or ineligible due to changed circumstances or further documentation and those which have been demolished or altered in a manner that substantially diminishes the significance of the resource.

Public Resources Code Section 21098.1:

A project that may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of an historical resource is a project that may have a significant effect on the environment. For purposes of this section, an historical resource is a resource listed in, or determined to be eligible for listing in, the California Register of Historical Resources. Historical resources included in a local register of historical resources, as defined in subsection (k) of Section 5020.1, are presumed to be historically or culturally significant for purposes of this section, unless the preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that the resource is not historically or culturally significant. The fact that a resource is not listed in, or determined to be eligible for listing in, the California Register of Historical Resources, not included in a local register of historical resources, or not deemed significant pursuant to criteria set forth in subdivision (g) of Section 5024.1 shall not preclude a lead agency from determining whether the resource may be an historical resource for purposes of this section.



For more information, contact:
State of California
Governor's Office of Planning and Research
1400 Tenth Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-322-2318