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Certified Local Government

Benefits of CLG Designation

There are many advantages to earning CLG designation as a community.

The CLG program helps a community with preservation generally in three ways, as it

• promotes community-wide preservation;
  
• recognizes and supports a community's  local preservation programs; and
  
• establishes the credentials of quality for local preservation programs.

As a CLG, a community:

• assumes a formal role in the identification, evaluation, and protection of its heritage resources;
  
  
• has the right to comment on the eligibility of resources nominated for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in its jurisdiction;
  
  
• receives technical assistance from DHR and the National Park Service;
  
  
• learns from each other CLGs by sharing experiences, concerns, solutions to problems;
  
  
• can apply for matching grants for preservation programs from a 10% share of Virginia’s annual federal appropriation;
  
  
• gains free full access to DHR's GIS-based Data Sharing System (DSS), a $500 value annually;
  
  
• is eligible for stipends to selected preservation conferences and workshops;
  
  
• is automatically considered for the DHR Cost Share Program funding for survey projects in which CLG grant funding is unavailable;
  
  
• is granted the right to be a "consulting party" in a project requiring Section 106 review.
  

CLG grants can be used in the following ways:

• for surveys of architectural or archaeological resources;
   
• for preparation of Preliminary Information Forms or National Register of Historic Places nominations for local heritage resources;
   
• for heritage stewardship planning projects such as drafting historic preservation plans, archaeological assessments, preservation components of comprehensive plans, or condition assessment reports;
   
• for public education programs concerned with a heritage stewardship program;
   
• for local review board or targeted audience training and education projects such as development of materials or programs, including training sessions and hands-on workshops;
   
• for testing archaeological sites to determine their significance or for pure research, education, or mitigation (as the latter pertains to Section 106 requirements);
   
• for rehabilitation of buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places that are publicly owned or are privately owned and selected through a local grant competition;
  
  
• for drafting new or updated design guidelines;
  
  
• for materials research on a rehabilitation project.