The Mitigation Report (Phase IV)
Data recovery or mitigation of archeological sites to be affected by an undertaking is no longer an exception to the criteria of adverse effect, and is defined as an adverse effect under the revised Section 106 regulations. Phase IV data recovery/mitigation will only take place following the execution of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) by the agency official, the SHPO, and in some situations the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Execution of the MOA allows excavation of the site or other appropriate mitigation to begin and spells out the research orientation of the mitigation report. Because mitigation requirements will be tailored to the particulars of an individual site, there is no standard report format that can be provided here.
Upon completion of the data recovery fieldwork the project archeologist should submit the final report to the signatories named above. This report should be in the form of a detailed excavation report describing the work completed, the artifacts and permanent features uncovered, and a detailed analysis of the recovered cultural materials. It should also address how this information relates to specific research questions posed in the MOA. Any questions regarding the information required in the report, which are not addressed in the MOA, should be directed to SHPO staff before the report is completed. Such reports are, at the discretion of the SHPO Archeologist, sent out for peer review.
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