Memorandum opinion in D.C. Preservation League v. Trump

… Case 1:26-cv-00981-CRC Document 45 Filed 05/29/26 Page 39 of 42 Nevertheless, the Court’s hands are tied. This Kennedy Center renovation project occupies a sort of historic preservation no-man’s-land. The Center is not a federal agency, which would bring it within the NHPA’s direct ambit. And reading Section 106 and the SFAA together, not all construction work on the Kennedy Center site triggers preservation review. The scope of the project that Mr. Floca has described under oath appears to fall outside that purview. The Court is not at liberty to stretch these admittedly convoluted statutes beyond their limits. And even if viable alternative constructions of these statutes could bring the Center’s renovation within Section 106’s coverage, it remains difficult to conclude that the Center has “disregard[ed] a specific and unambiguous statutory directive” in sidestepping the historic …