HB 738 - Historic Preservation Summary

• Creates expedited review process for majority-residential mixed-use and residential transit-oriented development in county-designated transit-oriented development zones with low risk to historic resources.

• Empowers lead agencies (including county agencies) to determine potential project effects on historic properties, aviation artifacts, and burial sites, with Department of Land and Natural Resources having 90 days (or 30 days if no historic property affected) to concur or object.

• Exempts projects with written departmental concurrence from further review unless the project scope changes, project area expands, or additional historic properties, aviation artifacts, or burial sites are discovered.

• Requires counties to identify specific transit-oriented development parcels by January 1, 2026, and establishes department classification system (high to low risk) across architecture, archaeology, and history/culture categories for parcels submitted for programmatic review.

• Allows parcels classified as lower-risk in all categories to proceed without departmental referral, provided projects reach substantial construction by June 30, 2036, and development activities follow applicable best practices.