U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District
The Savannah District Corps of Engineers is undertaking the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, and thereby is required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act to mitigate adverse effects on historic properties, in this instance through conducting the data recovery of the CSS Georgia prior to harbor expansion construction activities at the wreck site. The USACE Savannah District will provide for inventory of the collection, conservation of the artifacts, and transport of the conserved artifacts to the curation repository chosen by the U.S. Navy.
Georgia Ports Authority
The Georgia Ports Authority is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) to deepen the Savannah River to 47 feet to more efficiently serve the growing demands of world trade. SHEP received the last of all required federal and state regulatory approvals in 2013. On June 10, President Obama signed into law the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014, thereby allowing the SHEP to proceed to construction. The State of Georgia has approved $266 million towards the cost share for the project.
U.S. Navy
Long-term curation of the CSS Georgia collection and associated costs will be the responsibility of the U.S. Navy, the agency accountable for the CSS Georgia. The U.S. Navy will be responsible for selecting the curation facility (or facilities) and will enter into long-term curation agreements with the facility (or facilities), if a repository managed by other than the U.S. Navy curates the collection. The U.S. Navy will be responsible for executing temporary loan agreements with other museums or facilities wishing to exhibit the artifacts.
Georgia & South Carolina Historic Preservation Offices
Georgia and South Carolina's state historic preservation offices (SHPOs) have several key functions as part of the national historic preservation program. Through Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, SHPOs function as watchdogs over federal agencies doing business in state, helping to insure that they respect our most important historic resources.
Conservation Research Laboratory, Texas A&M University
Selected artifacts and casemate sections will be conserved by the Conservation Research Laboratory (CRL) located at Texas A&M University. CRL specializes in conservation of underwater artifacts. The conservation process may take up to two years for the larger artifacts.