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For the first time, Honolulu has become eligible for federal historic preservation grants that will allow officials to begin work on a backlog of projects that have languished for decades, with some properties disintegrating due to neglect or carelessness.

The federal government has notified the Oahu Historic Preservation Commission, a new panel created by the city last year, that it has met the standards to become what is called a which gives the city access to funds from the national treasury.

The congressionally authorized fund, established in 1976, distributes some $150 million nationwide each year to communities that have demonstrated a commitment to historic preservation and to conserving the places that illustrate their unique heritage.

The first project the Oahu commission hopes to undertake would pay for a study that would lead to establishing defined boundaries to help builders avoid human burials in Kailua’s sand berm. Hundreds of sets of human remains have been uncovered there, causing distress for Hawaiian families and delaying construction projects. The commissioners believe that creating a Geographic Information System map in collaboration with the would help people avoid accidentally unearthing these graves.

The commission is responding to impassioned testimony from Hawaiian Civic Club leaders, who told the panel that human remains had sometimes been treated callously. In one case, remains found during a construction project were dumped into the dirt at a horse paddock in Waimanalo, they said.

Last October, the passed a resolution asking the commission to take action to prevent these situations. Though burials have been unearthed in many places in the islands, the problem is believed to be particularly acute in Kailua, where human remains have frequently been found or disturbed. This has happened despite the passage of state burial laws in 1990, which prohibit removing, destroying or altering any burial sites except as permitted by local burial councils.

After reviewing the evidence, the Kailua sand berm is a burial ground that “likely comprises thousands of individuals” and deserves more systematic protection.

The commissioners also indicated they were interested in using grant money to investigate and offer recommendations for the rehabilitation of an abandoned sinkhole on the grounds of the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station. The U.S. Navy dumped discarded ordnance — outdated weaponry and corroded artillery shells — into the pond there, leading to its nickname Archaeological evidence suggests the devastated site originally housed some of the earliest Polynesian settlements but it has become so contaminated that government agencies are mostly bickering over how to avoid liability for it.

Ordy Pond is one of the worst examples of cultural devastation but it is not the only one. Many old and culturally important properties around Oahu need attention, according to the commission. Many have already been torn down.

The board’s preliminary review of historic sites found that at least 4,000 properties on the island have not been properly catalogued or studied, which means that their importance has gone unacknowledged. Another 567 properties are designated historic landmarks but are nevertheless at risk of decay or demolition.

The federal announcement of Honolulu’s certified status marks a milestone for the state as well. Honolulu’s creation of the panel now means that properties throughout the entire state are eligible for the funds. Maui, Kauai and the Big Island established qualified historic preservation commissions years ago, and the recent addition of Oahu means that finally all the islands in the chain are open for these federal grants. No other state except Hawaii has achieved 100% historic preservation oversight under federal law.

At the commission meeting in Honolulu last month, the nine members of the volunteer board were given a briefing by Jessica Puff, the newly installed administrator of the State Historic Preservation Division, on how the federal program works and what the city should do to most effectively compete for the funds. The federal program allows local governments to apply for money to fund a wide array of projects, including preparing surveys of historic places, creating tourist maps and brochures, restoring dilapidated but unique old buildings and providing specialized training to create a new corps of conservationists.

Puff, who replaced the recently retired former administrator, Alan Downer, told the commissioners she was exhilarated by what the Oahu board had accomplished in its short tenure.

“I’m really jazzed, every time I see you folks’ existence,” she said.

Individual certified local government grants aren’t large, averaging about $50,000 to $60,000 per project, but the program’s structure allows local governments to phase in larger projects over time and leverage other community investment to boost the total dollar value. The federal government allots money for each state each year and because the other local governments in Hawaii frequently haven’t sought the grants, there is several years’ worth of money in the pot, according to Puff.

“We get pressure from the National Park Service to use it and we’ve been accumulating years’ worth of this spending,” Puff said. “They usually allow us to hold it for around five to seven years before they send it back to the federal general fund.”

That means the Oahu commission may be able to pursue two, or even three, separate projects this year.

Or, if individual historic preservation commissions were to team up statewide, it might be possible to combine grant money to fund a statewide database of historic places, a project that many experts have said is long overdue.

Puff told the commissioners that the city is also eligible for other grants. grants provide funding for premiere cultural properties. Other grant opportunities provide funding for and protecting and interpreting World War II sites and the Pali overlook could both benefit from that funding.

Grant proposals need to be approved by the state and federal governments but Puff indicated that the process was not particularly onerous and that state officials are prepared to help the city learn the ropes. The process should move quickly, she indicated.

Commission Chair Kehaunani Abad urged her colleagues to seize the opportunity to pursue grants that could help stabilize the island’s historic resources. She asked them to consider the possibilities and bring them up for discussion at the next commission meeting.

“This is exciting,” she told them. “We have at least two bites at the apple.”

“Maybe three,” another commissioner piped up.

The Oahu board . The board invites and welcomes public comment at each meeting.