Guidance for Federal Lands Highway Programs

Guidance for the Public Lands Highway, Refuge Roads, and Park Roads and Parkways Programs.

Public Lands Highway Program

Statutory and Regulatory Background

Section 1119, part (m) of the SAFETEA-LU legislation (P.L. 109-59) modified the existing Forest Highway program as defined in 23 USC Section 204 and 23 CFR 660 as follows:

Forest Highways - Of the amounts made available for public lands highways under section 1101-
(1) not to exceed $20,000,000 per fiscal year may be used for the maintenance of forest highways;
(2) not to exceed $1,000,000 per fiscal year may be used for signage identifying public hunting and fishing access; and
(3) not to exceed $10,000,000 per fiscal year shall be used by the Secretary of Agriculture to pay the costs of facilitating the passage of aquatic species beneath roads in the National Forest System, including the costs of constructing, maintaining, replacing, or removing culverts and bridges, as appropriate.

FLH Interpretation

  • All amounts listed in Sec. 1119(m) are Forest Highway (FH) program funds. They will not impact the Public Lands Highways - Discretionary program.
  • The amounts listed in Sec. 1119(m)(1) and 1119(m)(2) are not set-asides; they will not be separated from the FH formula. Rather, they are eligible activities of the FH program, with funding limits on those activities. Any funding spent on maintenance or hunting/fishing signs will come directly from the States' annual allocation of FH funds. Tracking will be required for any FH funding spent on these activities to ensure that annual funding caps are not exceeded.
  • Maintenance and sign projects will be treated just like any other FH project: they must be put into the multi-year FH plan, and agreed to by representatives of the Forest Service (FS), the Federal Highway Administration, and the relevant State Highway Administration. Maintenance is defined in 23 USC 101(a)(14): The term "maintenance" means the preservation of the entire highway, including surface, shoulders, roadsides, structures, and such traffic-control devices as are necessary for safe and efficient utilization of the highway.
  • Per Sec. 1119(m)(3), $10,000,000 per year is to be used by the Forest Service for Aquatic Organism Passage projects on Forest Highways within the National Forest System. The FS will create a nationally prioritized list of projects each year. These funds will come off the top of the Forest Highway program. Due to the $10,000,000 limit, any of these funds not obligated in a previous year will not carry over to a future year for this purpose; the remainder will be returned to the general Forest Highway program. Because this section of law gives the Secretary of Agriculture sole discretion over these funds, they are not subject to the usual tri-partite FH agreement. Since the FS will use the total amount available for Aquatic Organism Passage projects, no Aquatic Organism Passage projects should be advanced using FH funds allocated to the States or Federal Lands Highway Divisions under the FH formula.

Refuge Roads Program

Section 1101 (a)(9)(C) of SAFETEA-LU:
Amends section 104 so that this program is now authorized for $29,000,000 per year.

Section 1119 (h):
Amends Section 204(a)(1) so that refuge roads are now included on the list of roadways that are recognized as needing treatment under uniform policies similar to the policies that apply to Federal-Aid highways.

Section 1119(j)
Amends Section 204(k) so that interpretive signage is now an eligible item for this program.
Amends Section 204(k) so that funds made available under the refuge roads program can now be used as the non-federal match for any project funded under Title 23 or chapter 53 of Title 49, so long as that project provides access to or within a wildlife refuge.
Amends Section 204(k) so that recreational trails are eligible under this program, but limits the total amount spent on trails at 5%. The 5% cap is based on the total program.

Park Roads and Parkways Program

Section 1101 (a)(9)(C): Adds language that requires a minimum allocation for certain States. Specifically, the section requires that any state that contains more than 50% of the total NPS acreage receive a minimum of 3% of the program. The FHWA has determined that Alaska only meets the criteria of this provision.

Section 1119(a):
Amends Section 120(k): Funds appropriated to a Federal Land Management Agency can be used as the non-Federal match on any project funded under Title 23 or Chapter 53 of Title 49.

Amends Section 120(l): Funds appropriated to the Federal lands highway program can be used as the non-Federal match for any project funded under Title 23 or Chapter 53 of Chapter 49.