Washington : Government Printing Office
(a) As used in this title, unless the context requires otherwise—
The term "apportionment" in accordance with section 104 of this title includes unexpended apportionments made under prior acts.
The term "construction" means the supervising, inspecting, actual building, and all expenses incidental to the construction or reconstruction of a highway, including locating, surveying, and mapping (including the establishment of temporary and permanent geodetic markers in accordance with specifications of the Coast and Geodetic Survey in the Department of Commerce), acquisition of rights-of-way, relocation assistance, elimination of hazards of railway grade crossings, acquisition of replacement housing sites, and acquisition, and rehabilitation, relocation, and construction of replacement housing.
The term "county" includes corresponding units of government under any other name in States which do not have county organizations, and likewise in those States in which the county government does not have jurisdiction over highways it may be construed to mean any local government unit vested with jurisdiction over local highways.
The term "forest road or trail" means a road or trail wholly or partly within or adjacent to and serving the national forests and other areas administered by the Forest Service.
The term "forest development roads and trails" means those forest roads or trails of primary importance for the protection, administration, and utilization of the national forest and other areas administered by the Forest Service or, where necessary, for the use and development of the resources upon which communities within or adjacent to the national forest and other areas administered by the Forest Service are dependent.
The term "forest highway" means a forest road which is of primary importance to the States, counties, or communities within, adjoining, or adjacent to the national forests, and which is on the Federal-aid system.
The term "highway" includes roads, streets, and parkways, and also includes rights-of-way, bridges, railroad-highway crossings, tunnels, drainage structures, signs, guardrails, and protective structures, in connection with highways. It further includes that portion of any interstate or international bridge or tunnel and the approaches thereto, the cost of which is assumed by a State highway department including such facilities as may be required by the United States Customs and Immigration Services in connection with the operation of an international bridge or tunnel.
The term "Federal-aid highways" means highways located on one of the Federal-aid systems described in section 103 of this title.
The term "Indian reservation roads and bridges" means roads and bridges that are located within or provide access to an Indian reservation or Indian trust land or restricted Indian land
which is not subject to fee title alienation without the approval of the Federal Government on which Indians reside whom the Secretary of the Interior has determined to be eligible for services generally available to Indians under Federal laws specifically applicable to Indians.
The term "maintenance" means the preservation of the entire highway, including surface, shoulders, roadsides, structures, and such traffic-control devices as are necessary for its safe and efficient utilization.
The term "park roads and trails" means those roads or trails, including the necessary bridges, located in national parks or monuments, now or hereafter established, or in other areas administered by the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior (excluding parkways authorized by Acts of Congress) and also including approach roads to national parks or monuments authorized by the Act of January 31, 1931 (46 Stat. 1053), as amended.
The term "parkway" as used in chapter 2 of this title means a parkway authorized by an Act of Congress on lands to which title is vested in the United States.
The term "project" means an undertaking to construct a particular portion of a highway, or if the context so implies, the particular portion of a highway so constructed.
The term "project agreement" means the formal instrument to be executed by the State highway department and the Secretary as required by the provisions of subsection (a) of section 110 of this title.
The term "public lands development roads and trails" means those roads or trails which the Secretary of the Interior determines are of primary importance for the development, protection, administration, and utilization of public lands and resources under his control.
The term "public lands highways" means those main highways through unappropriated or unreserved public lands, nontaxable Indian lands, or other Federal reservations, which are on the Federal-aid systems.
The term "rural areas" means all areas of a State not included in urban areas.
The term "Secretary" means Secretary of Commerce.
The term "urbanized area" means an area so designated by the Bureau of the Census.
The term "State" means any one of the fifty States, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico.
The term "State funds" includes funds raised under the authority of the State or any political or other subdivision thereof, and made available for expenditure under the direct control of the State highway department.
The term "State highway department" means that department, commission, board, or official of any State charged by its laws with the responsibility for highway construction.
The term "Federal-aid system" means any one of the Federal-aid highway systems described in section 103 of this title.
The term "Federal aid primary system" means the Federal-aid highway system described in subsection (b) of section 103 of this title.
The term "Federal-aid secondary system" means the Federal-aid highway system described in subsection (c) of section 103 of this title.
The term "Federal-aid urban system" means the Federal-aid highway system described in subsection (d) of section 103 of this title.
The term "Interstate System" means the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways described in subsection (e) of section 103 of this title.
The term "urban area" means an area including and adjacent to a municipality or other urban place having a population of five thousand or more, as determined by the latest available Federal census, within boundaries to be fixed by a State highway department subject to the approval of the Secretary.
(b) It is hereby declared to be in the national interest to accelerate the construction of the Federal-aid highway systems, including the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, since many of such highways, or portions thereof, are in fact inadequate to meet the needs of local and interstate commerce, for the national and civil defense.
It is hereby declared that the prompt and early completion of the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, so named because of its primary importance to the national defense and hereafter referred to as the "Interstate System", is essential to the national interest and is one of the most important objectives of this Act. It is the intent of Congress that the Interstate System be completed as nearly as practicable over the period of availability of the twenty years' appropriations authorized for the purpose of expediting its construction, reconstruction, or improvement, inclusive of necessary tunnels and bridges, through the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976, under section 108(b) of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 (70 Stat. 374), and that the entire system in all States be brought to simultaneous completion. Insofar as possible in consonance with this objective, existing highways located on an interstate route shall be used to the extent that such use is practicable, suitable, and feasible, it being the intent that local needs, to the extent practicable, suitable, and feasible, shall be given equal consideration with the needs of interstate commerce.
(c) It is the sense of Congress that under existing law no part of any sums authorized to be appropriated for expenditure upon any Federal-aid system which has been apportioned pursuant to the provisions of this title shall be impounded or withheld from obligation, for purposes and projects as provided in this title, by any officer or employee in the executive branch of the Federal Government, except such specific sums as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, are necessary to be withheld from obligation for specific periods of time to assure that sufficient amounts will be available in the Highway Trust Fund to defray the expenditures which will be required to be made from such fund.
(d) No funds authorized to be appropriated from the Highway Trust Fund shall be expended by or on behalf of any Federal department, agency, or instrumentality other than the Federal Highway Administration unless funds for such expenditure are identified and included as a line item in an appropriation Act and are to meet obligations of the United States heretofore or hereafter incurred under this title attributable to the construction of Federal-aid highways or highway planning, research, or development, or as otherwise specifically authorized to be appropriated from the Highway Trust Fund by Federal-aid highway legislation. (Pub. L. 85-767, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 885; Pub. L. 86-70, § 21(e)(1), June 25, 1959, 73 Stat. 146; Pub. L. 86-624, § 17(a), July 12, 1960, 74 Stat. 415; Pub. L. 87-866, § 6(a), Oct. 23, 1962, 76 Stat. 1147; Pub. L. 88-423, § 3, Aug. 13, 1964, 78 Stat. 397; Pub. L. 89-574, § 4(a), Sept. 13, 1966, 80
Stat. 767; Pub. L. 90-495, §§ 4(a), 8, 15, Aug. 23, 1968, 82 Stat. 816, 819, 822; Pub. L. 91-605, title I, §§ 104(a), 106(a), 107, 117(d), 130, 141, Dec. 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 1714, 1716, 1718, 1724, 1732, 1737.)
The provisions of this title apply to all unappropriated authorizations contained in prior Acts, and also to all unexpended appropriations, heretofore made, providing for the expenditure of Federal funds upon the Federal-aid systems. All such authorizations and appropriations shall continue in full force and effect, but hereafter obligations entered into and expenditures made pursuant thereto shall be subject to the provisions of this title. (Pub. L. 85-767, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 887.)
(a) For the purposes of this title, the four Federal-aid systems, the primary system, the urban system, the secondary system, and the Interstate System, are established and continued pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(b) The Federal-aid primary system shall consist of an adequate system of connected main highways, selected or designated by each State through its State highway department, subject to the approval of the Secretary as provided by subsection (f) of this section. This system shall not exceed 7 per centum of the total highway mileage of such State, exclusive of mileage within national forests, Indian, or other Federal reservations and within urban areas, as shown by the records of the State highway department on November 9, 1921. Whenever provision has been made by any State for the completion and maintenance of 90 per centum of its Federal-aid primary system, as originally designated, said State through its State highway department by and with the approval of the Secretary is authorized to increase the mileage of its Federal-aid primary system by additional mileage equal to not more than 1 per centum of the total mileage of said State as shown by the records on November 9, 1921. Thereafter, it may make like 1 per centum increases in the mileage of its Federal-aid primary system whenever provision has been made for the completion and maintenance of 90 per centum of the entire system, including the additional mileage previously authorized. This system may be located in both rural and urban areas. The mileage limitations in this paragraph shall not apply to the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
(c) The Federal-aid secondary system shall be selected by the State highway departments and the appropriate local road officials in cooperation with each other, subject to approval by the Secretary as provided in subsection (f) of this section. In making such selections, farm-to-market roads, rural mail routes, public school bus routes, local rural roads, county roads, township roads, and roads of the county road class may be included, so long as they are not on the Federal-aid primary system or the Interstate System. This system may be located both in rural and urban areas, but any extension of the system into urban areas shall be subject to the condition that such extension pass through the urban area or connect with another Federal-aid system within the urban area.
(d) The Federal-aid urban system shall be established in each urbanized area. The system shall be so located as to serve the major centers of activity, and designed taking into consideration the highest traffic volume corridors, and the longest trips within such area and shall be selected so as to best serve the goals and objectives of the community as determined by the responsible local officials of such urbanized area based upon the planning process required pursuant to the provisions of section 134 of this title. No route on the Federal-aid urban system shall also be a route on any other Federal-aid system. Each route of the system shall connect with another route on a Federal-aid system. Routes on the Federal-aid urban system shall be selected by the appropriate local officials and the State highway departments in cooperation with each other subject to the approval of the Secretary as provided in subsection (f) of this section. The provisions of chapters 1, 3, and 5 of this title that are applicable to Federal-aid primary highways shall apply to the Federal-aid urban system except as determined by the Secretary to be inconsistent with this subsection.
(e)(1) The Interstate System shall be designated within the United States, including the District of Columbia, and, except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection, it shall not exceed forty-one thousand miles in total extent. It shall be so located as to connect by routes, as direct as practicable, the principal metropolitan areas, cities, and industrial centers, to serve the national defense, and to the greatest extent possible, to connect at suitable border points with routes of continental importance in the Dominion of Canada and the Republic of Mexico. The routes of this system, to the greatest extent possible, shall be selected by joint action of the State highway departments of each State and the adjoining States, subject to the approval by the Secretary as provided in subsection (f) of this section. All highways or routes included in the Interstate System as finally approved, if not already coincident with the primary system, shall be added to said system without regard to the mileage limitation set forth in subsection (b) of this section. This system may be located both in rural and urban areas.
(2) In addition to the mileage authorized by the first sentence of paragraph (1) of this subsection, there is hereby authorized additional mileage for the Interstate System of two hundred miles, to be used in making modifications or revisions in the Interstate System as provided in this paragraph. Upon the request of a State highway department the Secretary may withdraw his approval of any route or portion thereof on the Interstate System within that State selected and approved in accordance with this title prior to the enactment of this paragraph, if he determines that such route or portion thereof is not essential to completion of a unified and connected Interstate System (including urban routes necessary for metropolitan transportation) and will not be constructed as a part of the Interstate System, and if he receives assurances that the State does not intend to construct a toll road in the traffic corridor which would be served by such route or portion thereof. After the Secretary has withdrawn his approval of any such route or portion thereof the mileage of such route or portion thereof and the additional mileage authorized by the first sentence of this paragraph shall be available for the designation of interstate routes or portions thereof as provided in this subsection. The provisions of this title applicable to the Interstate System shall apply to all mileage designated under the third sentence of this paragraph except that the cost to the United States of the aggregate of all mileage designated under the third sentence of this paragraph shall not exceed the cost to the United
States of the aggregate of all mileage approval for which is withdrawn under the second sentence of this paragraph, as such cost is included in the 1968 Interstate System cost estimate set forth in House Document Numbered 199, Ninetieth Congress, as revised. In considering routes or portions thereof to be added to the Interstate System under the third sentence of this paragraph, the Secretary shall, in consultation with the States and local governments concerned, give due regard to (A) routes or portions thereof in States in which the Secretary has heretofore or hereafter withdrawn his approval of other routes or portions thereof, and (B) the extension of routes which terminate within municipalities served by a single interstate route, so as to provide traffic service entirely through such municipalities.
(3) In addition to the mileage authorized by paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, there is hereby authorized additional mileage of not to exceed 1,500 miles for the designation of routes in the same manner as set forth in paragraph (1), in order to improve the efficiency and service of the Interstate System to better accomplish the purposes of that System.
(f) The Secretary shall have authority to approve in whole or in part the Federal-aid primary system, the Federal-aid secondary system, the Federal-aid urban system, and the Interstate System, as and when such systems or portions thereof are designated, or to require modifications or revisions thereof. No Federal-aid system or portion thereof shall be eligible for projects in which Federal funds participate until approved by the Secretary.
(g) The Secretary, on July 1, 1973, shall remove from designation as a part of the Interstate System every segment of such System for which a State has not established a schedule for the expenditure of funds for completion of construction of such segment within the period of availability of funds authorized to be appropriated for completion of the Interstate System, and with respect to which the State has not provided the Secretary with assurances satisfactory to him that such schedule will be met. Nothing in the preceding sentence shall be construed to prohibit the substitution prior to July 1, 1973, of alternative segments of the Interstate System which will meet the requirements of this title. Any segment of the Interstate System with respect to which a State has not submitted plans, specifications, and estimates for approval by the Secretary by July 1, 1975, shall be removed from designation as a part of the Interstate System. No segment of the Interstate System removed under authority of the preceding sentence shall thereafter be designated as a part of the Interstate System. (Pub. L. 85-767, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 887; Pub. L. 86-70, § 21(d)(1), June 25, 1959, 73 Stat. 145; Pub. L. 86-624, § 17(b), (c), July 12, 1960, 74 Stat. 415; Pub. L. 87-866, § 8(a), Oct. 23, 1962, 76 Stat. 1147; Pub. L. 90-238, Jan. 2, 1968, 81 Stat. 772; Pub. L. 90-495, §§ 14, 21, Aug. 23, 1968, 82 Stat. 822, 826; Pub. L. 91-605, title I, §§ 106(b), 124, Dec. 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 1716, 1729.)
(a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (d) of this section, the Federal share payable on account of any project, financed with primary, secondary, or urban funds, on the Federal-aid primary system, the Federal-aid secondary system, and the Federal-aid urban system shall either (A) not exceed 70 per centum of the cost of construction, except that in the case of any State containing nontaxable Indian lands, individual and tribal, and public domain lands (both reserved and unreserved) exclusive of national forests and national parks and monuments, exceeding 5 per centum of the total area of all lands therein, the Federal share shall be increased by a percentage of the remaining cost equal to the percentage that the area of all such lands in such State, is of its total area, or (B) not exceed 70 per centum of the cost of construction, except that in the case of any State containing nontaxable Indian lands, individual and tribal, public domain lands (both reserved and unreserved), national forests, and national parks and monuments, the Federal share shall be increased by a percentage of the remaining cost equal to the percentage that the area of all such lands in such State is of its total area, except that the Federal share payable on any project in a State shall not exceed 95 per centum of the total cost of any such project. In any case where a State elects to have the Federal share provided in clause (B) of this subsection, the State must enter into an agreement with the Secretary covering a period of not less than one year, requiring such State to use solely for highway construction purposes (other than paying its share of projects approved under this title) during the period covered by such agreement the difference between the State's share as provided in clause (B) and what its share would be if it elected to pay the share provided in clause (A) for all projects subject to such agreement.
(b) Subject to the provisions of subsection (d) of this section, the Federal share payable on account of any project, financed with interstate funds on the Interstate System, authorized to be appropriated prior to June 29, 1956, shall not exceed 60 per centum of the cost of construction, except that in the case of any State containing unappropriated and unreserved public lands and nontaxable Indian lands, individual and tribal, exceeding 5 per centum of the total area of all lands therein, the Federal share shall be increased by a percentage of the remaining cost equal to the percentage that the area of all such lands in such State, is of its total area. The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall apply to any project financed with funds authorized by the provisions of section 2 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1952.
(c) Subject to the provisions of subsection (d) of this section, the Federal share payable on account of any project on the Interstate System provided for by funds made available under the provisions of section 108(b) of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 shall be increased to 90 per centum of the total cost thereof, plus a percentage of the remaining 10 per centum of such cost in any State containing unappropriated and unreserved public lands and nontaxable Indian lands, individual and tribal, exceeding 5 per centum of the total area of all lands therein, equal to the percentage that the area of such lands in such State is of its total area, except that such Federal share payable on any project in any State shall not exceed 95 per centum of the total cost of such project.
(d) The Federal share payable on account of any project for the elimination of hazards of railway-highway crossings, as more fully described and subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in section 130 of this title, may amount to 100 per centum of the cost of construction of such projects, except that not more than 70 per centum of the right-of-way and property damage costs, paid from public funds, on any such project, may be
paid from sums apportioned in accordance with section 104 of this title: Provided, That not more than 10 per centum of all the sums apportioned for all the Federal-aid systems for any fiscal year in accordance with section 104 of this title shall be used under this subsection.
(e) The Secretary may rely on a statement from the Secretary of the Interior as to the area of the lands referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to provide such statement annually.
(f) The Federal share payable on account of any repair or reconstruction provided for by funds made available under section 125 of this title shall not exceed 70 per centum of the cost thereof: Provided, That, in the case of any State containing nontaxable Indian lands, individual and tribal, and public domain lands (both reserved and unreserved) exclusive of national forests and national parks and monuments exceeding 5 per centum of the total area of all lands therein, the Federal share shall be increased by a percentage of the remaining cost equal to the percentage that the area of all such lands in such State, is of its total area: Provided further, That the Federal share payable on account of any repair or reconstruction of forest highways, forest development roads and trails, park roads and trails, parkways, public lands highways, public lands development roads and trails, and Indian reservation roads may amount to 100 per centum of the cost thereof, whether or not such highways, roads or trails are on any Federal-aid highway systems. The Secretary may increase the Federal share payable on account of any repair or reconstruction under this section up to 100 per centum of the replacement cost of a comparable facility if he determines it is in the public interest. As used in this section with respect to bridges and in section 144 of this title, "a comparable facility" shall mean a facility which meets the current geometric and construction standards required for the types and volume of traffic which such facility will carry over its design life. Any project agreement for which the final voucher has not been approved by the Secretary on or before the date of this Act may be modified to provide for the Federal share authorized herein.
(g) The Secretary is authorized to cooperate with the State highway departments and with the Department of the Interior in the construction of Federal-aid highways within Indian reservations and national parks and monuments under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior and to pay the amount assumed therefor from the funds apportioned in accordance with section 104 of this title to the State wherein the reservations and national parks and monuments are located.
(h) At the request of any State, the Secretary may from time to time enter into agreements with such State to reimburse the State for the Federal share of the costs of preliminary and construction engineering at an agreed percentage of actual construction costs for each project, in lieu of the actual engineering costs for such project. The Secretary shall annually review each such agreement to insure that such percentage reasonably represents the engineering costs actually incurred by such State. (Pub. L. 85-767, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 898; Pub. L. 86-70, § 21(d )(4 ), (e)(4 ), June 25, 1959, 73 Stat. 145, 146; Pub. L. 86-342, title I, § 107(b), Sept. 21, 1959, 73 Stat. 613; Pub. L. 86-657, § 3, July 14, 1960, 74 Stat. 522; Pub. L. 88-658, Oct. 13, 1964, 78 Stat. 1090; Pub. L. 89-574, § 9(a), Sept. 13, 1966, 80 Stat. 769; Pub. L. 90-495, §§ 27(b), 34, Aug. 23, 1968, 82 Stat. 829, 835; Pub. L. 91-605, title I, §§ 106(f), 108(a), 109(b), 128, Dec. 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 1718, 1719, 1731.)
(a) An emergency fund is authorized for expenditure by the Secretary, subject to the provisions of this section and section 120 of this title, for (1) the repair or reconstruction of highways, roads, and trails which he shall find have suffered serious damage as the result of (A) natural disaster over a wide area such as by floods, hurricanes, tidal waves, earthquakes, severe storms, or landslides, or (B) catastrophic failures from any cause, in any part of the United States, and (2) the repair or reconstruction of bridges which have been permanently closed to all vehicular traffic by the State after December 31, 1967, and prior to December 31, 1970, because of imminent danger of collapse due to structural deficiencies or physical deterioration. Subject to the following limitations, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to establish the fund authorized by this section and to replenish it on an annual basis: (1) not more than $50,000,000 is authorized to be expended in any one fiscal year to carry out this section except that if in any fiscal year the total of all expenditures under this section is less than $50,000,000, the unexpended balance of such amount shall remain available for expenditure during the next two succeeding fiscal years in addition to amounts otherwise available to carry out this section in such years, and (2) 60 per centum of the expenditures under this section for any fiscal year are authorized to be appropriated from the Highway Trust Fund and the remaining 40 per centum of such expenditures are authorized to be appropriated only from any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.
(b) The Secretary may expend funds from the emergency fund herein authorized for the repair or reconstruction of highways on the Federal-aid highway systems, including the Interstate System, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Except as to highways, roads, and trails mentioned in subsection (c) of this section, no funds shall be so expended unless the Secretary has received an application therefor from the State highway department, and unless an emergency has been declared by the Governor of the State and concurred in by the Secretary.
(c) The Secretary may expend funds from the emergency fund herein authorized, either independently or in cooperation with any other branch of the Government, State agency, organization, or person, for the repair or reconstruction of forest highways, forest development roads and trails, park roads and trails, parkways, public lands highways, public lands development roads and trails, and Indian reservation roads, whether or not such highways, roads, or trails are on any of the Federal-aid highway systems. (Pub. L. 85-767, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 901; Pub. L. 86-342, title I, § 107(a), Sept. 21, 1959, 73 Stat. 612; Pub. L. 89-574, § 9(b), (c), Sept. 13, 1966, 80 Stat. 769; Pub. L. 90-495, § 27(a), Aug. 23, 1968, 82 Stat. 829; Pub. L. 91-605, title I, § 109(a), Dec. 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 1718.)
