119 HR 5479 IH: Modernizing Access to Public Roads Act U.S. House of Representatives 2025-09-18 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I119th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 5479IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESSeptember 18, 2025Mr. Moore of Utah (for himself, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Mr. Hurd of Colorado, and Ms. Lee of Nevada) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and InfrastructureA BILLTo direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program relating to the digitization of county roads and creation of publicly accessible road datasets, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Modernizing Access to Public Roads Act or MAP Roads Act.

2.

Establishment of county road access and mapping pilot program

(a)

Establishment

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall establish a pilot grant program to provide grants to States to support rural commerce, increase public safety, and improve public access and navigation by funding the digitization of county roads and the creation of centralized, publicly accessible road datasets. (b)

Application

(1)

In general

To be eligible to receive a grant under this Act, a State shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such form, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. (2)

Priority

In selecting an application for a grant under this Act, the Secretary shall give priority to an application in which the applicant State— (A)identifies a significant deficiency in digitized county roads within the State; (B)demonstrates the capacity to administer— (i)a subgrant program to distribute funds to counties; and (ii)a statewide repository for county road data; and (C)expresses a commitment to coordinating with counties to create shared geospatial data standards. (c)

Use of funds

(1)

County activities

Funds distributed to counties under this Act may be used to— (A)digitize official county road records; (B)convert paper maps or outdated formats to standardized geospatial datasets; and (C)train personnel or hire contractors to assist in data creation and conversion. (2)

State repository

Each participating State department of transportation shall— (A)serve as the centralized data repository for all road data produced by counties under this program; (B)ensure that such data— (i)is published on a publicly accessible website; (ii)is organized in a manner that distinguishes between public and private roads; (iii)is compatible with third-party mapping platforms; and (iv)is updated at least annually; and (C)to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate with Federal agencies and mapping authorities to align data formats and metadata. (d)

Reporting requirements

Not later than 6 months after the establishment of the program under subsection (a), and annually thereafter for 3 years, each State awarded a grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary a report, which shall include, with respect to the period of time since the previous report— (1)a list of counties that received a subgrant; (2)the amount of funding distributed to each county; (3)the number of miles of county roads digitized under the program; (4)the status of State repository development and data integration efforts; and (5)any recommendations for improvement or expansion of the program. (e)

Definitions

In this Act: (1)

County

The term county has meaning given the term in section 101 of title 23, United States Code. (2)

County road

The term county road means a public road that is recognized and maintained by a county government. (3)

Digitization

The term digitization means the process of converting physical or analog map-based information into standardized electronic formats to produce geospatial data. (4)

Geospatial data

The term geospatial data has the meaning given such term in section 752 of the Geospatial Data Act of 2018 (43 U.S.C. 2801). (f)

Savings clause

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to— (1)confer any new authority upon a county or State to declare, designate, or assert jurisdiction over a road as a county road where such designation or jurisdiction does not otherwise exist under applicable State or local law; (2)alter, affect, or determine the legal status of any road for purposes of ownership, jurisdiction, or public access; or (3)limit or expand any existing rights, claims, or defenses related to road ownership, rights-of-way, or public access under Federal, State, or local law. (g)

Rule of construction

Nothing in this Act may be construed to permit the public disclosure of geographic information system data regarding the nature, location, character, or ownership of historic, paleontological, or archaeological resources, that is protected under any other provision of law. (h)

Authorization of appropriations

(1)

In general

There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031, to remain available until expended. (2)

Administrative expenses

Of the funds authorized to be appropriated under paragraph (1), the Secretary may use not more than 2 percent of such funds to administer the program established under subsection (a). (i)

Sunset

The authority to make grants under this Act shall terminate on September 30, 2031, unless reauthorized by Congress.