[Title 36 CFR 294.12]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - July 1, 2002 Edition]
[Title 36 - PARKS, FORESTS, AND PUBLIC PROPERTY]
[Chapter II - FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE]
[Part 294 - SPECIAL AREAS]
[Subpart B - Protection of Inventoried Roadless Areas]
[Sec. 294.12 - Prohibition on road construction and road reconstruction in inventoried roadless areas.]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


36PARKS, FORESTS, AND PUBLIC PROPERTY22002-07-012002-07-01false294.12Sec. 294.12PARKS, FORESTS, AND PUBLIC PROPERTYFOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURESPECIAL AREASProtection of Inventoried Roadless Areas
Sec. 294.12  Prohibition on road construction and road reconstruction in inventoried roadless areas.

    (a) A road may not be constructed or reconstructed in inventoried 
roadless areas of the National Forest System, except as provided in 
paragraph (b) of this section.
    (b) Notwithstanding the prohibition in paragraph (a) of this 
section, a road may be constructed or reconstructed in an inventoried 
roadless area if the Responsible Official determines that one of the 
following circumstances exists:
    (1) A road is needed to protect public health and safety in cases of 
an imminent threat of flood, fire, or other catastrophic event that, 
without intervention, would cause the loss of life or property;
    (2) A road is needed to conduct a response action under the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
(CERCLA) or to conduct a natural resource restoration action under 
CERCLA, Section 311 of the Clean Water Act, or the Oil Pollution Act;
    (3) A road is needed pursuant to reserved or outstanding rights, or 
as provided for by statute or treaty;
    (4) Road realignment is needed to prevent irreparable resource 
damage that arises from the design, location, use, or deterioration of a 
classified road and that cannot be mitigated by road maintenance. Road 
realignment may occur under this paragraph only if the road is deemed 
essential for public or private access, natural resource management, or 
public health and safety;
    (5) Road reconstruction is needed to implement a road safety 
improvement project on a classified road determined to be hazardous on 
the basis of accident experience or accident potential on that road;
    (6) The Secretary of Agriculture determines that a Federal Aid 
Highway project, authorized pursuant to Title 23 of the United States 
Code, is in the

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public interest or is consistent with the purposes for which the land 
was reserved or acquired and no other reasonable and prudent alternative 
exists; or
    (7) A road is needed in conjunction with the continuation, 
extension, or renewal of a mineral lease on lands that are under lease 
by the Secretary of the Interior as of January 12, 2001 or for a new 
lease issued immediately upon expiration of an existing lease. Such road 
construction or reconstruction must be conducted in a manner that 
minimizes effects on surface resources, prevents unnecessary or 
unreasonable surface disturbance, and complies with all applicable lease 
requirements, land and resource management plan direction, regulations, 
and laws. Roads constructed or reconstructed pursuant to this paragraph 
must be obliterated when no longer needed for the purposes of the lease 
or upon termination or expiration of the lease, whichever is sooner.
    (c) Maintenance of classified roads is permissible in inventoried 
roadless areas.