[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 12, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25533-25536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-11924]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration
[FHWA Docket No. FHWA-1999-5088]


Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 Implementation Guidance for Public Lands 
Highways Discretionary Program Funds

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice; FHWA solicitation memorandum for FY 2000 funds; request 
for comments on selection criteria for FY 2001 and beyond.

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SUMMARY: The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) 
continued the public lands highways (PLH) discretionary program through 
FY 2003. This document provides implementation guidance on the PLH 
discretionary program for FY 2000 and beyond. Also, it contains 
information on the selection criteria used by the FHWA in evaluating 
candidate projects. An implementation guidance memorandum on this topic 
was issued to division offices soliciting candidate projects from State 
transportation agencies for FY 2000 public lands highways (PLH) 
discretionary funding. The text of that memorandum is incorporated 
here. This document seeks comments from all interested parties on the 
selection criteria and their continued use by FHWA for FY 2001 and 
beyond.

DATES: Comments on the selection criteria for PLH discretionary funding 
for FY 2001 and beyond must be received on or before July 12, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Your signed, written comments on project selection criteria 
for PLH discretionary funding for FY 2001 and beyond must refer to the 
docket number appearing at the top of this document and you must submit 
the comments to the Docket Clerk, U.S. DOT Dockets, Room PL-401, 400 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. All comments received 
will be available for examination at the above address between 9 a.m. 
and 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Those 
desiring notification of receipt of comments should include a self-
addressed, stamped envelope or postcard.
    Applications for candidate projects for FY 2000 funding should be 
submitted to the FHWA Division Office in the State of the applicant in 
accordance with the guidance provided in the solicitation memorandum.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Beidel, Office of Program 
Administration, (202) 366-1564; or Wilbert Baccus, Office of the Chief 
Counsel, (202) 366-1396; Federal Highway Administration, 400 Seventh 
Street SW., Washington DC 20590. Office hours are from 7:45 a.m. to 
4:15 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    Internet users can access all comments received by the U.S. DOT 
Dockets, Room PL-401, by using the universal resource locator 
(URL):http://www.dms.dot.gov. It is available 24 hours each day, 365 
days each year. Please follow the instructions online for more 
information and help.
    An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded using a modem 
and suitable communications software from the Government Printing 
Office Electronic Bulletin Board Service at (202) 512-1661. Internet 
users may reach the Federal Register's home page at: http://
www.nara.gov/fedreg and the Government Printing Office's database at: 
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara.
    The solicitation memorandum will also be available on the FHWA web 
site at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/discretionary.

Background

    TEA-21, Pub. L. 105-178, 112 Stat. 107 (1998), continued the PLH 
discretionary program through FY 2003 and provides $66.6 million in FY 
1998 and $83.6 million in each of FY 1999 through 2003 for the program. 
On March 4, 1999, the FHWA issued a memorandum to its division offices, 
located in each State, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, 
soliciting from the State transportation agencies candidate projects 
for FY 2000 PLH discretionary funding. This memorandum is published 
here for informational purposes. The

[[Page 25534]]

memorandum contains information on the PLH discretionary program, 
eligible activities, the application process, and the selection 
criteria used by the FHWA in evaluating candidate projects.
    Also, the purpose of this document is to invite comments on the 
selection criteria used by the FHWA for evaluating candidate projects 
for FY 2001 and beyond. The attachment to the March 4, 1999, memorandum 
presents the selection criteria that the FHWA will be using for FY 
2000. These criteria reflect areas which are given preference when 
evaluating candidate projects; however, any project submitted by a 
State transportation agency which meets the eligibility requirements 
for this discretionary program can potentially be selected for funding. 
These are the same general selection criteria that the FHWA has used 
for several years to evaluate candidates for this discretionary 
program. Occasionally, a selection criterion may be added for an 
individual year that reflects a special emphasis area, but for the most 
part the selection criteria have remained unchanged.
    The FHWA plans to continue to use these same basic selection 
criteria for FY 2001 and beyond for this discretionary program. 
However, before doing so, the FHWA is interested in the views of the 
States or others on these selection criteria. Accordingly, comments are 
invited to this docket on the selection criteria that FHWA will use for 
the PLH discretionary program for funding available for FY 2001 and 
beyond.
    Publication of the implementation guidance for the public lands 
highways discretionary program satisfies the requirement of section 
9004(a) of the TEA-21 Restoration Act, Pub. L. 105-206, 112 Stat. 685, 
842 (1998).

    Authority: 23 U.S.C. 202 and 315; 49 CFR 1.48.

    Issued on: May 3, 1999.
Gloria J. Jeff,
Federal Highway Deputy Administrator.
    The text of the FHWA solicitation and implementation guidance 
memorandum follows:

Action: Request for Projects for Fiscal  March 4, 1999.
 Year (FY) 2000 Public Lands Highways
 (PLH) Discretionary Funds (Reply Due:
 July 1, 1999).
    From: Henry H. Rentz for Vincent F.  HIPA.
     Schimmoller Program Manager,
     Infrastructure.
    To: Division Administrators Program
     Manager, Federal Lands Highway.
 

    The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) 
continued the PLH discretionary program through FY 2003. With this 
memorandum, we are requesting submission of eligible candidate projects 
for FY 2000 PLH discretionary funds.
    TEA-21 authorized $83.64 million for the PLH discretionary program 
for FY 2000. Estimating the deductions for FHWA administration, Section 
1102(f) of TEA-21, and administrative expenses for Federal land 
management agencies, and the increase due to the revenue aligned budget 
authority (RABA) under Section 1105 of TEA-21, it appears that 
approximately $70 to $75 million will be available for allocation to 
projects in FY 2000. Of this available funding, $10 million will be 
used to fund two projects selected for FY 1999 funding that were 
deferred in order to fund Congressional earmarking in the FY 1999 
appropriations act conference report. Therefore, only $60 to $65 
million will be available for projects in FY 2000.
    Attached to this memorandum are the program guidelines that contain 
information on eligibility, selection criteria, and submission 
requirements. Please provide this information to your State and work 
with them to identify viable, quality candidate projects for this 
program.
    We ask that you pay particular attention to the submission 
requirements listed in the attached guidelines. Many of the candidates 
submitted last year did not provide all of the necessary information. 
With the elimination of the region offices, we are relying on you to 
ensure that all of the applications from your State are completed in 
accordance with the appropriate submission requirements. This is 
important to ensure that all candidates receive a fair evaluation. Due 
to the shortened time frame last year because of the late passage of 
TEA-21, we were not able to return incomplete applications, and our 
evaluation was based on insufficient information in some cases. This 
year we will return incomplete applications, which could jeopardize 
consideration of the candidate projects if the applications are not 
resubmitted in time.
    We are requesting that candidate project submissions be received in 
Headquarters no later than July 1, 1999. Projects received after this 
date may not receive full consideration.
    Because the available funding is always far less than the demand, 
we ask that submissions include only candidate projects that, if 
funded, can be obligated in FY 2000. Any allocations in FY 2000 will be 
made on the assumption that the proposed projects are viable and the 
implementation schedules are realistic. Any unobligated balances 
remaining on September 15, 2000, will be withdrawn and used for funding 
future fiscal year requests.
    If there are any questions, please contact Mr. Larry Beidel (202-
366-1564) of our Office of Program Administration.

Attachment--Public Lands Highways Discretionary Program

Program Guidelines

Background

    The Public Lands Highways (PLH) Program was originally 
established in 1930 by the Amendment Relative to Construction of 
Roads through Public Lands and Federal Reservations. Funding was 
provided from the General Funds of the Treasury. The intent of the 
program is to improve access to and within the Federal lands of the 
nation. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1970 changed the funding 
source for the program from the General Funds to the Highway Trust 
Fund, effective in FY 1972. The program has been continued with each 
highway or transportation act since then, and the latest 
transportation act, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st 
Century (TEA-21, Public Law 105-178), has continued the program 
through FY 2003.

Statutory References:

23 U.S.C. 202, 203 & 204; TEA-21 Section 1101(a)(8)(B)

Funding

                                                  [In millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Fiscal Year              1998          1999          2000          2001          2002          2003
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Authorization...............        $66.6         $83.6         $83.6         $83.6         $83.6         $83.6
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[[Page 25535]]

    TEA-21 provides $196 million in FY 1998 and $246 million in each 
of fiscal years 1999 through 2003 for Public Lands Highways. In 
accordance with 23 U.S.C. 202(a), 34 percent of these funds are 
available for the PLH discretionary program. For FY 1998, this is 
$66.6 million, and for fiscal years 1999 through 2003, this is $83.6 
million per year.
    This available funding is reduced by FHWA administration 
expenses, which may be up to 1.5 percent. The amount of available 
funding is also impacted by any obligation limitation imposed on the 
Federal-aid highway program under the provisions of TEA-21 Section 
1102(f), Redistribution of Certain Authorized Funds. Under this 
provision, any funds authorized for the program for the fiscal year, 
which are not available for obligation due to the imposition of an 
obligation limitation, are not allocated for the PLH program, but 
are redistributed to the States by formula as STP funds. In 
accordance with 23 U.S.C. 204(i), these PLH funds are also available 
for administration expenses and transportation planning costs of 
Federal land management agencies.
    After these reductions, it is expected that approximately $70 
million will be available for candidate projects each of fiscal 
years 2000 through 2003. This available funding may also increase or 
decrease each year depending on the obligation limitation 
calculation and on the estimated receipts to the Highway Trust Fund.

Federal Share

    In accordance with 23 U.S.C. 204(b), the Federal share of the 
costs for any project eligible under this program is 100 percent.

Obligation Limitation

    The PLH discretionary funds are subject to obligation 
limitation; however, 100 percent obligation authority is provided 
with the allocation of funds for the selected projects. The 
obligation limitation reduces the available funding for the program 
under the provisions of TEA-21 Section 1102(f) discussed above.

Eligibility

    Under the provisions of 23 U.S.C. 202(b), the funds shall be 
allocated ``among those States having unappropriated or unreserved 
public lands, nontaxable Indian lands or other Federal reservations, 
on the basis of need in such States.'' Therefore, all States are 
eligible to apply for PLH discretionary funding.
    In accordance with 23 U.S.C. 204(b), the PLH funds are available 
for any kind of transportation project eligible for assistance under 
Title 23, United States Code, that is within, adjacent to, or 
provides access to the areas served by the public lands highway. A 
``public lands highway'' means a forest road under the jurisdiction 
of and maintained by a public authority and open to public travel or 
any highway through unappropriated or unreserved public lands, 
nontaxable Indian lands, or other Federal reservations under the 
jurisdiction of and maintained by a public authority and open to 
public travel. Federal reservations are considered to include lands 
owned by the Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, 
Department of Defense and other Federal agencies.
    The PLH funds are available for transportation planning, 
research, engineering, and construction of the highways, roads, and 
parkways, or of transit facilities within the Federal public lands. 
Under 23 U.S.C. 204(h), eligible projects under the PLH program may 
also include the following:
    1. Transportation planning for tourism and recreational travel, 
including the National Forest Scenic Byways Program, Bureau of Land 
Management Back Country Byways Program, National Trail System 
Program, and other similar Federal programs that benefit 
recreational development.
    2. Adjacent vehicular parking areas.
    3. Interpretive signage.
    4. Acquisition of necessary scenic easements and scenic or 
historic sites.
    5. Provision for pedestrians and bicycles.
    6. Construction and reconstruction of roadside rest areas, 
including sanitary and water facilities.
    7. Other appropriate public road facilities such as visitor 
centers.
    8. A project to build a replacement of the federally owned 
bridge over the Hoover Dam in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area 
between Nevada and Arizona.
    In addition, 23 U.S.C. 134(d)(3), as amended by TEA-21 Section 
1203, provides that up to ``1 percent of the funds allocated under 
23 U.S.C. 202 may be used to carry out the transportation planning 
process for the Lake Tahoe region,'' and that highway projects 
included in these transportation plans ``may be funded using funds 
allocated under 23 U.S.C. 202.'' Applications for these activities, 
therefore, could also be submitted requesting PLH discretionary 
funding.

Selection Criteria

    The following criteria are used to evaluate the submitted 
candidates for selection.
    The only statutory criterion is found in 23 U.S.C. 202(b): ``The 
Secretary shall give preference to those projects which are 
significantly impacted by Federal land and resource management 
activities which are proposed by a State which contains at least 3 
percent of the total public lands in the Nation.'' The following 
eleven States have at least 3 percent of the nation's Federal public 
lands: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, 
Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming.
    FHWA has not established regulatory criteria for selection of 
PLH discretionary projects; however, in its annual solicitation, 
FHWA notes that the following criteria are also considered in the 
evaluation of candidates for this program:
     Equitable distribution of funding among the States--In 
applying this criterion, the PLH discretionary funding distributed 
over the past 20 years is considered and two factors are used to 
determine a State's fair share of this distribution: (1) the State's 
share of the Nation's Federal public lands and (2) the percentage of 
an individual State's area that is comprised of Federal public 
lands. Preference is given to those States that are ``behind'' in 
their fair share of the funding.
     Leveraging of private or other public funding--Because 
the annual requests for funding far exceed the available PLH 
discretionary funds, commitment of other funding sources to 
complement the requested PLH discretionary funding is an important 
factor.
     Expeditious completion of project--Preference is also 
given to requests that will expedite the completion of a viable 
project over requests for initial funding of a project that could 
require a long-term commitment of future PLH funding. For large-
scale projects consideration is given to the State's total funding 
plan to expedite the completion of the project.
     Amount of PLH funding--The requested amount of funding 
is another consideration. For States that have a relatively small 
amount of Federal public lands, moderately sized (<$500,000) project 
requests are given more favorable consideration.
     State priorities--For States that submit more than one 
project, consideration is given to the individual State's priorities 
if specified.
     National geographic distribution of the funding within 
the PLH program--Although preference is to be given to the States 
with at least 3 percent of the Nation's public lands, consideration 
is also given to providing funding to States in the eastern part of 
the country to provide some geographic balance for the program.
    Because the concept of equity was important in the development 
of TEA-21, project selection will also consider national geographic 
distribution among all of the discretionary programs as well as 
congressional direction or guidance provided on specific projects or 
programs.

Solicitation Procedure

    Each year, usually around March, a memorandum is sent from the 
FHWA Headquarters Office of Program Administration to the FHWA 
division offices requesting the submission of candidate projects for 
the following fiscal year's funding. This solicitation is also 
published in the Federal Register. The FHWA division offices provide 
this solicitation request to the State transportation departments, 
who are the only agencies that can submit candidates under the 
provisions of 23 U.S.C. 202(b). The State transportation departments 
coordinate with local and Federal agencies within their respective 
States in order to develop viable candidate projects. The State 
transportation departments submit the candidate applications to the 
FHWA division offices, who send them in to the Office of Program 
Administration. Candidate projects are due in FHWA Headquarters 
usually around the first of July.
    The specific timetable for the solicitation process for any 
particular fiscal year is provided in the solicitation memorandum. 
The most recent solicitation is provided in these Guidelines for 
reference.
    The candidate project applications are reviewed and evaluated by 
the Office of Program Administration and an allocation plan is 
prepared for presentation of the candidate projects to the Office of 
the Federal Highway Administrator, where the final selection of 
projects for funding is made. The announcement of the selected 
projects and the allocation of funds is usually accomplished by the 
middle of November.

[[Page 25536]]

Submission Requirements

    Only State transportation departments may submit applications 
for funding under this program. Although there is not a prescribed 
format for a project submission, the following information must be 
included to properly evaluate the candidate projects. With the 
exception of the project area map, all of the following must be 
included to consider the application complete. Those applications 
that do not include these items are considered incomplete and 
returned.
    1. State in which the project is located.
    2. County in which the project is located.
    3. U.S. Congressional District No.(s) in which the project is 
located.
    4. U.S. Congressional District Member's Name(s).
    5. Project Location--Describe the specific location of the 
project, including route number and mileposts, if applicable.
    6. Public Lands Category--Specify what Federal public lands are 
being served by the project and whether the project is within, 
adjacent to, or provides access to the public lands.
    7. Proposed Work--Describe the project work to be completed 
under this particular request, and whether this is a complete 
project or part of a larger project.
    8. Project Purpose--The States' submission should show how the 
proposed project and/or the highway route of which it is a part meet 
the Federal land and resource management needs in the State. This 
should include status and adequacy of the existing route with regard 
to route continuity, capacity and safety and the benefits 
anticipated from completion of the proposed project.
    9. Planning and Coordination--For the proposed project, describe 
the coordination with and input from the various Federal land 
management, State, and metropolitan planning agencies involved. 
Section 204(a) of Title 23, United States Code, as amended, requires 
all regionally significant Federal lands highways program projects 
to be developed in cooperation with States and metropolitan planning 
organizations, and included in appropriate Federal lands highways 
program, State, and metropolitan plans and transportation 
improvement programs.
    10. Current and Future Traffic--For highway projects provide the 
current and design year average daily traffic. For other facilities, 
such as visitor centers, it may be desirable to describe the number 
of visitors accommodated by the facility.
    11. Project Administration--Indicate whether the Federal funds 
for this project will be administered by the State transportation 
agency or a Federal Lands Highway Division (FLHD) of FHWA. If the 
FLHD or other Federal Agencies are involved, the type of 
involvement, whether it is preliminary engineering or contract 
administration, or other, should be specified. Also, the FLHD is 
available to assist with Federal Agency coordination and should 
provide any data and information requested.
    12. Amount of Federal PLH Discretionary Funds Requested--
Indicate the amount of Federal PLH funds being requested for that 
fiscal year. Candidates should only be submitted from projects that 
are ready to advance in that fiscal year. If a State is willing to 
accept partial funding of the request, that should also be 
indicated. Sometimes partial funding of requests is utilized to 
provide funding to more projects, since the requests far exceed the 
funding available.
    13. Commitment of Other Funds--Indicate the amounts and sources 
of any private or other public funding being provided as part of 
this project. Only indicate those amounts of funding that are firm 
and documented commitments. The submission must include written 
confirmation of these commitments from the entity controlling the 
committed funds.
    14. Previous PLH Discretionary Funding--Indicate the amount and 
fiscal year of any previous PLH discretionary funds received for 
this project or route.
    15. Future Funding Needs--Indicate the estimated future funding 
needs for the project, including anticipated requests for additional 
PLH discretionary funding, the items of work to be completed and 
projected scheduling.
    16. Project Area Map--It is suggested that a readable map, 
clearly showing the proposed project and its relationship to the 
overall development of a highway route, as well as its relationship 
to the Federal public lands, be included. The map should also show 
any previously completed work on this highway route, if any, plus 
additional work being planned beyond the proposed project.
    17. Talking Points Briefing--A one page talking points paper 
covering basic project information is also needed for use by the 
Office of the Secretary for the congressional notification process 
should a project be selected for funding. Each State's request for 
discretionary funds must include a talking points paper. A sample 
paper is included in these Guidelines.

State Transportation Agency Responsibilities

    1. Coordinate with State, local, and Federal agencies within the 
State to develop viable candidate projects.
    2. Ensure that the applications for candidate projects meet the 
submission requirements outlined above.
    3. Establish priorities for their candidate projects if desired.
    4. Submit the applications to the local FHWA division office on 
time so that the submission deadline can be met.

FHWA Division Office Responsibilities

    1. Provide the solicitation memorandum and this program 
information to the State transportation agency.
    2. Request candidate projects be submitted by the State to the 
FHWA division office to meet the submission deadline established in 
the solicitation.
    3. Review all candidate applications submitted by the State 
prior to sending them to FHWA Headquarters to ensure that they are 
complete and meet the submission requirements.
    4. Submit the candidate applications to FHWA Headquarters by the 
established submission deadline.

FHWA Headquarters Program Office Responsibilities

    1. Solicit candidates from the States through annual 
solicitation memorandum.
    2. Review candidate project submissions and compile program and 
project information for preparation of allocation plan.
    3. Submit allocation plan to the Office of the Federal Highway 
Administrator for use in making final project selections.
    4. Allocate funds for the selected projects.

FHWA Headquarters Program Office Contact

Larry Beidel, Highway Engineer, Office of Program Administration, 
Phone: (202) 366-1564, Fax: (202) 366-3988, E-mail: 
[email protected]

Sample Talking Points Briefing for Secretary

    Note: These talking points will be used by the Office of the 
Secretary in making congressional notification contacts. Since some 
of the recipients of the calls may not be closely familiar with the 
highway program, layman's language should be used to the extent 
possible. Information contained in the talking points may be used by 
a member of Congress in issuing a press release announcing the 
discretionary allocation.

Public Lands Highways (PLH) Discretionary Funds

Grantee: 
Project: 

    This project provides for reconstructing __.__ miles of US 1 in 
____________ County extending from State Route 2 intersection in 
Hometown to the County Road 3 in the vicinity of Smallville. 
Widening 2 feet on either side with improvements on horizontal 
alignment and installation of 1000 feet of guard rail are included 
in the project.

FHWA FUNDS: $xx,xxx,xxx. 

    Specify other source of funds (for ex: State, local, Forest 
highways, etc, if any, to supplement Federal funds.
     This project will improve access to the Navajo Indian 
Reservation and improve the local economy.
     This project is part of the second phase of a 5-year 
program to reconstruct a 30-mile section of Forest Road 11 (State 
Route 201) between Town A and Town B.
     The project will be advertised for construction in 
 and is scheduled for completion in .

[FR Doc. 99-11924 Filed 5-11-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-P