§ 203 TITLE 23—HIGHWAYS Page 142

1So in original. The comma probably should not appear.

for access as identified by the Secretary of Agriculture

through renewable resource and land use planning, and

the impact of such planning on existing transportation

facilities.’’

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–240, §1032(a)(2)–(4), redesignated subsec. (c) as (b), inserted ‘‘34 percent of’’ after

‘‘allocate’’, and substituted for period at end ‘‘which

are proposed by a State which contains at least 3 percent of the total public lands in the Nation. The Secretary shall allocate 66 percent of the remainder of the

authorization for public lands highways for each fiscal

year as is provided in section 134 of the Federal-Aid

Highway Act of 1987, and with respect to these allocations the Secretary shall give equal consideration to

projects that provide access to and within the National

Forest System, as identified by the Secretary of Agriculture through renewable resources and land use planning and the impact of such planning on existing transportation facilities.’’ Former subsec. (b) redesignated

(a).

Subsecs. (c) to (e). Pub. L. 102–240, §1032(a)(2), redesignated subsecs. (d) and (e) as (c) and (d), respectively.

Former subsec. (c) redesignated (b).

1983—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 97–424 substituted provisions relating to allocation of sums authorized to be

appropriated by the Secretary for provisions relating to

apportionment of sums authorized to be appropriated

by the Secretary.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 97–424 substituted provisions requiring allocation of sums on October 1 of each fiscal

year to be consistent with renewable resource and land

use planning for provisions requiring allocation of sums

to take into consideration existing transportation facilities, value of resources served, fire danger, and road

and trail construction difficulties.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 97–424 inserted provisions requiring allocation of sums on October 1 of each fiscal year,

and substituted provisions requiring preferences to be

given to projects impacted by Federal land and resource management for provisions requiring preferences to be given to projects located on a Federal-aid

system.

Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 97–424 added subsecs. (d) and

(e).

1976—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 94–280 substituted introductory ‘‘On October 1 of each fiscal year’’ for ‘‘On or before January 1 next preceding the commencement of

each fiscal year’’.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1991 AMENDMENT

Amendment by Pub. L. 102–240 effective Dec. 18, 1991,

and applicable to funds authorized to be appropriated

or made available after Sept. 30, 1991, and, with certain

exceptions, not applicable to funds appropriated or

made available on or before Sept. 30, 1991, see section

1100 of Pub. L. 102–240, set out as a note under section

104 of this title.

INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS

Section 1032(d) of Pub. L. 102–240 provided that: ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, funds allocated for Indian reservation roads may be used for the

purpose of funding road projects on roads of tribally

controlled postsecondary vocational institutions.’’

Section 1042 of Pub. L. 102–240 provided that:

‘‘(a) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a study on

the funding needs for Indian reservation roads taking

into account funding and other quality inequities between Indian reservation roads and other highway systems.

‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of

the enactment of this Act [Dec. 18, 1991], the Secretary

shall submit to Congress a report on the results of the

study conducted under this section, together with any

legislative and administrative recommendations of the

Secretary for correcting inequities identified under

such study.’’

STUDY AND REPORT ON METHOD OF ALLOCATING FUNDS

Section 1032(e) of Pub. L. 102–240 provided that: ‘‘The

Secretary shall undertake a study to determine if the

method for allocating funds authorized for Federal

lands highways is adequate to meet the relative transportation needs of the Federal lands served. The report

shall be submitted within 2 years of the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 18, 1991].’’

FOREST HIGHWAYS

Pub. L. 100–17, title I, §134, Apr. 2, 1987, 101 Stat. 173,

as amended by Pub. L. 100–202, §101(l) [title III, §348(a)],

Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1329–358, 1329–388, provided that:

‘‘Notwithstanding section 202(a) of title 23, United

States Code, the Secretary shall, after making the

transfer provided by section 204(g) of such title, as soon

as practicable after the date of the enactment of this

Act [Apr. 2, 1987] in fiscal year 1987 and on October 1 of

each of fiscal years 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991, allocate 66

percent of the remainder of the authorization for forest

highways provided for such fiscal year by this Act [see

Short Title of 1987 Amendment note set out under section 101 of this title] in the same percentage as the

amounts allocated for expenditure in each State and

the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from funds authorized for forest highways for the fiscal year ending June

30, 1958, adjusted (1) to eliminate the 0.003243547 percent

for the State of Iowa to the State by deed executed

May 26, 1964, and (2) to redistribute the percentage formerly apportioned to the State of Iowa to other participating States on a proportional basis. The remaining funds authorized to be appropriated for forest highways for such fiscal year shall be allocated pursuant to

section 202(a) of such title.’’

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 104, 157 of this

title.

§ 203. Availability of funds

Funds authorized for,1 forest development

roads and trails, public lands development roads

and trails, park road, parkways, Indian reservation roads, and public lands highways shall be

available for contract upon apportionment, or

on October 1 of the fiscal year for which authorized if no apportionment is required. Any

amount remaining unexpended for a period of

three years after the close of the fiscal year for

which authorized shall lapse. The Secretary of

the Department charged with the administration of such funds is granted authority to incur

obligations, approve projects, and enter into

contracts under such authorizations and his action in doing so shall be deemed a contractual

obligation of the United States for the payment

of the cost thereof and such funds shall be

deemed to have been expended when so obligated. Any funds heretofore or hereafter authorized for any fiscal year for,1 forest development

roads and trails, public lands development roads

and trails, park road, parkways, Indian roads

and public lands highways shall be deemed to

have been expended if a sum equal to the total

of the sums authorized for such fiscal year and

previous fiscal years since and including the fiscal year ending June 30, 1955, shall have been obligated. Any of such funds released by payment

of final voucher or modification of project authorizations shall be credited to the balance of

unobligated authorizations and be immediately

available for expenditure.

(Pub. L. 85–767, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 906; Pub. L.

86–657, §8(b), July 14, 1960, 74 Stat. 524; Pub. L.

87–866, §7, Oct. 23, 1962, 76 Stat. 1147; Pub. L.
Page 143 TITLE 23—HIGHWAYS § 204

1So in original. Probably should be ‘‘of funds’’.

94–280, title I, §117(b), May 5, 1976, 90 Stat. 437;

Pub. L. 97–424, title I, §126(f), Jan. 6, 1983, 96

Stat. 2116; Pub. L. 102–240, title I, §1032(f), Dec.

18, 1991, 105 Stat. 1975.)

AMENDMENTS

1991—Pub. L. 102–240 struck out ‘‘forest highways’’ before ‘‘, forest development roads’’ in two places.

1983—Pub. L. 97–424 substituted ‘‘park road’’ for

‘‘park roads and trails’’ wherever appearing.

1976—Pub. L. 94–280 substituted ‘‘or on October 1’’ for

‘‘or a date not earlier than one year preceding the beginning’’ in first sentence and ‘‘three years’’ for ‘‘two

years’’ in second sentence.

1962—Pub. L. 87–866 inserted ‘‘public lands development roads and trails,’’ before ‘‘park roads and trails’’

in two places.

1960—Pub. L. 86–657 substituted ‘‘Funds authorized’’

for ‘‘Funds now authorized’’ in first sentence.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1991 AMENDMENT

Amendment by Pub. L. 102–240 effective Dec. 18, 1991,

and applicable to funds authorized to be appropriated

or made available after Sept. 30, 1991, and, with certain

exceptions, not applicable to funds appropriated or

made available on or before Sept. 30, 1991, see section

1100 of Pub. L. 102–240, set out as a note under section

104 of this title.

§ 204. Federal Lands Highways Program

(a) Recognizing the need for all Federal roads

which are public roads to be treated under the

same uniform policies as roads which are on the

Federal-aid systems, there is established a coordinated Federal lands highways program which

shall consist of the public lands highways, park

roads, parkways, and Indian reservation roads as

defined in section 101 of this title. The Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of the

Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, shall

develop appropriate transportation planning

procedures and safety, bridge, and pavement

management systems for roads funded under the

Federal Lands Highway Program. Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, no public

lands highway project may be undertaken in any

State pursuant to this section unless the State

concurs in the selection and planning of the

project.

(b) Funds available for public lands highways

shall be used by the Secretary to pay for the

cost of planning, research, engineering and construction thereof. Funds available for park

roads, parkways, and Indian reservation roads

shall be used by the Secretary or the Secretary

of the Interior to pay for the cost of construction and improvement thereof. In connection

therewith, the Secretary and the Secretary of

the Interior, as appropriate, may enter into construction contracts and such other contracts

with a State or civil subdivision thereof or Indian tribe as deemed advisable. In the case of Indian reservation roads, Indian labor may be employed in such construction and improvement

under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. No ceiling on Federal employment shall be applicable

to construction or improvement of Indian reservation roads. Funds available for each class of

Federal lands highways shall be available for

any kind of transportation project eligible for

assistance under this title that is within or adjacent to or provides access to the areas served by

the particular class of Federal lands highways.

The Secretary of Interior may reserve funds

from the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ administrative funds associated with the Indian reservation roads program to finance the Indian technical centers authorized under section 326.

(c) Before approving as a project on an Indian

reservation road any project eligible for funds

apportioned under section 104 or section 144 of

this title in a State, the Secretary must determine that the obligation of funds for such

project is supplementary to and not in lieu of

the obligation, for projects on Indian reservation roads, of a fair and equitable share of funds

apportioned to such State under section 104 of

this title. Notwithstanding any other provision

of this title, Indian reservation roads under the

jurisdiction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of

the Department of the Interior shall be eligible

to expend not more than 15 percent funds 1 apportioned for Indian reservation roads from the

Highway Trust Fund for the purpose of road

sealing projects. The Bureau of Indian Affairs

shall continue to retain responsibility, including

annual funding request responsibility, for road

maintenance programs on Indian reservations.

(d) Cooperation of States, counties, or other

local subdivisions may be accepted in construction and improvement, and any funds received

from a State, county, or local subdivision shall

be credited to appropriations available for the

class of Federal lands highways to which such

funds were contributed.

(e) Construction of each project shall be performed by contract awarded by competitive bidding, unless the Secretary or the Secretary of

the Interior shall affirmatively find that, under

the circumstances relating to such project, some

other method is in the public interest. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of section

23 of the ‘‘Buy Indian’’ Act of June 25, 1910 (36

Stat. 891), and the provisions of section 7(b) of

the Indian Self-Determination and Education

Assistance Act (88 Stat. 2205) shall apply to all

funds administered by the Secretary of the Interior which are appropriated for the construction

and improvement of Indian reservation roads.

(f) All appropriations for the construction and

improvement of each class of Federal lands

highways shall be administered in conformity

with regulations and agreements jointly approved by the Secretary and the Secretary of

the appropriate Federal land managing agency.

(g) The Secretary shall transfer to the Secretary of Agriculture from appropriations for

forest highways such amounts as may be needed

to cover necessary administrative expenses of

the Forest Service in connection with forest

highways.

(h) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Funds available for

each class of Federal lands highways may be

available for 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.