Minnesota – Federal Lands Access Program

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Call for Projects

July 16, 2013

Eastern Federal Lands approach to administering the Call for Projects Phase of the Access Program.

As a result of the recent MAP-21 legislation which established the Federal Aid Access Program (Access Program) 

and with the receipt of initial program implementation guidance from Federal Lands Highway Headquarters 

staff (FHWA, HQ), and EFL’s understanding of the MAP-21 legislation, the EFL staff has determined that a 

consistent approach to work processes and procedures be established at this time. 

The internal FHWA-EFL staff resources will consist of, but not be limited to, EFLHD, HQ FLH, and the Federal Aid 

Division Office (DO) for each of the states within the EFLHD geographic area of responsibility. The external staff 

partners will come from the various Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMAs), State DOTs (SDOTs), local 

public agencies and/or local government agencies (LPAs and/or LGAs), and possibly the metropolitan planning 

organizations (MPOs) within each of our states. The FLMA partners in each state will consist of the five 

legislatively defined principal partner agencies, i.e., the US Forest Service (FS), the Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM), the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE), the National Park Service (NPS), and the US Fish and Wildlife

Service (FWS) who own and maintain at least one federal land parcel in that state. The FLMA partners will also 

include, as appropriate, any other FLMA who owns and maintains a federal land parcel in that state where 

access to that parcel is provided via any travel mode deemed eligible for the receipt of funds under the Access

Program requirements.

Once the Programming Decisions Committee (PDC) is formed and validated by the PDC member agencies, a 

“Call for Projects” will be advertised for each state administered by EFL. The advertisement will be posted on 

the EFL website with direct electronic notification to Federal Land Management Agencies. 

Reflective of the initial Access Program implementation guidance issued by FLH HQ, the Call for Projects 

notification will follow a written process for screening and rating the proposed projects. EFL has developed this 

process that is contained in separate documents. A brief outline of the process follows:

1. EFL has established a public website for the Access Program located at: 

http://www.efl.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/federal-lands-access.aspx

2. The PDC will establish the Step 2 rating criteria and point allotments for the application for their 

respective state. 

3. EFL will coordinate with each state DOT to determine the Call for Projects schedule and post this 

schedule on the EFL website, and send notice to the FLMAs.

4. EFL will coordinate with the FLMAs, PDC members, and other concerned stakeholders prior to the Call 

for Projects.

5. EFL will announce the Call for Projects and provide the project proposal application on the EFL Access 

page website or in response to requests from partner agencies.

6. Only State, local or tribal entities may submit projects sponsored by the appropriate FLMAs to the PDC.
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7. A minimum of 30 calendar days will be provided for submittal of applications to EFL.

8. State and local sponsors should consider projects that are supported or endorsed by the appropriate 

FLMA(s). If more than one priority project is identified by an FLMA, that Federal agency should 

delegate establishment of priorities to their headquarters, regional or state office as appropriate.

9. EFL will provide the initial screening of the proposed projects using the process contained in Step 1 of 

Appendix A of this document.

10. The PDC will convene a meeting led by EFL and determine the project rating scores as contained in Step 

2 of Appendix A of this document.

11. If a member of the PDC has a possible conflict of interest or impartiality on any of the proposed 

projects, the member should recuse him or herself from the rating and selection process and provide 

an alternate member from their agency to temporarily replace them.

12. All official PDC decisions shall be unanimous.
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Appendix A - Access Program Screening Process

Project Screening and Rating Criteria for General Projects

Instructions: If the answer is yes to criteria below, then allocate points. Points are cumulative. 

**First two “Base” criteria shall have points, otherwise project does not move forward to Step 2 (Rating Criteria).

STEP 1: INITIAL SCREENING (max 200 points) Point allocation

Economic/Visitation Prioritization

Do FLMA, StateDOT, and Facility Owner agree that the project is an 

economic/visitation generator?

45

Do FLMA, StateDOT, and Facility Owner agree that the project is a priority? 45

Is Project on current State Transportation Improvement Plan? 10

Base**

Submitted by facility owner** 40

Project supported by FLMA** 40

20% Match No points

Leveraging additional funding 

more than the required 20% 

match

20% match + (1-10)% of project cost 5

20% match + (11-20)% of project cost 10

20% match + (21)% of project cost 20

STEP 2: PROJECT RATING (max 100 points)

General Projects Point allocation

Safety (30 points)

Improves identified hazardous conditions in County or Regional safety 

plan/Engineering Assessment 15

Project includes pavement reconstruction with safety enhancements such as 

realignment, grade corrections, widening shoulders, pavement marking, etc. 10

Improves safety for wide range of users 5

Accessibility and Mobility (20 points)

Identified route connects to a FLMA inventory route 5

Identified need on FLMA plan, State or County Comprehensive Plan 5

Improves or provides an ADA accessible route to the FLMA Site 3

Fills missing link in network, removes travel restriction, bottleneck 3

Improves mode choice, explores and enhances transit systems (i.e. operation 

and maintenance of transit facilities)

4

Preservation (20 points)

Improves surface condition or deficient bridge rating 8

Enhances scenic and/or historic features 6

Reduces operating costs to user 6
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Economic Development (15 points)

Increases/improves access to FLMA unit/area 5

Provides Economic Benefit to the Local Community 10

Environmental Quality and Sustainability (15 points)

Avoids, minimizes or mitigates issues related environmental quality 10

Provides enhancements to the environment 5

TOTAL MAXIMUM POINTS (cumulative) = 300
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Appendix A - Access Program Screening Process

Project Screening and Rating Criteria for Studies and Assessments

Instructions: If the answer is yes to criteria below, then allocate points. Points are cumulative. 

**First two “Base” criteria shall have points, otherwise project does not move forward to Step 2 (Rating Criteria).

STEP 1: INITIAL SCREENING (max 200 points) Point allocation

Economic/Visitation Prioritization

Do FLMA, State DOT, and Facility Owner agree that the project is an 

economic/visitation generator? 

45

Do FLMA, State DOT, and Facility Owner agree that the project is a priority? 45

Is Project on current State Transportation Improvement Plan? 10

Base**

Submitted by facility owner** 40

Project supported by FLMA** 40

20% Match No points

Leveraging additional funding 

more than the required 20% 

match

20% match + (1-10)% of project cost 5

20% match + (11-20)% of project cost 10

20% match + (21)% of project cost 20

STEP 2: PROJECT RATING (max 100 points)

Studies and Assessments Point allocation

Safety 30 (30 points max)

Will address issues related to safety 10

Will consider safety for all users (pedestrians, bicycles, motor vehicles) 20

Accessibility and Mobility 30 (30 points max)

Will consider issues related to traffic congestion 10

Will explore mode choices

(promote bicycle/pedestrian/transit opportunities) 10

Will enhance transit systems 

(i.e. operation and maintenance of transit facilities) 5

Will address missing link/travel restriction/bottleneck in network 5

Economic Development 20 (20 points max)

Considers ways of attracting visitation 10
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Addresses more than one FLMA 5

Provides Economic Benefit to the Local Community 5

Environmental Quality and Sustainability 20 (20 points max)

Addresses water quality and/or air quality 5

Will consider purchase or easement of additional lands 5

Will consider fish passage and wildlife connectivity 5

Will consider use of alternative fuels 5

TOTAL MAXIMUM POINTS (cumulative) = 300