Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division - U.S. Department of ...

Federal Lands Highway
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Federal Lands Highway Headquarters – Washington D.C.
3 Federal Lands Highway Division Offices
Eastern- Sterling, VA
Central- Lakewood, CO
Western- Vancouver, WA
Deliver Projects within Federal Lands
Such as: National Park Service, US Forest Service, US Fish and
Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Army Corps of
Engineers, Tribal Lands, Department of Defense, and other federally
owned properties

Federal Lands Highway Division Offices

Federal Lands Highway
Office of Federal Lands Highway Mission Areas
• Program Administration (similar to FHWA Federal Aid)
• Project Delivery (similar to a State DOT)
• Planning
• Engineering Design
• Environmental Compliance & Permitting
• Advertisement and Award
• Construction Administration
• Training
• Technology Innovation and Deployment

Federal Lands Highway -
National Level Funding

Federal Lands Access Program
Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) Framework
(50 States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico)
• Modeled after Forest Highway Program
• Goal: Improve state and local transportation facilities that provide access to, are
adjacent to, or are located within Federal lands. Facility title or maintenance
responsibility is vested with State, County, Local Government or Tribe.
• Emphasis: High-use recreation facilities and economic generators
• Requires local match (80-20 with sliding scale)
• Programming decisions made by Program Decisions Committee (PDC) in each
State

Federal Lands Access Program
Eligibility – Funds made available under the Access Program shall be used to
pay the cost of:
(A) transportation planning, research, engineering, preventive maintenance,
rehabilitation, restoration, construction, and reconstruction of Federal Lands that
Access Transportation Facilities located on or adjacent to, or that provide
access to, Federal lands, and —
(i) adjacent vehicular parking areas; (adjacent parking areas can be under
Federal maintenance responsibility)
(ii) acquisition of necessary scenic easements and scenic or historic
sites;
(iii) provisions for pedestrians and bicycles;

Federal Lands Access Program
Eligibility - continued
(iv) environmental mitigation in or adjacent to Federal land to improve
public safety and reduce vehicle-caused wildlife mortality while
maintaining habitat connectivity;
(v) construction and reconstruction of roadside rest areas, including
sanitary and water facilities;
(B) operation and maintenance of transit facilities; and
(C) any transportation project eligible for assistance under Title 23 that is within or
adjacent to, or that provides access to, Federal land.

Federal Lands Access Program
(FLAP)
Programming Decisions Committee (PDC)
The PDC, responsible for the Access Program programming decisions in each State,
must be comprised of a representative of:
• The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) – Eastern Federal Lands (EFL)
• The State Department of Transportation
• An appropriate political subdivision of the State (i.e. Association of Counties)
The PDC in each State develops Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and program
goals for their State. (These documents can be viewed on the EFL website)

Federal Lands Access Program
Local Match Requirement
• 80%-20% with sliding scale- Statute (23 USC 120)
• Federal Lands Transportation Program (FLTP) and Tribal Transportation Program
(TTP) funds may be used as local match
• Other Federal agency funds (non-title 23 or 49) may be used as local match
• Hard matches are in the form of cash; “Soft-matches" or “in-kind matches” are
permitted if approved by the FLAP PDC
(i.e. labor, right-of-way/easements, materials, equipment rental valued at fair market price)
• Match Funds must be generated and applied after a project agreement is signed
• Access funds may NOT be used to match other Federal Aid programs

Federal Lands Access Program
Building a Program
• PDC (through Federal Lands Division Office) issues “Call for Projects” with call
timeframes that vary by each State.
• PDC may issue another “Call for Projects” if needed to create a multi-year program.
• Multi-year program contingent on available funding and authorizing legislation.
• PDC will score and rank project applications based on criteria listed in the State’s
Call for Projects SOP.
• PDC shall cooperate with each Federal Land Management Agency (FLMA) in each
State before any joint PDC discussion prior to making programming decisions
• Selected projects will be programmed in the EFL Access Transportation
Improvement Plan (TIP) and included in the State Transportation Improvement Plan
(STIP).

Federal Lands Access Program
Evaluation Criteria for Selecting Projects
(See State’s Call for Projects SOP on website for point allocations)
• Endorsed by pertinent Federal agency as a high priority?
• High-use Federal facility/Federal economic generator?
• Consistent with State’s PDC goals?
• Project sponsor can provide 20% match?
• Realistic scope, schedule, and budget?
Additional Factors:
♦ Safety
♦ Accessibility & Mobility
♦ Preservation
♦ Environmental Quality & Sustainability

Federal Lands Access Program
Agreements
Statewide Program Agreements
• Between PDC members
• Template available
• Serves as a standard operating procedure for the State
Project Agreements
• Template available
• Needed prior to initiating project development activities
• Needed prior to the obligation of funds

Federal Lands Access Program
Project Agreement:
• Scope, Schedule, and Budget
• Roles and responsibilities
• Maintenance commitment by the Cooperator/Sponsor
• Document local match requirement and strategy for administering and
tracking
• Coordination with pertinent Federal Land Management Agencies
• Designates Stewardship & Oversight responsibility
• Other conditions as determined by the PDC
• Important: Project Agreement does NOT obligate funds.

Federal Lands Access Program
Tips for preparing a good application:
• Review PDC documentation materials for your state (i.e. state goals and
scoring allocation categories)
• The facility owner must be the applicant
• Be succinct and concise
• Answer the questions to the best of your ability
• Use the best data available, include any assumptions
• Photos and quality maps can help tell the story- Remember the 10 page
supplemental information page limit
• Coordinate with pertinent Federal Land Management Agencies
• Use your partners
• Be practical, “right size” the scope, schedule and budget

Eastern Federal Lands Division Contacts
EFLHD, David Payne (571) 434-1543 David.Payne@dot.gov
EFLHD, Lewis Grimm (703) 404-6289 Lewis.Grimm@dot.gov
EFLHD, Kurt Dowden (571) 434-1598 Kurt.Dowden@dot.gov
General Guidance:
www.fhwa.dot.gov/map21/guidance/guideflap.cfm
Eastern Federal Lands Access Program Website:
www.efl.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/federal-lands-access.aspx
Interactive Map of USA Federal Lands