To
provide funds to the States to develop and maintain recreational
trails and trail-related facilities for both nonmotorized and motorized
recreational trail uses.
TYPES
OF ASSISTANCE:
Formula Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition
Project Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES
AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
Funds
from this program may be used for: (1) Maintenance and restoration
of existing trails; (2)development and rehabilitation of trailside
and trailhead facilities and trail linkages; (3) purchase and lease
of trail construction and maintenance equipment; (4) construction
of new trails (with restrictions for new trails on Federal lands);
(5) acquisition of easements or property for trails; (6) State administrative
costs related to this program (limited to 7 percent of a State's
funds); and (7) operation of educational programs to promote safety
and environmental protection related to trails (limited to 5 percent
of a State's funds). Funds may not be used for: property condemnation;
constructing new trails for motorized use on National Forest or
Bureau of Land Management lands unless the project is consistent
with resource management plans; or facilitating motorized access
on otherwise nonmotorized trails.
ELIGIBILITY
REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant
Eligibility: The Governor of each State must
designate the State agency or agencies responsible for administering
this program. The State must have a State recreational trail advisory
committee that represents both motorized and nonmotorized recreational
trail users, which shall meet not less than once per fiscal year.
The State agency may accept project proposals from private organizations,
or from municipal, county, State, or Federal government entities,
and other government entities. The projects must satisfy one or
more of the permissible uses.
Beneficiary
Eligibility: The State agency designated by
the Governor.
Credentials/Documentation:
Allowable costs will be determined in accordance with applicable
cost principles listed in 49 CFR Part 18.22 for the kind of organization
receiving the grant or subgrant.
Pre-application
Coordination: Trail and trail-related projects
must be planned and developed under the laws, policies, and administrative
procedures within each State, and be identified in, or further a
specific goal of, a recreational trail plan, or a statewide comprehensive
outdoor recreation plan required by the Land and Water Conservation
Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l 4 et seq.), that is in effect.
This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application
Procedure: The States must submit project
proposals to the FHWA division office located in each State for
approval. The State may submit individual projects or consolidate
similar projects for the purposes of program approval. The FHWA
approval constitutes a commitment to pay the Federal share of
the project's cost. The State's projects also must be included
in State transportation improvement programs and applicable metropolitan
transportation improvement programs.
Award
Procedure: The State agency or agencies designated
by the Governors decide which projects will be developed within
funding levels, but the FHWA division office located in each State
makes the final decision on the eligibility of specific projects
for funding.
Deadlines:
There are no Federal deadlines for funding requests. An individual
State may establish deadlines for projects within that State.
Range
of Approval/Disapproval Time: From 5 days
to 5 months.
Appeals:
None.
Renewals:
None.
ASSISTANCE
CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula
and Matching Requirements: Funds are distributed
to the States by statutory formula: 50 percent of the funds are
apportioned equally among all States, and 50 percent are apportioned
in proportion to the estimated amount of nonhighway recreational
fuel use in each State. In general, the maximum Federal share for
each project from Recreational Trails Program funds is 80 percent.
A Federal agency project sponsor may provide additional Federal
funds, provided the total Federal share does not exceed 95 percent.
The nonfederal match must come from project sponsors or other fund
sources. Funds from any other Federal program may be used for the
nonFederal match if the project also is eligible under the other
program. States also may allow a programmatic match: if some project
sponsors in a State provide more match funds than required, other
sponsors in the State may provide less. Some in-kind materials and
services may be credited toward the project match.
Length
and Time Phasing of Assistance: Funds generally
become available at the beginning of the fiscal year for which
they are authorized, and must be obligated within 3 years after
the close of that fiscal year.
POST
ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports:
Generally, the FHWA division office in each State monitors and reviews
State projects and programs.
Audits:
In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A- 133 (Revised,
June 24, 1997), "Audits of State, Local Governments, and Nonprofit
Organizations", nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance
of $300,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a
program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities
that expend less than $300,000 in a year in Federal awards are
exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as
noted in Circular No. A-133.
Records:
Project records and documents must be retained by the State for
3 years following the final submission for Federal payment in
accordance with 49 CFR 18.41.
FINANCIAL
INFORMATION:
Account
Identification: 69-8083-0-7-401.
Obligations:
(Grants) Obligations are shown within Federal-aid Highway program
totals.
Range
and Average of Financial Assistance: Apportionments
to the States are based on statutory formula. All 50 States and
the District of Columbia are eligible to receive apportionments.
For fiscal year 2001, funds ranged from $482,843 to $3,228,579.
Average: $965,686. For fiscal year 2002, funds ranged from $482,843
to $2,958,787. Average: $965,686. For fiscal year 2003, funds
ranged from $482,843 to approximately $3,300,000.
States selected projects located on Federal, State, local, and private
lands for all kinds of recreational trail uses including projects
such as: grooming snowmobile trails, constructing nature trails
on school properties, constructing urban multiple use trails, repairing
motorized and nonmotorized trails in National Forests and Bureau
of Land Management lands, providing bridges on rail-trails, developing
trailside and trailhead facilities, etc. Many projects enhanced
trail use for people with disabilities.
REGULATIONS,
GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:
23 CFR, Highways and 49 CFR, Transportation. There are no regulations
specifically for this program. Interim program guidance was completed
on April 1, 1999; it is current as of August 2001.
INFORMATION
CONTACTS:
Regional
or Local Office: State-level offices of the
Federal Highway Administration (as listed in Appendix IV of the
Catalog) or the State agency designated by the Governor to administer
this program.
Headquarters
Office: Christopher B. Douwes, Office of Planning
and Environment (HEPH-30), Federal Highway Administration, 400
Seventh Street SW., Room 3301, Washington DC 20590. Telephone:
202-366-5013. Fax: 202-366-3409. Email: christopher.douwes@fhwa.dot.gov.
Web
Site Address: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rectrail.htm
EXAMPLES
OF FUNDED PROJECTS:
Trail projects to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related
facilities for both nonmotorized and motorized recreational trail
uses. Examples include maintenance and construction of trails for
hiking, bicycling, in-line skating, equestrian use, cross-country
skiing, snowmobiling, off-road motorcycling, all-terrain vehicle
riding, four-wheel driving, or using other off-road motorized vehicles;
development and rehabilitation of trailside and trailhead facilities;
operation of educational projects and programs to promote safety
and environmental protection related to recreational trails; State
administrative costs related to this program.
CRITERIA
FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:
To be eligible, projects must be selected on the basis of State
priorities within the limit of the funds apportioned to each State.
