FEDERAL-AID POLICY GUIDE
December 9, 1991, Transmittal 1
23 CFR 633B
OPI: HEP-12
Selected Sections of the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965, as Amended.
Section 201
(a) In order to provide a highway system which, in conjunction with the Interstate System and other Federal-aid highways in the Appalachian region, will open up an area or areas with a developmental potential where commerce and communication have been inhibited by lack of adequate access, the Secretary of Transportation (hereinafter in this section referred to as the "Secretary") is authorized to assist in the con struction of an Appalachian development highway system and local access roads serving the Appalachian region. The provisions of section 106(a) and 118 of title 23, United States Code, relating to the obligation, period of availability, and expenditure of Federal-aid highway funds, shall apply to the development highway system and the local access roads, and all other provisions of such title 23 that are applicable to the construction and maintenance of Federal-aid primary and secondary highways and which the Secretary determines are not inconsistent with this Act shall apply, respectively, to such system and roads. Construction on the development highway system shall not exceed two thousand seven hundred miles. Construction of local access roads shall not exceed one thousand four hundred miles that will serve specific recreational, residential, educational, commercial, industrial, or other like facilities or will facilitate a school consolidation program.
(b) The Commission shall transmit to the Secretary its designations of:
(1) The general corridor location and termini of the development highways.
(2)Local access roads to be constructed,
(3) Priorities for the construction of segments of the development highways, and
(4) Other criteria for the program authorized by this section.
Before any State member participates in or votes on such designations, he shall have obtained the recommendations of the State highway department of the State which he represents.
(c) In no event shall the Secretary assist in any construction (including right-of-way acquisition) which would require for its completion the expenditure of Federal funds (other than funds available under title 23, United States Code) in excess of the appropriations authorization in subsection (g). On its completion each development highway not already on the Federal-aid primary system shall be added to such system and each development highway and local access road shall be required to be maintained by the State as provided for Federal-aid highways in title 23, United States Code.
(d) In the construction of highways and roads authorized under this section, the States may give special preference to the use of materials and products indigenous to the Appalachian region.
(e) For the purposes of research and development in the use of coal and coal products in highway construction and maintenance, the Secretary is authorized to require each participating State, to the maximum extent possible, to use coal derivatives in the construction of not to exceed 10 per centum of the roads authorized under this Act.
(f) Federal assistance to any construction project under this section shall not exceed 80 per centum of the costs of such project.
(h) (1) When a participating State proceeds to construct a segment of a development highway without the aid of Federal funds, in accordance with all procedures and requirements applicable to the construction of segments of Appalachian development highways with such funds, except insofar as such procedures and requirements limit a State to the construction of projects for which Federal funds have previously been appropriated, the Secretary, upon application by the State and with the approval of the Commission, is authorized to pay to the State the Federal share not to exceed 70 per centum of the costs of the construction of such segment, from any sums appropriated and allocated to such State to carry out this section.
(2) This subsection shall not be construed as a commitment or obligation on the part of the United States to provide funds for segments of development highways constructed under this subsection, and shall not in crease the limitation on construction in subsec tion (c).
Section 221
No State and no political subdivision of such State shall be eligible to receive benefits under this Act unless the aggregate expenditures of State funds, exclusive of expendi tures for participation in the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, and exclusive of local funds and Federal funds, for the benefit of the area within the State located in the region are maintained at a level which does not fall below the average level of such expenditures for its last two full fiscal years preceding the date of enact ment of this Act. In computing the average level of expen diture for its last two fiscal years, a State's past expen diture for participation in the National System of Inter state and Defense Highways and expenditures of local funds and Federal funds shall not be included. The Commission shall recommend to the President or such Federal officer or officers as the President may designate, a lesser require ment when it finds that a substantial population decrease in that portion of a State which lies within the region would not justify a State expenditure equal to the average level of the last two years or when it finds that a State's aver age level of expenditure, within an individual program, has been disproportionate to the present need for that portion of the State which lies within the region.
Section 223
No program or project authorized under any section of this title shall be implemented until:
(1) Applications and plans relating to the program or project have been determined by the responsible Federal official to be compatible with the provisions and objectives of Federal laws which he administers that are not inconsistent with this Act, and
(2) The Commission has approved such program or project and has determined that it meets the applicable criteria under Section 224 and will contribute to the development of the region, which determination shall be controlling.
Section 303
An application for a grant or for any other assistance for a program or project under this Act shall be made through the State member of the Commission representing such applicant, and such State member shall evaluate the application for approval. Only applications for programs and projects which are approved by a State member as meeting the requirements for assistance under the Act shall be approved for assistance. No project shall be approved by the Commission unless the Commission is satisfied that the project will be properly administered, operated, and main tained.
Section 402
All laborers and mechanics employed by contractors or sub contractors in the construction, alteration, or repair, including painting and decorating, of projects, buildings, and works which are financially assisted through the Federal funds authorized under this act, shall be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on similar construction in the locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor inaccordance with the Davis-Bacon Act, as amended (40 U.S.C., 276a-276a-5). The Secretary of Labor shall have with respect to such labor standards, the authority and functions set forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (15 F.R. 3176, 64 Stat. 1267, 5 U.S.C.133-133z-15), and section 2 of the Act of June 13,1934, as amended (48 Stat. 948, as amended; 40 U.S.C. 276(c)).
