Federal Lands Access Program

 

The goal of the Federal Lands Access Program is to improve transportation facilities that provide access to, are adjacent to, or are located within Federal lands. The Access Program supplements State and local resources for public roads, transit systems, and other transportation facilities, with an emphasis on high-use recreation sites and economic generators. The program is designed to provide flexibility for a wide range of transportation projects in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. A Programming Decisions Committee (PDC) within each State will make programming decisions and should develop a multi-year program of projects.

Active 20.224 Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation A - Formula Grants; B - Project Grants Fiscal Year 2016 FHWA obligated approximately $230 Million for FLAP projects.
Fiscal Year 2017 FHWA obligated approximately $230 Million for FLAP projects.
Fiscal Year 2018 FHWA will obligate approximately $240 Million for FLAP projects.
Fiscal Year 2023 The State Route 88 Apache Trail project in Arizona will provide a hardened driving surface and address sight distance issues along 11.2 miles of the historic route. The project will benefit the community by enhancing recreation access and safety. Furthermore, these improvements will dramatically reduce the maintenance needs, freeing up these limited resources to serve critical maintenance needs in other areas. During project design the site experienced a flood event that damaged several culverts that were not a part of the original project. The FHWA-CFLHD project team quickly identified an opportunity to reduce administrative costs and improve economies of scale, and with assistance from ADOT and the FHWA-AZ Division Office, secured emergency relief funds to combine repair work with the Access Program project for an overall benefit to the taxpayer. The project involves the Emergency Relief funded drainage repairs of pipe culverts and reinforced concrete box culverts; and the Access Program funded slope scaling, excavation, chip seal, asphalt paving, erosion control, and revegetation. Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST), Public Law 114-94, 23 U.S.C. 204
Section 1119 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), Public Law 112-141, 23 U.S.C. 204
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Public Law 117-58, 23 U.S.C. 204 Only the owner of the affected transportation asset or assets may submit an application. State transportation departments, other State agencies, local agencies, and Federal agencies. Not applicable. Preapplication coordination is required. An environmental impact assessment is required for this listing. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. As required by law, a programming decisions committee (PDC) is responsible for the Access Program programming decisions in each State and must be comprised of a representative of: o The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); o The State Department of Transportation; and o An appropriate political subdivision of the State. The representative for local governments should be from an organization or entity that is suited to represent the local entities responsible for building, operating, or maintaining transportation facilities that are located on, are adjacent to, or provide access to Federal lands. The local representative should work cooperatively with representatives of local public transportation providers that provide access to or within Federal recreation areas within the State. Depending on State law, such entities could include the Association of County Engineers or Officials in many States. In States with only one or two Federal facilities, the local interests may best be represented by the Metropolitan or Regional Transportation Planning Organization, whose jurisdiction includes the Federal area. In other States where the predominant Federal facility is adjacent to a gateway community, the municipality or other local entity may be the appropriate representative. Regardless, the local representative should represent local interests for access to Federal lands statewide. The local representative may not be affiliated with or work for the Executive Branch of the Federal or State government. The FHWA will work with the State DOT to identify an appropriate local representative. The PDC in each State should develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) that may be part of a Statewide Program Agreement. PDCs decide which projects will be developed within available funding. Award procedures will follow the procedures developed the delivery agency, as long as they are consistent with federal law. Projects administered by the FHWA Office of Federal Lands Highways or the FLMAs are subject to procurement processes identified in the Federal Acquisition Regulations. Project awards are subject the availability of funds. Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines Not applicable. Not applicable. Not applicable. Each FLAP project is selected from a pool of applications submitted by the facility owner in response to a state-wide call for projects. The call for projects frequency is determined by the PDC based on the funds available. The applications are screened, rated, and ranked using the PDC approved rating criteria. The PDC agrees which projects met the established State program goals and conformed to the project ranking criteria. Based upon these evaluations, the proposed projects are recommended for programming within the available funding for each State. 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 Access Transportation Facilities located on or adjacent to, or that provide access to, Federal land, and- i. adjacent vehicular parking areas; ii. acquisition of necessary scenic easements and scenic or historic sites; iii. provisions for pedestrians and bicycles; 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; and vi. other appropriate public road facilities, as determined by the Secretary; 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. In regard to (B) above, "operation and maintenance of transit facilities" includes the operation of all components of a transit system, including vehicles. The eligibility under (C) above includes transit capital projects eligible under Chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, that are also eligible under title 23 and that are within or adjacent to, or that provides access to, Federal lands open to the public. Not applicable. Not applicable. Project records and documents must be retained by the State or other governmental recipients/ sub-recipients as specified in 2 CFR 200.333. For the Federal Lands Highway Program, the Federal Lands Highway Divisions maintain the project records. Statutory Formula: Title 23 USC Part §204(b)

Matching is voluntary. 20%. Percent: 20%. Typically, 80% of costs are federally funded with a 20% matching requirement. See 23 USC 120. Exceptions apply; contact FHWA for specific information.

This program has MOE requirements, see funding agency for further details. Additional Information: The funds made available under this program will be available for the current year plus three additional years. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Lump. Regional Agency Offices. For specific State information visit https://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/flap/ Frances Ramirez
1200 New Jersey Ave SE
Washington, DC 20590 US
Frances.Ramirez@dot.gov
Phone: (202) 493-0271

Jeffrey Mann
22001 Loudoun County Parkway
Building E2, Suite 200
Ashburn, VA 20147 USA
jeffrey.mann@dot.gov
Phone: (703) 404-6230 https://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/flap/reports/ 69-8083-0-7-401 (Formula Grants) FY 22$227,824,094.00; FY 23 est $332,321,960.00; FY 24 est $309,950,971.00; FY 21$207,482,746.00; FY 20$153,711,421.00; FY 19$231,432,972.00; FY 18$229,795,962.00; FY 17$241,067,936.00; FY 16$232,009,953.00; - For Access Program Funding Amounts by State visit: https://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/flap/. Under the Access Program resources section, there is a worksheet with the funding distribution amounts by fiscal year. Not applicable/available. 23 CFR, "Highways" and 49 CFR, "Transportation", and 2 CFR 200, Grants and Agreements. http://www.fhwa.gov. Fiscal Year 2016 Completed: The City of Crystal River Florida of Citrus County, project for Three Sisters Spring Site, FL – This project constructed a 44-foot wide entranceway to Three Sister Spring site at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). The roadway cross section now has two lanes heading out of the refuge and one lane heading into the refuge with an 8-foot median in the middle. A 5-foot by 7-foot precast box culvert with concrete end walls, curbs and gutters, and a sidewalk for the entranceway. Native species were planted for landscaping and the roadway was sloped toward a bios wale. The Crystal River NWR was established specifically to protect the endangered West Indian Manatee, for a population of nearly 600 manatees as this is their primary habitat and safe haven during winter months. The refuge attracts 100,000 visitors annually to see and swim with manatees, and manatee viewing opportunities are predominantly only available from the water. Other recreational opportunities are sport fishing, snorkeling, motorized and non-motorized boating, wildlife observation and nature photography.
Fiscal Year 2017 La Sal Mountain Loop Road, UT: Grand County Road 73/San Juan County Road B127 (La Sal Mountain Loop Road) is a primary access route to the Manti-La Sal National Forest near Moab in southeastern Utah. This route provides access to many recreational opportunities in the National Forest including hiking, rock climbing, camping, world class mountain biking, as well as providing a scenic and challenging road biking route that is used for many race events in the area. This project consists of 12.3 miles of the route and includes minor widening, pavement rehabilitation, retaining walls, drainage and safety improvements. The emphasis of the scope of this work is to improve the pavement condition as well as providing a consistent roadway section to improve safety. The pavement along this section of road varies in width and is in extremely poor condition with significant areas of transverse and longitudinal cracking, alligator cracking, bleeding, stripping, raveling, rutting, potholes, and edge deterioration. The project continues a strong partnership with both counties as well as the National Forest in delivering this exceptional project.
Fiscal Year 2018 Upper Hoh River Road, WA: The goal of this project is to preserve vehicular access to Olympic National Park’s Hoh Rain Forest by addressing immediate access issues on the Upper Hoh Road along the Hoh River in Jefferson County, WA. The project will repair the four most critical infrastructure deficiencies along the Jefferson County segment of the Upper Hoh Road including: 1) Stabilize middle revetment segment at MP 4 by replacing dislodged riprap and installing three stream barbs; 2) Replace Tower Creek Bridge at MP 7.5 with single-span, 130-foot bridge on new upstream alignment; 3) Relocate the river channel away from the road at MP 7 by shifting the active river channel 400 feet with 4 to 6 engineered log jams; and 4) Replace Canyon Creek Culvert MP 10.23 with multi-span bridge, 160 to 180 feet in length. An infrastructure failure at any one of these sites could result in a long-term closure of the sole vehicular access to the Hoh Rain Forest. An estimated 85% of the traffic on the Upper Hoh Road enters Olympic National Park.
Fiscal Year 2023 State Highway 21 (SH-21) in Idaho, also known as the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway, is a critical north-south transportation facility and the official Gateway to the Boise National Forest and famed Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Numerous outdoor and recreational related activities are accessible along this route. A design was completed for a 150 ft long wildlife overpass near Cervidae Peak, located at milepost 19. The project will construct over two miles of big game fencing parallel to the highway to guide animals to this overpass. It is a part of a long-range vision to promote safety, mobility, and economic opportunity along SH-21 with construction planned for the summer of 2023.