§ 162. National scenic byways program

• (a)
  • (1) The Secretary shall carry out a national scenic byways program that recognizes roads having outstanding scenic, historic, cultural, natural, recreational, and archaeological qualities by designating the roads as—
    • (A) National Scenic Byways;
    • (B) All-American Roads; or
    • (C) America’s Byways.
  • (2) The Secretary shall designate roads to be recognized under the national scenic byways program in accordance with criteria developed by the Secretary.
  • (3)
    • (A) To be considered for a designation, a road must be nominated by a State, an Indian tribe, or a Federal land management agency and must first be designated as a State scenic byway, an Indian tribe scenic byway, or, in the case of a road on Federal land, as a Federal land management agency byway.
    • (B) An Indian tribe may nominate a road as a National Scenic Byway, an All-American Road, or one of America’s Byways under paragraph (1) only if a Federal land management agency (other than the Bureau of Indian Affairs), a State, or a political subdivision of a State does not have—
      • (i) jurisdiction over the road; or
      • (ii) responsibility for managing the road.
    • (C) An Indian tribe shall maintain the safety and quality of roads nominated by the Indian tribe under subparagraph (A).
  • (4) States, Indian tribes, and Federal land management agencies shall notify each other regarding nominations made under this subsection for roads that—
    • (A) are within the jurisdictional boundary of the State, Federal land management agency, or Indian tribe; or
    • (B) directly connect to roads for which the State, Federal land management agency, or Indian tribe is responsible.
• (b)
  • (1) The Secretary shall make grants and provide technical assistance to States and Indian tribes to—
    • (A) implement projects on highways designated as—
      • (i) National Scenic Byways;
      • (ii) All-American Roads;
      • (iii) America’s Byways;
      • (iv) State scenic byways; or
      • (v) Indian tribe scenic byways; and
    • (B) plan, design, and develop a State or Indian tribe scenic byway program.
  • (2) In making grants, the Secretary shall give priority to—
    • (A) each eligible project that is associated with a highway that has been designated as a National Scenic Byway, All-American Road, or 1 of America’s Byways and that is consistent with the corridor management plan for the byway;
    • (B) each eligible project along a State or Indian tribe scenic byway that is consistent with the corridor management plan for the byway, or is intended to foster the development of such a plan, and is carried out to make the byway eligible for designation as—
      • (i) a National Scenic Byway;
      • (ii) an All-American Road; or
      • (iii) 1 of America’s Byways; and
    • (C) each eligible project that is associated with the development of a State or Indian tribe scenic byway program.
• (c) The following are projects that are eligible for Federal assistance under this section:
  • (1) An activity related to the planning, design, or development of a State or Indian tribe scenic byway program.
  • (2) Development and implementation of a corridor management plan to maintain the scenic, historical, recreational, cultural, natural, and archaeological characteristics of a byway corridor while providing for accommodation of increased tourism and development of related amenities.
  • (3) Safety improvements to a State scenic byway, Indian tribe scenic byway, National Scenic Byway, All-American Road, or one of America’s Byways to the extent that the improvements are necessary to accommodate increased traffic and changes in the types of vehicles using the highway as a result of the designation as a State scenic byway, Indian tribe scenic byway, National Scenic Byway, All-American Road, or one of America’s Byways.
  • (4) Construction along a scenic byway of a facility for pedestrians and bicyclists, rest area, turnout, highway shoulder improvement, overlook, or interpretive facility.
  • (5) An improvement to a scenic byway that will enhance access to an area for the purpose of recreation, including water-related recreation.
  • (6) Protection of scenic, historical, recreational, cultural, natural, and archaeological resources in an area adjacent to a scenic byway.
  • (7) Development and provision of tourist information to the public, including interpretive information about a scenic byway.
  • (8) Development and implementation of a scenic byway marketing program.
• (d) The Secretary shall not make a grant under this section for any project that would not protect the scenic, historical, recreational, cultural, natural, and archaeological integrity of a highway and adjacent areas.
• (e) The Secretary shall not withhold any grant or impose any requirement on a State or Indian tribe as a condition of providing a grant or technical assistance for any scenic byway unless the requirement is consistent with the authority provided in this chapter.
• (f) The Federal share of the cost of carrying out a project under this section shall be 80 percent, except that, in the case of any scenic byway project along a public road that provides access to or within Federal or Indian land, a Federal land management agency may use funds authorized for use by the agency as the non-Federal share.