Route 66 National Historic Trail Designation Act

Route 66 becomes National Historic Trail

If enacted, this bill would designate the Route 66 National Historic Trail as part of the National Trails System. It would cover all U.S. Highway 66 alignments from 1926 to 1985. The Trail would run about 2,400 miles from Chicago, IL, to Santa Monica, CA, shown on map P26/141,279 (Dec. 2017). The official map would be kept on file and available at the Department of the Interior. The Secretary of the Interior would administer the Trail and must respect its idiosyncratic nature. The Secretary would have to consult affected Indian Tribes before actions with substantial direct tribal impacts. The United States could not acquire land outside federally managed areas without the owner's consent. Acquisitions could not, on average, extend more than one quarter mile on either side of the Trail. The Secretary could not use eminent domain or condemnation to get land for the Trail. The designation would not create a buffer zone. It would not, by itself, convert Trail lands into National Park System lands for purposes of 30 U.S.C. 185(b)(1) and would not, by itself, require new Federal permits or authorizations. The designation would not prohibit or disrupt energy development, and existing easement and rights-of-way authorities would remain in place.