§460l–14 Facilities or Project Modifications to Be Provided Without Written Indication of Intent

Summary

No recreation or fish-and-wildlife improvements can be added to a project unless there is a prior written indication of intent, unless one of two things is true: the additions serve other project purposes and are justified without counting any recreation or wildlife benefits, or they are the minimum facilities needed for public health and safety placed at existing access roads or at roads built for project management. When benefits are counted in these cases, they must be based on the number of visitor-days expected if no recreation or wildlife facilities existed and on the project’s value per visitor-day without those facilities. Costs assigned to recreation or fish-and-wildlife this way must be nonreimbursable. Even without that prior written indication, land can be set aside to protect recreation or wildlife if a non-Federal public body signs an agreement after the project starts. That agreement must follow an approved development plan and require the non-Federal body to pay at least one-half of recreation costs, one-quarter of fish-and-wildlife enhancement costs, and at least one-half of planning and of operation, maintenance, and replacement costs; the rest of those costs are nonreimbursable. If no agreement is made within ten years, the agency in charge may use, sell (to the prior owner at appraised fair market value), transfer, lease, or dispose of the land, with preference for uses that preserve or do not harm recreation or wildlife potential. A recreation facility may be expanded if it is too small and a non-Federal public body agrees to administer it under an approved plan and pay at least one-half of planning, capital, and related operation costs; the Federal share may not exceed 50 percent.