ALLcrimesfood&drugstaxestelecomcommercehealthconservationtransportationagricultureveteransbrowse all titles »
0

23 U.S.C. § 131 — Control of outdoor advertising

submitted 68 years ago by Pub. L. 85-767 to r/title-23-HIGHWAYS · 2,988 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

This law controls billboards near interstate and primary highways to protect highway investment, safety, and scenery. States that fail to control these signs can lose part of their federal highway funds. The law also lists allowed signs, removal rules, and payment to owners.

(a) Findings. Congress found that billboards, signs, and displays near the Interstate System and primary highway system should be controlled. This protects the public's investment in highways, promotes safe and enjoyable travel, and preserves natural beauty. (b) Funding cut for states without control. Starting with funds given on or after January 1, 1968, the Secretary can cut 10 percent from a state's regular highway funds (under section 104) if the state hasn't set up effective control of signs within 660 feet of the road that are visible from it. Starting January 1, 1975 (or after the state's next legislative session, whichever is later), this rule also applies to signs farther than 660 feet away, as long as they're outside urban areas, visible from the road, and meant to be read from it. Money withheld from a state is reapportioned to the other states. When it serves the public interest, the Secretary can suspend this funding cut for a state. (c) What "effective control" means. After the dates above, only these kinds of signs are allowed within the controlled distance: (1) directional and official signs — including signs about natural wonders, scenic spots, and historical attractions — that are required or allowed by law and meet national standards the Secretary sets for lighting, size, number, and spacing; (2) signs advertising the sale or lease of the property they sit on; (3) signs, including electronic or remote-controlled ones, advertising activities happening on the property they sit on; (4) landmark signs that were already up on October 22, 1965, that the state (with the Secretary's approval) has decided are landmarks — including signs on farm buildings or natural surfaces — worth keeping for their historic or artistic value; and (5) signs put up by nonprofits advertising free coffee for people traveling the Interstate or primary system. "Free coffee" can include coffee people are allowed, but not required, to donate money for. (d) Zoned commercial and industrial areas. In areas zoned commercial or industrial under state law, or in unzoned commercial or industrial areas the states and Secretary agree on, signs can be built within 660 feet of the road. Their size, lighting, and spacing are set by agreement between the state and the Secretary, based on customary use. States fully control their own zoning, and the federal government accepts how states zone their land. If a real state, county, or local zoning authority has already decided what "customary use" means, that decision replaces a federal agreement within that authority's area. This subsection doesn't apply to the on-site signs described in (c)(2) and (c)(3). (e) Grandfathered signs. A sign that was lawfully up along the Interstate or primary system on September 1, 1965, but doesn't meet this section's rules, doesn't have to come down until July 1, 1970. Any other lawfully built sign that becomes nonconforming doesn't have to come down until five years after it becomes nonconforming. (f) Traveler-information rest areas. Working with the states, the Secretary must set aside space within the right-of-way near Interstate interchanges for signs giving travelers useful, specific information. The Secretary may also set aside similar space on the primary system. These signs must meet national standards the Secretary sets. (g) Just compensation. If a lawfully built sign must come down because it doesn't meet subsection (c), the owner must be paid fair compensation, with the federal government covering 75 percent of it. This compensation pays for: (A) taking away the sign owner's rights, title, lease, and interest in the sign; and (B) taking away the property owner's right to keep signs on that land. (h) Federal land. Federal land next to the Interstate or primary system must be controlled the same way, following this section and the Secretary's national standards. (i) Travel information at rest areas. States can keep maps at rest areas and let businesses hand out directories and advertising pamphlets there. With the Secretary's approval, a state can also set up information centers and travel-information systems at rest areas and elsewhere within the right-of-way, to tell the public about places of interest and other useful information. The federal government's cost-share for building an information center matches its usual cost-share for the highway project it serves. States may also let signs go up acknowledging rest-area sponsors, within rest areas or along the road, as long as they don't hurt safe and efficient highway use. The Secretary sets rules for where these sponsorship signs can go, including how they relate to advance guide signs for rest areas. (j) Bonus payments for states with earlier agreements. A state that had already agreed with the Secretary, under an earlier version of this section (as it stood on June 30, 1965), to control outdoor advertising near the Interstate System can still get the bonus payments set out in that agreement — but only if it keeps meeting the agreement's control requirements. Letting businesses put up electronic or remote-controlled signs that give public-service information or advertise on-site activities doesn't count as breaking the agreement. These bonus payments can only be paid from money appropriated for this section. This subsection doesn't excuse any state from otherwise controlling outdoor advertising as this section requires. (k) States can be stricter. As long as a state still pays just compensation under subsection (g), nothing in this section stops it from setting stricter sign limits than this section requires. (l) Notice and hearing before withholding funds. At least 60 days before finally deciding to withhold funds from a state under subsection (b) or section 136(b), or before finally deciding a dispute over sign size, lighting, spacing, or unzoned commercial/industrial areas under subsection (d), or before failing to approve something under section 136(g), the Secretary must give the state written notice of the proposed decision and the reasons for it, and must offer the state a hearing during that period. After the hearing, the Secretary issues a final written order and sends the state a copy. The state has 45 days to appeal that order to a federal district court, and filing the appeal pauses the order until the court rules. The court can uphold the Secretary's decision or set it aside, in whole or in part; its ruling can be reviewed by a federal court of appeals and then the Supreme Court. If part of a state's highway funds is withheld, that money isn't reapportioned to other states while the state's court appeal is pending — it stays available to be apportioned according to the final judgment. Funds withheld and then apportioned or reapportioned this way stay available to spend for three full fiscal years after that. (m) Money authorized. This subsection lists specific dollar limits Congress could spend to carry out this section, ranging from $2,000,000 to $50,000,000, across the fiscal years ending in 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1973. Federal-aid primary highway funding rules also apply to this section's money spent after June 30, 1967. A state may use its regular section 104 highway funds to remove nonconforming signs. (n) No payment, no removal required. A sign doesn't have to be removed under this section if the federal share of the just compensation for removing it isn't actually available. A state's section 104 funds don't count as "available" for this purpose unless the state chooses, at its own discretion, to spend them on the payment. (o) Hardship exception for directional signs. The Secretary can approve a state's request to let certain directional signs stay up in specific areas the state defines, even though those signs don't meet subsection (c), if the signs were lawfully built under state law, already existed when this subsection was enacted, and the state shows the signs (1) give travelers useful directions to goods and services, and (2) would cause real economic hardship in that area if removed. (p) Full federal payment for relocated signs. If a sign had to be removed before the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1974, was then lawfully moved to a new spot, and now must be removed again because of that Act's changes to this section, the federal government pays 100 percent of the just compensation for this second removal, including all relocation costs. (q) Helping states keep directional information. (1) While states are putting these laws into effect, the Secretary must help them build sign programs that keep necessary directional information about goods and services available to travelers. The Secretary must review and update the national standards for directional signs (under subsections (c)(1) and (f)) so the signs work well and fit their surroundings, using help from other federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, and from private industry. (2) The Secretary should also encourage states to delay removing directional signs that were already giving useful information on June 1, 1972, until all other nonconforming signs have come down. (r) Removing illegal signs. (1) By owners: the owner of any sign along the Interstate or primary system that was never lawfully put up must remove it within 90 days after this subsection's effective date. (2) By states: if the owner doesn't remove it in time, the state must remove it, and the owner has to pay the state's removal costs. "Effective control" under this section includes following this removal requirement. (s) Scenic byways. If a state has a scenic-byway program, it can't allow nonconforming signs (under subsection (c)) along any Interstate or primary highway designated a scenic byway under that program. Signs on that highway are controlled under this section. When designating a scenic byway, a state can leave out any highway segment that doesn't fit the state's own byway criteria — but the state can still put up signs about that excluded segment, including on maps, just to keep the route's numbering or signage continuous. (t) Definition. "Primary system" and "Federal-aid primary system" mean the Federal-aid primary highway system as it existed on June 1, 1991, plus any highway that isn't on that system but is on the National Highway System.
the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain
(a)

The Congress hereby finds and declares that the erection and maintenance of outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices in areas adjacent to the Interstate System and the primary system should be controlled in order to protect the public investment in such highways, to promote the safety and recreational value of public travel, and to preserve natural beauty.

(b)

Federal-aid highway funds apportioned on or after January 1, 1968, to any State which the Secretary determines has not made provision for effective control of the erection and maintenance along the Interstate System and the primary system of outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices which are within six hundred and sixty feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way and visible from the main traveled way of the system, and Federal-aid highway funds apportioned on or after January 1, 1975, or after the expiration of the next regular session of the State legislature, whichever is later, to any State which the Secretary determines has not made provision for effective control of the erection and maintenance along the Interstate System and the primary system of those additional outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices which are more than six hundred and sixty feet off the nearest edge of the right-of-way, located outside of urban areas, visible from the main traveled way of the system, and erected with the purpose of their message being read from such main traveled way, shall be reduced by amounts equal to 10 per centum of the amounts which would otherwise be apportioned to such State under section 104 of this title, until such time as such State shall provide for such effective control. Any amount which is withheld from apportionment to any State hereunder shall be reapportioned to the other States. Whenever he determines it to be in the public interest, the Secretary may suspend, for such periods as he deems necessary, the application of this subsection to a State.

(c)

Effective control means that such signs, displays, or devices after January 1, 1968, if located within six hundred and sixty feet of the right-of-way and, on or after July 1, 1975, or after the expiration of the next regular session of the State legislature, whichever is later, if located beyond six hundred and sixty feet of the right-of-way located outside of urban areas, visible from the main traveled way of the system, and erected with the purpose of their message being read from such main traveled way, shall, pursuant to this section, be limited to (1) directional and official signs and notices, which signs and notices shall include, but not be limited to, signs and notices pertaining to natural wonders, scenic and historical attractions, which are required or authorized by law, which shall conform to national standards hereby authorized to be promulgated by the Secretary hereunder, which standards shall contain provisions concerning lighting, size, number, and spacing of signs, and such other requirements as may be appropriate to implement this section, (2) signs, displays, and devices advertising the sale or lease of property upon which they are located, (3) signs, displays, and devices, including those which may be changed at reasonable intervals by electronic process or by remote control, advertising activities conducted on the property on which they are located, (4) signs lawfully in existence on October 22, 1965, determined by the State, subject to the approval of the Secretary, to be landmark signs, including signs on farm structures or natural surfaces, or historic or artistic significance the preservation of which would be consistent with the purposes of this section, and (5) signs, displays, and devices advertising the distribution by nonprofit organizations of free coffee to individuals traveling on the Interstate System or the primary system. For the purposes of this subsection, the term “free coffee” shall include coffee for which a donation may be made, but is not required.

(d)

In order to promote the reasonable, orderly and effective display of outdoor advertising while remaining consistent with the purposes of this section, signs, displays, and devices whose size, lighting and spacing, consistent with customary use is to be determined by agreement between the several States and the Secretary, may be erected and maintained within six hundred and sixty feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way within areas adjacent to the Interstate and primary systems which are zoned industrial or commercial under authority of State law, or in unzoned commercial or industrial areas as may be determined by agreement between the several States and the Secretary. The States shall have full authority under their own zoning laws to zone areas for commercial or industrial purposes, and the actions of the States in this regard will be accepted for the purposes of this Act. Whenever a bona fide State, county, or local zoning authority has made a determination of customary use, such determination will be accepted in lieu of controls by agreement in the zoned commercial and industrial areas within the geographical jurisdiction of such authority. Nothing in this subsection shall apply to signs, displays, and devices referred to in clauses (2) and (3) of subsection (c) of this section.

(e)

Any sign, display, or device lawfully in existence along the Interstate System or the Federal-aid primary system on September 1, 1965, which does not conform to this section shall not be required to be removed until July 1, 1970. Any other sign, display, or device lawfully erected which does not conform to this section shall not be required to be removed until the end of the fifth year after it becomes nonconforming.

(f)

The Secretary shall, in consultation with the States, provide within the rights-of-way for areas at appropriate distances from interchanges on the Interstate System, on which signs, displays, and devices giving specific information in the interest of the traveling public may be erected and maintained. The Secretary may also, in consultation with the States, provide within the rights-of-way of the primary system for areas in which signs, displays, and devices giving specific information in the interest of the traveling public may be erected and maintained. Such signs shall conform to national standards to be promulgated by the Secretary.

(g)

Just compensation shall be paid upon the removal of any outdoor advertising sign, display, or device lawfully erected under State law and not permitted under subsection (c) of this section, whether or not removed pursuant to or because of this section. The Federal share of such compensation shall be 75 per centum. Such compensation shall be paid for the following:

(A)

The taking from the owner of such sign, display, or device of all right, title, leasehold, and interest in such sign, display, or device; and

(B)

The taking from the owner of the real property on which the sign, display, or device is located, of the right to erect and maintain such signs, displays, and devices thereon.

(h)

All public lands or reservations of the United States which are adjacent to any portion of the Interstate System and the primary system shall be controlled in accordance with the provisions of this section and the national standards promulgated by the Secretary.

(i)

In order to provide information in the specific interest of the traveling public, the State transportation departments are authorized to maintain maps and to permit information directories and advertising pamphlets to be made available at safety rest areas. Subject to the approval of the Secretary, a State may also establish information centers at safety rest areas and other travel information systems within the rights-of-way for the purpose of informing the public of places of interest within the State and providing such other information as a State may consider desirable. The Federal share of the cost of establishing such an information center or travel information system shall be that which is provided in section 120 for a highway project on that Federal-aid system to be served by such center or system. A State may permit the installation of signs that acknowledge the sponsorship of rest areas within such rest areas or along the main traveled way of the system, provided that such signs shall not affect the safe and efficient utilization of the Interstate System and the primary system. The Secretary shall establish criteria for the installation of such signs on the main traveled way, including criteria pertaining to the placement of rest area sponsorship acknowledgment signs in relation to the placement of advance guide signs for rest areas.

(j)

Any State transportation department which has, under this section as in effect on June 30, 1965, entered into an agreement with the Secretary to control the erection and maintenance of outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices in areas adjacent to the Interstate System shall be entitled to receive the bonus payments as set forth in the agreement, but no such State transportation department shall be entitled to such payments unless the State maintains the control required under such agreement: Provided, That permission by a State to erect and maintain information displays which may be changed at reasonable intervals by electronic process or remote control and which provide public service information or advertise activities conducted on the property on which they are located shall not be considered a breach of such agreement or the control required thereunder. Such payments shall be paid only from appropriations made to carry out this section. The provisions of this subsection shall not be construed to exempt any State from controlling outdoor advertising as otherwise provided in this section.

(k)

Subject to compliance with subsection (g) of this section for the payment of just compensation, nothing in this section shall prohibit a State from establishing standards imposing stricter limitations with respect to signs, displays, and devices on the Federal-aid highway systems than those established under this section.

(l)

Not less than sixty days before making a final determination to withhold funds from a State under subsection (b) of this section, or to do so under subsection (b) of section 136, or with respect to failing to agree as to the size, lighting, and spacing of signs, displays, and devices or as to unzoned commercial or industrial areas in which signs, displays, and devices may be erected and maintained under subsection (d) of this section, or with respect to failure to approve under subsection (g) of section 136, the Secretary shall give written notice to the State of his proposed determination and a statement of the reasons therefor, and during such period shall give the State an opportunity for a hearing on such determination. Following such hearing the Secretary shall issue a written order setting forth his final determination and shall furnish a copy of such order to the State. Within forty-five days of receipt of such order, the State may appeal such order to any United States district court for such State, and upon the filing of such appeal such order shall be stayed until final judgment has been entered on such appeal. Summons may be served at any place in the United States. The court shall have jurisdiction to affirm the determination of the Secretary or to set it aside, in whole or in part. The judgment of the court shall be subject to review by the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the State is located and to the Supreme Court of the United States upon certiorari or certification as provided in title 28, United States Code, section 1254. If any part of an apportionment to a State is withheld by the Secretary under subsection (b) of this section or subsection (b) of section 136, the amount so withheld shall not be reapportioned to the other States as long as a suit brought by such State under this subsection is pending. Such amount shall remain available for apportionment in accordance with the final judgment and this subsection. Funds withheld from apportionment and subsequently apportioned or reapportioned under this section shall be available for expenditure for three full fiscal years after the date of such apportionment or reapportionment as the case may be.

(m)

There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out the provisions of this section, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, not to exceed $20,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, not to exceed $20,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967, not to exceed $2,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1970, not to exceed $27,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1971, not to exceed $20,500,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1972, and not to exceed $50,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1973. The provisions of this chapter relating to the obligation, period of availability and expenditure of Federal-aid primary highway funds shall apply to the funds authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section after June 30, 1967. A State may use any funds apportioned to it under section 104 of this title for removal of any sign, display, or device lawfully erected which does not conform to this section.

(n)

No sign, display, or device shall be required to be removed under this section if the Federal share of the just compensation to be paid upon removal of such sign, display, or device is not available to make such payment. Funds apportioned to a State under section 104 of this title shall not be treated for purposes of the preceding sentence as being available to the State for making such a payment except to the extent that the State, in its discretion, expends such funds for such a payment.

(o)

The Secretary may approve the request of a State to permit retention in specific areas defined by such State of directional signs, displays, and devices lawfully erected under State law in force at the time of their erection which do not conform to the requirements of subsection (c), where such signs, displays, and devices are in existence on the date of enactment of this subsection and where the State demonstrates that such signs, displays, and devices (1) provide directional information about goods and services in the interest of the traveling public, and (2) are such that removal would work a substantial economic hardship in such defined area.

(p)

In the case of any sign, display, or device required to be removed under this section prior to the date of enactment of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1974, which sign, display, or device was after its removal lawfully relocated and which as a result of the amendments made to this section by such Act is required to be removed, the United States shall pay 100 per centum of the just compensation for such removal (including all relocation costs).

(q)
(1)

During the implementation of State laws enacted to comply with this section, the Secretary shall encourage and assist the States to develop sign controls and programs which will assure that necessary directional information about facilities providing goods and services in the interest of the traveling public will continue to be available to motorists. To this end the Secretary shall restudy and revise as appropriate existing standards for directional signs authorized under subsections 131(c)(1) and 131(f) to develop signs which are functional and esthetically compatible with their surroundings. He shall employ the resources of other Federal departments and agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, and employ maximum participation of private industry in the development of standards and systems of signs developed for those purposes.

(2)

Among other things the Secretary shall encourage States to adopt programs to assure that removal of signs providing necessary directional information, which also were providing directional information on June 1, 1972, about facilities in the interest of the traveling public, be deferred until all other nonconforming signs are removed.

(r)Removal of Illegal Signs.—
(1)By owners.—

Any sign, display, or device along the Interstate System or the Federal-aid primary system which was not lawfully erected, shall be removed by the owner of such sign, display, or device not later than the 90th day following the effective date of this subsection.

(2)By states.—

If any owner does not remove a sign, display, or device in accordance with paragraph (1), the State within the borders of which the sign, display, or device is located shall remove the sign, display, or device. The owner of the removed sign, display, or device shall be liable to the State for the costs of such removal. Effective control under this section includes compliance with the first sentence of this paragraph.

(s)Scenic Byway Prohibition.—

If a State has a scenic byway program, the State may not allow the erection along any highway on the Interstate System or Federal-aid primary system which before, on, or after the effective date of this subsection, is designated as a scenic byway under such program of any sign, display, or device which is not in conformance with subsection (c) of this section. Control of any sign, display, or device on such a highway shall be in accordance with this section. In designating a scenic byway for purposes of this section and section 1047 of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, a State may exclude from such designation any segment of a highway that is inconsistent with the State’s criteria for designating State scenic byways. Nothing in the preceding sentence shall preclude a State from signing any such excluded segment, including such segment on a map, or carrying out similar activities, solely for purposes of system continuity.

(t)Primary System Defined.—

For purposes of this section, the terms “primary system” and “Federal-aid primary system” mean the Federal-aid primary system in existence on June 1, 1991, and any highway which is not on such system but which is on the National Highway System.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 85–767, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 904; Pub. L. 86–342, title I, § 106, Sept. 21, 1959, 73 Stat. 612; Pub. L. 87–61, title I, § 106, June 29, 1961, 75 Stat. 123; Pub. L. 88–157, § 5, Oct. 24, 1963, 77 Stat. 277; Pub. L. 89–285, title I, § 101, Oct. 22, 1965, 79 Stat. 1028; Pub. L. 89–574, § 8(a), Sept. 13, 1966, 80 Stat. 768; Pub. L. 90–495, § 6(a)–(d), Aug. 23, 1968, 82 Stat. 817; Pub. L. 91–605, title I, § 122(a), Dec. 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 1726; Pub. L. 93–643, § 109, Jan. 4, 1975, 88 Stat. 2284; Pub. L. 94–280, title I, § 122, May 5, 1976, 90 Stat. 438; Pub. L. 95–599, title I, §§ 121, 122, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2700, 2701; Pub. L. 96–106, § 6, Nov. 9, 1979, 93 Stat. 797; Pub. L. 102–240, title I, § 1046(a)–(c), Dec. 18, 1991, 105 Stat. 1995, 1996; Pub. L. 102–302, § 104, June 22, 1992, 106 Stat. 253; Pub. L. 104–59, title III, § 314, Nov. 28, 1995, 109 Stat. 586; Pub. L. 105–178, title I, § 1212(a)(2)(A), June 9, 1998, 112 Stat. 193; Pub. L. 112–141, div. A, title I, §§ 1519(c)(6), formerly 1519(c)(7), 1539(b), July 6, 2012, 126 Stat. 576, 587, renumbered § 1519(c)(6), Pub. L. 114–94, div. A, title I, § 1446(d)(5)(B), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1438.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit
  • 1958Enacted · Pub. L. 85-767 · 72 Stat. 904
  • 1959Amended · Pub. L. 86-342 · 73 Stat. 612
  • 1961Amended · Pub. L. 87-61 · 75 Stat. 123
  • 1963Amended · Pub. L. 88-157 · 77 Stat. 277
  • 1965Amended · Pub. L. 89-285 · 79 Stat. 1028
  • 1966Amended · Pub. L. 89-574 · 80 Stat. 768
  • 1968Amended · Pub. L. 90-495 · 82 Stat. 817
  • 1970Amended · Pub. L. 91-605 · 84 Stat. 1726
  • 1975Amended · Pub. L. 93-643 · 88 Stat. 2284
  • 1976Amended · Pub. L. 94-280 · 90 Stat. 438
  • 1978Amended · Pub. L. 95-599 · 92 Stat. 2700, 2701
  • 1979Amended · Pub. L. 96-106 · 93 Stat. 797
  • 1991Amended · Pub. L. 102-240 · 105 Stat. 1995, 1996
  • 1992Amended · Pub. L. 102-302 · 106 Stat. 253
  • 1995Amended · Pub. L. 104-59 · 109 Stat. 586
  • 1998Amended · Pub. L. 105-178 · 112 Stat. 193
  • 2012Amended · Pub. L. 112-141 · 126 Stat. 576, 587

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 85-767 on 1958-08-27.

all 0 arguments · sorted by: best

0/280

no arguments yet — make the first case