23 U.S.C. § 162 — National scenic byways program

(a) Designation of Roads. The Secretary carries out a national scenic byways program that recognizes roads with outstanding scenic, historic, cultural, natural, recreational, and archaeological qualities. The Secretary designates qualifying roads as National Scenic Byways, All-American Roads, or America's Byways, using criteria the Secretary develops. 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 already be designated as a State scenic byway, an Indian tribe scenic byway, or (for a road on federal land) a federal land management agency byway. An Indian tribe may only nominate a road 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 jurisdiction over, or management responsibility for, the road. A tribe that nominates a road must maintain the road's safety and quality. States, Indian tribes, and federal land management agencies must notify each other about nominations for roads within their jurisdictional boundary, or that directly connect to roads they're responsible for. (b) Grants and Technical Assistance. The Secretary makes grants and provides technical assistance to States and Indian tribes to implement projects on highways designated as National Scenic Byways, All-American Roads, America's Byways, State scenic byways, or Indian tribe scenic byways, and to plan, design, and develop a State or Indian tribe scenic byway program. In making grants, the Secretary must give priority to: eligible projects tied to a highway already designated a National Scenic Byway, All-American Road, or one of America's Byways, that follow that byway's corridor management plan; eligible projects along a State or tribal scenic byway that follow — or foster developing — a corridor management plan and that aim to make the byway eligible for a National Scenic Byway, All-American Road, or America's Byways designation; and eligible projects tied to developing a State or Indian tribe scenic byway program. (c) Eligible Projects. Projects eligible for federal assistance include: planning, designing, or developing a State or Indian tribe scenic byway program; developing and implementing a corridor management plan to maintain a byway's scenic, historical, recreational, cultural, natural, and archaeological characteristics while accommodating increased tourism and related development; safety improvements needed to accommodate increased traffic and vehicle types resulting from a byway designation; constructing pedestrian and bicyclist facilities, rest areas, turnouts, shoulder improvements, overlooks, or interpretive facilities along a byway; improvements that enhance access to an area for recreation, including water-related recreation; protecting scenic, historical, recreational, cultural, natural, and archaeological resources in an area adjacent to a byway; developing and providing tourist information, including interpretive information about a byway; and developing and implementing a byway marketing program. (d) Limitation. The Secretary cannot make a grant for any project that would fail to protect the scenic, historical, recreational, cultural, natural, and archaeological integrity of a highway and adjacent areas. (e) Savings Clause. The Secretary cannot withhold any grant or impose any requirement on a State or Indian tribe, as a condition of a grant or technical assistance for a scenic byway, unless the requirement is consistent with the authority this chapter provides. (f) Federal Share. The federal government normally pays 80 percent of the cost of a project under this section. Exception: for a scenic byway project along a public road that provides access to or within federal or Indian land, a federal land management agency may use its own authorized funds to cover the non-federal share.