account of any repair or reconstruction of forest highways, forest development roads and trails, park roads and trails, and Indian reservation roads may amount to 100 per centum of the cost thereof, whether or not such highways, roads, or trails are on any Federal-aid highway system. Any project agreement for which the final voucher has not been approved by the Secretary on or before the date of this Act may be modified to provide for the Federal share authorized herein.36, 37

(g) The Secretary is authorized to cooperate with the State highway departments and with the Department of the Interior in the construction of Federal-aid highways within Indian reservations and national parks and monuments under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior and to pay the amount assumed therefor from the funds apportioned in accordance with section 104 of this title to the State wherein the reservations and national parks and monuments are located.

(h) See footnote.38

Sec. 121. Payment to States for construction

(a) The Secretary may, in his discretion, from time to time as the work progresses, make payments to a State for costs of construction incurred by it on a project. These payments shall at no time exceed the Federal share of the costs of construction incurred to the date of the voucher covering such payment plus the Federal share of the value of the materials which have been stockpiled in the vicinity of such construction in conformity to plans and specifications for the project.

(b) After completion of a project in accordance with the plans and specifications, and approval of the final voucher by the Secretary, a State shall be entitled to payment out of the appropriate sums apportioned to it of the unpaid balance of the Federal share payable on account of such project.

(c) No payment shall be made under this chapter, except for a project located on a Federal-aid system and covered by a project agreement. No final payment shall be made to a State for its costs of construction of a project until the completion of the construction has been approved by the Secretary following inspections pursuant to section 114(a) of this title.

(d) In making payments pursuant to this section, the Secretary shall be bound by the limitations with respect to the permissible amounts of such payments contained in sections 120 and 130 of this title. Payments for construction engineering on any project financed with Federal-aid primary, secondary, or urban funds shall not exceed 10 per centum of the Federal share of the cost of construction of such project after excluding from the cost of construction the costs of rights-of-way, preliminary engineering, and construction engineering: Provided, That such limitation shall be 15 per centum in any State with respect to which the Secretary finds such higher limitation to be necessary. For any project financed with interstate funds, such limitation shall be 10 per centum.39

(e) Such payments shall be made to such official or officials or depository as may be designated by the State highway department and

38 Amended by sec. 107 (b) of Public Law 86-342, Sept. 21, 1959 (73 Stat. 611).

37 Amended by Public Law 88-658, Oct. 13, 1964 (78 Stat. 1090).

38 Repealed by sec. 21(d) (4) of Public Law 86-70, June 25, 1959 (73 Stat. 141).

39 Amended by sec. 7(b) of Public Law 88-157, Oct. 24, 1963 (77 Stat. 276).

authorized under the laws of the State to receive public funds of the State.

Sec. 122. Payment to States for bond retirement

Any State that shall use the proceeds of bonds issued by the State, county, city, or other political subdivision of the State for the construction of one or more projects on the Federal-aid primary or Interstate System, or extensions of any of the Federal-aid highway systems in urban areas, may claim payment of any portion of the sums apportioned to it for expenditure on such system to aid in the retirement of the principal of such bonds at their maturities, to the extent that the proceeds of such bonds have been actually expended in the construction of one or more of such projects. Such claim for payment may be made only when all of the provisions of this title have been complied with to the same extent and with the same effect as though payment were to be made to the State under section 121 of this title, instead of this section, and the Federal share payable shall not exceed the pro rata basis of payment authorized in section 120 of this title. This section shall not be construed as a commitment or obligation on the part of the United States to provide funds for the payment of the principal of any such bonds.

Sec. 123. Relocation of utility facilities

(a) When a State shall pay for the cost of relocation of utility facilities necessitated by the construction of a project on the Federal-aid primary or secondary systems or on the Interstate System, including extensions thereof within urban areas, Federal funds may be used to reimburse the State for such cost in the same proportion as Federal funds are expended on the project. Federal funds shall not be used to reimburse the State under this section when the payment to the utility violates the law of the State or violates a legal contract between the utility and the State. Such reimbursement shall be made only after evidence satisfactory to the Secretary shall have been presented to him substantiating the fact that the State has paid such cost from its own funds with respect to Federal-aid highway projects for which Federal funds are obligated subsequent to April 16, 1958, for work, including relocation of utility facilities.

(b) The term "utility", for the purposes of this section, shall include publicly, privately, and cooperatively owned utilities.

(c) The term "cost of relocation", for the purposes of this section, shall include the entire amount paid by such utility properly attributable to such relocation after deducting there from any increase in the value of the new facility and any salvage value derived from the old facility.

Sec. 124. Advances to States

If the Secretary shall determine that it is necessary for the expeditious completion of projects on any of the Federal-aid systems, including the Interstate System, he may advance to any State out of any existing appropriations the Federal share of the cost of construction thereof to enable the State highway department to make prompt payments for acquisition of rights-of-way, and for the construction as it progresses. The sums so advanced shall be deposited in a special re

volving trust fund, by the State official authorized under the laws of the State to receive Federal-aid highway funds, to be disbursed solely upon vouchers approved by the State highway department for rights-of-way which have been or are being acquired, and for construction which has been actually performed and approved by the Secretary pursuant to this chapter. Upon determination by the Secretary that any part of the funds advanced to any State under the provisions of this section are no longer required, the amount of the advance, which is determined to be in excess of current requirements of the State, shall be repaid upon his demand, and such repayments shall be returned to the credit of the appropriation from which the funds were advanced. Any sum advanced and not repaid on demand shall be deducted from sums due the State for the Federal pro rata share of the cost of construction of Federal-aid projects.

Sec. 125. Emergency relief

(a) An emergency fund is authorized for expenditure by the Secretary, subject to the provisions of this section and section 120, for the repair or reconstruction of highways, roads, and trails which he shall find have suffered serious damage as the result of disaster over a wide area, such as by floods, hurricanes, tidal waves, earthquakes, severe storms, landslides, or other catastrophes in any part of the United States. The appropriation of such moneys, not to exceed thirty million dollars, as may be necessary for the initial establishment of this fund and for its replenishment on an annual basis is authorized. Pending such appropriation or replenishment the Secretary may expend from any funds heretofore or hereafter appropriated for expenditure in accordance with the provisions of this title, including existing Federal-aid appropriations, such sums as may be necessary for the immediate prosecution of the work herein authorized, such appropriations to be reimbursed from the appropriations herein authorized when made.

(b) The Secretary may expend funds from the emergency fund herein authorized for the repair or reconstruction of highways on the Federal-aid highway systems, including the Interstate System, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Except as to highways, roads, and trails mentioned in subsection (c) of this section, no funds shall be so expended unless the Secretary has received an application therefor from the State highway department, and unless an emergency has been declared by the Governor of the State and concurred in by the Secretary.

(c) The Secretary may expend funds from the emergency fund herein authorized, either independently or in cooperation with any other branch of the Government, State agency, organization, or person, for the repair or reconstruction of forest highways, forest development roads and trails, park roads and trails, and Indian reservation roads, whether or not such highways, roads, or trails are on any of the Federal-aid highway systems.40

Sec. 126. Diversion

(a) Since it is unfair and unjust to tax motor-vehicle transportation unless the proceeds of such taxation are applied to the construction, im

40 Amended by sec. 107(a) of Public Law 86-342, Sept. 21, 1959 (73 Stat. 611).

774-535 0-66- 3

provement, or maintenance of highways, after June 30, 1935, Federal aid for highway construction shall be extended only to those States that use at least the amounts provided by law on June 18, 1934, for such purposes in each State from State motor vehicle registration fees, licenses, gasoline taxes, and other special taxes on motor-vehicle owners and operators of all kinds for the construction, improvement, and maintenance of highways and administrative expenses in connection therewith, including the retirement of bonds for the payment of which such revenues have been pledged, and for no other purposes, under such regulations as the Secretary of Commerce shall promulgate from time

to time.

(b) In no case shall the provisions of this section operate to deprive any State of more than one-third of the entire apportionment authorized under this chapter to which that State would be entitled in any fiscal year. The amount of any reduction in a State's apportionment shall be reapportioned in the same manner as any other unexpended balance at the end of the period during which it otherwise would be available in accordance with section 104 (b) of this title.

Sec. 127. Vehicle weight and width limitations-Interstate System No funds authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year under section 108(b) of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 shall be apportioned to any State within the boundaries of which the Interstate System may lawfully be used by vehicles with weight in excess of eighteen thousand pounds carried on any one axle, or with a tandemaxle weight in excess of thirty-two thousand pounds, or with an overall gross weight in excess of seventy-three thousand two hundred and eighty pounds, or with a width in excess of ninty-six inches, or the corresponding maximum weights or maximum widths permitted for vehicles using the public highways of such State under laws or regulations established by appropriate State authority in effect on July 1, 1956, whichever is the greater. Any amount which is withheld from apportionment to any State pursuant to the foregoing provisions shall lapse. This section shall not be construed to deny apportionment to any State allowing the operation within such State of any vehicles or combinations thereof that could be lawfully operated within such State on July 1, 1956. With respect to the State of Hawaii, laws or regulations in effect on February 1, 1960, shall be applicable for the purposes of this section in lieu of those in effect on July 1, 1956.41

Sec. 128. Public hearings

(a) Any State highway department which submits plans for a Federal-aid highway project involving the bypassing of, or going through, any city, town, or village, either incorporated or unincorporated, shall certify to the Secretary that it has had public hearings, or has afforded the opportunity for such hearings, and has considered the economic effects of such a location. Any State highway department which submits plans for an Interstate System project shall certify to the Secretary that it has had public hearings at a convenient location, or has afforded the opportunity for such hearings, for the purpose of enabling persons in rural areas through or contiguous to

41 Amended by sec. 17(e) of Public Law 86-624, July 12, 1960 (74 Stat. 411).

whose property the highway will pass to express any objections they may have to the proposed location of such highway.

(b) When hearings have been held under subsection (a), the State highway department shall submit a copy of the transcript of said hearings to the Secretary, together with the certification.

Sec. 129. Toll Roads, Bridges, Tunnels, and Ferries 42

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 301 of this title, the Secretary may permit Federal participation, on the same basis and in the same manner as in the construction of free highways under this chapter, in the construction of any toll bridge, toll tunnel, or approach thereto, upon compliance with the conditions contained in this section. Such bridge, tunnel, or approach thereto, must be publicly owned and operated. Federal funds may participate in the approaches to a toll bridge or toll tunnel whether such bridge or tunnel is to be or has been constructed, or acquired, by the State or other public authority. The State highway department or departments must be a party or parties to an agreement with the Secretary whereby it or they undertake performance of the following obligations:

(1) all tolls received from the operation of the bridge or tunnel, less the actual cost of such operation and maintenance, shall be applied to the repayment to the State or other public authority of all of the costs of construction or acquisition of such bridge or tunnel, except that part which was contributed by the United States;

(2) no tolls shall be charged for the use of such bridge or tunnel after the State or other public authority shall have been so repaid; and

(3) after the date of final repayment, the bridge or tunnel shall be maintained and operated as a free bridge or free tunnel.

(b) Upon a finding by the Secretary that such action will promote the development of an integrated Interstate System, the Secretary is authorized to approve as part of the Interstate System any toll road, bridge or tunnel, now or hereafter constructed which meets the standards adopted for the improvement of projects located on the Interstate System, when such toll road, bridge or tunnel is located on a route heretofore or hereafter designated as a part of the Interstate System. No Federal-aid highway funds shall be expended for the construction, reconstruction or improvement of any such toll road, except to the extent permitted by law after June 29, 1956. No Federal-aid highway funds shall be expended for the construction, reconstruction or improvement of any such toll bridge or tunnel, except to the extent permitted by law on or after June 29, 1956.

(c) Funds authorized for expenditure on any of the Federal-aid highway systems, including the Interstate System, shall be available for expenditure on projects approaching any toll road, bridge or tunnel to a point where such project will have some use irrespective of its use for such toll road, bridge or tunnel :

43

(d) Funds authorized for the Interstate System shall be available for expenditure on Interstate System projects approaching any toll road on the Interstate System, although the project has no use other

42 Amended by sec. 5(b) of Public Law 86-657, July 14, 1960 (74 Stat. 522). 43 Amended by sec. 8(a) of Public Law 86-657, July 14, 1960 (74 Stat. 522).