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. 114

(b) The Secretary may expend funds from the emergency fund herein authorized for the repair or reconstruction of highways on the Interstate System, the Primary System, and on any routes functionally classified as arterials or major collectors, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter: Provided, That obligations for projects under this section, including those on highways, roads, and trails mentioned in subsection (c) of this section, resulting from a single natural disaster or a single catastrophic failure shall not exceed $30,000,000 in any State. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter actual and necessary costs of maintenance and operation of ferryboats providing temporary substitute highway traffic service, less the amount of fares charged, may be expended from the emergency fund herein authorized on the Interstate System, the Primary System, and on any routes functionally classified as arterials or major collectors. 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, except that if the President has declared such emergency to be a major disaster for the purposes of the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-288) concurrence of the Secretary is not required. 114a

(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, parkways, public lands highways, public lands development roads and trails, and Indian reservation roads, whether or not such highways, roads, or trails are routes functionally classified as arterials or major collectors. 115

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,

114 Amended by sec. 9(c) of Public Law 89-574, Sept. 13, 1966 (80 Stat. 766); sec. 27(a) of Public Law 90-495, Aug. 23, 1968 (82 Stat. 815); sec. 109(a) of Public Law 91-605, Dec. 31, 1970 (84 Stat. 1713); Public Law 92-361, Aug. 3, 1972 (86 Stat. 503); sec. 119(a) of Public Law 94-280, May 5, 1976 (90 Stat. 437-438); sec. 119 of Public Law 95-599, Nov. 6, 1978 (92 Stat. 2700); and sec. 153(a), (c), Public Law 97-424, Jan. 6, 1983 (96 Stat. 2132-2133).

114 Amended by sec. 119(b) of Public Law 94-280, May 5, 1976 (90 Stat. 438); sec. 19, Public Law 96-106, Nov. 9, 1979 (93 Stat. 799); and sec. 153(d), (h)(1), Public Law 97-424, Jan. 6, 1983 (96 Stat. 2133-2134).

115 Amended by sec. 107(a) of Public Law 86-342, Sept. 21, 1959 (73 Stat. 611); sec. 9(b) of Public Law 89-574, Sept. 13, 1966 (80 Stat. 766); and sec. 153(h)(2), Public Law 97-424, Jan. 6, 1983 (96 Stat. 2134).

improvement, 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 Transportation shall promulgate from time to time. 116

(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 to 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 limitations-Interstate System.

(a) No funds authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year under provisions of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 shall be apportioned to any State which does not permit the use of the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways within its boundaries by vehicles with a weight of twenty thousand pounds carried on any one axle, including enforcement tolerances, or with a tandem axle weight of thirty-four thousand pounds, including enforcement tolerances, or a gross weight of at least eighty thousand pounds for vehicle combinations of five axles or more. However, the maximum gross weight to be allowed by any State for vehicles using the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways shall be twenty thousand pounds carried on one axle, including enforcement tolerances, and a tandem axle weight of thirty-four thousand pounds, including enforcement tolerances and with an overall maximum gross weight, including enforcement tolerances, on a group of two or more consecutive axles produced by application of the following formula:

where W equals overall gross weight on any group of two or more consecutive axles to the nearest five hundred pounds, L equals distance in feet between the extreme of any group of two or more consecutive

116 Functions transferred to Secretary of Transportation by sec. 6(a) of Public Law 89-670, Oct. 15, 1966 (80 Stat. 931); amended by sec. 152(3) of Public Law 93-87, Aug. 13, 1973 (87 Stat. 276).

axles, and N equals number of axles in group under consideration, except that two consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross load of thirty-four thousand pounds each providing the overall distance between the first and last axles of such consecutive sets of tandem axles is thirty-six feet or more: Provided, That such overall gross weight may not exceed eighty thousand pounds, including all enforcement tolerances, except for those vehicles and loads which cannot be easily dismantled or divided and which have been issued special permits in accordance with applicable State laws, or the corresponding maximum weights 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, except in the case of the overall gross weight of any group of two or more consecutive axles, on the date of enactment of the Federal-Aid Highway Amendments of 1974, 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 which the State determines could be lawfully operated within such State on July 1, 1956, except in the case of the overall gross weight of any group of two or more consecutive axles, on the date of enactment of the Federal-Aid Highway Amendments of 1974. 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. With respect to the State of Michigan, laws or regulations in effect on May 1, 1982, shall be applicable for the purposes of this subsection.

(b) No State may enact or enforce any law denying reasonable access to motor vehicles subject to this title to and from the Interstate Highway System to terminals and facilities for food, fuel, repairs, and rest. 117a

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 and social effects of such a location, its impact on the environment, and its consistency with the goals and objectives of such urban planning as has been promulgated by the community. 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

117 Amended by sec. 106(a) and (b) of Public Law 93-643, Jan. 4, 1975 (88 Stat. 2283); sec. 120 of Public Law 94-280, May 5, 1976 (90 Stat. 438).; and sec. 133, Public Law 97-424, Jan. 6, 1983 (96 Stat. 2123-2124).

has afforded the opportunity for such hearings, for the purpose of enabling persons in rural areas through or contiguous to whose property the highway will pass to express any objections they may have to the proposed location of such highway. Such certification shall be accompanied by a report which indicates the consideration given to the economic, social, environmental, and other effects of the plan or highway location or design and various alternatives which were raised during the hearing or which were otherwise considered. 118

(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 and report. Sec. 129. Toll Roads, Bridges, Tunnels, and Ferries, 120

119

(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; except in the case of a bridge which connects the United States with any foreign country: Provided, That such tolls or charges do not exceed the amount necessary for the proper maintenance, repair, and operation of the bridge and its approaches under economical management: And further provided, That the entity or governmental instrumentality responsible for the operation of the portion of

118 Amended by sec. 24 of Public Law 90-495, Aug. 23, 1968 (82 Stat. 815); and sec. 135(a) of Public Law 91-605, Dec. 31, 1970 (84 Stat. 1713).

119 Amended by sec. 135(b) of Public Law 91-605, Dec. 31, 1970 (84 Stat. 1713). 120 Amended by Sec. 5(b) of Public Law 86-657, July 14, 1960 (74 Stat. 522).

the bridge within the jurisdiction of the foreign country is charging tolls for the use of the bridge. 121

(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 Federalaid 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. When any such toll road which the Secretary has approved as a part of the Interstate System is made a toll-free facility. Federal-aid highway funds apportioned under section 104(b)(5) of this title may be expended for the construction, reconstruction, or improvement of that road to meet the standards adopted for the improvement of projects located on the Interstate System. No Federalaid 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. After June 30, 1968, all agreements between the Secretary and a State highway department for the construction of projects on the Interstate System shall contain a clause providing that no toll road will be constructed after June 30, 1968, on the interstate highway route involved without the official concurrence of the Secretary. The Secretary shall not concur in any such construction unless he makes an affirmative finding that, under the particular circumstances existing, the construction of such road as a toll facility rather than a toll-free facility is in the public interest. The preceding two sentences shall not apply to any toll bridge or toll tunnel. 122

(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. 123

(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 than an approach to such toll road, if an agreement satisfactory to the Secretary has been reached with the State prior to the approval of such project

(1) that the section of toll road will become free to the public upon the collection of tolls sufficient to liquidate the cost of the

121 Amended by sec. 7 of Public Law 92-434, Sept. 26, 1972 (86 Stat. 732). 122 Amended by sec. 28 of Public Law 90-495, Aug. 23, 1968 (82 Stat. 815); and sec. 118(a) of Public Law 93-87, Aug. 13, 1973 (87 Stat. 259).

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