[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 23, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 23CFR710.201]

[Page 337-338]
 
                           TITLE 23--HIGHWAYS
 
 CHAPTER I--FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 710--RIGHT-OF-WAY AND REAL ESTATE--Table of Contents
 
                    Subpart B--Program Administration
 
Sec. 710.201  State responsibilities.


    (a) Organization. Each STD shall be adequately staffed, equipped, 
and organized to discharge its real property-related responsibilities.
    (b) Program oversight. The STD shall have overall responsibility for 
the acquisition, management, and disposal of real property on Federal-
aid projects. This responsibility shall include assuring that 
acquisitions and disposals by a State agency are made in compliance with 
legal requirements of State and Federal laws and regulations.
    (c) Right-of-way (ROW) operations manual. Each STD which receives 
funding from the highway trust fund shall maintain a manual describing 
its right-of-way organization, policies, and procedures. The manual 
shall describe functions and procedures for all phases of the real 
estate program, including appraisal and appraisal review, negotiation 
and eminent domain, property management, and relocation assistance. The 
manual shall also specify procedures to prevent conflict of interest and 
avoid fraud, waste, and abuse. The manual shall be in sufficient detail 
and depth to guide State employees and others involved in acquiring and 
managing real property. The State manuals should be developed and 
updated, as a minimum, to meet the following schedule:
    (1) The STD shall prepare and submit for approval by FHWA an up-to-
date Right-of-Way Operations Manual by no later than January 1, 2001.
    (2) Every five years thereafter, the chief administrative officer of 
the STD shall certify to the FHWA that the current ROW operations manual 
conforms to existing practices and contains necessary procedures to 
ensure compliance with Federal and State real estate law and regulation.
    (3) The STD shall update the manual periodically to reflect changes 
in operations and submit the updated materials for approval by the FHWA.
    (d) Compliance responsibility. The STD is responsible for complying 
with current FHWA requirements whether or not its manual reflects those 
requirements.
    (e) Adequacy of real property interest. The real property interest 
acquired for all Federal-aid projects funded pursuant to title 23 of the 
United States Code shall be adequate for the construction, operation, 
and maintenance of the resulting facility and for the protection of both 
the facility and the traveling public.
    (f) Recordkeeping. The acquiring agency shall maintain adequate 
records of its acquisition and property management activities.
    (1) Acquisition records, including records related to owner or 
tenant displacements, and property inventories of improvements acquired 
shall be in sufficient detail to demonstrate compliance with this part 
and 49 CFR part 24. These records shall be retained at least 3 years 
from either:
    (i) The date the State receives Federal reimbursement of the final 
payment made to each owner of a property and to each person displaced 
from a property, or
    (ii) The date a credit toward the Federal share of a project is 
approved based on early acquisition activities of the State.
    (2) Property management records shall include inventories of real 
property considered excess to project needs, all authorized uses of 
airspace, and other leases or agreements for use of real property 
managed by the STD.
    (g) Procurement. Contracting for all activities required in support 
of State right-of-way programs through use of private consultants and 
other services shall conform to 49 CFR 18.36.
    (h) Use of other public land acquisition organizations or private 
consultants. The STD may enter into written agreements with other State, 
county, municipal, or local public land acquisition organizations or 
with private consultants to carry out its authorities under paragraph 
(b) of this section. Such organizations, firms, or individuals must 
comply with the policies and practices of the STD. The STD shall monitor 
any such real property acquisition activities to assure compliance with 
State and Federal law and requirements and is responsible for informing 
such organizations of all such requirements and for imposing sanctions 
in cases of material non-compliance.

[[Page 338]]

    (i) Approval actions. Except for the Interstate system, the STD and 
the FHWA will agree on the scope of property related oversight and 
approval actions that the FHWA will be responsible for under this part. 
The content of the most recent oversight agreement shall be reflected in 
the State right-of-way operations manual. The oversight agreement, and 
thus the manual, will indicate for which non-Interstate Federal-aid 
project submission of materials for review and approval are required.
    (j) Approval of just compensation. The amount determined to be just 
compensation shall be approved by a responsible official of the 
acquiring agency.
    (k) Description of acquisition process. The STD shall provide 
persons affected by projects or acquisitions advanced under title 23 of 
the United States Code with a written description of its real property 
acquisition process under State law and of the owner's rights, 
privileges, and obligations. The description shall be written in clear, 
non-technical language and, where appropriate, be available in a 
language other than English.