Recreational Trails Programs

Program Background
On August 10, 2005, the President signed into law the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). With guaranteed funding for highways, highway safety and public transportation totaling $244 billion, SAFETEA-LU represents the largest surface transportation investment in our nation’s history. Funds for the Recreational Trails Program (Rtp) are provided by SAFETEA-LU.

The U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (USDOT/FHWA) administers the RTP in consultation with the Department of Interior (National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management) and the Department of Agriculture (U.S.Forest Service). In New York, RTP is a program of the NYS Department of Transportation administered by the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP).

The Recreational Trails Program is a State-administered, Federal assistance program to provide and maintain recreational trails for both motorized and non-motorized recreational trail use.

Program Mandates
The RTP legislation requires that States use 40% of their funds apportioned in a fiscal year for diverse recreational trail use, 30% for motorized recreation, and 30% for nonmotorized recreation. Below is a description of project types and their funding category.

Funding Eligibility
The Priority Evaluation Form is based on the following rating criteria:

1. The proposed project must be legally and physically accessible to the public, or be a portion of an identified trailways project which, when completed, will be legally and physically accessible to the public.
2. The proposed project must be physically and environmentally developable as a trailway.
3. The proposed project must be planned and developed under the laws, policies and administrative procedures of the State.
4. The proposed project must be identified in, or further a specific goal of, a trail plan referenced in the Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) required by the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965, or the State Recreational Trail Plan.

Rating Criteria

1. project provides for innovative recreational trail corridor sharing for motorized and/or non-motorized use (maximum 12 points)
2. project provides for motorized and/or non-motorized use (maximum 12 points)
3. project provides development of urban trail linkages (maximum 12 points)
4. degree to which the project is identified in, or furthers a specific goal of SCORP or the State recreational trail plan (maximum 10 points)
5. Index of Need
6. degree of citizen involvement in proposal conception and implementation (maximum 5 points)
7. project ties into other trails, greenway, scenic corridors, or natural, cultural, historical and recreational areas (maximum 10 points)
8. degree to which volunteer labor, non-traditional labor and other certified donations will be used to accomplish this project (maximum 10 points)
9. project will utilize existing corridors, (railroad right-of-way, canal towpath, utility lines, publicly owned river valleys or highland ridges, parkways, etc.) (maximum 5 points)
10. project will improve the continuity of a trail system (maximum 10 points)
11. K. Resonableness of Cost (maximum 25 points)
12. impact the project will have on the recreation needs of the region (maximum 4 points)

Among the rating criteria, the Commissioner may award any of the following factors up to ten points, for a maximum of ten points. All applications will be reviewed for the relevance of these to the project scope: (maximum 10 points)

1. the geographic distribution of other fundable projects in any given application cycle;

   consideration will be given to projects in areas that have or have not received funding in recent cycles or where funding is not commensurate with the population of the area. This will be based on the proximity to other funded sites/trails and diversity of projects being funded on a regional and local basis, as well as the service area of the developed or planned trails.

2. the extent to which the project will maximize the accessibility of a trail;

   consideration will be given to projects where funding will allow for improved access for the general public and linkages to public transportation systems.

3. special engineering, environmental and historic preservation concerns or benefits;

   consideration will be given to develop unique approaches to trail design and construction, and protection of environmental and cultural resources. This will be based on its uniqueness on a local, regional, statewide and national basis; the ability of an innovative technology to address an emergency or mitigate future problems; how well a technology can be “exported” for use on other properties and resources; and how/if the project will allow a user experience that would not otherwise be available.

4. the past performance, if any, of the project sponsor on previous projects, including its compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity and Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise programs;

   consideration will be given to how timely an applicant completed previous projects, including its reporting requirements; how successful it was in outreach, especially to minority- and woman-owned firms; the upkeep and maintenance of the property; and its cooperation in allowing OPRHP to complete inspections and other follow-up actions.

Bonus points will also be assigned for meeting any of the federal program initiatives (maximum 9 points)

1. projects which clearly and specifically provide enhanced recreational access for persons with disabilities (3 points)
2. innovatively mitigate and minimize impacts to significant environmental resources (3 points)
3. utilize the youth conservation or service corps to perform construction and maintenance of recreational trails (3 points)

Applications will be reviewed, rated and awarded as ranked on a regional basis, with motorized trails being ranked separately from diverse and non-motorized trail use applications, but still on a regional basis.

Prior to submitting your application, please contact your regional grant representative for the date and time of the pre-application meeting or to schedule an appointment to meet the representative. These workshops and meetings will provide important detailed information to help you submit a more competitive application.