Commission Agenda Item No. 3
Presenter:  Andy Goldbloom

Action
Recreation Trails Grant Funding
May 24, 2012

I.       Executive Summary:  This item is to award federal funds allocated under the National Recreational Trail Grants for trail construction, renovation and acquisition projects.  This item obligates federal National Recreational Trail Funds to eligible trail projects based upon the recommendations of the Texas Statewide Trails Advisory Committee.

II.      Discussion:  The National Recreational Trails Fund (NRTF) comes from a portion of the federal gas tax generated by gasoline purchases to utilize off-road recreational vehicles, such as off-road motorcycles and four-wheelers.  The purpose of the NRTF is to provide funding for projects that create new and maintain existing motorized and non-motorized recreational trails.  These federal funds are administered by the Federal Highway Administration and distributed to states via a formula that takes into account state population and sales of fuel for off-road recreational vehicles.  Nationwide, the program was appropriated $95 million for the current federal fiscal year (FY2012).  However, funding for the program is included in the Transportation Funding Bill which Congress has funded through June 30, 2012, making only 75 percent of the annual apportionment available to states at present.  Currently, Texas’ share of these funds is $2,797,034.  Seven percent of the state’s apportionment ($195,790) is utilized to cover costs to administer the program, leaving $2,601,244 to fund projects.  A number of projects funded in previous years were completed under budget and one project was cancelled, creating another $573,748 available for re-allocation this year resulting in a total of $3,174,992 of federal funding available to fund eligible trail construction projects.  The Department will utilize $485,000 of re-allocated funding to fund trail improvements in seven state parks and use $2,689,992 to fund an additional local project.

The program has an annual deadline of February 1 for local sponsors to submit trail funding proposals.  Eighty-two projects were submitted for funding consideration requesting over $11.0 million in funds.  One of the submitted projects was determined to be ineligible; the 81 eligible projects were evaluated and scored by the Texas Trails Advisory Board.  Recommendations are to fund 27 of the projects at this time, in addition to the state park trail improvement program for a total of $3,174,992 of federal funding assistance.

The Act that created this fund stipulates that states must have a trails advisory board made up of various trail user group representatives to be eligible to receive the federal funds.  The purpose of the trails advisory board is to provide guidance in the distribution of these funds.  The nine member, Texas Statewide Trails Advisory Committee met in March 2012 to review the submitted trail project proposals and develop a list of recommended projects for funding.  Each project was reviewed by the advisory committee and scored based on the quality of the project, its cost effectiveness, its impact on recreational trail opportunities, and geographic distribution of funds.  Exhibit A contains the list of submitted projects, with funds requested, project scoring and funding recommendations made by the advisory committee and a description of each project.

A federal requirement of the NRTF is that 30 percent of the funds be spent on motorized recreational trail projects, 30 percent on non-motorized trail projects, with the remaining 40 percent discretionary.  Two submitted projects that will create new motorized trails, one sponsored by the Town of Van Horn and the other by the Sam Houston Trails Coalition, Inc. are recommended to receive funding assistance even though they did not score as high as other projects to satisfy the 30 percent motorized trail requirement.  The list of projects recommended for funding, if approved, will satisfy this federal requirement.

It is anticipated that Congress will authorize transportation funding for the entire fiscal year through another continuing resolution or passage of a multi-year funding legislation.  Assuming funding formulas are not altered, this would result in an additional $910,000 appropriated to the state for the program.  While the uncertainty regarding federal funding levels for the program has been drawn out in recent years, once the funding is authorized there is a short time frame to obligate funding to eligible projects.  For this reason, the Commission is being asked to approve funding of additional projects based upon their score, contingent on additional funding being approved by Congress.

III.     Recommendation:  The staff recommends the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopt the following motion:

"Funding for 27 projects recommended in Exhibit A in the amount of $2,689,992 and state park trail improvements in the amount of $485,000 is approved.  If additional funding is made available, funding for additional projects based upon their score is also approved."

Attachments-1

1. Exhibit A-Project Listing and Funding Recommendations