(a) Authorization.—
(1) In general.—When defense access roads are certified to the Secretary as important to the national defense by the Secretary of Defense or such other official as the President may designate, the Secretary is authorized, out of the funds appropriated for defense access roads, to provide for—
(A) the construction and maintenance of defense access roads (including bridges, tubes, tunnels, and culverts or other hydraulic appurtenances on those roads) to—
(B)
the reconstruction or enhancement of, or improvements to, those roads to ensure the continued effective use of the roads, regardless of current or projected increases in mean tides, recurrent flooding, or other weather-related conditions or natural disasters; and
(C) replacing existing highways and highway connections that are shut off from general public use by necessary closures, closures due to mean sea level fluctuation and flooding, or restrictions at—
(2)
If it is determined that an action of the Department of Defense will cause a significant transportation impact to access to a military reservation, the Secretary of Defense shall conduct a transportation needs assessment to assess the magnitude of the improvement required to address the impact. The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, shall determine the magnitude of the required improvements without regard to the extent to which traffic generated by the reservation is greater than other traffic in the vicinity of the reservation.
(b)
Funds appropriated for the purposes of this section shall be available, without regard to apportionment among the several States, for paying all or any part of the cost of construction, reconstruction, resurfacing, restoration, rehabilitation, and preservation of, or enhancements to, defense access roads.
(c) Funds appropriated for defense maneuvers and exercises, may be used by the Secretary in areas certified to the Secretary by the Secretary of Defense as maneuver areas for such activities for construction, maintenance, reconstruction, enhancement, improvement, and repair as may be necessary to keep the highways in those areas, which have been or may be used for training of the Armed Forces, in suitable condition for—
(d)
Whenever any project for the construction of a circumferential highway around a city or of a radial intracity route thereto submitted by any State is certified by the Secretary of Defense, or such other official as the President may designate, as being important for civilian or military defense, such project may be constructed out of the funds heretofore or hereafter authorized to be appropriated for defense access roads.
(e)
If the Secretary shall determine that the State transportation department of any State is unable to obtain possession and the right to enter upon and use the required rights-of-way, lands, or interest in lands, improved or unimproved, required for any project authorized by this section with sufficient promptness, the Secretary is authorized to acquire, enter upon, take possession thereof, and expend funds for projects thereon, prior to approval of title by the Attorney General, in the name of the United States, such rights-of-way, lands, or interest in lands as may be required in such State for such projects by purchase, donation, condemnation, or otherwise in accordance with the laws of the United States (including sections 3114 to 3116 and 3118 of title 40). The cost incurred by the Secretary in acquiring any such rights-of-way, lands, or interest in lands may include the cost of examination and abstract of title, certificate of title, advertising, and any fees incidental to such acquisition; and shall be payable out of the funds available for paying the cost or the Federal share of the cost of the project for which such rights-of-way, lands, or interests in lands are acquired. The Secretary is further authorized and directed by proper deed executed in the name of the United States to convey any lands or interests in lands acquired in any State under the provisions of prior Acts or of this section to the State transportation department of such State or to such political subdivision thereof as its laws may provide, upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon by the Secretary and the State transportation department, or political subdivisions to which the conveyance is to be made.
(g)
If the Secretary shall determine that it is necessary for the expeditious completion of any defense access road project the Secretary may advance to any State out of funds appropriated for defense access roads transferred and available to the Department of Transportation the Federal share of the cost of construction thereof to enable the State transportation 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 fund by the State official authorized by State law to receive such funds, to be disbursed solely upon vouchers approved by the State transportation department for rights-of-way which have been or are being acquired and for construction and other activities actually performed under this section. Upon determination by the Secretary that funds advanced to any State under the provisions of this subsection are no longer required, the amount of the advance which is determined to be in excess of requirements for the project shall be repaid upon demand by the Secretary, and such repayments shall be returned to the credit of the appropriation from which the funds were advanced.
(h)
Funds appropriated for the purposes of this section shall be available to pay the cost of repairing damage caused to highways by the operation of vehicles and equipment in the construction of classified military installations and facilities for ballistic missiles if the Secretary shall determine that the State transportation department of any State is, or has been, unable to prevent such damage by restrictions upon the use of such highways without interference with, or delay in, the completion of a contract for the construction of such military reservations or installations. This subsection shall apply notwithstanding any provision of contract holding a party thereto responsible for such damage, if the Secretary of Defense or his designee shall determine, in fact, that construction estimates and the bid of such party did not include allowance for repairing such damage. This subsection shall apply to damage caused by construction work commenced prior to June 1, 1961, and still in progress on that date and construction work which is commenced or for which a contract is awarded on or after June 1, 1961.
(i) Repair of Certain Damages and Infrastructure.—
The funds appropriated to carry out this section may be used to pay the cost of repairing damage caused, or any infrastructure to mitigate a risk posed, to a defense access road by recurrent or projected recurrent flooding, sea level fluctuation, a natural disaster, or any other current or projected change in applicable environmental conditions, if the Secretary determines that continued access to a military installation, defense industry site, air or sea port necessary for or planned to be used for the deployment or sustainment of members of the Armed Forces, equipment, or supplies, or to a source of raw materials, has been or is projected to be impacted by those events or conditions.
(Pub. L. 85–767, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 908; Pub. L. 86–657, § 8(d), July 14, 1960, 74 Stat. 524; Pub. L. 87–61, title I, § 105, June 29, 1961, 75 Stat. 123; Pub. L. 97–424, title I, § 155, Jan. 6, 1983, 96 Stat. 2134; Pub. L. 100–17, title I, § 133(b)(15), Apr. 2, 1987, 101 Stat. 172; Pub. L. 105–178, title I, § 1212(a)(2)(A)(i), June 9, 1998, 112 Stat. 193; Pub. L. 109–284, § 3(2), Sept. 27, 2006, 120 Stat. 1211; Pub. L. 110–417, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2814(a), Oct. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 4728; Pub. L. 112–81, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2816(a), Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1689; Pub. L. 112–141, div. A, title I, § 1516, July 6, 2012, 126 Stat. 574; Pub. L. 115–232, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2865, Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 2285; Pub. L. 116–92, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2808, Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1885.)