6509.11g, 40
Page 1 of 6
FOREST SERVICE HANDBOOK
Portland, Oregon
6509.11g - SERVICE-WIDE APPROPRIATION USE HANDBOOK
R6 Supplement No. 6509.11g-92-1
Effective September 15, 1992
POSTING NOTICE. Supplements to this handbook are numbered consecutively.
Check the last transmittal sheet received for this handbook to see that the above
supplement number is in sequence. If not, obtain intervening supplement(s) at once
from the Information Center. Do not post this supplement until the missing one(s)
is received and posted. After posting, place the transmittal at the front of the title
and retain until the first transmittal of the next calendar year is received.
The last R6 Supplement to this handbook was 6509.11g-91-5 (6509.11g,60).
Document Name
6509.11g,40
Superseded New
(Number of Sheets)
6
6
Digest:
This supplement reissues Chapter 40 to add additional Regional direction regarding
construction of buildings and their related financial plans.
This supplement is available in the R6FSH Information Center Service in the same
format as the paper copy.
/s/ John E. Lowe
JOHN E. LOWE
Regional Forester
R6 SUPPLEMENT 6509.11g-92-1
EFFECTIVE 09/15/92
6509.11g, 40
Page 2 of 6
FSH 6509.11g - SERVICE-WIDE APPROPRIATION USE HANDBOOK
R6 SUPPLEMENT 6509.11g-92-1
EFFECTIVE 09/15/92
CHAPTER 40 - CONSTRUCTION
41 - CONSTRUCTION OF FACILITIES.
1. Minor Construction and Acquisition. The project cost referred to in the
parent text has been raised to $100,000. Minor construction projects (under
$100,000) may be approved at the Forest level without Regional review of the
proposed financing plan. Approved documentation must exist at the Forest level to
support the financing decisions made for each project, including certification by the
Forest B&F Officer that identified Permanent and Trust funds (that is, KV, BD,
and SSF) have been collected. This documentation must be kept with the
workplans supporting the project. See item 8 below for construction projects over
$100,000. Current handbook direction is to be followed regarding engineering
technical approval.
Minor multipurpose construction projects must ensure that all benefitting funds
contribute their proportionate share of the construction cost, regardless of dollar
value.
3. Financing. The financial needs of a planned building construction project
(appropriate for KV, BD and/or SSF financing) must be identified on the applicable
Sale Area Improvement (SAI), Fuel Treatment (FT) and/or Salvage Sale Fund (SSF)
plan(s). This should be displayed as a separate line item on the particular plan.
This may be displayed as a percentage figure, a rate per MBF, or a set dollar
amount, depending on the Forest's process to identify and schedule these projects.
b. Offices and Barracks. General office additions/expansions (under
$100,000 and financed from benefitting funds) for the purpose of providing more
space for operation of the unit should be viewed as an extension of the office as a
whole and financed accordingly from the broad base of unit benefitting funds. This
is based on principle that any functional unit could be occupying the area and it
could also change over time. This should not merely be charged to the function area
who might end up occupying the new space.
8. Facility Construction Projects in Excess of $100,000. For projects over
$100,000, whether FA&O or other funds, Forests shall submit the proposed
financing plan (reflecting funds to be charged) with supporting analysis per item 3
of the parent text to Fiscal and Public Safety in the Regional Office for review and
concurrence. If Permanent and/or Trust Funds (that is, BD, KV, SSF) are involved,
the submission should include a certification from the Forest B&F Officer that the
identified funds have been collected via the plans mentioned in 3 above. This should
be done well enough in advance of the forest need, to allow adequate time for review
and development of a response to the Forest.
42 - FOREST ROAD CONSTRUCTION. Road Construction is an administrative
limitation within the construction appropriation. These funds are available for
R6 SUPPLEMENT 6509.11g-92-1
EFFECTIVE 09/15/92
6509.11g, 40
Page 3 of 6
construction and reconstruction of Forest development roads on the National Forest
transportation system.
The following are examples of appropriate uses of road construction funds, as well
as a list of work prohibited from the road construction funds:
1. Appropriate Uses.
a. Planning, examination, and designation of road facilities on the National
Forest development road system. A designated facility is one that is included in the
transportation plan, as defined in FSM 7700.
b. Anticipated reconstruction of Forest development roads built prior to the
reservation of National Forests will be guided by the following:
(1) Construction funds may be used for reconstruction to meet National
Forest needs where a road has been used by the Forest Service since the lands were
reserved as National Forest, and a State or County road authority has never
administered or had the road in its system.
(2) Construction funds may be used for reconstruction on a Forest
development road that was also on a State or County road system after reservation
of the National Forest but subsequently dropped from the local road system.
(3) Where a local authority includes the road in its road system and claims
jurisdiction, road construction funds can only be used under a cooperative road
agreement giving the Forest Service jurisdiction. The term "jurisdiction" does not
necessarily require ownership, but rather authority. The authority to construct a
road may be derived through a cooperative agreement.
c. Construction of designated Forest development roads, including road
improvements, as shown below:
(1) Construction of:
(a) Driveways and access roads to recreation areas and administrative sites
on the Forest Service development road system.
(b) Cost of interior recreation area roads and single-purpose roads leading to
recreation areas.
(c) Construction of central parking lots in, or adjacent to, recreation areas
and administrative sites; and for parking spurs, loops, and turnouts for automobiles
and trailers in recreation areas (excludes employee parking or vehicle storage areas
used for operation of station, as well as paved areas, sidewalks, and courts around
and between buildings).
(2) Construction funds may be used for the cost of any part of a road built for
emergency use, such as insect control, flood, and fire suppression, if the road is
retained and incorporated into the development system and is planned for later
construction. Roads constructed in response to emergency needs that will not be
R6 SUPPLEMENT 6509.11g-92-1
EFFECTIVE 09/15/92
6509.11g, 40
Page 4 of 6
retained for use after the emergency work is completed should be financed from
funds of the program that requires its construction.
(3) Augmentation of specified road construction with either contributed or
supplemental funds. Contributed funds are used to pay for a portion of the work or
materials needed to construct a road to the standard specified in the timber sale.
Usually, contributed funds shall be used only during periods of depressed market
conditions to help ensure an even flow of timber to communities that depend on
National Forest timber for economic stability. Funds may be used to finance up to
50 percent of the normal profit margin (or as provided for in the annual PBMI), as
determined by Forest Service appraisal.
Supplemental funds are those used to pay additional costs of a higher standard road
than needed for the sale, which cannot be paid for through purchaser road credits.
(4) Preliminary and construction engineering for road projects built by
timber purchasers on designated Forest development routes to standards prescribed
for the Forest development system. This includes the engineering needed to protect
and preserve those sections of designated Forest development routes that are
affected by temporary roads constructed by timber purchasers and others.
(5) Construction of:
(a) Adjacent vehicular parking areas on designated Forest development
roads for resting and eating, viewing scenery, checking and controlling traffic,
scaling timber, loading and unloading forest products and livestock, and fighting
forest fires.
(b) Water supply facilities, sanitary facilities, and fire prevention measures
that are needed at those parking areas for the comfort and convenience of road
users and the protection of the National Forest.
(6) Purchase and installation of regulatory, warning, and guide signs; and
traffic control devices on designated Forest development routes and the natural
landscaping of those routes.
(7) Construction of safety devices, such as guardrails, guideposts, and
temporary barriers on designated Forest development routes that prevent traffic
from accidentally leaving the road, and to mark hazards, or delineate changes in
width or direction (excludes barriers on recreation areas and administrative sites to
protect grounds, shrubbery, and other similar items from vehicle damage).
(8) Construction of fences and cattle guards on designated Forest
development roads within the rights-of-way to the extent required by law, or to
exclude stock from the roadway or fenced areas cut by roads (refer to item 3).
(9) Removing and relocating Forest Service telephone poles and wires from
areas of construction and resetting them adjacent to the newly constructed Forest
development road, as long as this is not done only for aesthetic purposes. New
R6 SUPPLEMENT 6509.11g-92-1
EFFECTIVE 09/15/92
6509.11g, 40
Page 5 of 6
materials may not be financed from road construction funds. (See item 2c for
prohibition of appropriation use regarding private utilities.)
(10) Disposal of slash created by the construction of a designated Forest
development road in order to reduce fire, insect, and disease hazards.
(11) Construction of Forest development roads on a Forest highway route.
However, the road shall be dropped from the Forest development road system when
the Forest highway is let for contract construction or the route is approved by the
Federal Highway Administration for contract, whichever occurs first.
(12) Cost of locating and protecting archeological remains discovered when
constructing a designated road.
(13) Cost of temporary removal and replacement of any Public Land Survey
System (PLSS) monuments related to road construction projects, in accordance with
established State and Federal regulations. Also, includes cost of removal and
reestablishment of any National Geodetic Survey (NGS) or related agency geodetic
survey monuments.
(14) Grading barrow pits and quarries to natural contours or planting
native-type vegetation that screens them. Cut slopes and benches may be flattened
if necessary.
(15) Payments of excess costs as provided for under Cost Share Agreements.
2. Prohibited Work.
a. Road construction funds shall not be used to permanently close, obliterate,
or return abandoned road sites to a near-natural state.
Road construction funds may be used to temporarily close a system road by erecting
barriers, removing culverts, and so forth. The intent must be to retain the road on
the Forest development transportation system.
b. Removal of unsightly structures or improvements outside of the project
clearing limits.
c. Relocation or removal of private utilities.
When it becomes necessary to remove, or relocate, private utility facilities on
National Forest land under an easement for rights-of-way, the Forest Service has no
authority to pay for such expense from its appropriations. This rule applies even if
the planned activities of the Forest Service necessitate the removal or relocation.
The Comptroller General has held in unpublished decision a-38299, dated
September 3, 1931, that:
"The placing of such lines on public lands must be understood as subject to the
paramount needs and uses of the United States, and when their removal becomes
necessary because of interference therewith the expenses of such removal may not
R6 SUPPLEMENT 6509.11g-92-1
EFFECTIVE 09/15/92
6509.11g, 40
Page 6 of 6
be charged to the United States in absence of specific statutory authority to that
effect."
See also 23 U.S.C. 123, 36 cg 23, and 44 cg 59, and decisions cited therein regarding
exceptions and clarifications.
d. The residential portions of roads in administrative sites and other specific
exclusions that are not a part of the Forest development system. However, road
construction funds are available under the multiple funding principle (see FSH
1909.13, section 41.72) for each specific project that benefits road construction but
not designated for the Forest development system.
e. Road construction funds shall not be used for the construction of docks and
launching ramps for boats for recreational purposes. However, roads leading to
these
facilities are a proper charge to the road construction funds.
3. Financing Guidelines for Cattle Guards. A cattle guard is an integral
part of both a road and a fence. Finance cattle guards as follows:
a. For new Forest development road construction through an existing fence,
road construction funds will pay the entire cost of the cattle guard installation.
b. When a Forest development road is in existence and a new fence requires
a cattle guard, the benefiting fund will pay the cost of the cattle guard installation.
c. Road maintenance funds will pay for the maintenance of cattle guards on
the Forest development road system.
d. The benefiting fund will pay for maintenance of cattle guards not on the
road system.