You asked for a description of the small state exclusion under the federal Recreational Trails Program and its effect on Connecticut.

SUMMARY

The Recreational Trails Program (RTP) is a federal aid-assistance program of the U. S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The RTP was authorized in the 1998 Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21). Its purpose is to help states provide and maintain recreational trails for both motorized uses (snow mobiling, off-road motorcycling, and all-terrain vehicle driving) and nonmotorized uses (hiking, bird watching, and cross-country skiing). The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) establishes a grant selection process for Connecticut groups to obtain funding for trail projects.

Under the RTP, states must allocate 30% of federal funding to motorized trail use, 30% to nonmotorized trail use, and 40% to diverse trail use (trails that can be used for both motorized and nonmotorized purposes). The act excludes states, with total land area of fewer than 3,500,000 acres from the 30% apportionment requirements. It does not exempt them from the 40% diverse trail use requirement (23 U. S. C. 206).

The exempt states are Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia. In sum, Connecticut, like the other exempt states, must allocate at least 40% of federal funding to trails with diverse uses, and it may use the remaining 60% for recreational use: motorized, nonmotorized, or both (diverse use).

Grant Selection Process

Connecticut received $ 595,431 from the FWHA in FY 2003. FWHA funds are allocated by a grant application process. Typically, DEP sends out Requests for Proposals in the fall to members of the community interested in obtaining federal money for trail use, including municipalities, park and recreation departments, and both motorized and nonmotorized community groups. On average, 35 to 40 groups apply for grants each year. Trail advisory committees review the applications during the spring. The majority of funding tends to go to non profit groups and municipalities. Long-term projects involving multiple trail systems are given priority. Typically, projects are not awarded more than $ 50,000 each.

Past Funding to Motorized Projects

Motorized projects tend to account for approximately 5% of the total. According to DEP, the state tries to be accommodating to motorized groups, and tends to grant federal funding if they apply. In the past, every motorized project submitted to DEP received funding under the program (2002 and 2003 Recreational Trail Grants Tables are attached).

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