FHWA formed a task group to assist in the development of the program and ensure that appropriate interests have early and continuing opportunities to provide input into the new program. The task group has met throughout 2003 and will continue to meet as the program is developed.

The working concept of the program is based on the statewide survey of historic bridges. The product of the statewide survey will be two lists; one list will contain those bridges that meet the National Register of Historic Places eligibility criteria and the other list will contain those that do not meet the criteria. For those bridges that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places or are eligible for listing, these structures will then go through another process to prioritize where preservation efforts should be focused. Those bridges that should be preserved, will be placed on a "Select List" and the remaining bridges will be placed on the "Non-Select List".

If a bridge owner (such as a county, city or town) chooses not to participate in the historic bridge program, then each bridge project that utilizes Federal-Aid funds will be required to complete the standard Section 106 process as described in the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's regulations found at 36 CFR Part 800.

If a bridge owner chooses to participate in the historic bridge program, then a management plan must be created to describe how the "Select" bridges will be preserved and maintained. For counties that choose to participate and create a management plan, the historic bridge program will include an expedited Section 106 process for any bridge that uses Federal-Aid funds.

At this early stage of development of the historic bridge program, the details of the agreement require much more discussion between the task group members. Over the course of the next 18 months, the task group will decide the concept to be adopted in the historic bridge program and the mechanisms for each process within the program. Currently, the following processes need to be discussed and finalized by the task group:

• Creating the "Select" and "Non-Select" list
• Creating Management Plans
• Expediting Section 106 for Participating Bridge Owners
• Involving the Public

The sequencing of the processes, or the program concept, must also be finalized. As the program is advanced, there may be additional processes that will be created to ensure the program functions properly.