Federal-Aid Policy Guide (FAPG)

Introduction

Until its termination as a category of directives per Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Order 1321.1C, FHWA Directives Management, issued January 6, 2010, the Federal-Aid Policy Guide (FAPG) was considered an official FHWA directive that contained the policies, regulations, and nonregulatory procedural guidance information related to the FHWA's Federal-aid Highway Program.  A small portion of the FAPG related to the FHWA's Federal Lands Highway Program.  Additional FHWA policy and guidance information related to the Federal-aid Highway Program was issued in previous years in a nondirective format in the FHWA's policy memorandums, which are posted at FHWA Directives and Policy Memorandums. The FAPG replaced the Federal-Aid Highway Program Manual in December 1991.  As a result of the issuance of Order 1321.1C on January 6, 2010, the FAPG-type of guidance was terminated as a type of directive, and it was subsequently disseminated through the Federal-aid Highway Program Policy and Guidance Center (PGC), by FHWA Order 1340.3, Establishment of the Federal-aid Highway Program Policy and Guidance Center, also issued January 6, 2010.  Since some FAPG guidance is still current and has not been superseded by other directives, it continues to be included on the FHWA Directives Web site.  The information below explains the organization and layout of the FAPG site.

The regulatory portion of the FAPG is posted on the Government Printing Office's (GPO) Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) site at: https://www.ecfr.gov/. The GPO's e-CFR site is linked to the FAPG portion of the FHWA's directives site at: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/legsregs/directives/fapgtoc.htm, which contains the nonregulatory guidance materials that supplement the pertinent regulatory materials. The e-CFR site provides the most up-to-date regulatory information available to users since the GPO updates the regulatory text within 3 days following the issuance of the pertinent final rules in the Federal Register.

The structure of the FAPG consists of three principal sections related to: (1) Title 23, Highways, of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), (2) Part 18 (Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments), and Part 24 (Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition for Federal and Federally Assisted Programs) of Title 49, Transportation, of the CFR, and (3) the nonregulatory, non-CFR-related guidance materials, grouped into eight broad subject classifications, commonly called the "G" section.

Within the 23 CFR section, the agency's current highway-related regulations, which are published in the CFR and/or Federal Register, are cited verbatim using the CFR text organization and paragraph numbering system. Immediately following each 23 CFR regulation, the corresponding nonregulatory supplemental text, where applicable, appears using a serial paragraph numbering system while following an outline format; the applicable CFR citations are included in the supplements.

Within the 49 CFR section, the current regulations in Parts 18 and 24 are cited verbatim using the CFR numbering system. Any nonregulatory supplemental material pertaining to these parts is inserted in the same manner used in the 23 CFR section.

The third major section of the FAPG, i.e., the "G" section, consists of general information not specifically related to a Title 23 or Title 49 part. This guidance material is arranged into eight broad Federal-aid Highway Program areas, i.e. payment procedures, civil rights, national highway institute, planning, research and development, engineering and traffic operations, right-of-way and environment, and highway safety.

The FAPG and its transmittal updates are Internet-only documents. The FAPG transmittal updates are not issued in paper format. The FAPG transmittal updates are posted at FHWA Directives and Policy Memorandums, and they can be printed locally by users, as needed.