Sec. 2. Definitions
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As used in this Act: The terms abandon and abandonment mean normal action by the governing body of a claimant taken at a public meeting pursuant to notice that declares all right, title and claim to any right-of-way or right-of-way grant under R.S. 2477 is relinquished. The terms acceptance and accepted mean the construction and continuous public use for passage over a R.S. 2477 right-of-way. The terms Authority and Authorized Officer mean the Secretary’s designee in the Federal department, agency, enclave, reservation or installation under the Secretary’s jurisdiction.
The term claim means the written document required under section 3, in form established by the Secretary, Authority or Authorized Officer, which shall be made available for use by any claimant not later than 30 days after the effective date of this Act. The term claimant means any person, including a State, State political subdivision, city, town, county, government parish, company, or individual, asserting the existence and public acceptance of a right-of-way under R.S. 2477.
The term construction means the physical activity reasonably necessary, advisable or desirable to allow continuous public use over a highway according to the intended mode of travel or transportation. Maintenance activities or the use of any tools or equipment may, but are not required to, establish construction. The term continuous public use means the use by the public for passage as often as generally regarded by the public to be convenient or necessary, during any length of time, whether continuous, sporadic, interrupted or discontinued, and as the character or location of the use has changed from October, 1866, to October 21, 1976, to meet the exigencies of increased travel in light of the traditional passage uses.
The term day means 24-hour period immediately following 12 o’clock midnight in the time zone where the longest lineal part of the claimed R.S. 2477 right-of-way is located, excluding official Federal holidays. The term evidence means any item under section 4 that would be reliable, authentic, probative and persuasive in Federal District Court civil litigation under the Federal Rules of Evidence that are operative on the effective date of this Act. The term FLPMA means Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 ( 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq. ).
The term highway means any road, way or other land surface route of travel that the public has the right of use for passage, whether by carriage, animal, foot, non-motorized or motorized vehicle. The term public means people, population, or community as a whole. The term public lands means land that is owned, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Government for the benefit of the public and not reserved at the time that the right-of-way was created. The term R.S. 2477 right-of-way grant means an open-ended grant or dedication of land by the United States for rights-of-way allowing public use and passage, which could be accepted by construction or continuous public use before October 21, 1976.
The term R.S. 2477 means that part of An Act Granting the Right-of-Way to Ditch and Canal Owners Over the Public Lands and for Other Purposes, commonly called the Mining Act of 1866 (the Act of July 26, 1866, ch. 262, section 8, 14, statutes 251, 253; 43 U.S.C. 932 ), stating And be it further enacted, that the right of way for the construction of highways over public lands, not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted, as that law continued in full force and effect until October 21, 1976.
The terms relinquishment and disclaimer mean any type of deed or equivalent document in form suitable for recordation, approved and issued by the Secretary, Authority, or Authorized Officer, disclaiming and relinquishing the interest of the Federal Government in a R.S. 2477 right-of-way that has been accepted pursuant to the provisions of this Act, and which documents the right of public passage over and within that right-of-way. The terms reserve and reserved — mean action by the United States to withdraw land from the public domain and make it unavailable for appropriation under Federal public land laws, which requires dedication of that land by the United States to a particular public use, such as a park, forest, military establishment, national monument, wilderness area, Federal enclave, wildlife refuge, water diversion or impoundment, or government power generation, and such withdrawal, dedication, and use for the dedicated purpose occurs before the earlier of the R.S. 2477 right-of-way acceptance or October 21, 1976; and do not include Wilderness Study Areas and Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.
The term scope means established public use of the R.S. 2477 right-of-way as necessarily improved, expanded, realigned or relocated before October 21, 1976, to meet the public convenience, safety, or exigencies of increased travel in light of its traditional right-of-way uses. Permissible improvements, expansion, realignment or relocation is determined according to the section 2(k) highway standards of the State where the longest lineal part of the right-of-way is located; or in the absence of such standards, ten feet on each side of the survey center line, subject to reduction according to the historic right-of-way width for the R.S. 2477 right-of-way traditional uses as of the date of acceptance, and necessarily expanded according to the first sentence of this paragraph.
The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Federal department having management jurisdiction over land owned or controlled by the United States upon which a R.S. 2477 right-of-way is claimed to be located.
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