MAP Roads Act

This Act may be cited as the “Modernizing Access to Public Roads Act” or “MAP Roads Act”.

(a) Definitions.— In this section:

(1) County.— The term county has meaning given the term in section 101 of title 23, United States Code.

(2) County road.— The term county road means a public road (as defined in section 101 of title 23, United States Code) that is recognized and maintained by a county government.

(3) Digitization.— The term digitization means the process of converting physical or analog map-based information into standardized electronic formats to produce geospatial data.

(4) Geospatial data.— The term geospatial data has the meaning given the term in section 752 of the Geospatial Data Act of 2018 (43 U.S.C. 2801).

(5) Program.— The term program means the pilot program established under subsection (b).

(6) Secretary.— The term Secretary means the Secretary of Transportation.

(b) Establishment.— Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a pilot program to provide grants to States to support rural commerce, increase public safety, and improve public access and navigation by funding the digitization of county roads and the creation of centralized, publicly accessible road datasets.

(c) Application.—

(1) In general.— To be eligible to receive a grant under the program, a State shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such form, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.

(2) Requirement.— An application submitted under paragraph (1) shall demonstrate the capacity of the State to administer—

(A) a subgrant program to distribute funds to counties; and

(B) a statewide repository for county road data.

(3) Priority.— In selecting an application for a grant under the program, the Secretary shall give priority to an application in which the applicant State—

(A) identifies a significant deficiency in digitized county roads within the State; and

(B) expresses a commitment to coordinating with counties to create shared geospatial data standards.

(d) Use of funds.—

(1) County activities.— Funds distributed to counties under the program may be used—

(A) to digitize official county road records;

(B) to convert paper maps or outdated formats to standardized geospatial datasets; and

(C) to train personnel or hire contractors to assist in data creation and conversion.

(2) State repository.— The State department of transportation of each State participating in the program shall—

(A) serve as the centralized data repository for all road data produced by counties in the applicable State under the program;

(B) ensure that such data—

(i) is published on a publicly accessible website;

(ii) is organized in a manner that distinguishes between public and private roads;

(iii) is compatible with third-party mapping platforms; and

(iv) is updated not less frequently than annually; and

(C) to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate with Federal agencies and mapping authorities to align data formats and metadata.

(e) Reporting requirements.— Not later than 180 days after the establishment of the program, and annually thereafter for 3 years, each State awarded a grant under the program shall submit to the Secretary a report, which shall include, with respect to the period of time since the previous report—

(1) a list of counties that received a subgrant;

(2) the amount of funding distributed to each county;

(3) the number of miles of county roads digitized under the program;

(4) the status of State repository development and data integration efforts; and

(5) any recommendations for improvement or expansion of the program.

(f) Savings provision.— Nothing in this Act—

(1) confers any new authority on a county or State to declare, designate, or assert jurisdiction over a road as a county road where such designation or jurisdiction does not otherwise exist under applicable State or local law;

(2) alters, affects, or determines the legal status of any road for purposes of ownership, jurisdiction, or public access; or

(3) limits or expands any existing rights, claims, or defenses relating to road ownership, rights-of-way, or public access under Federal, State, or local law.

(g) Rule of construction.— Nothing in this Act permits the public disclosure of geographic information system data regarding the nature, location, character, or ownership of historic, paleontological, or archaeological resources that is protected under any other provision of law.

(h) Authorization of appropriations.—

(1) In general.— There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031, to remain available until expended.

(2) Administrative expenses.— Of the amounts made available to carry out the program for each fiscal year, the Secretary may use not more than 2 percent to administer the program.

(i) Sunset.— The authority to make grants under this section shall terminate on September 30, 2031.