Dash Point State Park, King and Pierce County, WA - LWCF Funding Assistance

Section 6(f) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (LWCFA) concerns transportation projects that propose to convert outdoor recreation property that was acquired or developed with LWCFA grant assistance, which in Washington is distributed by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board (RCFB), formerly the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation (IAC).

• Policy
• Requirements for Obtaining Approval
• How are Section 6(f) and Section 4(f) related?
• Guidance Materials
• Procedures
• Review and Approval
• Recreation and Conservation Funding Board Conversion Policy
• Land and Water Conservation Fund Act Sites in Washington State  

Policy

Passed by Congress in 1965, the act established the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a matching assistance program that provides grants which pay half the acquisition and development cost of outdoor recreation sites and facilities. Section 6(f) of the act prohibits the conversion of property acquired or developed with these grants to a non-recreational purpose without the approval of the Department of Interior's National Park Service (NPS).    

Requirements for Obtaining Approval

Section 6(f) directs the NPS to assure that replacement lands of equal value, location and usefulness are provided as conditions to approval of land conversions. Therefore, where a Section 6(f) land conversion is proposed for a highway project, replacement land will be necessary, and the NPS's position on the land transfer must be documented.   

How are Section 6(f) and Section 4(f) related?

Because it is not uncommon for recreational resources to receive LWCFA funding, Section 6(f) may be an integral part of Section 4(f) when recreation resources are involved.  When you're dealing with Section 4(f) parks and recreation areas, it is critical to determine if the resources were acquired or developed with LWCFA funds.

While Section 6(f) is similar to the recreation-related provisions of Section 4(f), there are some key differences:

• Whereas Section 4(f) applies only to programs and policies undertaken by the DOT, Section 6(f) applies to programs and policies of any federal agency.
• Mitigation opportunities are more flexible under Section 4(f) and may or may not include replacement lands. As previously stated, Section 6(f) directs the NPS to assure that replacement lands are of equal value, location and usefulness as impacted lands.  

For a quick comparison of Sections 4(f), 106, and 6(f), see the Related Statutes Comparison Chart.

Guidance Materials

Environmental Procedures Manual	Addresses the Section 6(f) issue in Chapter 450, Land Use, which includes a Section 6(f) Property Conversion Checklist as Exhibit 450-3
National Park Service LWCF Manual	Sets forth administrative procedures and requirments for LWCF assistance.  (See Chapter 4 for information on proposed conversions of Section 6(f) property.)
National Park Service LWCF Proposal Screening Form	Used to obtain descriptive/environmental information about LWCF proposals, including conversions.

Procedures

6(f) Document Preparation and Coordination

When it has been determined that a project will require the use of outdoor recreation property, the applicant (Region) must contact the agency with jurisdiction over the recreation property. This initial contact may be on an informal basis and should include the following:

1. Determine if RCFB assistance was used in acquiring or developing the property. If there was no RCFB involvement, the following procedures are not appropriate.
    
2. It must be determined that the agency in question is willing to relinquish the property and accept the proposed replacement property.
    
3. The local agency (sponsor) should also be informed of the need to coordinate with the RCFB. The applicant, sponsor and RCFB should begin informal coordination/discussions early in the project.

Once an agreement has been reached and the sponsor has agreed to relinquish title to the property in question for suitable replacement recreation property, the applicant (Region) must complete the following procedures:

1. Coordinate with the sponsor and RCFB staff.  RCFB staff will evaluate the procedures required for successful conversion of the outdoor recreation property. This evaluation will be based, in part, on the funding originally used to acquire or develop the outdoor recreation property in question. Execution of this step early in the process is vital if the conversion is to be completed in a timely manner. The RCFB generally meets three times a year, in March, July, and November. Proposals must be submitted to the RCFB staff two months prior to the next scheduled meeting to be on the RCFB agenda. The RCFB staff will review the proposal and prepare recommendations for the RCFB. The RCFB will generally arrive at a decision at the RCFB meeting. Formal notification from RCFB will follow in approximately 7 days. If the outdoor recreation property in question used 6(f)funds, a minimum of 60 days must be allowed for Department of Interior (DOI) concurrence. Formal notification from the RCFB can be expected about 30 days after DOI concurrence.
    
2. Obtain from the sponsor an agreement in writing to relinquish the outdoor recreation property and to accept the replacement property, if approved by the RCFB.
    
3. Prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as per RCFB Manual No. 7, Section 07.19A and the Land and Water Conservation Fund Grants Manual Chapter 650.2 This document should include: a description of the proposed action, alternatives to the proposed action, environmental impacts and a list of agencies and individuals contacted.
    
4. Obtain an appraisal of the outdoor recreation property as outlined in RCFB Manual No. 3. This appraisal may be done by WSDOT Real Estate Services (RCFB Manual No. 3 Section 03.10 notes that RCW 39.33.010 provides for the transfer of public land from one agency to another without compensation; however, an appraisal is required to establish the fair market value).
    
5. Identify and obtain an appraisal of the proposed replacement property. The fair market value of the replacement property must be at least equal to the outdoor recreation property to be converted. The replacement property must be of reasonably equal recreational value. The property must also meet the following RCFB criteria; it must be a viable recreation area on its own or it must be part of an existing recreation area. The replacement property must ultimately be administered by the same political jurisdiction as the original outdoor recreation property to be converted and must be identified in that agency's Comprehensive Recreation Plan.
    
6. If the appraised value of either the outdoor recreation or replacement parcel is greater than $5,000.00, the appraisal is subject to an Appraisal Review. This review must follow the guidelines as stated in RCFB Manual #3 Section 03.29, 03.30 and Appendix H, which state, in part, that the Appraisal Review will be performed by the WSDOT Appraisal Review Section. The WSDOT Appraisal Review Section is located at the WSDOT Real Estate Office in Tumwater, with satellite locations in the Regions. This Appraisal Review must then become a part of the conversion package submitted to the RCFB for approval.
    
7. For conversions that constitute a significant change and include federal assistance, a Clearinghouse review will be required. This step requires the sponsor to submit the information concerning conversion to the Intergovernmental Agency Review. This information will be published for review and comment by interested agencies and individuals.

Review and Approval

Once the appraisals and Environmental Impact Assessment have been completed, the Region shall begin to prepare a conversion package for presentation by the sponsor to the RCFB and, if required, the National Park Service for concurrence. This package should include the above noted EIA, the appraisal of the outdoor recreation and replacement property, the Appraisal Review (if necessary) and any coordination/agreements between WSDOT and the sponsor. A boundary map showing the existing and proposed boundary of the recreation property is required. A map showing the boundary of the replacement property and a location map is also required.

1. Upon completion of the draft conversion package, the Region submits the package to the WSDOT Project Development Engineer for review and concurrence.
    
2. Upon receiving Appraisal Review Section concurrence, the Region submits the draft conversion package to the sponsor for review and concurrence. A copy of the transmittal letter to the sponsor is submitted to Appraisal Review Section.
    
3. Upon concurrence by the sponsor, the sponsor will submit the final conversion package to the RCFB and/or NPS for concurrence. A letter requesting approval of the conversion and noting that all other alternatives have been evaluated and rejected on a sound basis must accompany the conversion request package. (If the conversion involves federal participation/concurrence this evaluation of alternatives would be included in the EIA.)
    
4. The request will be reviewed and submitted by RCFB staff to the RCFB Committee and, if required, the NPS for concurrence. Upon concurrence the conversion package is made a part of the permanent RCFB project file and kept for future record. An amendment approving the conversion is sent to the sponsor.
    
5. The sponsor, upon receipt of the amendment approving the conversion, will execute the amendment and send an original to the RCFB and a copy to the applicant.
    
6. After the conversion is approved the properties may be exchanged. However, no action may be taken without direction by the RCFB.    

Recreation and Conservation Funding Board Conversion Policy

The RCFB, a state agency, administers federal and state funding to acquire, develop, and restore real properties for public outdoor recreation, habitat conservation, or salmon recovery uses.  "It is the intent of the IAC [RCFB]-Salmon Recovery Fund Board (SRFB) conversion policy that all lands acquired and all lands developed/ restored with funding assistance from IAC [RCFB]-SRFB remain in the public domain in perpetuity" (RCFB-SRFB Manual 7 - Funded Projects: Policy -March 17, 2004, Section 3.18 Conversion Policy). 

Similar to federal law governing the use of LWC Funds, RCFB-SRFB policy requires conversion approval when circumstances of conveyance, use, development / restoration, termination of use/conformance, or element change occurs.  In collaboration with the RCFB-SRFB sponsor of the property, the WSDOT assists with the conversion process and approval as instructed under items 22 and 23 of the RCFB-SRFB Manual 7.  Conversion approval requests are managed according to the following criteria outlined under item 22.

The Director may approve the following conversion requests:

1. The conversion of use impacts less than ten percent of the original project scope, or
    
2. The conversion of use is less than ten percent of the total project cost within the original project agreement; and
    
3. The total cost of the conversion of use is less than $25,000.

All other conversion requests must be approved by RCFB-SRFB.

The definitions of conversion circumstances, and the complete RCFB-SRFB policy is available.   

Land and Water Conservation Fund Act Sites in Washington State

Graphic and tabular information addressing the location and public ownership descriptions of statewide lands, purchased with Land and Water Conservation Funds through grant assistance from the Recreation and Conservation Funding Board, is available.

Follow these directions to access the mapped LWCF statewide sites and associated tabular information:

• Go the Left Column
• Choose Project Criteria
• Select the empty box beside Grant Program
• Scroll down to Land and Water Conservation Fund Program, and select the box with + sign beside it
• Scroll down to All and select the empty box beside it (a check will appear when selected)
• Select the large Apply Criteria button to top of Left Column.
• The map will load (this may take a minute or two), illustrating all of the LWCF sites statewide.
• Select the highlighted "Zoom In" command located in the command bar above the map, and click on your specific geographic area of interest

Underlined LWCF Site Name of your specific site of interest for more information, located in the tabular form beneath the map.