Laws and Regulations
The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 (23 USC 131)
Summary of Existing Outdoor Advertising Control
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA)
1995 Scenic Byways Amendment
TEA 21 (Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century)
SAFETEA-LU (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users)
FHWA’s HBA Compliance Statistics
Federal and State Enforcement
Bonus Program
The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 (23 USC 131)
At the federal level, the Highway Beautification Act of 1965 (HBA, P. L. 89-285) controls outdoor advertising along 306,000 miles of Federal-Aid Primary, Interstate and National Highway System (NHS) roads. Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on October 22, 1965, the HBA (P.L. 89-285) allows the location of billboards in commercial and industrial areas, mandates a state compliance program, requires the development of state standards, promotes the expeditious removal of illegal signs, and requires just compensation for takings.
Summary of Existing Outdoor Advertising Control
- Billboards are allowed, by statute, in commercial and industrial areas consistent with size, lighting and spacing provisions as agreed to by the state and federal governments.
- Billboard controls apply to all Federal-Aid Primaries (FAP’s) as of June 1, 1991, Interstates and other highways that are part of the National Highway System (NHS). The FAP routes were highways noted by state DOTs to be of significant service value and importance. Approximately 260,800 FAP Miles existed as of June 1, 1991 (226,440 rural miles and 34,360 urban miles). These roads have full HBA protections and controls are very important. Maps can be obtained from your state DOT or from the OAAA in Washington, D.C.
- States have the discretion to remove legal nonconforming signs along highways; however, the payment of just (monetary) compensation is required for the removal of any lawfully erected billboard along the Federal-Aid Primary, Interstate and National Highway System roads.
- States not complying with the provisions of the HBA are subject to a 10% reduction in their highway allocations.
- States and localities may enact stricter laws than stipulated in the HBA.
- No new signs can be erected along the scenic portions of state designated scenic byways of the Interstate and federal-aid primary highways, but billboards are allowed in segmented areas deemed non-scenic on those routes.
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA)
ISTEA made the following amendments to the HBA of 1965:
- Illegal signs must be removed by the owner or state.
- Federal-aid Primary roads were "grandfathered" for control purposes as of June 1, 1991.
- New billboards are prohibited on state designated scenic byways which are part of the Interstate or primary highway, however, billboards are allowed in segmented areas deemed not scenic.
In addition ISTEA and subsequent HBA Amendments made federal funds available for billboard removal and control, at the state’s discretion.
Specific discretionary ISTEA funding programs include:
- National Highway System and Interstate System Funds were established. In 1995, the National Highway System Designation Act approved the NHS under ISTEA. Portions of the FAP system, Interstate highways and other key arterial highways are on the new NHS program.
- Surface Transportation Program - Transportation Enhancement Activities Funds. Interim and National Scenic Byways Funds were authorized.
President Clinton signed into law the National Highway System Designation Act, S. 440 (PL 104-59), on November 28, 1995. Its major provisions included the repeal of federal laws governing speed limits and motorcycle helmet requirements, a new "zero tolerance" drunk driving standard for young drivers and the designation of a 160,000 mile National Highway System for prioritizing federal funding in the future.
An amendment to subsection (s) of the Highway Beautification Act of 1965 was also included. The scenic byways provision (which had been added to the HBA in 1991) was amended to give states the flexibility to exclude from state or federal scenic byways designation any segment of a road that it determines to be inconsistent with the state's criteria for designating scenic byways.
The NHS House-Senate Conference Committee agreed to amend the HBA of 1965 to clarify that the erection of new billboards in certain "segmented" areas along state or federal designated scenic byways was acceptable so long as the state's determination is reasonable. It codified the FHWA policy adopted in 1993. Senator John Warner (R-VA) inserted into the record a Virginia DOT plan, inserted into the record a Virginia DOT plan for determining areas along a state byway which are inconsistent with state criteria. This plan was intended to provide an example where a state made a reasonable basis for excluding certain segments of a scenic byway.
TEA 21 (Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century)
TEA 21 (P.L. 105-178) was signed into law on June 9, 1998. It authorized guaranteed spending levels for highway, safety, transit and other surface transportation programs for the next six years. It builds on the initiatives of the ISTEA Act of 1991.
For the first time in more than 30 years, no billboard amendments were offered or approved.
SAFETEA-LU (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users)
SAFETEA-LU (P.L. 109-59) was signed into law on August 10, 2005.It authorized guaranteed spending levels for highway, safety, transit and other surface transportation programs until 2009. Like TEA-21, no billboard amendments were offered or approved.
FHWA’s HBA Compliance Statistics
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in its Nationwide Statistical Report on the outdoor advertising control program reports that there are nearly 875,000 fewer signs along controlled highways since enactment of the Highway Beautification Act in 1965.
FHWA statistics as of 9/30/96 show:
- Over 127,000 legal nonconforming compensable signs have been removed.
- Fewer than 74,000 legal nonconforming signs remain.
- Nearly 750,000 illegal signs have been removed by owners or the government, or 98% or all illegal signs.
- Approximately 14,600 illegal signs remain to be removed (reports show most are not standardized billboards but agriculture and farm signs.)
The U.S. Department of Transportation, through its Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), provides outdoor advertising program guidance at the federal level. At the state level, each state's Department of Transportation administers and enforces outdoor advertising Permit programs, monitors the erection and maintenance of billboards, and provides statistics on nonconforming and illegal sign removals.
In 1958, Congress passed the first outdoor advertising control legislation commonly known as the "Bonus Act", PL 85-381. It was repealed and replaced by the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, and is now found in the United States Code at 23 U.S.C. 131 (j). Its provisions still exist by reason of agreements with the states.
The Bonus Act provided an incentive to states to control outdoor advertising within 660 feet of the Interstate highway system. States that volunteered for the program would receive a bonus of one-half of one percent of the Federal highway construction costs on segments of Interstate highways controlling outdoor advertising.
The existing Bonus program is an unfunded Federal mandate since no Federal funds can be used to pay states for the stricter control requirements along the Interstate highways.
Bonus Act Amendments
Two amendments were adopted which allowed outdoor advertising along portions of Interstate highways. The first amendment was known as the "Cotton Amendment", which exempted any areas adjacent to part of a right-of-way, acquired prior to July 1, 1956. This allowed billboards in areas adjacent to interchanges, overpasses, and along roads that ran parallel to the Interstate.
The second, known as the "Kerr Amendment", allowed outdoor advertising signs in commercial and industrial zones. Incorporated municipal boundaries were frozen as of September 21, 1959 (the date of the amendment). Another feature of the Kerr Amendment was that outside city limits, signs were permitted only in commercial or industrial zones as of September 21, 1959. In effect the zones were frozen. Inside city boundaries, zoning was not frozen for purposes of outdoor advertising control.
States Enacting Bonus Act Provisions
The following twenty-four states enacted laws to implement the "Bonus" program:
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California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Georgia Hawaii Illinois Kentucky |
Maine Maryland Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Dakota Ohio Oregon |
Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin |
Three states, Georgia, North Dakota and Iowa, dropped the bonus program; Georgia by court decision and North Dakota by legislation.
Bonus Act standards are set out at Title 23, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 750, Subpart A.