ROW Acquisition Manual: Additional Requirements for Submissions for Advance Acquisition through Donation (for State)

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Section 4: Additional Requirements for Submissions for Advance Acquisition through Donation (for State)

In addition to the general requirements for advance acquisition, the following information must support a right of way donation:

Before a donation can be considered for acceptance, there must be either an existing project under development which would likely require the proposed donated property for at least one of the proposed or possible alignments, or if there is no existing project, then a memorandum from a District Engineer certifying and foreseeing a definite need for the property proposed to be donated as part of a future project associated with either a present highway location or future new location highway. Where there is no existing project or pre-existing right of way CSJ (Project ID), then a new ROW Non-Let Project ID associated with that highway and location should be requested (even if there is no Controlling Project ID). In such cases where there is no current Controlling Project ID, and a ROW Non-Let Project ID is being established, there can be no authority for expenditure of funds related to said ROW Non-Let Project ID at the time of the donation, due to there being no current project. The ROW Non-Let Project ID is for the sole purpose of tracking the donation parcel within TxC.

Acceptance of donations of real property shall be reviewed and processed in accordance with Chapter 6, Section 2 - Legal Requirements to Accept Donation (for State)).

Prior to donating land for right of way, property owners must be advised of their right to just compensation as well as their right to have the property appraised.

The required environmental document will include an objective environmental review of all social, economic, and environmental factors appropriate to an alternative location/design decision, unprejudiced by the amount or location of donated or protected right of way.

Land donations for right of way purposes will be accepted with the understanding that its use will be contingent on objective assessment of other pertinent social, economic, and environmental factors regarding reasonable alternatives, and not singularly on the availability of donated right of way at a location preferred at the time of donation. The provisions of Right of Way Donations (Procedures for Receiving Donations (for State)) policies and procedures must be followed in the acceptance of donations.

Instruments conveying real property interests will contain the following special clause: “It is understood that a final alignment for the proposed highway for which this land may be needed has not been approved at this time and that:
- all alternatives to a proposed alignment will be studied and considered pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended;
- conveyance of this property shall not influence the environmental assessment of this transportation project including the decision relative to the need to construct the transportation project or the selection of a specific location; and
- in the event the land herein conveyed is not required for the alignment chosen after public hearings, if required, and completion of an environmental document, the land herein conveyed shall be revested in the grantor or its successors in interest in accordance with Transportation Code, Section 202.025(6).