H.R. 5479 — MAP Roads Act

This section establishes a pilot grant program to be administered by the Secretary of Transportation—not later than 180 days after enactment—under which States receive grants to support rural commerce, increase public safety, and improve public access and navigation by funding county road digitization (i.e., converting physical or analog maps into standardized geospatial data) and creation of centralized, publicly accessible statewide road datasets. Grants are awarded to States based on applications, with priority to those identifying significant digitized county road deficiencies, demonstrating capacity to subgrant funds to counties and maintain a statewide data repository, and committing to shared geospatial data standards with counties. Funds may be used by counties to digitize official road records, convert paper or outdated maps to geospatial datasets, and train personnel or hire contractors; participating State departments of transportation must serve as the centralized repository, ensuring data is publicly accessible online, distinguishes public from private roads, is compatible with third-party mapping platforms, is updated annually, and—to the maximum extent practicable—aligns with Federal agencies and mapping authorities. States must submit reports to the Secretary 6 months after program establishment and annually thereafter for 3 years, detailing subgrants awarded, funding distributed, miles of roads digitized, repository status, and program recommendations. This section authorizes $20 million for each of FY2026 through FY2031, to remain available until expended, of which up to 2% may be used for program administration by the Secretary. The section sunsets grant authority on September 30, 2031, unless reauthorized by Congress, and includes a savings clause preserving existing State and local road jurisdiction, ownership, and public access rights, plus a rule of construction prohibiting public disclosure of protected historic, paleontological, or archaeological resource data.