1. (a) Routine roadway maintenance projects and projects with minor levels of ground disturbance, by their nature and definition, do not have the potential to affect historic properties, and do not require review of their potential project impacts on archeological resources or cemeteries by THC under 13 TAC Chapter 26 (relating to Practice and Procedure) or under this MOU. Such projects include vegetation control, traffic control, routine painting and striping, and other activities with less than 100 cubic yards of ground disturbance below the original grade. The following activities also do not require review of their potential impacts on archeological resources or cemeteries under 13 TAC Chapter 26 or under this MOU:

   1. (1) installation, repair, or replacement of fencing, signage, traffic signals, railroad warning devices, safety end treatments, cameras, and intelligent highway system equipment;
   2. (2) projects involving purchase or acquisition of land without associated ground-disturbing activities;
   3. (3) routine structural maintenance and repair of bridges, highways, railroad crossings, picnic areas, and rest areas;
   4. (4) in-kind repair, replacement of lighting, signals, curbs and gutters, and sidewalks;
   5. (5) crack seal, overlay, milling, grooving, resurfacing, and restriping;
   6. (6) replacement, upgrade, and repair of safety barriers, ditches, storm drains, and culverts;
   7. (7) intersection improvements, including repair or replacement of overpasses, that require less than 0.5 acres of additional right of way at each intersection;
   8. (8) placement of riprap to prevent erosion of waterway banks and bridge piers provided no ground disturbance is required;
   9. (9) all maintenance work between a highway and an adjacent frontage road;
   10. (10) installation of noise barriers or alterations to existing publicly owned buildings less than 50 years old, to provide for noise reduction except in potential or listed National Register districts;
   11. (11) driveway and street connections;
   12. (12) all work within interchanges and within medians of divided highways;
   13. (13) all work between the flowlines of the ditches and channels and above the original line and grade;
   14. (14) ditch and channel maintenance, provided removal of fill is above the original line and grade;
   15. (15) repairs needed as a result of an event, natural or man-made, which causes damage to a designated state highway, resulting in an imminent threat to life or property of the traveling public or which substantially disrupts or may disrupt the orderly flow of traffic and commerce;

   16. (16) the installation and modification of sidewalks (including the addition of American with Disabilities Act (ADA) ramps) except:

       1. (A) sidewalk installations where the depth of impact exceeds one foot;
       2. (B) sidewalk and ADA ramp projects within the historic districts in the following cities or towns: Goliad, Rio Grande City, Roma, San Antonio, San Elizario, and San Ygnacio; and
       3. (C) sidewalk or ADA ramp projects within the limits of the following cities or towns: Anahuac, Nacogdoches, San Patricio, and Socorro;
   17. (17) design changes for projects that have completed all applicable review and consultation where the new project elements comprise only one or more of the activities listed in this section; or
   18. (18) other kinds of undertakings jointly agreed to in writing by THC and TxDOT.

2. (b) Projects that are exempt from project-specific review for compliance with 13 TAC Chapter 26 and review under this MOU, as specified in subsection (a) of this section, are also exempt from compliance with other THC rules regarding project-specific investigations or coordination for potential impacts to cemeteries promulgated under Health and Safety Code, §711.012(c), unless one of the following two conditions is present:

   1. (1) pavement would be extended to within 15 feet of the boundary of a known cemetery founded earlier than 1955; or
   2. (2) another project element would directly affect known burials.

Source Note:The provisions of this §2.257 adopted to be effective May 16, 2013, 38 TexReg 2861.