The Highway Beautification Act: Towards improving efficiency of the Federal Outdoor Advertising Control Program

摘要

The Highway Beautification Act, signed in 1965, aims to establish an effective control of the outdoor advertising signs, devices, and displays that are located in a close proximity to the National Interstate System. The Act imposes requirements for specific types of advertising signs, including on-property signs, directional and official signs, and new signs in commercial and industrial areas. Over the years, many issues have been surrounding the Highway Beautification Act, such as attitude and relationship issues, organizational issues, and substantive issues. In order to address the aforementioned issues, this study performs a comprehensive survey among the State Departments of Transportation. Throughout the survey, the data are gathered using a detailed questionnaire, which captures the major aspects of the Federal Outdoor Advertising Control Program. All 50 States and District of Columbia participated in the study. Based on analysis of the collected data, the key regulatory difficulties and inconsistencies, associated with outdoor advertising signs, are determined. A set of baseline standards is proposed to assist the State and Federal agencies with resolving the identified regulatory difficulties and inconsistencies, including the following: lack of uniform requirements in terms of spacing, size, and lighting for advertising signs; clear definition of the areas for effective control; challenges related to the new technologies implementation for outdoor advertising; maintenance and continuation of nonconforming signs; vegetation control challenges; and others. Findings from the conducted survey and the proposed baseline standards are expected to improve effectiveness of the Federal Outdoor Advertising Control Program implementation across the nation.