(a) The design selected for an encroachment shall be supported by analyses of design alternatives with consideration given to capital costs and risks, and to other economic, engineering, social and environmental concerns.

(1) Consideration of capital costs and risks shall include, as appropriate, a risk analysis or assessment which includes:

(i) The overtopping flood or the base flood, whichever is greater, or

(ii) The greatest flood which must flow through the highway drainage structure(s), where overtopping is not practicable. The greatest flood used in the analysis is subject to state-of-the-art capability to estimate the exceedance probability.

(2) The design flood for encroachments by through lanes of Interstate highways shall not be less than the flood with a 2-percent chance of being exceeded in any given year. No minimum design flood is specified for Interstate highway ramps and frontage roads or for other highways.

(3) Freeboard shall be provided, where practicable, to protect bridge structures from debris- and scour-related failure.

(4) The effect of existing flood control channels, levees, and reservoirs shall be considered in estimating the peak discharge and stage for all floods considered in the design.

(5) The design of encroachments shall be consistent with standards established by the FEMA, State, and local governmental agencies for the administration of the National Flood Insurance Program for:

(i) All direct Federal highway actions, unless the standards are demonstrably inappropriate, and

(ii) Federal-aid highway actions where a regulatory floodway has been designated or where studies are underway to establish a regulatory floodway.

(b) Rest area buildings and related water supply and waste treatment facilities shall be located outside the base flood plain, where practicable. Rest area buildings which are located on the base flood plain shall be floodproofed against damage from the base flood.

(c) Where highway fills are to be used as dams to permanently impound water more than 50 acre-feet (6.17 × 104 cubic metres) in volume or 25 feet (7.6 metres) deep, the hydrologic, hydraulic, and structural design of the fill and appurtenant spillways shall have the approval of the State or Federal agency responsible for the safety of dams or like structures within the State, prior to authorization by the Division Administrator to advertise for bids for construction.