Navigate Highway Beautification Act and state DOT permitting for a new billboard/off-premise sign

Steps

1. Confirm the proposed sign is within a federal-aid highway corridor covered by the state's HBA agreement with FHWA (Interstate, National Highway System, and federal-aid primary routes) versus a purely local road not subject to HBA controls
2. Confirm the site is in a zoned or unzoned commercial/industrial area, since off-premise signs generally are only permitted in those areas under the federal-state agreement framework
3. Apply for the state DOT's outdoor-advertising permit for the specific sign structure — most state DOT programs (see, e.g., an individual state DOT's highway-beautification/outdoor-advertising permit page as a model) require a separate permit and often an annual renewal fee per structure
4. Confirm size, height, spacing, and lighting limits from the state-specific agreement, since these are negotiated per state and are not uniform nationwide even though all derive from the same federal statute
5. Confirm local zoning/building permit requirements layered on top of the state DOT permit — HBA/state DOT approval addresses the outdoor-advertising-control layer only, not local zoning or building code