25 CFR § 169.127 - Is a new right-of-way grant required for a new use within or overlapping an existing right-of-way?

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t25/s169.127"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "25 CFR § 169.127 - Is a new right-of-way grant required for a new use within or overlapping an existing right-of-way?"
title_number: 25
title_name: "Indians"
section_number: "169.127"
section_name: "Is a new right-of-way grant required for a new use within or overlapping an existing right-of-way?"
chapter_name: "BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR"
subchapter_number: "H"
subchapter_name: "LAND AND WATER"
part_number: "169"
part_name: "RIGHTS-OF-WAY OVER INDIAN LAND"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 301; 25 U.S.C. 323-328; 25 U.S.C. 2201"
regulatory_source: "80 FR 72534, Nov. 19, 2015, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "169"
---


# 169.127 Is a new right-of-way grant required for a new use within or overlapping an existing right-of-way?

(a) If you are the grantee, you may use all or a portion of an existing right-of-way for a use not specified in the original grant of the existing right-of-way only if it is within the same scope of the use specified in the original grant of the existing right-of-way.

(1) If you propose to use all or a portion of an existing right-of-way for a use not specified in the original grant of the existing right-of-way and not within the same scope of the use specified in the original grant of the existing right-of-way, and the new use will not require any ground disturbance, you must request an amendment to the existing right-of-way grant.

(2) If you propose to use all or a portion of an existing right-of-way for a use not specified in the original grant of the existing right-of-way and not within the same scope of the use specified in the original grant of the existing right-of-way, and the new use requires ground disturbance, you must request a new right-of-way.

(b) If you are not the grantee:

(1) You may use all or a portion of an existing right-of-way for a use specified in the original grant of the existing right-of-way or a use within the same scope of the use specified in the original grant of the existing right-of-way if the grantee obtains an assignment to authorize the new user; or

(2) You may use all or a portion of an existing right-of-way for a use not specified in the original grant of the existing right-of-way and not within the same scope of use specified in the original grant of the existing right-of-way if you request a new right-of-way within or overlapping the existing right-of-way for the new use.

(c) An example of a use within the same scope is a right-of-way for underground telephone line being used for an underground fiber optic line, and an example of a use that is not within the same scope is a right-of-way for a pipeline being used for a road or railroad.