(1) The regional rural task force shall make recommendations to the commission and the administrator for funding projects under section 11(3)(c) within their respective regions. If any represented county fails to submit sufficient qualified projects to obligate its allocation after 3 consecutive years, those funds shall be reallocated to the remaining counties in the same regional rural task force area. The regional rural task force areas shall coincide with the boundaries of the 14 state planning and development regions as configured on January 1, 1990. In a regional rural task force area that is composed of 5 or more counties, subtask forces of 2 or more of the counties may be formed with the approval of the task force.

    (2) The regional rural task force shall be composed of a representative of each county road commission within the regional area plus an equal number of representatives from incorporated cities and villages with a population of 5,000 or less within the regional area, and a representative selected by the administrator. Projects submitted to the administrator for funding under section 11(3)(c) shall be based on the following:

    (a) Only projects eligible for federal aid shall be funded unless otherwise approved by the regional rural task force.

    (b) Projects shall be on existing hard surface roads unless otherwise waived by the regional rural task force.

    (c) Construction shall be to all-season standards.

    (d) These funds shall be used for physical construction only and shall not include costs of right-of-way acquisition and engineering.

    (3) The programs and projects authorized in section 11(3)(c) shall be administered in a similar manner as the current local federal aid projects and in accordance with the adopted policies of the commission.