As a condition of Federal-aid, the STD shall obtain FHWA authorization in writing or electronically before proceeding with any real property acquisitions, including hardship acquisition and protective buying (see 23 CFR 710.503). The STD must prepare a project agreement in accordance with 23 CFR part 630, subpart C. The agreement shall be based on an acceptable estimate for the cost of acquisition. On projects where the initial project agreement was executed after June 9, 1998, a State may request credit toward the non-Federal share, for early acquisitions, donations, or other contributions applied to the project provided conditions in 23 U.S.C. 323 and 23 CFR 710.501, are satisfied.