(a) Purpose.—Recognizing the need for all public Federal and tribal transportation facilities to be treated under uniform policies similar to the policies that apply to Federal-aid highways and other public transportation facilities, the Secretary of Transportation, in collaboration with the Secretaries of the appropriate Federal land management agencies, shall coordinate a uniform policy for all public Federal and tribal transportation facilities that shall apply to Federal lands transportation facilities, tribal transportation facilities, and Federal lands access transportation facilities.
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Terms Used In 23 USC 201
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7
(b) Availability of Funds.—
(1) Availability.—Funds authorized for the tribal transportation program, the Federal lands transportation program, and the Federal lands access program shall be available for contract upon apportionment, or on October 1 of the fiscal year for which the funds were authorized if no apportionment is required.
(2) Amount remaining.—Any amount remaining unexpended for a period of 3 years after the close of the fiscal year for which the funds were authorized shall lapse.
(3) Obligations.—The Secretary of the department responsible for the administration of funds under this subsection may incur obligations, approve projects, and enter into contracts under such authorizations, which shall be considered to be contractual obligations of the United States for the payment of the cost thereof, the funds of which shall be considered to have been expended when obligated.
(4) Expenditure.—
(A) In general.—Any funds authorized for any fiscal year after the date of enactment of this section under the Federal lands transportation program, the Federal lands access program, and the tribal transportation program shall be considered to have been expended if a sum equal to the total of the sums authorized for the fiscal year and previous fiscal years have been obligated.
(B) Credited funds.—Any funds described in subparagraph (A) that are released by payment of final voucher or modification of project authorizations shall be—
(i) credited to the balance of unobligated authorizations; and
(ii) immediately available for expenditure.
(5) Applicability.—This section shall not apply to funds authorized before the date of enactment of this paragraph.
(6) Contractual obligation.—
(A) In general.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including regulations), the authorization by the Secretary, or the Secretary of the appropriate Federal land management agency if the agency is the contracting office, of engineering and related work for the development, design, and acquisition associated with a construction project, whether performed by contract or agreement authorized by law, or the approval by the Secretary of plans, specifications, and estimates for construction of a project, shall be considered to constitute a contractual obligation of the Federal Government to pay the total eligible cost of—
(i) any project funded under this title; and
(ii) any project funded pursuant to agreements authorized by this title or any other title.
(B) Effect.—Nothing in this paragraph—
(i) affects the application of the Federal share associated with the project being undertaken under this section; or
(ii) modifies the point of obligation associated with Federal salaries and expenses.
(7) Federal share.—
(A) Tribal and federal lands transportation program.—The Federal share of the cost of a project carried out under the Federal lands transportation program or the tribal transportation program shall be 100 percent.
(B) Federal lands access program.—The Federal share of the cost of a project carried out under the Federal lands access program shall be be 1 up to 100 percent.
(c) Transportation Planning.—
(1) Transportation planning procedures.—In consultation with the Secretary of each appropriate Federal land management agency, the Secretary shall implement transportation planning procedures for Federal lands and tribal transportation facilities that are consistent with the planning processes required under sections 134 and 135.
(2) Approval of transportation improvement program.—The transportation improvement program developed as a part of the transportation planning process under this section shall be approved by the Secretary.
(3) Inclusion in other plans.—Each regionally significant tribal transportation program, Federal lands transportation program, and Federal lands access program project shall be—
(A) developed in cooperation with State and metropolitan planning organizations; and
(B) included in appropriate tribal transportation program plans, Federal lands transportation program plans, Federal lands access program plans, State and metropolitan plans, and transportation improvement programs.
(4) Inclusion in state programs.—The approved tribal transportation program, Federal lands transportation program, and Federal lands access program transportation improvement programs shall be included in appropriate State and metropolitan planning organization plans and programs without further action on the transportation improvement program.
(5) Asset management.—The Secretary and the Secretary of each appropriate Federal land management agency shall, to the extent appropriate, implement safety, bridge, pavement, and congestion management systems for facilities funded under the tribal transportation program and the Federal lands transportation program in support of asset management.
(6) Data collection.—
(A) Data collection.—
(i) In general.—The Secretaries of the appropriate Federal land management agencies shall collect and report data necessary to implement the Federal lands transportation program, the Federal lands access program, and the tribal transportation program.
(ii) Requirement.—Data collected to implement the tribal transportation program shall be in accordance with the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.).
(iii) Inclusions.—Data collected under this paragraph includes—
(I) inventory and condition information on Federal lands transportation facilities and tribal transportation facilities; and
(II) bridge inspection and inventory information on any Federal bridge open to the public.
(B) Standards.—The Secretary, in coordination with the Secretaries of the appropriate Federal land management agencies, shall define the collection and reporting data standards.
(C) Tribal data collection.—In addition to the data to be collected under subparagraph (A), not later than 90 days after the last day of each fiscal year, any entity carrying out a project under the tribal transportation program under section 202 shall submit to the Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior, based on obligations and expenditures under the tribal transportation program during the preceding fiscal year, the following data:
(i) The names of projects and activities carried out by the entity under the tribal transportation program during the preceding fiscal year.
(ii) A description of the projects and activities identified under clause (i).
(iii) The current status of the projects and activities identified under clause (i).
(iv) An estimate of the number of jobs created and the number of jobs retained by the projects and activities identified under clause (i).
(7) Cooperative research and technology deployment.—The Secretary may conduct cooperative research and technology deployment in coordination with Federal land management agencies, as determined appropriate by the Secretary.
(8) Funding.—
(A) In general.—To carry out the activities described in this subsection for Federal lands transportation facilities, Federal lands access transportation facilities, and other federally owned roads open to public travel (as that term is defined in section 125(e)), the Secretary shall for each fiscal year combine and use not greater than 20 percent of the funds authorized for programs under sections 203 and 204.
(B) Other activities.—In addition to the activities described in subparagraph (A), funds described under that subparagraph may be used for—
(i) bridge inspections on any federally owned bridge even if that bridge is not included on the inventory described under section 203; and
(ii) transportation planning activities carried out by Federal land management agencies eligible for funding under this chapter.
(d) Reimbursable Agreements.—In carrying out work under reimbursable agreements with any State, local, or tribal government under this title, the Secretary—
(1) may, without regard to any other provision of law (including regulations), record obligations against accounts receivable from the entity; and
(2) shall credit amounts received from the entity to the appropriate account, which shall occur not later than 90 days after the date of the original request by the Secretary for payment.
(e) Transfers.—
(1) In general.—To enable the efficient use of funds made available for the Federal lands transportation program and the Federal lands access program, the funds may be transferred by the Secretary within and between each program with the concurrence of, as appropriate—
(A) the Secretary;
(B) the affected Secretaries of the respective Federal land management agencies;
(C) State departments of transportation; and
(D) local government agencies.
(2) Credit.—The funds described in paragraph (1) shall be credited back to the loaning entity with funds that are currently available for obligation at the time of the credit.
(f) Alternative Contracting Methods.—
(1) In general.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including the Federal Acquisition Regulation), a contracting method available to a State under this title may be used by the Secretary, on behalf of—
(A) a Federal land management agency, in using any funds pursuant to section 203, 204, or 308;
(B) a Federal land management agency, in using any funds pursuant to section 1535 of title 31 for any of the eligible uses described in sections 203(a)(1) and 204(a)(1) and paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 308(a); or
(C) a Tribal government, in using funds pursuant to section 202(b)(7)(D).
(2) Methods described.—The contracting methods referred to in paragraph (1) shall include, at a minimum—
(A) project bundling;
(B) bridge bundling;
(C) design-build contracting;
(D) 2-phase contracting;
(E) long-term concession agreements; and
(F) any method tested, or that could be tested, under an experimental program relating to contracting methods carried out by the Secretary.
(3) Effect.—Nothing in this subsection—
(A) affects the application of the Federal share for the project carried out with a contracting method under this subsection; or
(B) modifies the point of obligation of Federal salaries and expenses.
