(a) State Defined.—In this section, the term “State” means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

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(b) General Authority.—

(1) Grants and agreements.—Under criteria established by the Secretary, the Secretary may award grants to States, authorities of the States, metropolitan planning organizations, and local governmental authorities, and make agreements with other departments, agencies, or instrumentalities of the Government to—

(A) develop transportation plans and programs;

(B) plan, engineer, design, and evaluate a public transportation project; and

(C) conduct technical studies relating to public transportation.

(2) Eligible activities.—Activities eligible under paragraph (1) include the following:

(A) Studies related to management, planning, operations, capital requirements, and economic feasibility.

(B) Evaluating previously financed projects.

(C) Peer reviews and exchanges of technical data, information, assistance, and related activities in support of planning and environmental analyses among metropolitan planning organizations and other transportation planners.

(D) Other similar and related activities preliminary to and in preparation for constructing, acquiring, or improving the operation of facilities and equipment.

(c) Purpose.—To the extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that amounts appropriated or made available under section 5338 to carry out this section and sections 5303, 5304, and 5306 are used to support balanced and comprehensive transportation planning that considers the relationships among land use and all transportation modes, without regard to the programmatic source of the planning amounts.

(d) Metropolitan Planning Program.—

(1) Apportionment to states.—

(A) In general.—The Secretary shall apportion 80 percent of the amounts made available under subsection (g)(1) among the States to carry out sections 5303 and 5306 in the ratio that—

(i) the population of urbanized areas in each State, as shown by the latest available decennial census of population; bears to

(ii) the total population of urbanized areas in all States, as shown by that census.

(B) Minimum apportionment.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a State may not receive less than 0.5 percent of the amount apportioned under this paragraph.

(2) Allocation to mpo’s.—Amounts apportioned to a State under paragraph (1) shall be made available, not later than 30 days after the date of apportionment, to metropolitan planning organizations in the State designated under this section under a formula that—

(A) considers population of urbanized areas;

(B) provides an appropriate distribution for urbanized areas to carry out the cooperative processes described in this section;

(C) the State develops in cooperation with the metropolitan planning organizations; and

(D) the Secretary approves.

(3) Supplemental amounts.—

(A) In general.—The Secretary shall apportion 20 percent of the amounts made available under subsection (g)(1) among the States to supplement allocations made under paragraph (1) for metropolitan planning organizations.

(B) Formula.—The Secretary shall apportion amounts referred to in subparagraph (A) under a formula that reflects the additional cost of carrying out planning, programming, and project selection responsibilities under sections 5303 and 5306 in certain urbanized areas.

(e) State Planning and Research Program.—

(1) Apportionment to states.—

(A) In general.—The Secretary shall apportion the amounts made available under subsection (g)(2) among the States for grants and contracts to carry out this section and sections 5304 and 5306 in the ratio that—

(i) the population of urbanized areas in each State, as shown by the latest available decennial census; bears to

(ii) the population of urbanized areas in all States, as shown by that census.

(B) Minimum apportionment.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a State may not receive less than 0.5 percent of the amount apportioned under this paragraph.

(2) Supplemental amounts.—A State, as the State considers appropriate, may authorize part of the amount made available under this subsection to be used to supplement amounts made available under subsection (d).

(f) Government Share of Costs.—

(1) In general.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Government share of the cost of an activity funded using amounts made available under this section may not exceed 80 percent of the cost of the activity unless the Secretary determines that it is in the interests of the Government—

(A) not to require a State or local match; or

(B) to allow a Government share greater than 80 percent.

(2) Certain activities.—

(A) In general.—The Government share of the cost of an activity funded using amounts made available under this section shall be not less than 90 percent for an activity that assists parts of an urbanized area or rural area with lower population density or lower average income levels compared to—

(i) the applicable urbanized area;

(ii) the applicable rural area;

(iii) an adjoining urbanized area; or

(iv) an adjoining rural area.

(B) Report.—A State or metropolitan planning organization that carries out an activity described in subparagraph (A) with an increased Government share described in that subparagraph shall report to the Secretary, in a form as determined by the Secretary, how the increased Government share for transportation planning activities benefits commuting and other essential travel in parts of the applicable urbanized area or rural area described in subparagraph (A) with lower population density or lower average income levels.

(g) Allocation of Funds.—Of the funds made available by or appropriated to carry out this section under section 5338(a)(2)(A) for a fiscal year—

(1) 82.72 percent shall be available for the metropolitan planning program under subsection (d); and

(2) 17.28 percent shall be available to carry out subsection (e).

(h) Availability of Funds.—Funds apportioned under this section to a State that have not been obligated in the 3-year period beginning after the last day of the fiscal year for which the funds are authorized shall be reapportioned among the States.