23 U.S.C. § 106 : US Code - Section 106: Project approval and oversight

Search 23 U.S.C. § 106 : US Code - Section 106: Project approval and oversight

(a) In General. -
(1) Submission of plans, specifications, and estimates. -
Except as otherwise provided in this section, each State
transportation department shall submit to the Secretary for
approval such plans, specifications, and estimates for each
proposed project as the Secretary may require.
(2) Project agreement. - The Secretary shall act on the plans,
specifications, and estimates as soon as practicable after the
date of their submission and shall enter into a formal project
agreement with the State transportation department formalizing
the conditions of the project approval.
(3) Contractual obligation. - The execution of the project
agreement shall be deemed a contractual obligation of the Federal
Government for the payment of the Federal share of the cost of
the project.
(4) Guidance. - In taking action under this subsection, the
Secretary shall be guided by section 109.
(b) Project Agreement. -
(1) Provision of state funds. - The project agreement shall
make provision for State funds required to pay the State's non-
Federal share of the cost of construction of the project and to
pay for maintenance of the project after completion of
construction.
(2) Representations of state. - If a part of the project is to
be constructed at the expense of, or in cooperation with,
political subdivisions of the State, the Secretary may rely on
representations made by the State transportation department with
respect to the arrangements or agreements made by the State
transportation department and appropriate local officials for
ensuring that the non-Federal contribution will be provided under
paragraph (1).
(c) Assumption by States of Responsibilities of the Secretary. -
(1) Non-interstate nhs projects. - For projects under this
title that are on the National Highway System but not on the
Interstate System, the State may assume the responsibilities of
the Secretary under this title for design, plans, specifications,
estimates, contract awards, and inspections of projects unless
the State or the Secretary determines that such assumption is not
appropriate.
(2) Non-nhs projects. - For projects under this title that are
not on the National Highway System, the State shall assume the
responsibilities of the Secretary under this title for design,
plans, specifications, estimates, contract awards, and inspection
of projects, unless the State determines that such assumption is
not appropriate.
(3) Agreement. - The Secretary and the State shall enter into
an agreement relating to the extent to which the State assumes
the responsibilities of the Secretary under this subsection.
(4) Limitation on authority of secretary. - The Secretary may
not assume any greater responsibility than the Secretary is
permitted under this title on September 30, 1997, except upon
agreement by the Secretary and the State.
(d) Responsibilities of the Secretary. - Nothing in this section,
section 133, or section 149 shall affect or discharge any
responsibility or obligation of the Secretary under -
(1) section 113 or 114; or
(2) any Federal law other than this title (including section
5333 of title 49).
(e) Value Engineering Analysis. -
(1) Definition of value engineering analysis. -
(A) In general. - In this subsection, the term "value
engineering analysis" means a systematic process of review and
analysis of a project, during the concept and design phases, by
a multidisciplined team of persons not involved in the project,
that is conducted to provide recommendations such as those
described in subparagraph (B) for -
(i) providing the needed functions safely, reliably, and at
the lowest overall cost;
(ii) improving the value and quality of the project; and
(iii) reducing the time to complete the project.
(B) Inclusions. - The recommendations referred to in
subparagraph (A) include, with respect to a project -
(i) combining or eliminating otherwise inefficient use of
costly parts of the original proposed design for the project;
and
(ii) completely redesigning the project using different
technologies, materials, or methods so as to accomplish the
original purpose of the project.
(2) Analysis. - The State shall provide a value engineering
analysis or other cost-reduction analysis for -
(A) each project on the Federal-aid system with an estimated
total cost of $25,000,000 or more;
(B) a bridge project with an estimated total cost of
$20,000,000 or more; and
(C) any other project the Secretary determines to be
appropriate.
(3) Major projects. - The Secretary may require more than 1
analysis described in paragraph (2) for a major project described
in subsection (h).
(4) Requirements. - Analyses described in paragraph (1) for a
bridge project shall -
(A) include bridge substructure requirements based on
construction material; and
(B) be evaluated -
(i) on engineering and economic bases, taking into
consideration acceptable designs for bridges; and
(ii) using an analysis of life-cycle costs and duration of
project construction.
(f) Life-Cycle Cost Analysis. -
(1) Use of life-cycle cost analysis. - The Secretary shall
develop recommendations for the States to conduct life-cycle cost
analyses. The recommendations shall be based on the principles
contained in section 2 of Executive Order No. 12893 and shall be
developed in consultation with the American Association of State
Highway and Transportation Officials. The Secretary shall not
require a State to conduct a life-cycle cost analysis for any
project as a result of the recommendations required under this
subsection.
(2) Life-cycle cost analysis defined. - In this subsection, the
term "life-cycle cost analysis" means a process for evaluating
the total economic worth of a usable project segment by analyzing
initial costs and discounted future costs, such as maintenance,
user costs, reconstruction, rehabilitation, restoring, and
resurfacing costs, over the life of the project segment.
(g) Oversight Program. -
(1) Establishment. -
(A) In general. - The Secretary shall establish an oversight
program to monitor the effective and efficient use of funds
authorized to carry out this title.
(B) Minimum requirement. - At a minimum, the program shall be
responsive to all areas relating to financial integrity and
project delivery.
(2) Financial integrity. -
(A) Financial management systems. - The Secretary shall
perform annual reviews that address elements of the State
transportation departments' financial management systems that
affect projects approved under subsection (a).
(B) Project costs. - The Secretary shall develop minimum
standards for estimating project costs and shall periodically
evaluate the practices of States for estimating project costs,
awarding contracts, and reducing project costs.
(3) Project delivery. - The Secretary shall perform annual
reviews that address elements of the project delivery system of a
State, which elements include one or more activities that are
involved in the life cycle of a project from conception to
completion of the project.
(4) Responsibility of the states. -
(A) In general. - The States shall be responsible for
determining that subrecipients of Federal funds under this
title have -
(i) adequate project delivery systems for projects approved
under this section; and
(ii) sufficient accounting controls to properly manage such
Federal funds.
(B) Periodic review. - The Secretary shall periodically
review the monitoring of subrecipients by the States.
(5) Specific oversight responsibilities. -
(A) Effect of section. - Nothing in this section shall affect
or discharge any oversight responsibility of the Secretary
specifically provided for under this title or other Federal
law.
(B) Appalachian development highways. - The Secretary shall
retain full oversight responsibilities for the design and
construction of all Appalachian development highways under
section 14501 of title 40.
(h) Major Projects. -
(1) In general. - Notwithstanding any other provision of this
section, a recipient of Federal financial assistance for a
project under this title with an estimated total cost of
$500,000,000 or more, and recipients for such other projects as
may be identified by the Secretary, shall submit to the Secretary
for each project -
(A) a project management plan; and
(B) an annual financial plan.
(2) Project management plan. - A project management plan shall
document -
(A) the procedures and processes that are in effect to
provide timely information to the project decisionmakers to
effectively manage the scope, costs, schedules, and quality of,
and the Federal requirements applicable to, the project; and
(B) the role of the agency leadership and management team in
the delivery of the project.
(3) Financial plan. - A financial plan shall -
(A) be based on detailed estimates of the cost to complete
the project; and
(B) provide for the annual submission of updates to the
Secretary that are based on reasonable assumptions, as
determined by the Secretary, of future increases in the cost to
complete the project.
(i) Other Projects. - A recipient of Federal financial assistance
for a project under this title with an estimated total cost of
$100,000,000 or more that is not covered by subsection (h) shall
prepare an annual financial plan. Annual financial plans prepared
under this subsection shall be made available to the Secretary for
review upon the request of the Secretary.