23 U.S.C. § 144 : US Code - Section 144: Highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program

Search 23 U.S.C. § 144 : US Code - Section 144: Highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program

(a) Finding and Declaration. - Congress finds and declares that
it is in the vital interest of the United States that a highway
bridge program be carried out to enable States to improve the
condition of their highway bridges over waterways, other
topographical barriers, other highways, and railroads through
replacement and rehabilitation of bridges that the States and the
Secretary determine are structurally deficient or functionally
obsolete and through systematic preventive maintenance of bridges.
(b) The Secretary, in consultation with the States, shall (1)
inventory all those highway bridges on any Federal-aid system which
are bridges over waterways, other topographical barriers, other
highways, and railroads; (2) classify them according to
serviceability, safety, and essentiality for public use; (3) based
on that classification, assign each a priority for replacement or
rehabilitation; and (4) determine the cost of replacing each such
bridge with a comparable facility or of rehabilitating such bridge.
(c)(1) The Secretary, in consultation with the States, shall (1)
inventory all those highway bridges on public roads, other than
those on any Federal-aid system, which are bridges over waterways,
other topographical barriers, other highways, and railroads, (2)
classify them according to serviceability, safety, and essentiality
for public use, (3) based on the classification, assign each a
priority for replacement or rehabilitation and (4) determine the
cost of replacing each such bridge with a comparable facility or of
rehabilitating such bridge.
(2) The Secretary may, at the request of a State, inventory
bridges, on and off the Federal-aid system, for historic
significance.
(3) Inventory of indian reservation and park bridges. - As part
of the activities carried out under paragraph (1), the Secretary,
in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall (A)
inventory all those highway bridges on Indian reservation roads and
park roads which are bridges over waterways, other topographical
barriers, other highways, and railroads, (B) classify them
according to serviceability, safety, and essentiality for public
use, (C) based on the classification, assign each a priority for
replacement or rehabilitation, and (D) determine the cost of
replacing each such bridge with a comparable facility or of
rehabilitating such bridge.
(d) Participation. -
(1) Bridge replacement and rehabilitation. - On application by
a State or States to the Secretary for assistance for a highway
bridge that has been determined to be eligible for replacement or
rehabilitation under subsection (b) or (c), the Secretary may
approve Federal participation in -
(A) replacing the bridge with a comparable facility; or
(B) rehabilitating the bridge.
(2) Types of assistance. - On application by a State or States
to the Secretary, the Secretary may approve Federal assistance
for any of the following activities for a highway bridge that has
been determined to be eligible for replacement or rehabilitation
under subsection (b) or (c):
(A) Painting.
(B) Seismic retrofit.
(C) Systematic preventive maintenance.
(D) Installation of scour countermeasures.
(E) Application of calcium magnesium acetate, sodium
acetate/formate, or other environmentally acceptable, minimally
corrosive anti-icing and de-icing compositions.
(3) Basis for determination. - The Secretary shall determine
the eligibility of highway bridges for replacement or
rehabilitation for each State based on structurally deficient and
functionally obsolete highway bridges in the State.
(4) Special rule for preventive maintenance. - Notwithstanding
any other provision of this subsection, a State may carry out a
project under paragraph (2)(B), (2)(C), or (2)(D) for a highway
bridge without regard to whether the bridge is eligible for
replacement or rehabilitation under this section.
(e) Funds authorized to carry out this section shall be
apportioned among the several States on October 1 of the fiscal
year for which authorized in accordance with this subsection. Each
deficient bridge shall be placed into one of the following
categories: (1) Federal-aid system bridges eligible for
replacement, (2) Federal-aid system bridges eligible for
rehabilitation, (3) off-system bridges eligible for replacement,
and (4) off-system bridges eligible for rehabilitation. The deck
area of deficient bridges in each category shall be multiplied by
the respective unit price on a State-by-State basis, as determined
by the Secretary; and the total cost in each State divided by the
total cost of the deficient bridges in all States shall determine
the apportionment factors. For purposes of the preceding sentence,
if a State transfers funds apportioned to the State under this
section in a fiscal year beginning after September 30, 1997, to any
other apportionment of funds to such State under this title, the
total cost of deficient bridges in such State and in all States to
be determined for the succeeding fiscal year shall be reduced by
the amount of such transferred funds. No State shall receive more
than 10 per centum or less than 0.25 per centum of the total
apportionment for any one fiscal year. The Secretary shall make
these determinations based upon the latest available data, which
shall be updated annually. Funds apportioned under this section
shall be available for expenditure for the period specified in
section 118(b)(2). Any funds not obligated at the expiration of
such period shall be reapportioned by the Secretary to the other
States in accordance with this subsection. The use of funds
authorized under this section to carry out a project for the
seismic retrofit of a bridge shall not affect the apportionment of
funds under this section.
(f) The Federal share payable on account of any project under
this section shall be 80 per centum of the cost thereof.
(g) Bridge Set-asides. -
(1) Designated projects. -
(A) In general. - Of the amounts authorized to be
appropriated to carry out the bridge program under this section
for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2009, all but
$100,000,000 shall be apportioned as provided in subsection
(e). Such $100,000,000 shall be available as follows:
(i) $12,500,000 per fiscal year for the Golden Gate Bridge.
(ii) $18,750,000 per fiscal year for the construction of a
bridge joining the Island of Gravina to the community of
Ketchikan in Alaska.
(iii) $12,500,000 per fiscal year to the State of Nevada
for construction of a replacement of the federally owned
bridge over the Hoover Dam in the Lake Mead National
Recreation Area.
(iv) $12,500,000 per fiscal year to the State of Missouri
for construction of a structure over the Mississippi River to
connect the City of St. Louis, Missouri, to the State of
Illinois.
(v) $12,500,000 per fiscal year for replacement and
reconstruction of State maintained bridges in the State of
Oklahoma.
(vi) $4,500,000 per fiscal year for replacement of the
Missisquoi Bay Bridge, Vermont.
(vii) $8,000,000 per fiscal year for replacement and
reconstruction of State-maintained bridges in the State of
Vermont.
(viii) $8,750,000 per fiscal year for design, planning, and
right-of-way acquisition for the Interstate Route 74 bridge
from Bettendorf, Iowa, to Moline, Illinois.
(ix) $10,000,000 per fiscal year for replacement and
reconstruction of State-maintained bridges in the State of
Oregon.
(B) Gravina access scoring. - The project described in
subparagraph (A)(ii) shall not be counted for purposes of the
reduction set forth in the fourth sentence of subsection (e).
(C) Period of availability. - Amounts made available to a
State under this paragraph shall remain available until
expended.
(2) Off-system bridges. -
(A) In general. - Not less than 15 percent of the amount
apportioned to each State in each of fiscal years 2005 through
2009 shall be expended for projects to replace, rehabilitate,
paint, perform systematic preventive maintenance or seismic
retrofit of, or apply calcium magnesium acetate, sodium
acetate/formate, or other environmentally acceptable, minimally
corrosive anti-icing and de-icing compositions to, or install
scour countermeasures to, highway bridges located on public
roads, other than those on a Federal-aid highway, or to
complete the Warwick Intermodal Station (including the
construction of a people mover between the Station and the T.F.
Green Airport).
(B) Reduction of expenditures. - The Secretary, after
consultation with State and local officials, may reduce the
requirement for expenditure for bridges not on a Federal-aid
highway under subparagraph (A) with respect to the State if the
Secretary determines that the State has inadequate needs to
justify the expenditure.
(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the General
Bridge Act of 1946 (33 U.S.C. 525-533) shall apply to bridges
authorized to be replaced, in whole or in part, by this section,
except that subsection (b) of section 502 of such Act of 1946 and
section 9 of the Act of March 3, 1899 (30 Stat. 1151) shall not
apply to any bridge constructed, reconstructed, rehabilitated, or
replaced with assistance under this title, if such bridge is over
waters (1) which are not used and are not susceptible to use in
their natural condition or by reasonable improvement as a means to
transport interstate or foreign commerce, and (2) which are (a) not
tidal, or (b) if tidal, used only by recreational boating, fishing,
and other small vessels less than 21 feet in length.
(i) Inventories and Reports. - The Secretary shall -
(1) report to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of
the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
of the House of Representatives on projects approved under this
section;
(2) annually revise the current inventories authorized by
subsections (b) and (c) of this section;
(3) report to such committees on such inventories; and
(4) report to such committees such recommendations as the
Secretary may have for improvements of the program authorized by
this section.
Such reports shall be submitted to such committees biennially.
(j) Sums apportioned to a State under this section shall be made
available for obligation throughout such State on a fair and
equitable basis.
(k) Not later than six months after the date of enactment of this
subsection, and periodically thereafter, the Secretary shall review
the procedure used in approving or disapproving applications
submitted under this section to determine what changes, if any, may
be made to expedite such procedure. Any such changes shall be
implemented by the Secretary as soon as possible. Not later than
nine months after the date of enactment of this subsection, the
Secretary shall submit a report to Congress which describes such
review and such changes, including any recommendations for
legislative changes.
(l) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any bridge which
is owned and operated by an agency (1) which does not have taxing
powers, (2) whose functions include operating a federally assisted
public transit system subsidized by toll revenues, shall be
eligible for assistance under this section but the amount of such
assistance shall in no event exceed the cumulative amount which
such agency has expended for capital and operating costs to
subsidize such transit system. Before authorizing an expenditure of
funds under this subsection, the Secretary shall determine that the
applicant agency has insufficient reserves, surpluses, and
projected revenues (over and above those required for bridge and
transit capital and operating costs) to fund the necessary bridge
replacement or rehabilitation project. Any non-Federal funds
expended for the seismic retrofit of the bridge may be credited
toward the non-Federal share required as a condition of receipt of
any Federal funds for seismic retrofit of the bridge made available
after the date of the expenditure.
(m) Replacement of Destroyed Bridges and Ferryboat Service. -
(1) General rule. - Notwithstanding any other provision of this
section or of any other provision of law, a State may utilize any
of the funds provided under this section to construct any bridge
which -
(A) replaces any low water crossing (regardless of the length
of such low water crossing),
(B) replaces any bridge which was destroyed prior to 1965,
(C) replaces any ferry which was in existence on January 1,
1984, or
(D) replaces any road bridges rendered obsolete as a result
of United States Corps of Engineers flood control or
channelization projects and not rebuilt with funds from the
United States Corps of Engineers.
(2) Federal share. - The Federal share payable on any bridge
construction carried out under paragraph (1) shall be 80 percent
of the cost of such construction.
(n) Off-System Bridge Program. - Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, with respect to any project not on a Federal-aid
highway for the replacement of a bridge or rehabilitation of a
bridge which is wholly funded from State and local sources, is
eligible for Federal funds under this section, is noncontroversial,
is certified by the State to have been carried out in accordance
with all standards applicable to such projects under this section,
and is determined by the Secretary upon completion to be no longer
a deficient bridge, any amount expended after the date of the
enactment of this subsection from State and local sources for such
project in excess of 20 percent of the cost of construction thereof
may be credited to the non-Federal share of the cost of the
projects in such State which are eligible for Federal funds under
this section. Such crediting shall be in accordance with such
procedures as the Secretary may establish.
(o) Historic Bridge Program. -
(1) Coordination. - The Secretary shall, in cooperation with
the States, implement the programs described in this section in a
manner that encourages the inventory, retention, rehabilitation,
adaptive reuse, and future study of historic bridges.
(2) State inventory. - The Secretary shall require each State
to complete an inventory of all bridges on and off the Federal-
aid system to determine their historic significance.
(3) Eligibility. - Reasonable costs associated with actions to
preserve, or reduce the impact of a project under this chapter
on, the historic integrity of historic bridges shall be eligible
as reimbursable project costs under this title (including this
section) if the load capacity and safety features of the bridge
are adequate to serve the intended use for the life of the
bridge; except that in the case of a bridge which is no longer
used for motorized vehicular traffic, the costs eligible as
reimbursable project costs pursuant to this subsection shall not
exceed the estimated cost of demolition of such bridge.
(4) Preservation. - Any State which proposes to demolish a
historic bridge for a replacement project with funds made
available to carry out this section shall first make the bridge
available for donation to a State, locality, or responsible
private entity if such State, locality, or responsible entity
enters into an agreement to -
(A) maintain the bridge and the features that give it its
historic significance; and
(B) assume all future legal and financial responsibility for
the bridge, which may include an agreement to hold the State
highway agency harmless in any liability action.
Costs incurred by the State to preserve the historic bridge,
including funds made available to the State, locality, or private
entity to enable it to accept the bridge, shall be eligible as
reimbursable project costs under this chapter up to an amount not
to exceed the cost of demolition. Any bridge preserved pursuant
to this paragraph shall thereafter not be eligible for any other
funds authorized pursuant to this title.
(5) Historic bridge defined. - As used in this subsection,
"historic bridge" means any bridge that is listed on, or eligible
for listing on, the National Register of Historic Places.
(p) Applicability of State Standards for Projects. - A project
not on a Federal-aid highway under this section shall be designed,
constructed, operated, and maintained in accordance with State
laws, regulations, directives, safety standards, design standards,
and construction standards.
(q) As used in this section the term "rehabilitate" in any of its
forms means major work necessary to restore the structural
integrity of a bridge as well as work necessary to correct a major
safety defect.
(r) Annual Materials Report on New Bridge Construction and Bridge
Rehabilitation. - Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this subsection, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall
publish in the Federal Register a report describing construction
materials used in new Federal-aid bridge construction and bridge
rehabilitation projects.
(s) Federal Share. -
(1) In general. - Except as provided under paragraph (2), the
Federal share of the cost of a project payable from funds made
available to carry out this section shall be determined under
section 120(b).
(2) Interstate system. - The Federal share of the cost of a
project on the Interstate System payable from funds made
available to carry out this section shall be determined under
section 120(a).