23 U.S.C. § 502 : US Code - Section 502: Surface transportation research

Search 23 U.S.C. § 502 : US Code - Section 502: Surface transportation research

(a) Basic Principles Governing Research and Technology
Investments. -
(1) Coverage. - Surface transportation research and technology
development shall include all activities leading to technology
development and transfer, as well as the introduction of new and
innovative ideas, practices, and approaches, through such
mechanisms as field applications, education and training, and
technical support.
(2) Federal responsibility. - Funding and conducting surface
transportation research and technology transfer activities shall
be considered a basic responsibility of the Federal Government
when the work -
(A) is of national significance;
(B) supports research in which there is a clear public
benefit and private sector investment is less than optimal;
(C) supports a Federal stewardship role in assuring that
State and local governments use national resources efficiently;
or
(D) presents the best means to support Federal policy goals
compared to other policy alternatives.
(3) Role. - Consistent with these Federal responsibilities, the
Secretary shall -
(A) conduct research;
(B) support and facilitate research and technology transfer
activities by State highway agencies;
(C) share results of completed research; and
(D) support and facilitate technology and innovation
deployment.
(4) Program content. - A surface transportation research
program shall include -
(A) fundamental, long-term highway research;
(B) research aimed at significant highway research gaps and
emerging issues with national implications; and
(C) research related to policy and planning.
(5) Stakeholder input. - Federal surface transportation
research and development activities shall address the needs of
stakeholders. Stakeholders include States, metropolitan planning
organizations, local governments, the private sector,
researchers, research sponsors, and other affected parties,
including public interest groups.
(6) Competition and peer review. - Except as otherwise provided
in this chapter, the Secretary shall award, to the maximum extent
practicable, all grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements
for research and development under this chapter based on open
competition and peer review of proposals.
(7) Performance review and evaluation. - To the maximum extent
practicable, all surface transportation research and development
projects shall include a component of performance measurement and
evaluation. Performance measures shall be established during the
proposal stage of a research and development project and shall,
to the maximum extent possible, be outcome-based. All evaluations
shall be made readily available to the public.
(8) Technological innovation. - The programs and activities
carried out under this section shall be consistent with the
surface transportation research and technology development
strategic plan developed under section 508.
(b) General Authority. -
(1) Research, development, and technology transfer activities. -
The Secretary may carry out research, development, and
technology transfer activities with respect to -
(A) motor carrier transportation;
(B) all phases of transportation planning and development
(including construction, operation, transportation system
management and operations, modernization, development, design,
maintenance, safety, financing, and traffic conditions); and
(C) the effect of State laws on the activities described in
subparagraphs (A) and (B).
(2) Tests and development. - The Secretary may test, develop,
or assist in testing and developing any material, invention,
patented article, or process.
(3) Cooperation, grants, and contracts. - The Secretary may
carry out research, development, and technology transfer
activities related to transportation -
(A) independently;
(B) in cooperation with other Federal departments, agencies,
and instrumentalities and Federal laboratories; or
(C) by making grants to, or entering into contracts and
cooperative agreements with one or more of the following: the
National Academy of Sciences, the American Association of State
Highway and Transportation Officials, any Federal laboratory,
Federal agency, State agency, authority, association,
institution, for-profit or nonprofit corporation, organization,
foreign country, or any other person.
(4) Technological innovation. - The programs and activities
carried out under this section shall be consistent with the
surface transportation research and technology development
strategic plan developed under section 508.
(5) Funds. -
(A) Special account. - In addition to other funds made
available to carry out this section, the Secretary shall use
such funds as may be deposited by any cooperating organization
or person in a special account of the Treasury established for
this purpose.
(B) Use of funds. - The Secretary shall use funds made
available to carry out this section to develop, administer,
communicate, and promote the use of products of research,
development, and technology transfer programs under this
section.
(6) Pooled funding. -
(A) Cooperation. - To promote effective utilization of
available resources, the Secretary may cooperate with a State
and an appropriate agency in funding research, development, and
technology transfer activities of mutual interest on a pooled
funds basis.
(B) Secretary as agent. - The Secretary may enter into
contracts, cooperative agreements, and grants as the agent for
all participating parties in carrying out such research,
development, or technology transfer activities.
(c) Collaborative Research and Development. -
(1) In general. - To encourage innovative solutions to surface
transportation problems and stimulate the deployment of new
technology, the Secretary may carry out, on a cost-shared basis,
collaborative research and development with -
(A) non-Federal entities, including State and local
governments, foreign governments, colleges and universities,
corporations, institutions, partnerships, sole proprietorships,
and trade associations that are incorporated or established
under the laws of any State; and
(B) Federal laboratories.
(2) Cooperation, grants, contracts, and agreements. -
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may
directly initiate contracts, cooperative research and development
agreements (as defined in section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler
Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a)) to fund, and
accept funds from, the Transportation Research Board of the
National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences,
State departments of transportation, cities, counties, and their
agents to conduct joint transportation research and technology
efforts.
(3) Federal share. -
(A) In general. - The Federal share of the cost of activities
carried out under a cooperative research and development
agreement entered into under this subsection shall not exceed
50 percent, except that if there is substantial public interest
or benefit, the Secretary may approve a greater Federal share.
(B) Non-federal share. - All costs directly incurred by the
non-Federal partners, including personnel, travel, and hardware
development costs, shall be credited toward the non-Federal
share of the cost of the activities described in subparagraph
(A).
(4) Use of technology. - The research, development, or use of a
technology under a cooperative research and development agreement
entered into under this subsection, including the terms under
which the technology may be licensed and the resulting royalties
may be distributed, shall be subject to the Stevenson-Wydler
Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.).
(5) Waiver of advertising requirements. - Section 3709 of the
Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5) shall not apply to a contract or
agreement entered into under this chapter.
(d) Contents of Research Program. - The Secretary shall include
in surface transportation research, technology development, and
technology transfer programs carried out under this title
coordinated activities in the following areas:
(1) Development, use, and dissemination of indicators,
including appropriate computer programs for collecting and
analyzing data on the status of infrastructure facilities, to
measure the performance of the surface transportation systems of
the United States, including productivity, efficiency, energy
use, air quality, congestion, safety, maintenance, and other
factors that reflect system performance.
(2) Methods, materials, and testing to improve the durability
of surface transportation infrastructure facilities and extend
the life of bridge structures, including -
(A) new and innovative technologies to reduce corrosion;
(B) tests simulating seismic activity, vibration, and
weather; and
(C) the use of innovative recycled materials.
(3) Technologies and practices that reduce costs and minimize
disruptions associated with the construction, rehabilitation, and
maintenance of surface transportation systems, including
responses to natural disasters.
(4) Development of nondestructive evaluation equipment for use
with existing infrastructure facilities and with next-generation
infrastructure facilities that use advanced materials.
(5) Dynamic simulation models of surface transportation systems
for -
(A) predicting capacity, safety, and infrastructure
durability problems;
(B) evaluating planned research projects; and
(C) testing the strengths and weaknesses of proposed
revisions to surface transportation system management and
operations programs.
(6) Economic highway geometrics, structures, and desirable
weight and size standards for vehicles using the public highways
and the feasibility of uniformity in State regulations with
respect to such standards.
(7) Telecommuting and the linkages between transportation,
information technology, and community development and the impact
of technological change and economic restructuring on travel
demand.
(8) Expansion of knowledge of implementing life cycle cost
analysis, including -
(A) establishing the appropriate analysis period and discount
rates;
(B) learning how to value and properly consider use costs;
(C) determining tradeoffs between reconstruction and
rehabilitation; and
(D) establishing methodologies for balancing higher initial
costs of new technologies and improved or advanced materials
against lower maintenance costs.
(9) Standardized estimates, to be developed in conjunction with
the National Institute of Standards and Technology and other
appropriate organizations, of useful life under various
conditions for advanced materials of use in surface
transportation.
(10) Evaluation of traffic calming measures that promote
community preservation, transportation mode choice, and safety.
(11) Development and implementation of safety-enhancing
equipment, including unobtrusive eyetracking technology.
(12) Investigation and development of various operational
methodologies to reduce the occurrence and impact of recurrent
congestion and nonrecurrent congestion and increase
transportation system reliability.
(13) Investigation of processes, procedures, and technologies
to secure container and hazardous material transport, including
the evaluation of regulations and the impact of good security
practices on commerce and productivity.
(14) Research, development, and technology transfer related to
asset management.
(e) Exploratory Advanced Research. -
(1) In general. - The Secretary shall establish an exploratory
advanced research program, consistent with the surface
transportation research and technology development strategic plan
developed under section 508 that addresses longer-term, higher-
risk research with potentially dramatic breakthroughs for
improving the durability, efficiency, environmental impact,
productivity, and safety (including bicycle and pedestrian
safety) aspects of highway and intermodal transportation systems.
In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall strive to
develop partnerships with public and private sector entities.
(2) Research areas. - In carrying out the program, the
Secretary may make grants and enter into cooperative agreements
and contracts in such areas of surface transportation research
and technology as the Secretary determines appropriate, including
the following:
(A) Characterization of materials used in highway
infrastructure, including analytical techniques, microstructure
modeling, and the deterioration processes.
(B) Assessment of the effects of transportation decisions on
human health.
(C) Development of surrogate measures of safety.
(D) Environmental research.
(E) Data acquisition techniques for system condition and
performance monitoring.
(F) System performance data and information processing needed
to assess the day-to-day operational performance of the system
in support of hour-to-hour operational decisionmaking.
(f) Long-Term Pavement Performance Program. -
(1) Authority. - The Secretary shall continue to carry out,
through September 30, 2009, tests, monitoring, and data analysis
under the long-term pavement performance program.
(2) Grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. - Under the
program, the Secretary shall make grants and enter into
cooperative agreements and contracts to -
(A) monitor, material-test, and evaluate highway test
sections in existence as of the date of the grant, agreement,
or contract;
(B) analyze the data obtained under subparagraph (A); and
(C) prepare products to fulfill program objectives and meet
future pavement technology needs.
(g) Seismic Research. - The Secretary shall -
(1) in consultation and cooperation with Federal agencies
participating in the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction
Program established by section 5 of the Earthquake Hazards
Reduction Act of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7704), coordinate the conduct of
seismic research;
(2) take such actions as are necessary to ensure that the
coordination of the research is consistent with -
(A) planning and coordination activities of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology under section 5(b)(1) of
that Act (42 U.S.C. 7704(b)(1)); and
(B) the plan developed by the Director of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology under section 8(b) of
that Act (42 U.S.C. 7705b(b)); and
(3) in cooperation with the Center for Civil Engineering
Research at the University of Nevada, Reno, and the National
Center for Earthquake Engineering Research at the University of
Buffalo, carry out a seismic research program -
(A) to study the vulnerability of the Federal-aid system and
other surface transportation systems to seismic activity;
(B) to develop and implement cost-effective methods to reduce
the vulnerability; and
(C) to conduct seismic research and upgrade earthquake
simulation facilities as necessary to carry out the program.
(h) (!1) Infrastructure Investment Needs Report. -
(1) In general. - Not later than January 31, 1999, and January
31 of every second year thereafter, the Secretary shall 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 -
(A) estimates of the future highway and bridge needs of the
United States; and
(B) the backlog of current highway and bridge needs.
(2) Comparison with prior reports. - Each report under
paragraph (1) shall provide the means, including all necessary
information, to relate and compare the conditions and service
measures used in the 3 biannual reports published prior to the
date of enactment of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st
Century.
(h) (!1) Infrastructure Investment Needs Report. -
(1) In general. - Not later than July 31, 2006, and July 31 of
every second year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the
Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of
Representatives a report that describes -
(A) estimates of the future highway, transit, and bridge
needs of the United States; and
(B) the backlog of current highway, transit, and bridge
needs.
(2) Comparison with prior reports. - Each report under
paragraph (1) shall provide the means, including all necessary
information, to relate and compare the conditions and service
measures used in the previous biennial reports.
(i) Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center. -
(1) In general. - The Secretary shall operate in the Federal
Highway Administration a Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center.
(2) Uses of the center. - The Turner-Fairbank Highway Research
Center shall support -
(A) the conduct of highway research and development related
to new highway technology;
(B) the development of understandings, tools, and techniques
that provide solutions to complex technical problems through
the development of economical and environmentally sensitive
designs, efficient and quality-controlled construction
practices, and durable materials; and
(C) the development of innovative highway products and
practices.
(j) Long-Term Bridge Performance Program. -
(1) Authority. - The Secretary shall establish a 20-year long-
term bridge performance program.
(2) Grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. - Under the
program, the Secretary shall make grants and enter into
cooperative agreements and contracts to -
(A) monitor, material-test, and evaluate test bridges;
(B) analyze the data obtained under subparagraph (A); and
(C) prepare products to fulfill program objectives and meet
future bridge technology needs.