49 U.S.C. § 5305 : US Code - Section 5305: Planning programs

Search 49 U.S.C. § 5305 : US Code - Section 5305: Planning programs

(a) State Defined. - In this section, the term "State" means a
State of the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto
Rico.
(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, 5306, 5315, and 5322 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's Share of Costs. - The Government's 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 not to require a State or local match.
(g) Allocation of Funds. - Of the funds made available by or
appropriated to carry out this section under section 5338(c) for
fiscal years 2005 through 2009 -
(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.