49 U.S.C. § 5312 : US Code - Section 5312: Research, development, demonstration, and deployment projects

Search 49 U.S.C. § 5312 : US Code - Section 5312: Research, development, demonstration, and deployment projects

(a) Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment
Projects. -
(1) In general. - The Secretary may make grants, contracts,
cooperative agreements, and other agreements (including
agreements with departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of
the United States Government) for research, development,
demonstration, and deployment projects, and evaluation of
technology of national significance to public transportation,
that the Secretary determines will improve public transportation
service or help public transportation service meet the total
transportation needs at a minimum cost.
(2) Information. - The Secretary may request and receive
appropriate information from any source.
(3) Savings provision. - This subsection does not limit the
authority of the Secretary under any other law.
(b) Joint Partnership Program for Deployment of Innovation. -
(1) Definition of consortium. - In this subsection, the term
"consortium" -
(A) means 1 or more public or private organizations located
in the United States that provide public transportation service
to the public and 1 or more businesses, including small- and
medium-sized businesses, incorporated in a State, offering
goods or services or willing to offer goods and services to
public transportation operators; and
(B) may include, as additional members, public or private
research organizations located in the United States, or State
or local governmental authorities.
(2) General authority. - The Secretary may, under terms and
conditions that the Secretary prescribes, enter into grants,
contracts, cooperative agreements, and other agreements with
consortia selected in accordance with paragraph (4), to promote
the early deployment of innovation in public transportation
services, management, operational practices, or technology that
has broad applicability. This paragraph shall be carried out in
consultation with the transit industry by competitively selected
consortia that will share costs, risks, and rewards of early
deployment of innovation.
(3) Consortium contribution. - A consortium assisted under this
subsection shall provide not less than 50 percent of the costs of
any joint partnership project. Any business, organization,
person, or governmental body may contribute funds to a joint
partnership project.
(4) Notice requirement. - The Secretary shall periodically give
public notice of the technical areas for which joint partnerships
are solicited, required qualifications of consortia desiring to
participate, the method of selection and evaluation criteria to
be used in selecting participating consortia and projects, and
the process by which innovation projects described in paragraph
(1) will be awarded.
(5) Use of revenues. - The Secretary shall accept, to the
maximum extent practicable, a portion of the revenues resulting
from sales of an innovation project funded under this section.
Such revenues shall be accounted for separately within the Mass
Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund and shall be available
to the Secretary for activities under this subsection. Annual
revenues that are less than $1,000,000 shall be available for
obligation without further appropriation and shall not be subject
to any obligation limitation.
(c) International Mass (!1) Transportation Program. -
(1) Activities. - The Secretary is authorized to engage in
activities to inform the United States domestic public
transportation community about technological innovations
available in the international marketplace and activities that
may afford domestic businesses the opportunity to become globally
competitive in the export of public transportation products and
services. Such activities may include -
(A) development, monitoring, assessment, and dissemination
domestically of information about worldwide public
transportation market opportunities;
(B) cooperation with foreign public sector entities in
research, development, demonstration, training, and other forms
of technology transfer and exchange of experts and information;
(C) advocacy, in international public transportation markets,
of firms, products, and services available from the United
States;
(D) informing the international market about the technical
quality of public transportation products and services through
participation in seminars, expositions, and similar activities;
and
(E) offering those Federal Transit Administration technical
services which cannot be readily obtained from the United
States private sector to foreign public authorities planning or
undertaking public transportation projects if the cost of these
services will be recovered under the terms of each project.
(2) Cooperation. - The Secretary may carry out activities under
this subsection in cooperation with other Federal agencies, State
or local agencies, public or private nonprofit institutions,
government laboratories, foreign governments, or any other
organization the Secretary determines is appropriate.
(3) Funding. - The funds available to carry out this subsection
shall include revenues paid to the Secretary by any cooperating
organization or person. Such revenues shall be available to the
Secretary to carry out activities under this subsection,
including promotional materials, travel, reception, and
representation expenses necessary to carry out such activities.
Annual revenues that are less than $1,000,000 shall be available
for obligation without further appropriation and shall not be
subject to any obligation limitation. Not later than January 1 of
each fiscal year, the Secretary shall publish a report on the
activities under this paragraph funded from the account.