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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 502. Surface transportation research
(a) 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, 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 this section -
(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,
cooperative agreements, and other transactions with, the
National Academy of Sciences, the American Association of State
Highway and Transportation Officials, or any Federal
laboratory, State agency, authority, association, institution,
for-profit or nonprofit corporation, organization, foreign
country, or 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.
(b) 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) Agreements. - In carrying out this subsection, the
Secretary may enter into cooperative research and development
agreements (as defined in section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler
Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a)).
(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.
(c) 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 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.
(d) Advanced Research. -
(1) In general. - The Secretary shall establish an 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 that shows potential benefits for improving the
durability, efficiency, environmental impact, productivity, and
safety (including bicycle and pedestrian safety) of highway and
intermodal transportation systems. In carrying out the program,
the Secretary shall strive to develop partnerships with the
public and private sectors.
(2) Research areas. - In carrying out the program, the
Secretary may make grants and enter into cooperative agreements
and contracts in such areas 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) Diagnostics for evaluation of the condition of bridge and
pavement structures to enable the assessment of risks of
failure, including from seismic activity, vibration, and
weather.
(C) Design and construction details for composite structures.
(D) Safety technology-based problems in the areas of
pedestrian and bicycle safety, roadside hazards, and composite
materials for roadside safety hardware.
(E) Environmental research, including particulate matter
source apportionment and model development.
(F) Data acquisition techniques for system condition and
performance monitoring.
(G) Human factors, including prediction of the response of
travelers to new technologies.
(e) Long-Term Pavement Performance Program. -
(1) Authority. - The Secretary shall complete the long-term
pavement performance program tests initiated under the strategic
highway research program established under section 307(d) (as in
effect on the day before the date of enactment of this section)
and continued by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency
Act of 1991 (105 Stat. 1914 et seq.) through the midpoint of a
planned 20-year life of 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 in carrying out subparagraph
(A); and
(C) prepare products to fulfill program objectives and meet
future pavement technology needs.
(f) Seismic Research Program. -
(1) Establishment. - The Secretary shall establish a program to
study the vulnerability of the Federal-aid highway system and
other surface transportation systems to seismic activity and to
develop and implement cost-effective methods to reduce such
vulnerability.
(2) Cooperation with national center for earthquake engineering
research. - The Secretary shall conduct the program in
cooperation with the National Center for Earthquake Engineering
Research at the University of Buffalo.
(3) Cooperation with agencies participating in national
earthquake hazards reduction program. - The Secretary shall
conduct the program in consultation and cooperation with Federal
departments and 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) and
shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that the
program is consistent with -
(A) planning and coordination activities of the Director of
the Federal Emergency Management Agency under section 5(b)(1)
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 7704(b)(1)); and
(B) the plan developed by the Director of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency under section 8(b) of such Act (42
U.S.C. 7705b(b)).
(g) 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.
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