[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1168 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1168

   To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish a program to 
increase the use of recyclable material in the construction of Federal-
                             aid highways.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 3, 2003

 Mr. Bingaman introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish a program to 
increase the use of recyclable material in the construction of Federal-
                             aid highways.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Recycled Roads Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) in 2000, there were more than 3,951,000 miles of 
        highways in the United States;
            (2) in the early 1990s, as much as 350,000,000 tons of raw 
        and recyclable material were used annually for highway 
        construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance;
            (3) in 2002, the Federal Government provided 
        $26,348,000,000, or more than 34 percent of funding, for 
        highways in the United States;
            (4) at least 45 States recycle a total of 73,000,000 tons 
        of reclaimed asphalt pavement annually, the use of which 
        results in an annual savings of approximately $300,000,000 as 
        compared with the cost of using raw material;
            (5) in 2002, the Federal Highway Administration issued a 
        policy encouraging States to use recycled material in highway 
        construction because recycling and reuse can offer engineering, 
        economic, and environmental benefits;
            (6) greater incorporation of recyclable material in highway 
        construction would--
                    (A) provide a significant new national market for 
                the use of recyclable material;
                    (B) create new markets and incentives for recycling 
                in small communities;
                    (C) conserve raw material; and
                    (D) reduce the quantities of waste deposited in 
                landfills in the United States (which would produce an 
                additional savings for the Federal Government and State 
                governments); and
            (7) the increased use of recyclable material in highway 
        construction could--
                    (A) provide additional opportunities for rural 
                economic development; and
                    (B) encourage expanded use of biomass products.

SEC. 3. USE OF RECYCLABLE MATERIAL IN FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 1 of title 23, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 138 the following:
``Sec. 139. Use of recyclable material in Federal-aid highway 
              construction
    ``(a) Definition of Recyclable Material.--In this section:
            ``(1) In general.--The term `recyclable material' means any 
        material described in paragraph (2) that is determined by the 
        Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency--
                    ``(A) to be recyclable and usable in construction 
                of a Federal-aid highway; and
                    ``(B) to have undergone a recycling process to 
                prepare the material for further use.
            ``(2) Materials.--The materials referred to in paragraph 
        (1) are--
                    ``(A) glass;
                    ``(B) forest biomass;
                    ``(C) a used tire or tire product;
                    ``(D) reclaimed asphalt;
                    ``(E) plastic; and
                    ``(F) any other suitable material that does not 
                contain a total concentration of any toxic constituent 
                that poses a risk to human health or the environment--
                            ``(i) during preconstruction activity, 
                        including storage, transportation, or 
                        preparation of the material for use in road 
                        construction;
                            ``(ii) during the useful life of the road; 
                        or
                            ``(iii) after the useful life of the road, 
                        including subsequent recycling, reuse, or 
                        disposal of components of or debris from the 
                        road.
    ``(b) Program.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a 
        recycled roads incentive grant program to encourage the 
        expanded use by States and Indian tribes of a diverse range of 
        recyclable material in the construction of Federal-aid 
        highways.
            ``(2) Grants.--In carrying out this section, the Secretary 
        shall provide to each State or qualified (as determined by the 
        Secretary) Indian tribe--
                    ``(A) a grant, in an amount not to exceed $125,000 
                for a fiscal year, to be used by the State or Indian 
                tribe in employing a coordinator to promote the use of 
                a diverse range of recyclable material in Federal-aid 
                highway construction; and
                    ``(B) a grant, on a competitive basis, in an amount 
                not to exceed $1,400,000 for a fiscal year, to be used 
                by the State or Indian tribe in carrying out projects 
                and activities to promote the expanded use of a diverse 
                range of recyclable material in Federal-aid highway 
                construction and maintenance, such as projects and 
                activities to--
                            ``(i) eliminate economic barriers;
                            ``(ii) develop markets;
                            ``(iii) provide outreach, training, or 
                        technical assistance; or
                            ``(iv) collect program and performance 
                        data.
            ``(3) Administration.--
                    ``(A) Redistribution of funds.--If funds made 
                available for use in providing grants under 
                subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (2) for a fiscal 
                year remain after the Secretary has provided grants 
                under the subparagraph for the fiscal year, the 
                Secretary--
                            ``(i) may use the remaining funds to 
                        provide additional grants under that paragraph 
                        for the fiscal year; but
                            ``(ii) notwithstanding any other provision 
                        of this title, shall not use the funds to 
                        provide grants or assistance under any other 
                        program under this title.
                    ``(B) Transportation and environmental 
                cooperation.--In providing a grant to a State or Indian 
                tribe under paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary shall 
                encourage cooperation between transportation and 
                environmental programs carried out by the State or 
                Indian tribe.
                    ``(C) Equitable treatment of states and indian 
                tribes.--To the maximum extent practicable, the 
                Secretary shall treat an Indian tribe as a State for 
                the purpose of a grant provided under paragraph (2).
            ``(4) State and tribal reports.--For the fiscal year in 
        which the program under this section is implemented and each 
        fiscal year thereafter, each State and Indian tribe that 
        receives a grant under paragraph (2) shall--
                    ``(A) collect a sampling of data pertaining to the 
                use by the State or Indian tribe, during the fiscal 
                year covered by the report, of recyclable material in 
                the projects for construction of Federal-aid highways 
                in the State or on land under the jurisdiction of the 
                Indian tribe that are carried out under this section or 
                any other provision of this title using at least 
                $1,000,000 in Federal funds, including a description 
                of--
                            ``(i) each type of recyclable material 
                        used;
                            ``(ii) the quantity of each recyclable 
                        material used; and
                            ``(iii) the proportion that--
                                    ``(I) the quantity of each 
                                recyclable material used; bears to
                                    ``(II) the quantity of all 
                                recyclable material and raw material 
                                used; and
                    ``(B) submit to the Secretary a report describing 
                those data.
            ``(5) Quality control.--The Secretary shall ensure, to the 
        maximum extent practicable, that data provided by a State or 
        Indian tribe under paragraph (4) is of a sufficient quality and 
        range to permit the Secretary to assess national 
        accomplishments involving the use of recyclable material.
    ``(c) Reports.--
            ``(1) Initial report.--Not later than 180 days after the 
        date of enactment of the Recycled Roads Act of 2003, the 
        Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
        Congress a report on the program to be carried out under this 
        section that includes--
                    ``(A) an overview of program requirements;
                    ``(B) an analysis of any significant issues 
                relating to the program; and
                    ``(C) a proposed timeline for implementation of the 
                program.
            ``(2) Annual reports.--Not later than 2 years after the 
        date of enactment of the Recycled Roads Act of 2003, and 
        annually thereafter on the date of issuance of the annual 
        program performance report under section 1116 of title 31, 
        United States Code, the Secretary shall submit to the 
        appropriate committees of Congress a report on the program 
        under this section, including, for each recyclable material 
        used in the construction of a Federal-aid highway during the 
        period covered by the report, the information described in 
        subsection (b)(4).
    ``(d) Regulations.--The Secretary shall promulgate such regulations 
as are necessary to carry out this section.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated from the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit 
Account)--
            ``(1) $10,125,000 for use in providing grants under 
        subsection (b)(2)(A) for each fiscal year; and
            ``(2) $113,400,000 for use in providing grants under 
        subsection (b)(2)(B) for each fiscal year.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The analysis for subchapter I of chapter 
1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 138 the following:

``139. Use of recyclable material in Federal-aid highway 
                            construction.''.
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