1.
This Act may be cited as the
Safe Streets and Highways Act of
2005
.
2.
Highway safety Improvement program
(a)
(1)
Section 148 of title 23,
United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
148.
Highway safety improvement program
(a)
In this section:
(1)
The term driver
conditioning means the process by which drivers learn to respond to
specific road conditions and traffic patterns that generally remain consistent
over time, making the driver susceptible to error when confronted with minor
changes in those road conditions or traffic patterns.
(2)
Highway safety Improvement program
The term highway
safety improvement program means the program carried out under this
section.
(3)
Highway safety Improvement project
(A)
The term highway
safety improvement project means a project described in the State
strategic highway safety plan that—
(i)
corrects or improves a
hazardous road location or feature; or
(ii)
addresses a highway safety
problem.
(B)
The term highway
safety improvement project includes a project for—
(i)
an intersection safety
improvement;
(ii)
pavement and shoulder
widening (including addition of a passing lane to remedy an unsafe
condition);
(iii)
installation of rumble
strips or another warning device, if the rumble strips or other warning devices
do not adversely affect the safety or mobility of bicyclists and
pedestrians;
(iv)
installation of a
skid-resistant surface at an intersection or other location with a high
frequency of accidents;
(v)
an improvement for
pedestrian or bicyclist safety;
(vi)
(I)
construction of any project
for the elimination of hazards at a railway-highway crossing that is eligible
for funding under section 130, including the separation or protection of grades
at railway-highway crossings;
(II)
construction of a
railway-highway crossing safety feature; or
(III)
the conduct of a model
traffic enforcement activity at a railway-highway crossing;
(vii)
construction of a traffic
calming feature;
(viii)
elimination of a roadside
obstacle;
(ix)
improvement of highway
signage and pavement markings, including improvements designed to implement
minimum retroflectivity standards in compliance with section 406 of the
Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993 (106
Stat. 1564), and signage designed to identify high-crash locations or address
driver conditioning hazards;
(x)
installation of a priority
control system for emergency vehicles at signalized intersections;
(xi)
installation of a traffic
control or other warning device at a location with high accident
potential;
(xii)
safety-conscious
planning;
(xiii)
improvement in the
collection and analysis of crash data;
(xiv)
planning, integrated,
interoperable emergency communications, equipment, operational activities, or
traffic enforcement activities (including police assistance) relating to
workzone safety;
(xv)
installation of guardrails,
barriers (including barriers between construction work zones and traffic lanes
for the safety of motorists and workers), and crash attenuators;
(xvi)
the addition or
retrofitting of structures or other measures to eliminate or reduce accidents
involving vehicles and wildlife; or
(xvii)
installation and
maintenance of signs (including fluorescent, yellow-green signs) at
pedestrian-bicycle crossings and in school zones.
(4)
Safety project under any other Section
(A)
The term safety
project under any other section means a project carried out for the
purpose of safety under any other section of this title.
(B)
The term safety
project under any other section includes a project to—
(i)
promote the awareness of
the public and educate the public concerning highway safety matters; or
(ii)
enforce highway safety
laws.
(5)
State highway safety Improvement program
The term State
highway safety improvement program means projects or strategies included
in the State strategic highway safety plan carried out as part of the State
transportation improvement program under section 135(f).
(6)
State strategic highway safety plan
The term State
strategic highway safety plan means a plan developed by the State
transportation department that—
(A)
is developed after
consultation with—
(i)
a highway safety
representative of the Governor of the State;
(ii)
regional transportation
planning organizations and metropolitan planning organizations, if any;
(iii)
representatives of major
modes of transportation;
(iv)
State and local traffic
enforcement officials;
(v)
persons responsible for
administering section 130 at the State level;
(vi)
representatives conducting
Operation Lifesaver;
(vii)
representatives conducting
a motor carrier safety program under section 31104 or 31107 of title 49;
(viii)
motor vehicle
administration agencies; and
(ix)
other major State and local
safety stakeholders;
(B)
analyzes and makes
effective use of State, regional, or local crash data;
(C)
addresses engineering,
management, operation, education, enforcement, and emergency services elements
(including integrated, interoperable emergency communications) of highway
safety as key factors in evaluating highway projects;
(D)
considers safety needs of,
and high-fatality segments of, public roads;
(E)
considers the results of
State, regional, or local transportation and highway safety planning
processes;
(F)
describes a program of
projects or strategies to reduce or eliminate safety hazards;
(G)
is approved by the Governor
of the State or a responsible State agency; and
(H)
is consistent with the
requirements of section 135(f).
(b)
(1)
The Secretary shall carry
out a highway safety improvement program.
(2)
The purpose of the highway
safety improvement program shall be to achieve a significant reduction in
traffic fatalities and serious injuries on public roads.
(c)
(1)
To obligate funds
apportioned under section 104(b)(5) to carry out this section, a State shall
have in effect a State highway safety improvement program under which the
State—
(A)
develops and implements a
State strategic highway safety plan that identifies and analyzes highway safety
problems and opportunities as provided in paragraph (2);
(B)
produces a program of
projects or strategies to reduce identified safety problems;
(C)
evaluates the plan on a
regular basis to ensure the accuracy of the data and priority of proposed
improvements; and
(D)
submits to the Secretary an
annual report that—
(i)
describes, in a clearly
understandable fashion, not less than 25 percent of locations determined by the
State, using criteria established in accordance with paragraph (2)(B)(ii), as
exhibiting the most severe safety needs; and
(ii)
contains an assessment
of—
(I)
potential remedies to
hazardous locations identified;
(II)
estimated costs associated
with those remedies; and
(III)
impediments to
implementation other than cost associated with those remedies.
(2)
Identification and analysis of highway safety problems and
opportunities
As part of the State
strategic highway safety plan, a State shall—
(A)
have in place a crash data
system with the ability to perform safety problem identification and
countermeasure analysis;
(B)
based on the analysis
required by subparagraph (A)—
(i)
identify hazardous
locations, sections, and elements (including roadside obstacles,
railway-highway crossing needs, and unmarked or poorly marked roads) that
constitute a danger to motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, and other highway
users; and
(ii)
using such criteria as the
State determines to be appropriate, establish the relative severity of those
locations, in terms of accidents, injuries, deaths, traffic volume levels, and
other relevant data;
(C)
adopt strategic and
performance-based goals that—
(i)
address traffic safety,
including behavioral and infrastructure problems and opportunities on all
public roads;
(ii)
focus resources on areas of
greatest need; and
(iii)
are coordinated with other
State highway safety programs;
(D)
advance the capabilities of
the State for traffic records data collection, analysis, and integration with
other sources of safety data (such as road inventories) in a manner
that—
(i)
complements the State
highway safety program under chapter 4 and the commercial vehicle safety plan
under section 31102 of title 49;
(ii)
includes all public
roads;
(iii)
identifies hazardous
locations, sections, and elements on public roads that constitute a danger to
motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, and other highway users; and
(iv)
includes a means of
identifying the relative severity of hazardous locations described in clause
(iii) in terms of accidents, injuries, deaths, and traffic volume
levels;
(E)
(i)
determine priorities for
the correction of hazardous road locations, sections, and elements (including
railway-highway crossing improvements), as identified through crash data
analysis;
(ii)
identify opportunities for
preventing the development of such hazardous conditions; and
(iii)
establish and implement a
schedule of highway safety improvement projects for hazard correction and
hazard prevention; and
(F)
(i)
establish an evaluation
process to analyze and assess results achieved by highway safety improvement
projects carried out in accordance with procedures and criteria established by
this section; and
(ii)
use the information
obtained under clause (i) in setting priorities for highway safety improvement
projects.
(d)
(1)
A State may obligate funds
apportioned to the State under section 104(b)(5) to carry out—
(A)
any highway safety
improvement project on any public road or publicly owned bicycle or pedestrian
pathway or trail; or
(B)
as provided in subsection
(e), for other safety projects.
(2)
Use of other funding for safety
(A)
Nothing in this section
prohibits the use of funds made available under other provisions of this title
for highway safety improvement projects.
(B)
States are encouraged to
address the full scope of their safety needs and opportunities by using funds
made available under other provisions of this title (except a provision that
specifically prohibits that use).
(e)
Flexible funding for States with a strategic highway safety
plan
(1)
To further the
implementation of a State strategic highway safety plan, a State may use up to
25 percent of the amount of funds made available under this section for a
fiscal year to carry out safety projects under any other section as provided in
the State strategic highway safety plan.
(2)
Other Transportation and highway safety plans
Nothing in this subsection
requires a State to revise any State process, plan, or program in effect on the
date of enactment of this section.
(f)
(1)
A State shall submit to the
Secretary a report that—
(A)
describes progress being
made to implement highway safety improvement projects under this
section;
(B)
assesses the effectiveness
of those improvements; and
(C)
describes the extent to
which the improvements funded under this section contribute to the goals
of—
(i)
reducing the number of
fatalities on roadways;
(ii)
reducing the number of
roadway-related injuries;
(iii)
reducing the occurrences of
roadway-related crashes;
(iv)
mitigating the consequences
of roadway-related crashes; and
(v)
reducing the occurrences of
roadway-railroad grade crossing crashes.
(2)
The Secretary shall
establish the content and schedule for a report under paragraph (1).
(3)
The Secretary shall make
reports under subsection (c)(1)(D) available to the public through—
(A)
the Internet site of the
Department; and
(B)
such other means as the
Secretary determines to be appropriate.
(4)
Discovery and admission into evidence of certain reports,
surveys, and information
Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, reports, surveys, schedules, lists, or data compiled or
collected for any purpose directly relating to paragraph (1) or subsection
(c)(1)(D), or published by the Secretary in accordance with paragraph (3),
shall not be subject to discovery or admitted into evidence in a Federal or
State court proceeding or considered for other purposes in any action for
damages arising from any occurrence at a location identified or addressed in
such reports, surveys, schedules, lists, or other data.
(g)
Federal share of highway safety Improvement projects
Except as provided in
sections 120 and 130, the Federal share of the cost of a highway safety
improvement project carried out with funds made available under this section
shall be 90 percent.
(h)
Funds for bicycle and pedestrian safety
A State shall allocate for
bicycle and pedestrian improvements in the State a percentage of the funds
remaining after implementation of sections 130(e) and 150, in an amount that is
equal to or greater than the percentage of all fatal crashes in the States
involving bicyclists and pedestrians.
(i)
Roadway safety improvements for older drivers and
pedestrians
For each of fiscal years
2005 through 2010, $25,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated out of the
Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) for projects in all
States to improve traffic signs and pavement markings in a manner consistent
with the recommendations included in the publication of the Federal Highway
Administration entitled Guidelines and Recommendations to Accommodate
Older Drivers and Pedestrians (FHWA–RD–01–103)
and dated October
2001.
.
(2)
Allocations of apportioned funds
Section 133(d) of title 23,
United States Code, is amended—
(A)
by striking paragraph
(1);
(B)
by redesignating paragraphs
(2) through (5) as paragraphs (1) through (4), respectively;
(C)
in paragraph (2) (as
redesignated by subparagraph (B))—
(i)
in the first sentence of
subparagraph (A)—
(I)
by striking
subparagraphs (C) and (D)
and inserting subparagraph
(C)
; and
(II)
by striking 80
percent
and inserting 90 percent
;
(ii)
in subparagraph (B), by
striking tobe
and inserting to be
;
(iii)
by striking subparagraph
(C);
(iv)
by redesignating
subparagraphs (D) and (E) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively;
and
(v)
in subparagraph (C) (as
redesignated by clause (iv)), by adding a period at the end; and
(D)
in paragraph (4)(A) (as
redesignated by subparagraph (B)), by striking paragraph (2)
and
inserting paragraph (1)
.
(3)
Section 133(e) of title 23,
United States Code, is amended in each of paragraphs (3)(B)(i), (5)(A), and
(5)(B) of subsection (e), by striking (d)(2)
each place it
appears and inserting (d)(1)
.
(4)
(A)
The analysis for chapter 1 of
title 23, United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to
section 148 and inserting the following:
148. Highway safety improvement
program
.
(B)
Section 104(g) of title 23,
United States Code, is amended in the first sentence by striking
sections 130, 144, and 152 of this title
and inserting
sections 130 and 144
.
(C)
Section 126 of title 23,
United States Code, is amended—
(i)
in subsection (a), by
inserting under
after State’s apportionment
;
and
(ii)
in subsection (b)—
(I)
in the first sentence, by
striking the last sentence of section 133(d)(1) or to section 104(f) or
to section 133(d)(3)
and inserting section 104(f) or
133(d)(2)
; and
(II)
in the second sentence, by
striking or 133(d)(2)
.
(D)
Sections 154, 164, and 409 of
title 23, United States Code, are amended by striking 152
each
place it appears and inserting 148
.
(b)
Apportionment of highway safety Improvement program
funds
Section 104(b) of title 23,
United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in the matter preceding
paragraph (1), by inserting after Improvement program,
the
following: the highway safety improvement program,
; and
(2)
by adding at the end the
following:
(5)
Highway safety Improvement program
(A)
For the highway safety
improvement program, in accordance with the following formula:
(i)
25 percent of the
apportionments in the ratio that—
(I)
the total lane miles of
Federal-aid highways in each State; bears to
(II)
the total lane miles of
Federal-aid highways in all States.
(ii)
40 percent of the
apportionments in the ratio that—
(I)
the total vehicle miles
traveled on lanes on Federal-aid highways in each State; bears to
(II)
the total vehicle miles
traveled on lanes on Federal-aid highways in all States.
(iii)
35 percent of the
apportionments in the ratio that—
(I)
the estimated tax payments
attributable to highway users in each State paid into the Highway Trust Fund
(other than the Mass Transit Account) in the latest fiscal year for which data
are available; bears to
(II)
the estimated tax payments
attributable to highway users in all States paid into the Highway Trust Fund
(other than the Mass Transit Account) in the latest fiscal year for which data
are available.
(B)
Notwithstanding
subparagraph (A), each State shall receive a minimum of
1/2 of 1 percent of the funds apportioned under this
paragraph.
.
(c)
Elimination of hazards relating to Railway-Highway
crossings
(1)
Funds for Railway-Highway crossings
Section 130(e) of title 23,
United States Code, is amended by inserting before At least
the
following: For each fiscal year, at least $200,000,000 of the funds
authorized and expended under section 148 shall be available for the
elimination of hazards and the installation of protective devices at
railway-highway crossings.
.
(2)
Biennial reports to congress
Section 130(g) of title 23,
United States Code, is amended in the third sentence—
(A)
by inserting and the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
after Public
Works
; and
(B)
by striking not later
than April 1 of each year
and inserting every other
year
.
(3)
Section 130 of title 23,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
(k)
Funds made available to
carry out this section shall be—
(1)
available for expenditure
on compilation and analysis of data in support of activities carried out under
subsection (g); and
(2)
apportioned in accordance
with section 104(b)(5).
.
(d)
(1)
Except as provided in
paragraph (2), the Secretary shall approve obligations of funds apportioned
under section 104(b)(5) of title 23, United States Code (as added by subsection
(b)) to carry out section 148 of that title, only if, not later than October 1
of the second fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act, a State has
developed and implemented a State strategic highway safety plan as required
under section 148(c) of that title.
(2)
(A)
Before October 1 of the
second fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act and until the date
on which a State develops and implements a State strategic highway safety plan,
the Secretary shall apportion funds to a State for the highway safety
improvement program and the State may obligate funds apportioned to the State
for the highway safety improvement program under section 148 for projects that
were eligible for funding under sections 130 and 152 of that title, as in
effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.
(B)
No strategic highway safety plan
If a State has not developed
a strategic highway safety plan by October 1 of the second fiscal year after
the date of enactment of this Act, but demonstrates to the satisfaction of the
Secretary that progress is being made toward developing and implementing such a
plan, the Secretary shall continue to apportion funds for 1 additional fiscal
year for the highway safety improvement program under section 148 of title 23,
United States Code, to the State, and the State may continue to obligate funds
apportioned to the State under this section for projects that were eligible for
funding under sections 130 and 152 of that title, as in effect on the day
before the date of enactment of this Act.
(C)
If a State has not adopted a
strategic highway safety plan by the date that is 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, funds made available to the State under section 1101(6)
shall be redistributed to other States in accordance with section 104(b)(3) of
title 23, United States Code.