Federal Aid Highway Act

Summary

Federal Aid-Highway Act - Amends the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 to decrease authorizations for the Interstate Highway System for fiscal years 1980 and 1981. Prohibits the use of interstate construction funds apportioned to a State to expand or clear areas adjacent to Interstate routes designed prior to February, 1967. Specifies the method by which the Secretary of Transportation is to apportion interstate highway funds for fiscal year 1980. Authorizes appropriations for various highway programs for fiscal years 1979 and 1980. Establishes a minimum apportionment for each of the States at one-half of one percent of the total apportionment for the Interstate System. Authorizes appropriations for the resurfacing of lanes on the Interstate System which have been in use for more than five years. Stipulates that the Federal share of such a project shall not exceed 70 percent of its cost. Increases the Federal matching share for any State transit or highway project which is substituted for an Interstate System project. Prohibits the Secretary from redesignating any State withdrawn mileage from the Interstate System as an Interstate project. Limits the Federal-aid urban highway system to areas having a population of 50,000 or more. Prohibits the Secretary from approving a withdrawal of Interstate mileage and transfer of funds to public transportation or other highway purposes after September 30, 1982. Stipulates that after such date the Secretary may not approve any Interstate project unless the environmental impact statement has been completed. Requires all Interstate projects and substitute projects to be under construction by September 30, 1986, or be removed from Interstate designation. Revises the Interstate System apportionment formula to give added weight to the cost to complete essential gaps in the System. Revises the Interstate System resurfacing apportionment. Revises the population factor in the apportionment formula for secondary highway systems to include areas with a population of between 5,000 and 50,000. Authorizes a State to transfer up to 50 percent of its primary, urban or secondary highway program apportionment from one of these programs to another. Stipulates that urban system funds allocated to areas of 200,000 or more may not be transferred without the approval of local officials. Authorizes States which have obligated all of their present Interstate apportionments to obligate advances against their next annual apportionment. Directs the Secretary in making such advances to give priority to applications involving a completion of essential gaps in the System. Requires the Secretary to insure that the States commit adequate resources to the maintenance of Interstate routes. Requires that such a program contain minimum standards by which the condition of Interstate routes shall be judged and that Interstate routes which are more than five years old be inspected annually. Directs the Secretary to withhold approval of a State's primary system projects if deficiencies were found in an Interstate route and the State had not made adequate commitments to repair such deficiencies within a year. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress by October 1, 1980, regarding such maintenance program. Reduces the time period during which States may use their Interstate apportionments. Stipulates that at the end of such period the Secretary may allocate such sums to States with ready-to-commence Interstate projects. Requires that preference be given in such allocation to projects to complete essential gaps in the System. Authorizes States to use Interstate Funds to pay both principal and interest on bonds issued after the enactment of this Act for Interstate construction under certain circumstances (previously such funds could only be used for the payment of the principal of such bonds). Stipulates that Federal financial assistance for emergency repairs and reconstruction of roads on the Federal-aid system shall be entirely funded from the Highway Trust Fund. Directs the Secretary to undertake a study of the costs of highway construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance attributable to various classes of highway users and to the environment. Directs the Congressional Budget Office to evaluate the distribution of tax burdens among highway users and to report its findings to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress by January 15, 1982, the results of such study and to recommend alternative tax structures which will more equitably allocate highway costs among highway users. Directs the Secretary to investigate the need for uniform maximum truck sizes and weights throughout the country including an evaluation of the economic effects of reducing vehicle weight limits in States with legal limits higher than the national maximum. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on the results of such study by January 15, 1981. Authorizes the Secretary to approve the use of Federal-aid highway funds to relocate segments of railways to eliminate hazardous rail-highway crossings where this method is the least expensive way of eliminating the hazard. Authorizes the Secretary to approve the use of secondary highway system funds by a State for public transportation projects. Expands the special bridge replacement program to authorize the use of such funds for highway bridge rehabilitation projects. Authorizes a State to use up to 30 percent of such funds to repair or replace highway bridges which are not on any Federal-aid system. Decreases the Federal share of such projects. Authorizes the Secretary to use Federal-aid highway funds to fund carpool and vanpool demonstration projects. Exempts such projects from specified Interstate Commerce Commission regulations and requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Requires States to allocate Federal urban system funds for urbanized areas of 200,000 or more population according to population unless the State chooses to use an alternative formula approved by approved by the Secretary. Requires States to distribute funds to urbanized areas of less than 200,000 population on a fair and equitable basis. Directs the Secretary to establish a highway safety improvement program for projects on any public road or street in urban or rural areas. Directs each State to develop a highway safety improvement program. Requires States to use at least 30 percent of its highway safety apportionment for projects not on a Federal-aid system. Requires States to submit specified data regarding the percentage of vehicles exceeding the 55 mile per hour national maximum speed limit. Reduces Federal-aid highway funds to States which fail to achieve a specified level of compliance with such limit. Repeals the following categories of highway projects: (1) priority primary routes; (2) access highways to public recreation areas or certain lakes; (3) highways crossing Federal projects; and (4) safer off-system roads. Establishes a grant program for the construction of bikeways, and the improvement of existing roads and transportation systems for bicycle and pedestrian traffic. Directs the Secretary to establish standards for the design and construction of bicycle projects. Prohibits the Secretary from approving any Federal-aid project which would reduce present bicycle or pedestrian access to a greater extent than automobile access unless a comparable route is provided or already exists. Authorizes the imposition of tolls on urban highways where the tolls are part of a State implementation plan required under the Clean Air Act. Authorizes appropriations for projects to eliminate rail-highway crossing hazards. Amends the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 to authorize appropriations for railroad relocation demonstration projects. Amends the Federal-Aid Highway Amendments of 1974 to increase the authorization for construction of the Overseas Highway in the Florida Keys. Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with the States of New Mexico and Texas, to carry out a demonstration project to upgrade primary routes between Los Cruces, New Mexico, and Amarillo, Texas, and between Lubbock, Texas, and Interstate Route 10. Authorizes a new bridge program for the construction or replacement of primary system bridges over major bodies of water. Authorizes the State of Maine to repay to the Highway Trust Fund funds received and expended for interchanges along the Maine Turnpike. Directs the Secretary to study and report to Congress by January 15, 1980, on the desirability of designating Interstate routes in Alaska and Puerto Rico. Prohibits the Secretary from obligating funds authorized by this Act for any project exceeding $1,000,000 unless the materials used in construction are produced in the United States. Specifies exceptions to such requirement. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1979 and 1980 for a traffic management demonstration project.

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Timeline

1. 15 May 1978

   Calendars

   Placed on Calendar in Senate.

   Source: Calendars

2. 15 May 1978

   Reported

   Reported to Senate from the Committee on Environment and Public Works, S. Rept. 95-833.

   Source: Committee

3. 15 May 1978

   Reported

   Reported to Senate from the Committee on Environment and Public Works, S. Rept. 95-833.

   Source: Committee

4. 15 May 1978

   Introduced

   Introduced in Senate

   Source: IntroReferral

5. 18 August 1978

   Floor

   Measure called up by unanimous consent in Senate.

   Source: Floor

6. 21 August 1978

   Floor

   Measure considered in Senate.

   Source: Floor

7. 28 September 1978

   Floor

   Measure considered in Senate.

   Source: Floor

8. 3 October 1978

   Floor

   Measure considered in Senate.

   Source: Floor

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

2 official files

• Indefinitely postponed in Senate

  summary · EN · 3 October 1978

  Open at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 15 May 1978

  Open at official source

Sponsors

• Sen. Bentsen, Lloyd M. [D-TX] · D · Sponsor
• · ssev00 · Standing

Related records

• related to → Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1978
• related to → Federal Public Transportation Act