§ 106. — Project approval and oversight.
[Laws in effect as of January 7, 2003]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 7, 2003 and December 19, 2003]
[CITE: 23USC106]
TITLE 23--HIGHWAYS
CHAPTER 1--FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS
SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 106. Project approval and oversight
(a) In General.--
(1) Submission of plans, specifications, and estimates.--Except
as otherwise provided in this section, each State transportation
department shall submit to the Secretary for approval such plans,
specifications, and estimates for each proposed project as the
Secretary may require.
(2) Project agreement.--The Secretary shall act on the plans,
specifications, and estimates as soon as practicable after the date
of their submission and shall enter into a formal project agreement
with the State transportation department formalizing the conditions
of the project approval.
(3) Contractual obligation.--The execution of the project
agreement shall be deemed a contractual obligation of the Federal
Government for the payment of the Federal share of the cost of the
project.
(4) Guidance.--In taking action under this subsection, the
Secretary shall be guided by section 109.
(b) Project Agreement.--
(1) Provision of state funds.--The project agreement shall make
provision for State funds required to pay the State's non-Federal
share of the cost of construction of the project and to pay for
maintenance of the project after completion of construction.
(2) Representations of state.--If a part of the project is to be
constructed at the expense of, or in cooperation with, political
subdivisions of the State, the Secretary may rely on representations
made by the State transportation department with respect to the
arrangements or agreements made by the State transportation
department and appropriate local officials for ensuring that the
non-Federal contribution will be provided under paragraph (1).
(c) Assumption by States of Responsibilities of the Secretary.--
(1) Non-interstate nhs projects.--For projects under this title
that are on the National Highway System but not on the Interstate
System, the State may assume the responsibilities of the Secretary
under this title for design, plans, specifications, estimates,
contract awards, and inspections of projects unless the State or the
Secretary determines that such assumption is not appropriate.
(2) Non-nhs projects.--For projects under this title that are
not on the National Highway System, the State shall assume the
responsibilities of the Secretary under this title for design,
plans, specifications, estimates, contract awards, and inspection of
projects, unless the State determines that such assumption is not
appropriate.
(3) Agreement.--The Secretary and the State shall enter into an
agreement relating to the extent to which the State assumes the
responsibilities of the Secretary under this subsection.
(4) Limitation on authority of secretary.--The Secretary may not
assume any greater responsibility than the Secretary is permitted
under this title on September 30, 1997, except upon agreement by the
Secretary and the State.
(d) Responsibilities of the Secretary.--Nothing in this section,
section 133, or section 149 shall affect or discharge any responsibility
or obligation of the Secretary under--
(1) section 113 or 114; or
(2) any Federal law other than this title (including section
5333 of title 49).
(e) Value Engineering Analysis.--For such projects as the Secretary
determines advisable, plans, specifications, and estimates for proposed
projects on any Federal-aid highway shall be accompanied by a value
engineering analysis or other cost reduction analysis.
(f) Life-Cycle Cost Analysis.--
(1) Use of life-cycle cost analysis.--The Secretary shall
develop recommendations for the States to conduct life-cycle cost
analyses. The recommendations shall be based on the principles
contained in section 2 of Executive Order No. 12893 and shall be
developed in consultation with the American Association of State
Highway and Transportation Officials. The Secretary shall not
require a State to conduct a life-cycle cost analysis for any
project as a result of the recommendations required under this
subsection.
(2) Life-cycle cost analysis defined.--In this subsection, the
term ``life-cycle cost analysis'' means a process for evaluating the
total economic worth of a usable project segment by analyzing
initial costs and discounted future costs, such as maintenance, user
costs, reconstruction, rehabilitation, restoring, and resurfacing
costs, over the life of the project segment.
(g) Value Engineering for NHS.--
(1) Requirement.--The Secretary shall establish a program to
require States to carry out a value engineering analysis for all
projects on the National Highway System with an estimated total cost
of $25,000,000 or more.
(2) Value engineering defined.--In this subsection, the term
``value engineering analysis'' means a systematic process of review
and analysis of a project during its design phase by a
multidisciplined team of persons not involved in the project in
order to provide suggestions for reducing the total cost of the
project and providing a project of equal or better quality. Such
suggestions may include combining or eliminating otherwise
inefficient or expensive parts of the original proposed design for
the project and total redesign of the proposed project using
different technologies, materials, or methods so as to accomplish
the original purpose of the project.
(h) Financial Plan.--A recipient of Federal financial assistance for
a project under this title with an estimated total cost of
$1,000,000,000 or more shall submit to the Secretary an annual financial
plan for the project. The plan shall be based on detailed annual
estimates of the cost to complete the remaining elements of the project
and on reasonable assumptions, as determined by the Secretary, of future
increases in the cost to complete the project.
(Pub. L. 85-767, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 892; Pub. L. 88-157, Sec. 7(a),
Oct. 24, 1963, 77 Stat. 278; Pub. L. 91-605, title I, Secs. 106(e), 142,
Dec. 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 1717, 1737; Pub. L. 94-280, title I, Sec. 114,
May 5, 1976, 90 Stat. 436; Pub. L. 100-17, title I, Sec. 133(b)(4), Apr.
2, 1987, 101 Stat. 171; Pub. L. 102-240, title I, Secs. 1016(b),
1018(a), Dec. 18, 1991, 105 Stat. 1945, 1948; Pub. L. 104-59, title III,
Sec. 303, Nov. 28, 1995, 109 Stat. 578; Pub. L. 105-178, title I,
Sec. 1305(a)-(c), June 9, 1998, 112 Stat. 227-229.)
References in Text
Executive Order No. 12893, referred to in subsec. (f)(1), is set out
as a note under section 501 of Title 31, Money and Finance.
Amendments
1998--Pub. L. 105-178, Sec. 1305(a)(1), substituted ``Project
approval and oversight'' for ``Plans, specifications, and estimates'' in
section catchline.
Subsecs. (a) to (d). Pub. L. 105-178, Sec. 1305(a)(3), added
subsecs. (a) to (d) and struck out former subsecs. (a) to (d) which
related to requirement for State highway departments to submit to
Secretary for approval plans, specifications, and estimates for each
proposed highway project, special rules relating to resurfacing,
restoring, and rehabilitating projects on National Highway System, to
low-cost National Highway System projects, and to non-National Highway
System projects, limitation on estimates for construction engineering,
and provisions relating to value engineering or other cost reduction
analysis.
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 105-178, Sec. 1305(a)(3), added subsec. (e).
Former subsec. (e) redesignated (f).
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 105-178, Sec. 1305(c), added subsec. (f) and
struck out former subsec. (f) which read as follows:
``(f) Life-Cycle Cost Analysis.--
``(1) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a program to
require States to conduct an analysis of the life-cycle costs of
each usable project segment on the National Highway System with a
cost of $25,000,000 or more.
``(2) Analysis of the life-cycle costs defined.--In this
subsection, the term `analysis of the life-cycle costs' means a
process for evaluating the total economic worth of a usable project
segment by analyzing initial costs and discounted future costs, such
as maintenance, reconstruction, rehabilitation, restoring, and
resurfacing costs, over the life of the project segment.''
Pub. L. 105-178, Sec. 1305(a)(2), redesignated subsec. (e) as (f).
Former subsec. (f) redesignated (g).
Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 105-178, Sec. 1305(a)(2), redesignated subsec.
(f) as (g).
Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 105-178, Sec. 1305(b), added subsec. (h).
1995--Subsecs. (e), (f). Pub. L. 104-59 added subsecs. (e) and (f).
1991--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102-240, Sec. 1016(b)(1), inserted ``this
section and'' before ``section 117''.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102-240, Sec. 1016(b)(2), added subsec. (b) and
struck out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: ``In addition to
the approval required under subsection (a) of this section, proposed
specifications for projects for construction on (1) the Federal-aid
secondary system, except in States where all public roads and highways
are under the control and supervision of the State highway department,
and (2) the Federal-aid urban system, shall be determined by the State
highway department and the appropriate local road officials in
cooperation with each other.''
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102-240, Sec. 1018(a), amended subsec. (c)
generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (c) read as follows: ``Items
included in any such estimate for construction engineering shall not
exceed 15 percent of the total estimated cost of a project financed with
Federal-aid highway funds, after excluding from such total estimate
cost, the estimated costs of rights-of-way, preliminary engineering, and
construction engineering.''
1987--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 100-17 substituted ``15 percent'' for
``10 per centum'' and struck out at end ``However, this limitation shall
be 15 per centum in any State with respect to which the Secretary finds
such higher limitation to be necessary.''
1976--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 94-280 substituted ``Federal-aid highway
funds'' for ``Federal-aid primary, secondary, or urban funds'' and
``such total estimate cost'' for ``such total estimated cost'' and
struck out 10 per centum limitation for any project financed with
interstate funds.
1970--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 91-605, Sec. 106(e), inserted reference
to the Federal-aid urban system.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 91-605, Sec. 142, added subsec. (d).
1963--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 88-157 substituted ``a project financed
with Federal-aid primary, secondary, or urban funds'' for ``the
project'' and provided for limitation, on items included in estimates
for construction engineering on projects financed with Federal-aid
primary, secondary, or urban funds, of 15 percent of total estimated
cost of the project where found by the Secretary to be necessary and for
10-percent limitation on projects financed with interstate funds.
Effective Date of 1991 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 102-240 effective Dec. 18, 1991, and applicable
to funds authorized to be appropriated or made available after Sept. 30,
1991, and, with certain exceptions, not applicable to funds appropriated
or made available on or before Sept. 30, 1991, see section 1100 of Pub.
L. 102-240, set out as a note under section 104 of this title.
Study of Value Engineering
Section 1091 of Pub. L. 102-240 provided that:
``(a) Study.--The Secretary shall study the effectiveness and
benefits of value engineering review programs applied to Federal-aid
highway projects. Such study shall include an analysis of and the
results of specialized techniques utilized in all facets of highway
construction for the purpose of reduction of costs and improvement of
the overall quality of Federal-aid highway projects.
``(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment
of this Act [Dec. 18, 1991], the Secretary shall report to Congress on
the results of the study under subsection (a), including recommendations
on how value engineering could be utilized and improved in Federal-aid
highway projects.''
Modification of Project Agreements To Effectuate Requirement of Four-
Lanes of Traffic
Pub. L. 89-574, Sec. 5(b), Sept. 13, 1966, 80 Stat. 767, as amended
by Pub. L. 97-449, Sec. 2(a), Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2439, authorized
Secretary to modify project agreements entered into prior to Sept. 13,
1966, pursuant to section 106 of this title for purpose of effectuating
amendment made by this section (amending section 109(b) of this title to
add a requirement of four lanes of traffic) with respect to as much of
National System of Interstate and Defense Highways [now Dwight D.
Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways] as may be
possible.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 101, 109, 112 of this title;
title 40 section 14501.
