Rural Road Safety Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4338 To amend title 23, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Transpor- tation to ensure that States set aside certain funds for construction and operational improvements on high risk rural roads, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 Ms. FINKENAUER (for herself and Mr. WESTERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infra- structure A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to require the Sec- retary of Transportation to ensure that States set aside certain funds for construction and operational improve- ments on high risk rural roads, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Road Safety 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Sep 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4338.IH H4338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4338 IH SEC. 2. HIGHWAY SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 148 of title 23, United 2 States Code, is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (g)(1)— 4 (A) by striking ‘‘If the fatality rate’’ and 5 inserting ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL—If the fatality 6 rate’’; 7 (B) by striking ‘‘for fiscal year 2009’’ and 8 all that follows through the period at the end 9 and inserting ‘‘for the previous fiscal year for 10 high risk rural roads under subsection (l).’’; 11 and 12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF PROJECTS.—Not- 14 withstanding any other provision of law, 15 projects carried out under this paragraph shall 16 be treated as projects on a Federal-aid highway 17 under this chapter.’’; and 18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(l) HIGH RISK RURAL ROADS.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts appor- 21 tioned to a State for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal 22 year thereafter under this section, the State shall 23 obligate for construction and operational improve- 24 ments on high risk rural roads an amount that is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Sep 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4338.IH H4338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4338 IH not less than 7.5 percent of such amount appor- 1 tioned for such fiscal year. 2 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—A State may use funds 3 apportioned to the State pursuant to this subsection 4 for any project under this section if the State cer- 5 tifies to the Secretary that the State has met all of 6 State needs for construction and operational im- 7 provements on high risk rural roads. 8 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF CONSTRUCTION AND 9 OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS.—Notwithstanding 10 any other provision of law, construction and oper- 11 ational improvements under this subsection shall be 12 treated as a project on a Federal-aid highway under 13 this chapter.’’. 14 (b) UPDATE OF HIGH RISK RURAL ROADS BEST 15 PRACTICES.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 16 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation 17 shall submit to Congress an update to the manual de- 18 scribed in section 1112 of MAP–21 (23 U.S.C. 148 note) 19 to include any best practices not listed in such manual 20 for communities to reduce fatalities on rural roads. 21 (c) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 22 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 23 of the United States shall submit to Congress an update 24 to the report published by the Government Accountability 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Sep 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4338.IH H4338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4338 IH Office on May 28, 2004, titled ‘‘Highway Safety: Federal 1 and State Efforts to Address Rural Road Safety Chal- 2 lenges’’ describing— 3 (1) ongoing funding and policy challenges to 4 addressing rural road safety; and 5 (2) successful risk mitigation measures taken 6 on the Federal and State levels. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Sep 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4338.IH H4338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS