(a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is in the state’s vital interest to participate fully in the federal highway bridge replacement program.
(b) The department shall, with its available resources, expedite bridge replacement projects in order that federal funds be used to full advantage as soon as they become available.
(c) The commission, in allocating funds, and the department, in expending funds, for bridge replacement projects, shall follow federal design standards so that the projects will be eligible for federal funds, except that this subdivision shall not apply to a project if the commission finds by resolution, after a public hearing, that application of the federal design standards would adversely affect public health or safety or would significantly increase the cost of the project to the state.
(d) Nothing in this section shall affect the authority of the department to negotiate with the appropriate federal agency for the purpose of gaining approval of a project.