49 U.S.C. § 5305
Section 5305 · Planning programs
Current version, with additions and removals from the July 5, 1994 version.
(a) Designation.—The Secretary of Transportation shall designate as a transportation management area—
(1) each urbanized area with a population of more than 200,000; and
(2) any other area, including the Lake Tahoe Basin as defined in the Act of December 19, 1980 (Public Law 96–551, 94 Stat. 3233), when requested by the chief executive officer and the metropolitan organization designated for the area or the affected local officials.
(b) Transportation Plans and Programs.—Transportation plans and programs in a transportation management area shall be based on a continuing and comprehensive transportation planning process the metropolitan planning organization carries out in cooperation with the State and mass transportation operators.
(c) Congestion Management System.—The transportation planning process under sections 5303, 5304, and 5306 of this title in a transportation management area shall include a congestion management system providing for effective management, through travel demand reduction and operational management strategies, of new and existing transportation facilities eligible for financing under this chapter and title 23. The Secretary shall establish a phase-in schedule to comply with sections 5303, 5304, and 5306.
(d) Project Selection.—(1)(A) In consultation with the State, the metropolitan planning organization designated for a transportation management area shall select the projects to be carried out in the area with United States Government participation under this chapter or title 23, except projects of the National Highway System or under the Bridge and Interstate Maintenance programs.
(B) In cooperation with the metropolitan planning organization designated for a transportation management area, the State shall select the projects to be carried out in the area of the National Highway System or under the Bridge and Interstate Maintenance programs.
(2)(A) A selection under this subsection must comply with the transportation improvement program for the area.
(B) A selection under paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection must comply with priorities established in the program.
(e) Certification.—(1) At least once every 3 years, the Secretary shall ensure and certify that each metropolitan planning organization in each transportation management area is carrying out its responsibilities under applicable laws of the United States. The Secretary may make the certification only if the organization is complying with section 134 of title 23 and other applicable requirements of laws of the United States and the organization and chief executive officer have approved a transportation improvement program for the area.
(2) If the Secretary does not certify before October 1, 1993, that a metropolitan planning organization is carrying out its responsibilities, the Secretary may withhold any part of the apportionment under section 104(b)(3) of title 23 attributed to the relevant metropolitan area under section 133(d)(3) of title 23 and capital amounts apportioned under section 5336 of this title. If an organization remains uncertified for more than 2 consecutive years after September 30, 1994, 20 percent of that apportionment and capital amounts shall be withheld. The withheld apportionments shall be restored when the Secretary certifies the organization.
(3) The Secretary may not withhold certification based on the policies and criteria a metropolitan planning organization or mass transportation grant recipient establishes under section 5306(a) of this title for deciding the feasibility of private enterprise participation.
(f) Additional Requirements for Certain Nonattainment Areas.—Government amounts may be made available for a mass transportation project resulting in a significant increase in carrying capacity for single occupant vehicles in a transportation management area classified as a nonattainment area for ozone or carbon monoxide under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) only if the project is part of an approved congestion management system.
(g) Areas Not Designated Transportation Management Areas.—(1) The Secretary may provide for the development of abbreviated metropolitan transportation plans and programs the Secretary decides are appropriate to carry out this section and sections 5303, 5304, and 5306 of this title for metropolitan areas not designated transportation management areas under this section. The Secretary shall consider the complexity of transportation problems in those areas, including transportation-related air quality problems.
(2) The Secretary may not provide an abbreviated plan or program for a metropolitan area in a nonattainment area for ozone or carbon monoxide under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.).
In this section, the term “State” means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Under criteria established by the Secretary, the Secretary may award grants to States, authorities of the States, metropolitan planning organizations, and local governmental authorities, and make agreements with other departments, agencies, or instrumentalities of the Government to—
develop transportation plans and programs;
plan, engineer, design, and evaluate a public transportation project; and
conduct technical studies relating to public transportation.
Activities eligible under paragraph (1) include the following:
Studies related to management, planning, operations, capital requirements, and economic feasibility.
Evaluating previously financed projects.
Peer reviews and exchanges of technical data, information, assistance, and related activities in support of planning and environmental analyses among metropolitan planning organizations and other transportation planners.
Other similar and related activities preliminary to and in preparation for constructing, acquiring, or improving the operation of facilities and equipment.
To the extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that amounts appropriated or made available under section 5338 to carry out this section and sections 5303, 5304, and 5306 are used to support balanced and comprehensive transportation planning that considers the relationships among land use and all transportation modes, without regard to the programmatic source of the planning amounts.
The Secretary shall apportion 80 percent of the amounts made available under subsection (g)(1) among the States to carry out sections 5303 and 5306 in the ratio that—
the population of urbanized areas in each State, as shown by the latest available decennial census of population; bears to
the total population of urbanized areas in all States, as shown by that census.
Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a State may not receive less than 0.5 percent of the amount apportioned under this paragraph.
Amounts apportioned to a State under paragraph (1) shall be made available, not later than 30 days after the date of apportionment, to metropolitan planning organizations in the State designated under this section under a formula that—
considers population of urbanized areas;
provides an appropriate distribution for urbanized areas to carry out the cooperative processes described in this section;
the State develops in cooperation with the metropolitan planning organizations; and
the Secretary approves.
The Secretary shall apportion 20 percent of the amounts made available under subsection (g)(1) among the States to supplement allocations made under paragraph (1) for metropolitan planning organizations.
The Secretary shall apportion amounts referred to in subparagraph (A) under a formula that reflects the additional cost of carrying out planning, programming, and project selection responsibilities under sections 5303 and 5306 in certain urbanized areas.
The Secretary shall apportion the amounts made available under subsection (g)(2) among the States for grants and contracts to carry out this section and sections 5304 and 5306 in the ratio that—
the population of urbanized areas in each State, as shown by the latest available decennial census; bears to
the population of urbanized areas in all States, as shown by that census.
Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a State may not receive less than 0.5 percent of the amount apportioned under this paragraph.
A State, as the State considers appropriate, may authorize part of the amount made available under this subsection to be used to supplement amounts made available under subsection (d).
Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Government share of the cost of an activity funded using amounts made available under this section may not exceed 80 percent of the cost of the activity unless the Secretary determines that it is in the interests of the Government—
not to require a State or local match; or
to allow a Government share greater than 80 percent.
The Government share of the cost of an activity funded using amounts made available under this section shall be not less than 90 percent for an activity that assists parts of an urbanized area or rural area with lower population density or lower average income levels compared to—
the applicable urbanized area;
the applicable rural area;
an adjoining urbanized area; or
an adjoining rural area.
A State or metropolitan planning organization that carries out an activity described in subparagraph (A) with an increased Government share described in that subparagraph shall report to the Secretary, in a form as determined by the Secretary, how the increased Government share for transportation planning activities benefits commuting and other essential travel in parts of the applicable urbanized area or rural area described in subparagraph (A) with lower population density or lower average income levels.
Of the funds made available by or appropriated to carry out this section under section 5338(a)(2)(A) for a fiscal year—
82.72 percent shall be available for the metropolitan planning program under subsection (d); and
17.28 percent shall be available to carry out subsection (e).
Funds apportioned under this section to a State that have not been obligated in the 3-year period beginning after the last day of the fiscal year for which the funds are authorized shall be reapportioned among the States.