Surface Transportation Research and Development Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3594 To authorize appropriations to the Department of Transportation for surface transportation research, development, and deployment, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 28, 2021 Ms. JOHNSON of Texas (for herself, Mr. LUCAS, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. LAMB, Mrs. KIM of California, Ms. WILD, Mr. OBERNOLTE, Ms. ROSS, Mrs. BICE of Oklahoma, Ms. MOORE of Wis- consin, Mr. GIMENEZ, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BABIN, and Ms. SHERRILL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To authorize appropriations to the Department of Transpor- tation for surface transportation research, development, and deployment, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Surface Transportation Research and Development Act 5 of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3594.IH H3594 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3594 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH Sec. 101. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 102. Amendment to Highway Safety Improvement project definition. Sec. 103. Behavioral traffic safety cooperative research program. Sec. 104. Amendment to the exploratory advanced research program. Sec. 105. Amendment to the State Planning and Research Program. Sec. 106. Road weather centers of excellence. TITLE II—MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH Sec. 201. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 202. Advisory council on transportation statistics. Sec. 203. Amendments to the University Transportation Centers Program. Sec. 204. Resilient Transportation Infrastructure Centers of Excellence. Sec. 205. Transportation Data for Healthy Living Study Pilot. Sec. 206. Vehicular Data Analytics Pilot Program. Sec. 207. National cooperative freight transportation research program. Sec. 208. Heavy Freight Automated Trucking Research Corridor. Sec. 209. Strategic Transportation Research Program. Sec. 210. Advanced transportation research and innovation program. Sec. 211. Rail Cooperative Research Program. Sec. 212. Multimodal Transportation Demonstration Program. Sec. 213. Advisory Council on Transportation Research and Development. Sec. 214. Transportation research and development quinquennial review and strategic plan. TITLE I—HIGHWAY 3 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH 4 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The following amounts are au- 6 thorized to be appropriated out of the Highway Trust 7 Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account): 8 (1) HIGHWAY SAFETY RESEARCH AND DEVEL- 9 OPMENT.—To carry out section 403 of title 23, 10 United States Code— 11 (A) $152,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 12 (B) $161,880,000 for fiscal year 2023; 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3594.IH H3594 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3594 IH (C) $172,402,000 for fiscal year 2024; 1 (D) $183,608,000 for fiscal year 2025; 2 and 3 (E) $195,543,000 for fiscal year 2026. 4 (2) HIGHWAY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 5 PROGRAM.—To carry out sections 503(b) and 520 of 6 title 23, United States Code— 7 (A) $142,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 8 (B) $151,230,000 for fiscal year 2023; 9 (C) $161,060,000 for fiscal year 2024; 10 (D) $171,530,000 for fiscal year 2025; 11 and 12 (E) $182,680,000 for fiscal year 2026. 13 (3) TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION DEPLOY- 14 MENT PROGRAM.—To carry out section 503(c) of 15 title 23, United States Code— 16 (A) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 17 (B) $74,550,000 for fiscal year 2023; 18 (C) $79,396,000 for fiscal year 2024; 19 (D) $84,556,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 20 (E) $90,053,000 for fiscal year 2026. 21 (4) ADVANCED TRANSPORTATION AND CONGES- 22 TION MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES DEPLOYMENT 23 PROGRAM.—To carry out section 503(c)(4) of title 24 23, United States Code— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3594.IH H3594 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3594 IH (A) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 1 (B) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 2 (C) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 3 (D) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 4 (E) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2026. 5 (5) TRAINING AND EDUCATION.—To carry out 6 section 504 of title 23, United States Code— 7 (A) $27,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 8 (B) $28,755,000 for fiscal year 2023; 9 (C) $30,624,000 for fiscal year 2024; 10 (D) $32,615,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 11 (E) $34,735,000 for fiscal year 2026. 12 (6) INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS 13 PROGRAM.—To carry out sections 512 through 518 14 of title 23, United States Code— 15 (A) $158,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 16 (B) $168,270,000 for fiscal year 2023; 17 (C) $179,208,000 for fiscal year 2024; 18 (D) $190,856,000 for fiscal year 2025; 19 and 20 (E) $203,262,000 for fiscal year 2026. 21 (b) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 23, UNITED STATES 22 CODE.—Funds authorized to be appropriated by sub- 23 section (a) shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3594.IH H3594 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3594 IH (1) be available for obligation in the same man- 1 ner as if those funds were appropriated under chap- 2 ter 1 of title 23, United States Code, except that the 3 Federal share of the cost of a project or activity car- 4 ried out using those funds shall be 80 percent, un- 5 less otherwise expressly provided by this Act (includ- 6 ing the amendments by this Act) or otherwise deter- 7 mined by the Secretary; and 8 (2) remain available until expended and not be 9 transferable. 10 SEC. 102. AMENDMENT TO HIGHWAY SAFETY IMPROVE- 11 MENT PROJECT DEFINITION. 12 Section 148(a)(4)(B) of title 23, United States Code, 13 is amended by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(xxix) Education. 15 ‘‘(xxx) Enforcement. 16 ‘‘(xxxi) Research activities. 17 ‘‘(xxxii) Cybersecurity.’’. 18 SEC. 103. BEHAVIORAL TRAFFIC SAFETY COOPERATIVE RE- 19 SEARCH PROGRAM. 20 Section 403(f) of title 23, United States Code, is 21 amended— 22 (1) by striking ‘‘$2,500,000’’ and inserting 23 ‘‘$3,500,000’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3594.IH H3594 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3594 IH (2) by striking ‘‘fiscal year ending before’’ and 1 all that follows through ‘‘December 4, 2015’’ and in- 2 serting ‘‘of fiscal years 2022 through 2026’’. 3 SEC. 104. AMENDMENT TO THE EXPLORATORY ADVANCED 4 RESEARCH PROGRAM. 5 Section 503(b)(6) of title 23, United States Code, is 6 amended to read as follows: 7 ‘‘(6) EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 9 carry out long-term, exploratory advanced re- 10 search activities to develop potentially trans- 11 formational solutions to improve the durability, 12 efficiency, environmental impact, productivity, 13 and safety aspects of highway and intermodal 14 transportation systems, including by— 15 ‘‘(i) awarding competitive grants and 16 cooperative agreements to institutions of 17 higher education and nonprofit research 18 organizations (or consortia thereof); 19 ‘‘(ii) leveraging the targeted capabili- 20 ties of the Turner-Fairbank Highway Re- 21 search Center to develop technologies and 22 innovations of national importance; and 23 ‘‘(iii) collaborating with other Federal 24 agencies with relevant expertise, including 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3594.IH H3594 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3594 IH the National Science Foundation, the Na- 1 tional Institute of Standards and Tech- 2 nology, and the Department of Energy. 3 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—From funds made avail- 4 able to carry out this subsection, the Secretary 5 shall obligate $25,000,000 to carry out this 6 paragraph for each of fiscal years 2022 through 7 2026.’’. 8 SEC. 105. AMENDMENT TO THE STATE PLANNING AND RE- 9 SEARCH PROGRAM. 10 Section 505(b) of title 23, United States Code, is 11 amended by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(4) FLEXIBILITY.—In addition to the min- 13 imum expenditures required under paragraph (1), of 14 the sums apportioned to a State under paragraphs 15 (1) through (5) of section 104(b), a State may use 16 additional funds under such paragraphs for multi- 17 state pooled fund research activities.’’. 18 SEC. 106. ROAD WEATHER CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE. 19 Chapter 5 of title 23, United States Code, is amended 20 by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘SEC. 520. ROAD WEATHER CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE. 22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in collaboration 23 with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- 24 tion, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3594.IH H3594 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3594 IH and the National Science Foundation, as appropriate, 1 shall carry out a program to make awards to institutions 2 of higher education or nonprofit research organizations (or 3 a consortium thereof) to establish regional road weather 4 research and development centers. 5 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the centers estab- 6 lished using funds under subsection (a) shall be to— 7 ‘‘(1) maximize use of available road weather in- 8 formation and technologies; 9 ‘‘(2) expand road weather research and develop- 10 ment efforts to enhance roadway safety, mobility, 11 and transportation system efficiency while mini- 12 mizing environmental impacts; 13 ‘‘(3) support research and development focused 14 on improving road weather information for auto- 15 mated vehicles and automated transportation sys- 16 tems; 17 ‘‘(4) promoting the adoption of road weather in- 18 formation and technologies by Federal, State, and 19 local governments, and private entities; and 20 ‘‘(5) foster collaboration among academic re- 21 searchers, the private sector, State and local govern- 22 ments, and nongovernmental organizations, includ- 23 ing transportation, meteorological, and other organi- 24 zations. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3594.IH H3594 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3594 IH ‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES.—The activities of the program es- 1 tablished in subsection (a) shall include— 2 ‘‘(1) supporting research and development to— 3 ‘‘(A) integrate existing observational net- 4 works, including mobile and fixed sensor net- 5 works, and data management systems for road 6 weather applications; 7 ‘‘(B) improve weather modeling capabilities 8 and forecast tools, such as the road surface and 9 atmospheric interface; 10 ‘‘(C) enhance mechanisms for commu- 11 nicating road weather information to users, 12 such as transportation officials and the public; 13 ‘‘(D) understand the human and cultural 14 factors in driver decision-making in response to 15 road weather hazards and in response to the de- 16 livery of road weather information; and 17 ‘‘(E) integrate road weather technologies 18 into an information infrastructure; 19 ‘‘(2) improving coordination of research, devel- 20 opment, testing, and implementation of road weather 21 information technologies and automated vehicle and 22 automated transportation systems technologies; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3594.IH H3594 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3594 IH ‘‘(3) partnering with private sector entities to 1 promote secure voluntary data sharing for the pur- 2 poses of this section; 3 ‘‘(4) supporting implementation of road weather 4 information technology and improved communication 5 of road weather information to the public and other 6 users, including transportation officials, emergency 7 managers and vehicle manufacturers; 8 ‘‘(5) improving education and training of road 9 weather information users, such as State and local 10 transportation officials and private sector transpor- 11 tation contractors; and 12 ‘‘(6) coordinating with transportation weather 13 research activities in other modes, such as transit, 14 railroad, and aviation. 15 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An institution of higher 17 education or a nonprofit research organization (or a 18 consortium thereof) seeking funding under this sub- 19 section shall submit an application to the Secretary 20 at such time, in such manner, and containing such 21 information as the Secretary may require. 22 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS.—Each application under 23 paragraph (1) shall include a description of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3594.IH H3594 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3594 IH ‘‘(A) how the institution of higher edu- 1 cation or nonprofit research organization (or 2 consortium thereof) will work together with 3 other research institutions, industry partners, 4 and State and local transportation officials to 5 carry out activities described in subsection (c); 6 and 7 ‘‘(B) how the institution of higher edu- 8 cation or nonprofit research organization (or 9 consortium thereof) will promote multidisci- 10 plinary research to improve road weather infor- 11 mation implementation. 12 ‘‘(3) SELECTION AND DURATION.—The Sec- 13 retary, in consultation with National Oceanic and 14 Atmospheric Administration and the National 15 Science Foundation, shall select not less than six re- 16 gional centers that represent diverse geographic re- 17 gions and weather patterns, and to the extent pos- 18 sible be located along major United States transpor- 19 tation corridors. Each center established under this 20 section is authorized to carry out activities for a pe- 21 riod of 5 years, renewable for an additional 5 years 22 at the discretion of the Director. 23 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Of the 24 amounts made available by section 101(a)(2) of the Sur- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3594.IH H3594 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3594 IH face Transportation Research and Developmen [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]