[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2960 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2960
To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish a traffic incident
management program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 8, 2004
Mr. Graham of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish a traffic incident
management program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Rush Hour Congestion Relief Act of
2004''.
SEC. 2. TRAFFIC INCIDENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 1 of title 23, United
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 138 the following:
``Sec. 139. Traffic incident management program
``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish and implement a
traffic incident management program in accordance with this section to
assist States and localities in--
``(1) regional traffic incident management program
planning; and
``(2) carrying out projects to mitigate the effects of
traffic delays resulting from accidents, breakdowns, and other
non-recurring incidents on highways.
``(b) Use of Funds.--Funds apportioned to a State under this
section may be used for--
``(1) regional collaboration and coordination activities
that lead to regional traffic incident management policies,
programs, plans, procedures, and agreements;
``(2) purchase or lease of telecommunications equipment for
first responders as part of the development of a regional
traffic incident management program;
``(3) purchase or lease of equipment to support the
clearance of traffic incidents;
``(4) payments to contractors for towing and recovery
services as part of a regional traffic incident management
program;
``(5) rental of vehicle storage or staging areas
immediately adjacent to roadways as part of a regional traffic
incident management program;
``(6) traffic service patrols as part of a regional traffic
incident management program;
``(7) enhanced hazardous materials incident response;
``(8) traffic management systems in support of traffic
incident management;
``(9) traffic incident management training;
``(10) crash investigation equipment;
``(11) other activities under a regional traffic incident
management plan; and
``(12) statewide incident reporting systems.
``(c) Regional Traffic Incident Management Plan.--
``(1) Plan.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), funds apportioned under this section
may not be obligated for an urbanized area with a
population greater than 300,000 until such time as a
regional traffic incident management plan is developed
for the urbanized area.
``(B) Funds for plan.--An urbanized area described
in subparagraph (A) may use funds apportioned under
this section to develop the regional traffic incident
management plan in accordance with this subsection.
``(2) Plan development.--
``(A) Collaboration.--Any urbanized area described
in paragraph (1) that receives funds apportioned under
this section shall engage in regional collaboration and
coordination activities to develop the regional traffic
incident management plan required for the urbanized
area under that paragraph.
``(B) Plan elements.--The regional traffic incident
management plan for an urbanized area under paragraph
(1) shall include--
``(i) a strategy, adopted by
transportation, public safety, and appropriate
private sector participants, for funding,
implementing, managing, operating, and
evaluating the traffic incident management
program initiatives and activities for the
urbanized area in a manner that ensures
regional coordination of those initiatives and
activities;
``(ii) an estimate of the impact of the
plan on traffic delays; and
``(iii) a description of the means by which
traffic incident management information will be
shared among operators, service providers,
public safety officials, and the general
public.
``(d) Funding.--
``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated from the Highway Trust Fund (other than the
Mass Transit Account) to carry out this section $1,000,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2010.
``(2) Apportionment among states.--Funds made available
under paragraph (1) shall be apportioned among the States in
the proportion that--
``(A) the aggregate population of the State, or
part of the State, in urbanized areas with a population
greater than 300,000; bears to
``(B) the total population of all States, or parts
of all States, in those urbanized areas.
``(3) Distribution within states.--Funds apportioned to a
State under paragraph (2) shall be made available to carry out
projects and activities under regional traffic incident
management plans in each urbanized area in the State with a
population greater than 300,000 in the proportion that--
``(A) the population of the urbanized area, or part
of the urbanized area, in the State; bears to
``(B) the total population of all urbanized areas
in the State.
``(e) Determination of Populations.--For the purpose of determining
populations of areas under this section, the Secretary shall use
information from the most current decennial census, as supplied by the
Secretary of Commerce.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The analysis for subchapter I of chapter
1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 138 the following:
``139. Traffic incident management program.''.
<all>