23 U.S.C. § 109 — Standards

(a) In general. The Secretary of Transportation must make sure that the plans and specs for every proposed highway project under this chapter produce a facility that: (1) adequately serves existing and expected future traffic, in a way that's safe, durable, and economical to maintain; and (2) is designed and built using criteria best suited to meet those goals and to fit each locality's particular needs. (b) Interstate System standards. The Secretary, working with state transportation departments, sets the geometric and construction standards for the Interstate System. Applied to each actual project, these standards must be enough to handle the traffic types and volumes expected over the 20 years starting when the Secretary approves the project's plans, specs, and estimates under section 106. Every Interstate project must have at least four traffic lanes, and the right-of-way must be wide enough to support that. The Secretary applies these standards the same way in every state. (c) Design criteria for the National Highway System. (1) For new construction, reconstruction, resurfacing (other than routine maintenance resurfacing), restoration, or rehabilitation of a National Highway System road that isn't also on the Interstate System, the design must also consider: (A) the built and natural environment nearby; (B) environmental, scenic, aesthetic, historic, community, and preservation impacts; (C) cost savings from using flexibility already available in design guidance and regulations; and (D) access for other modes of transportation. (2) The Secretary, working with states, may develop criteria to carry this out, drawing on sources such as AASHTO's geometric design policy process, FHWA's "Flexibility in Highway Design" publication, the "Thinking Beyond the Pavement" workshop's principles, AASHTO's "Highway Safety Manual," NACTO's "Urban Street Design Guide," FHWA's 2011 "Wildlife Crossing Structure Handbook," and any other material the Secretary finds appropriate. (d) Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. (1) On any highway project that gets federal funds (or that was built since December 20, 1944), the location, form, and design of signs, pavement markings, and traffic signals installed by any public authority must be approved by the state transportation department, with the Secretary's agreement — and the Secretary may only agree to installations that promote safety, inclusion, and mobility for all users, and efficient highway use. (2) The Secretary must update the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices within 18 months of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021, and at least every 4 years after that. (e) Installation of safety devices. (1) No federal-aid highway funds can be spent unless proper safety devices meeting the Secretary's standards are installed or operating at any highway/railroad grade crossing or drawbridge on the funded stretch. (2) Similarly, funds can't be spent unless proper temporary traffic control devices — meeting the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices — are installed and kept up during construction, utility, and maintenance work on that stretch. (f) No excess land requirement. Before approving a project under section 106, the Secretary cannot require a state to acquire more marginal land along the highway than what's reasonably needed for the road surface, median, bikeways, walkways, gutters, ditches, and side slopes — including enough width for service roads that let adjacent property get safe, controlled access, to keep traffic moving, promote safety, and reduce roadside parking. (g) Soil erosion guidelines. By January 30, 1971, the Secretary had to issue guidelines to minimize soil erosion from highway construction, applying to projects approved after those guidelines came out. (h) Social and environmental effects guidelines. By July 1, 1972, the Secretary, after consulting federal and state officials, had to report to Congress and then issue guidelines making sure that possible adverse economic, social, and environmental effects of a Federal-aid project are fully considered, and that final decisions serve the overall public interest — weighing fast, safe, efficient transportation and public services against the cost of avoiding harms like: (1) air, noise, and water pollution; (2) destroying or disrupting man-made and natural resources, aesthetics, community cohesion, and public facilities; (3) adverse effects on jobs, taxes, and property values; (4) harmful displacement of people, businesses, and farms; and (5) disrupting desirable community and regional growth. These guidelines apply to projects approved after they were issued. (i) Highway noise standards. After consulting federal, state, and local officials, the Secretary had to set standards for highway noise levels compatible with different land uses, and after July 1, 1972, could not approve project plans (where location approval was still pending) unless they include adequate noise-control measures. For projects already approved before July 1, 1972, the Secretary, after consulting the EPA and others, may set noise standards too, and may approve projects — funded from that highway system's regular apportionment — to carry them out, including buying extra right-of-way, building physical barriers, and landscaping. (j) Air quality guidelines. After consulting the EPA, the Secretary must issue guidelines ensuring highways built under this title match any approved plan for: (1) meeting a national ambient air quality standard in an area designated as a nonattainment area under the Clean Air Act; or (2) maintaining an air quality standard in an area that used to be a nonattainment area but was redesignated as attainment, and that must have a maintenance plan under the Clean Air Act. (k) Bridges affecting neighboring states. The Secretary can't approve a bridge-approach project under this title that would significantly affect traffic and the highway system of a neighboring state, without first fully considering that state's views. (l) Utility facilities in highway right-of-way. (1) Before letting a right-of-way be used for a utility facility, the Secretary must: (A) first check the effect on highway and traffic safety — no use that would hurt safety can ever be allowed; (B) weigh the environmental and economic effects of losing productive farmland, or reducing its productivity, that would result from refusing the utility use; and (C) weigh those effects together with any interference the utility use would cause with the highway itself. (2) "Utility facility" means any privately, publicly, or cooperatively owned line or system for producing or moving things like communications, power, electricity, light, heat, gas, oil, water, steam, waste, or storm water unrelated to highway drainage — including fire/police signal systems and street lighting — that serves the public. "Right-of-way" means real property, or an interest in it, acquired or set aside for building, running, and maintaining a highway. (m) Protecting non-motorized traffic. The Secretary can't approve a project or regulatory action that would cut off an existing major route, or seriously harm safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and light motorcycles, unless a reasonable alternate route is provided or already exists. (n) Resurfacing standards. Congress intends that resurfacing, restoring, or rehabilitating any highway that isn't fully access-controlled, using federal funds, follow standards that preserve and extend the highway's service life and improve safety. (o) State law compliance for non-NHS projects. (A) Projects that aren't on the National Highway System must be designed, built, run, and maintained under state laws, regulations, and standards. (B) Even so, a local jurisdiction can use an FHWA-recognized roadway design guide it has adopted, different from the state's guide, for projects on roads it owns (other than National Highway System roads) where it's the project sponsor — as long as the design still follows other applicable federal law. (p) Scenic and historic values. Despite the design standards in (b) and (c), the Secretary can approve a National Highway System project designed to: (1) preserve environmental, scenic, or historic values; (2) keep the facility safe to use; and (3) still meet subsection (a). (q) Phased construction. Safety needs for a project can be met through phased construction, consistent with the safety management system in an approved statewide transportation improvement program. (r) Pavement marking materials. The Secretary can't approve a pavement-marking project using glass beads with more than 200 parts per million of arsenic or lead, tested under specified EPA methods. (s) Electric vehicle charging stations. (1) EV charging infrastructure built with this title's funds must, at minimum: (A) use non-proprietary connectors meeting industry safety standards; and (B) allow open access to payment methods available to the public, without limiting access to one payment provider's members. (2) Despite any other law, an EV-charging-infrastructure project funded this way is treated as if it were located on a Federal-aid highway.