23 U.S.C. § 133 — Surface transportation block grant program

(a) Establishment. The Secretary of Transportation must set up this grant program. Its goal is to give states flexible money for their transportation needs. (b) Eligible Projects. States can spend money apportioned under section 104(b)(2) on many kinds of projects. (1) Construction of: (A) highways, bridges, and tunnels, including Appalachian development highway routes and local access roads; (B) ferry boats and terminals — either ones that already qualify under section 129(c), or privately owned ones the Secretary decides give a real public transportation benefit; (C) transit capital projects that qualify under the federal transit law (chapter 53 of title 49); (D) roadside computer systems, called intelligent transportation systems, including gear that lets vehicles "talk" to roads; (E) truck parking facilities; (F) border infrastructure projects; and (G) wildlife crossing structures. (2) Operating and capital costs for traffic monitoring, management, and control. (3) Certain environmental measures listed in specific highway-law and Clean Air Act sections. (The official list skips from (3) straight to (5) — there is no (4).) (5) Highway and transit safety improvements, including safety barriers and nets on bridges. (6) Fringe and corridor parking lots and carpool projects. (7) Recreational trails (including upkeep of existing ones), sidewalks and bike paths (including accessibility upgrades required by the Americans with Disabilities Act), and safe-routes-to-school programs. (8) Planning, designing, or building boulevards on former Interstate System routes. (9) State plans to manage highway assets and performance on other public roads. (10) Protecting bridges and tunnels — painting, scour and seismic protection, impact and security protection, protection from extreme events, plus inspecting and evaluating bridges, tunnels, and other highway assets. (11) Transportation planning programs, highway and transit research, technology transfer, and workforce training and education. (12) Infrastructure changes that connect directly to a port terminal. (13) Congestion-pricing tools, like electronic tolling and travel-demand management. (14) Reducing collisions between vehicles and wildlife. (15) Electric vehicle charging and vehicle-to-grid infrastructure. (16) Installing smart-vehicle technology that lets vehicles communicate with roads, buildings, and other users. (17) Planning and building projects that connect emerging transport technologies, like maglev or hyperloop. (18) Protective features, including natural infrastructure, that make a facility more resilient. (19) Measures that protect a facility from cybersecurity threats. (20) At a state's request, with the Secretary's approval, the subsidy and administrative costs of giving an entity federal credit assistance for an eligible project. (21) A state office that helps design, run, and oversee public-private partnerships, including paying a stipend to unsuccessful private bidders to encourage real competition. (22) Any project that was eligible under the rules in place right before the FAST Act became law. (23) Rural barge landing, dock, and waterfront infrastructure projects, under subsection (j). (24) Projects that boost travel and tourism. (c) Location of Projects. Generally, this money can't fund a project on a road classified as a local road or a rural minor collector, unless that road was already part of the federal-aid highway system on January 1, 1991. Five exceptions apply: bridge or tunnel projects (but not a brand-new bridge or tunnel at a new location); projects described in categories (5) through (15) and (23) of subsection (b); projects that were eligible under the old rule before the FAST Act; bridge projects that replace a low-water crossing; and any project the Secretary approves. (d) Allocations Based on Population. (1) For fiscal years 2022 through 2026, 55% of a state's apportioned funds — after the (h) set-aside comes out — must be spent in proportion to population across four area types: big urbanized areas (over 200,000 people), medium urbanized areas (50,000 to 200,000), small urban areas (5,000 to 49,999), and other areas (under 5,000). The rest can be spent anywhere in the state. (2) Money credited to a big urbanized area can be spent anywhere in the wider metropolitan planning area that surrounds it. (3) States must set up a process to consult every metropolitan planning organization representing a big urbanized area, and must explain how the money for those areas will be split fairly. Before spending money credited to smaller areas, a state must consult any regional transportation planning organization that represents that area. (4) Money for big urbanized areas is normally split by their relative population, but a state and its metropolitan planning organizations can jointly ask the Secretary for permission to use other factors instead. (5) Spending under this section must follow the planning rules in sections 134 and 135. (e) Obligation Authority. When a state must spend money in a big urbanized area under subsection (d), it must also give that area a matching share of its "obligation authority" — the actual permission to spend the money, not just the promise of it. The amount is figured by multiplying what the state must obligate in the area by the same ratio of obligation authority to apportioned funds that the state itself received. The state, the affected metropolitan planning organizations, and the Secretary are all jointly responsible for making sure this happens. (f) Bridges Not on Federal-Aid Highways. (1) An "off-system bridge" is a bridge or low-water crossing on a public road that is not part of the federal-aid highway system. (2) Starting with fiscal year 2013, each state must spend at least 20% of what it received for the 2009 highway bridge program on off-system bridges — replacing or protecting them, or replacing low-water crossings with bridges — though money set aside under subsection (d) can never count toward this, and the Secretary may lower the requirement if a state shows it doesn't have enough need to justify it. (3) If a project to replace or fix a bridge (or replace a low-water crossing with one) off the federal-aid system is paid for entirely with state and local money, is otherwise eligible for federal funds, isn't controversial, and the state certifies it followed all the normal standards, then once the Secretary confirms the bridge is no longer deficient (or the crossing is safer), the state can credit any spending above 20% of the project's cost toward the non-federal share of other eligible bridge projects, following procedures the Secretary sets. (g) Special Rule for Areas Under 50,000 People. (1) Despite the location limits in subsection (c), a state may spend up to 15% of the money it must obligate for small-area categories under subsection (d)(1)(A) on rural minor collector or local roads, or on designated critical rural freight corridors. (2) The Secretary may suspend this option for a state that is using it too much. (h) STP Set-Aside. (1) Each year the Secretary sets aside 10% of a state's apportioned funds for this subsection; a state's share of that pool is based on how much it got for the 2009 transportation enhancements program compared to the national total. (2) Within a state, these funds are generally divided the same way as under subsection (d), except the big-urbanized-area share becomes 59% instead of 55%, and the "other factors" option in (d)(3) doesn't apply. A state may instead give up to 100% local control if it submits — and the Secretary approves — a plan explaining how the money will flow to counties, metropolitan planning organizations, regional planning organizations, or local governments; how those entities will run a competitive process to pick projects; their legal, financial, and technical capacity; how their input was gathered; and how the state will meet the reporting duty in paragraph (8). (3) The money may fund projects that used to qualify as "transportation alternatives" before the FAST Act, safe-routes-to-school projects, and work on vulnerable road user safety assessments. (4) "Eligible entities" that can apply include local governments, regional transportation authorities, transit agencies, natural resource or public land agencies, school districts and education agencies, tribal governments, smaller metropolitan planning organizations, nonprofits, other similar local or regional bodies the state approves, and a state itself acting at one of these entities' request. States and metropolitan planning organizations must build a competitive process open to these entities; for big urbanized areas, the metropolitan planning organization selects projects in consultation with the state; and the process must prioritize high-need areas, such as low-income, transit-dependent, or rural communities. (5) Each year, a state must spend on recreational trails at least as much as it received for that program in 2009, must return 1% of that amount to the Secretary for administration, and must otherwise follow the normal trails-program rules. (6) States get some flexibility: a governor may opt out of the recreational trails requirement by notifying the Secretary at least 30 days before that year's apportionments; a metropolitan area may spend up to half of a big urbanized area's set-aside funds on anything eligible under subsection (b); and a state may use up to 5% of its set-aside — after the normal (2)(A) allocation — to help applicants get funding faster, through application and technical assistance or by paying for state staff, either directly or through contracts with agencies, private entities, or nonprofits. (7) The overall non-federal share of these projects statewide can't fall below what would normally apply — but a state with certified adequate financial controls gets flexibility: certain highway-safety funds may count toward the non-federal share for an eligible project consistent with the state's safety plan, the share may be figured project-by-project or across a group of projects, and an individual project's federal share may go up to 100%. (8) States and metropolitan planning organizations must send the Secretary a yearly report: how many project applications came in, their total cost, and the project types as a share of the state's total apportionment, plus details on every project actually selected — the year selected, the year expected to be funded, the recipient, the location and congressional district, the type, the cost, and a brief description. The Secretary must publish these reports online in a usable format. (i) Treatment of Projects. Except for recreational trail projects funded under (h)(5), every project funded under this section counts, for legal purposes, as a project on a federal-aid highway. (j) Rural Barge Landing, Dock, and Waterfront Infrastructure Projects. (1) A state may spend up to 5% of its apportioned funds on eligible rural waterfront projects. (2) An eligible project is planning, designing, engineering, or building a barge landing, dock, or other waterfront infrastructure in a rural community or a Native village that is off the road system. (k) Projects in Rural Areas. (1) Despite the location limits in subsection (c), and on top of what subsections (b) and (g) already allow, a state may use up to 15% of its yearly apportioned funds either on eligible (b) projects or maintenance on rural minor collector, local, ice, or seasonal roads, or transfer that money to the Appalachian Highway System Program or the Denali access system program. (2) Money allocated under subsection (d) cannot be used this way unless the relevant metropolitan planning organization requests it.