23 U.S.C. § 173 — Rural surface transportation grant program

(a) Definitions: (1) "Program" means the grant program set up in subsection (b)(1). (2) "Rural area" means anywhere outside an urbanized area with more than 200,000 people. (b) Establishment: (1) The Secretary must create a competitive "rural surface transportation grant program" to fund improvements to rural transportation infrastructure. (2) The program's goals are to: (A) increase connectivity; (B) improve the safety and reliability of moving people and freight; and (C) boost regional economic growth and quality of life. (3) The Secretary may keep up to 2 percent of program funds to review applications, and may pass part of that money to relevant administrators to help award and oversee grants. (c) Eligible Entities: The Secretary may give grants to: (1) a state; (2) a regional transportation planning organization; (3) a local government; (4) a tribal government or group of tribal governments; or (5) a group made up of any of these. (d) Applications: To get a grant, an eligible entity must apply in the form, timing, and detail the Secretary requires. (e) Eligible Projects: (1) Except as (2) allows, grants may fund only: (A) highway, bridge, or tunnel projects eligible under section 119(d); (B) those eligible under section 133(b); (C) projects eligible under section 202(a); (D) highway freight projects eligible under section 167(h)(5); (E) highway safety improvement projects, including fixing high-risk rural roads, as defined in section 148(a); (F) projects on public highways or bridges that improve access to farms, businesses, energy sites, or transportation hubs supporting a rural area's economy; or (G) projects to build or maintain integrated mobility management, transportation demand management, or on-demand mobility services. (2)(A) An applicant may "bundle" two or more similar eligible projects together if they are listed as a bundled project in the state's transportation improvement program and awarded to one contractor under one design or construction contract. (B) Despite any other law, a bundled group of projects can be treated as a single project, including for section 135 purposes. (f) Eligible Project Costs: Grant money may pay for: (1) early-stage work like planning, feasibility studies, revenue forecasting, environmental review, and preliminary design; and (2) construction, rebuilding, repair, buying needed real property and land improvements, environmental mitigation, contingencies, equipment purchases, and operational improvements. (g) Project Requirements: The Secretary may fund a project only if it: (1) will bring regional economic, mobility, or safety benefits; (2) will be cost-effective; (3) supports one or more of the national goals in section 150; (4) is based on real preliminary engineering; and (5) is likely to start construction within 18 months after funds are obligated. (h) Additional Considerations: The Secretary must also weigh how much a project will: (1) improve the condition of existing highways, bridges, and tunnels; (2) increase system capacity or connectivity and improve rural mobility; (3) address economic development and job loss, including in energy communities identified by an April 2021 interagency report; (4) boost tourism and recreation access to federal lands, parks, forests, refuges, wilderness, or state parks; (5) add to geographic diversity among grant winners; (6) use innovative delivery methods or new transportation technology; (7) coordinate with broadband projects; or (8) improve access to emergency care, essential services, health care, or drug and alcohol treatment. (i) Grant Amount: Except as (k)(1) allows, each grant must be at least $25,000,000. (j) Federal Share: (1) Except as (2) allows, federal funding cannot cover more than 80 percent of a project's cost. (2) For projects finishing a designated segment of the Appalachian Development Highway System, or meeting a need for the Denali access system program, the federal share can go up to 100 percent, as the state decides. (3) Other federal aid may be used to cover the non-federal share of project costs. (k) Set Asides: (1) The Secretary must use at least 10 percent of yearly program funds for smaller projects — those under $25,000,000. (2) The Secretary must reserve 25 percent of yearly funds for projects finishing designated Appalachian Development Highway System routes. (3) The Secretary must reserve 15 percent of yearly funds for projects in states whose rural roadway lane-departure deaths are above the national average. (4) If, in a given year, there are not enough qualified applications to use up the amounts reserved under (1), (2), or (3), the Secretary must use the leftover money for other program grants. (l) Congressional Review: (1) At least 60 days before giving a grant, the Secretary must send the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee: (A) a list of all eligible applications; (B) each application proposed for a grant, with reasons; and (C) proposed grant amounts. (2) Before that 60-day period ends, each committee must review the proposed project list. (3) The Secretary cannot fund a project if Congress passes a joint resolution disapproving it before the 60-day period ends. (m) Transparency: (1) Within 30 days after giving a grant, the Secretary must give all applicants, and publish on the Department of Transportation's website, the information described in (l)(1). (2) If an eligible entity asks, the Secretary must offer to explain why it was not picked for a grant. (n) Reports: (1) Each year, the Secretary must publish on the Department's website a report listing every project that got a grant that fiscal year. (2)(A) The Comptroller General must assess how grants were solicited, selected, and justified each fiscal year. (B) Each year, the Comptroller General must report to the same two congressional committees on: (i) how fair and sound the selection process was; and (ii) the justification and criteria used to pick each project. (o) Treatment of Projects: No matter what other laws say, projects funded under this section count as projects on a federal-aid highway under this chapter.