23 U.S.C. § 154 — Open container requirements

(a) Definitions. (1) Alcoholic beverage has the meaning given in section 158(c). (2) Motor vehicle means a vehicle powered by an engine, built mainly for public highways. It does not include vehicles that run only on rails. (3) Open alcoholic beverage container means any bottle, can, or other container that (A) has any alcohol in it, and (B) either (i) is open or has a broken seal, or (ii) has had some of its contents removed. (4) Passenger area will be defined by the Secretary through regulation. (b) Open Container Laws. (1) In general. Each state must have a law banning anyone, including the driver, from having an open alcohol container, or drinking alcohol, in a vehicle's passenger area on a public highway or its right-of-way. (2) Motor vehicles designed to transport many passengers. If a state's law only bans the driver, not passengers, from having an open container in vehicles built to carry paying passengers, or in living quarters of a house coach or trailer, the state still counts as having a law under this section for that vehicle, for each year the law is in effect. (c) Transfer of Funds. (1) Fiscal years 2001 and 2002. On October 1, 2000, and October 1, 2001, if a state has not passed or is not enforcing an open container law, the Secretary must shift 1.5 percent of certain highway funds, from section 104(b) paragraphs (1), (2), and (4), to the state's section 402 safety funds. That money must go to either (A) impaired-driving countermeasures, or (B) state and local police for enforcing drunk-driving laws, including buying equipment, training officers, and hiring extra staff for enforcement. (2) Fiscal year 2022 and thereafter. (A) Reservation of funds. Starting October 1, 2021, and every October 1 after, the Secretary must hold back 2.5 percent of certain highway funds, section 104(b) paragraphs (1) and (2), for any state that (i) currently lacks or is not enforcing an open container law, and (ii) also lacked or was not enforcing one the prior year. The Secretary holds the money until the state tells the Secretary how it will spend it, under the two options in paragraph (1) or under paragraph (3) below. (B) Transfer of funds. Once a state certifies its spending plan, the Secretary must (i) transfer the funds the state marked for the paragraph (1)(A) and (1)(B) uses into its section 402 safety funds, and (ii) release the funds the state marked for paragraph (3). (3) Use for highway safety improvement program. (A) In general. A state can choose to spend some or all of its held-back funds on projects eligible under section 148 instead. (B) State departments of transportation. If a state makes that choice, its transportation department gets the funds and manages them. (4) Federal share. If funds are transferred or used under paragraphs (1), (2), or (3), the federal government pays 100 percent of the project cost. (5) Derivation of amount to be transferred. The money transferred or released under paragraph (2) can come from the state's section 104(b)(1) or 104(b)(2) apportionments. (6) Transfer of obligation authority. (A) In general. When the Secretary transfers funds to a state's section 402 apportionment, the Secretary must also transfer a matching amount of obligation authority, meaning permission to actually spend the money, calculated under subparagraph (B). (B) Amount. This is found by multiplying the transferred funds by a ratio: the state's obligation authority for its highway and highway safety construction programs that year, divided by the state's total highway funding subject to obligation limits that year. (7) Limitation on applicability of obligation limitation. No general cap on section 402 safety-program spending applies to funds transferred under this section.