Editorial Notes
Amendments

2012—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 112–141, § 1507(2), added subsec. (a). Former subsec. (a) redesignated (b).

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 112–141, § 1507(1), (3), redesignated subsec. (a) as (b), inserted “or other direct recipient” before “to maintain”, and struck out at end “The State’s obligation to the United States to maintain any such project shall cease when it no longer constitutes a part of a Federal-aid system.” Former subsec. (b) redesignated (c).

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 112–141, § 1507(4), added subsec. (c) and struck out former subsec. (c). Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “In any State wherein the State transportation department is without legal authority to maintain a project constructed on the Federal-aid secondary system, or within a municipality, such transportation department shall enter into a formal agreement for its maintenance with the appropriate officials of the county or municipality in which such project is located.”

Pub. L. 112–141, § 1507(1), redesignated subsec. (b) as (c). Former subsec. (c) redesignated (d).

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 112–141, § 1507(1), (5), redesignated subsec. (c) as (d) and inserted “or other direct recipient” after “State transportation department”. Former subsec. (d) redesignated (e).

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 112–141, § 1507(1), redesignated subsec. (d) as (e).

2005—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 109–59 substituted “such transportation department” for “such highway department”.

1998—Subsecs. (a) to (c). Pub. L. 105–178 substituted “State transportation department” for “State highway department”.

1995—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–59 added subsec. (d).

1987—Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 100–17 struck out subsecs. (d) and (e) which read as follows:

“(d) The Secretary in consultation with the State highway departments and interested and knowledgeable private organizations and individuals shall as soon as possible establish national bridge inspection standards in order to provide for the proper safety inspection of bridges. Such standards shall specify in detail the method by which inspections shall be conducted by the State highway departments, the maximum time lapse between inspections and the qualifications for those charged with the responsibility for carrying out such inspections. Each State shall be required to maintain written reports to be available to the Secretary pursuant to such inspections together with a notation of the action taken pursuant to the findings of such inspections. Each State shall be required to maintain a current inventory of all bridges.

“(e) The Secretary shall establish in cooperation with the State highway departments a program designed to train appropriate employees of the Federal Government and the State governments to carry out bridge inspections. Such a program shall be revised from time to time in light of new or improved techniques. For the purposes of this section the Secretary may use funds made available pursuant to the provisions of section 104(a) and section 307(a) of this title.”

1983—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 97–424 substituted “State highway district, municipality, county, other political or administrative subdivision of the State, or the entire State in which such project is located, whichever the Secretary deems most appropriate,” for “entire State” after “all types in the”, and struck out exception for a situation where such project was subject to an agreement pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, in which case approval was to have been withheld only for secondary or urban projects in the county or municipality where such project is located.

1978—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 95–599 struck out provisions limiting provisions of the subsection to the Federal-aid system.

1968—Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 90–495 added subsecs. (d) and (e).

1959—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 86–70, § 21(e)(3), substituted “It” for “Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, it”.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 86–70, § 21(d)(2), repealed subsec. (d) which related to expenditure of funds apportioned to the Territory of Alaska and contributed by the Territory for the maintenance of roads.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2012 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 112–141 effective Oct. 1, 2012, see section 3(a) of Pub. L. 112–141, set out as an Effective and Termination Dates of 2012 Amendment note under section 101 of this title.

Effective Date of 1968 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 90–495 effective Aug. 23, 1968, see section 37 of Pub. L. 90–495, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Effective Date of 1959 Amendment

Amendment by section 21(d)(2) of Pub. L. 86–70 effective July 1, 1959, see section 21(d) of Pub. L. 86–70, set out as a note under section 103 of this title.

Amendment by section 21(e)(3) of Pub. L. 86–70 effective July 1, 1959, see section 21(e) of Pub. L. 86–70, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Pilot Program

Pub. L. 114–94, div. A, title I, § 1424, Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1425, provided that:

“(a)
In General.—
The Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (referred to in this section as the ‘Administrator’) may establish a pilot program that allows a State to utilize innovative approaches to maintain the right-of-way of Federal-aid highways within the State.
“(b)
Limitation.—
A pilot program established under subsection (a) shall—
“(1)
terminate after not more than 4 years;
“(2)
include not more than 5 States; and
“(3)
be subject to guidelines published by the Administrator.
“(c)
Report.—
If the Administrator establishes a pilot program under subsection (a), the Administrator shall, not more than 1 year after the completion of the pilot program, submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a report on the results of the pilot program.
“(d)
Savings Provision.—
Nothing in this section may be construed to affect the requirements of section 111 of title 23, United States Code.”

Establishment of Minimum Federal Guidelines for Maintenance; Study by National Academy of Sciences and Report

Pub. L. 100–17, title I, § 163, Apr. 2, 1987, 101 Stat. 213, directed Secretary to enter into appropriate arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a complete investigation of the appropriateness of establishing minimum Federal guidelines for maintenance of the Federal-aid primary, secondary, and urban systems and, not later than 18 months after entering into appropriate arrangements, the National Academy of Sciences was to submit to Secretary and Congress a report on the results of the investigation and study together with recommendations (including legislative and administrative recommendations) concerning establishment of minimum Federal guidelines for maintenance of the Federal-aid primary, secondary, and urban systems.