Value Engineering Better Transportation Act of 1993

Summary: Value Engineering Better Transportation Act of 1993 - Amends Federal transportation law and the Federal Transit Act to increase by five percent increments (up to 100 percent) the Federal share for transportation projects costing over $2 million for which "value engineering" results in certain minimum project cost savings. Prohibits the use of Federal funds for "value engineering" training. 
Defines "value engineering" as the process of review and analysis of a project during its design phase by a multidisciplined team of persons not originally involved in the project in order to provide suggestions for reducing total project costs and providing better quality.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Value Engineering Better 
Transportation Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. TITLE 23, UNITED STATES CODE.

    Section 120 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(j) Increased Federal Share for Value Engineering.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Federal share payable on account of 
        any project or activity carried out under this title shall be 
        increased--
                    ``(A) by 5 percentage points--
                            ``(i) if the project or activity has an 
                        estimated cost of $2,000,000 or more;
                            ``(ii) if, before 35 percent completion of 
                        project or activity design, value engineering 
                        is applied to the project or activity;
                            ``(iii) if the State in carrying out the 
                        project or activity complies with parts 48 and 
                        52 of title 48 of the Code of Federal 
                        Regulations, relating to Federal acquisition 
                        regulations;
                            ``(iv) if the State submits to the 
                        Secretary for approval a completed value 
                        engineering analysis, signed by a certified 
                        value specialist, of the savings resulting from 
                        application of value engineering to the project 
                        or activity, including changes made in the 
                        project or activity design as a result of such 
                        value engineering; and
                            ``(v) if the Secretary determines that 
                        application of value engineering to the project 
                        or activity reduces the cost of the project or 
                        activity by 5 percent or more; and
                    ``(B) by an additional 5 percentage points if the 
                determination made by the Secretary under subparagraph 
                (A)(v) is that application of value engineering reduces 
                the cost of the project or activity by 15 percent or 
                more.
            ``(2) Limitations.--
                    ``(A) Maximum federal percentage.--Notwithstanding 
                paragraph (1), the Federal share payable for any 
                project or activity carried out under this title shall 
                not exceed 100 percent of project or activity cost.
                    ``(B) Maximum federal dollars.--Notwithstanding 
                paragraph (1) and subparagraph (A), the amount of 
                Federal funds payable on account of a project or 
                activity under this title as a result of application of 
                this subsection to the project or activity shall not 
                exceed the amount of Federal funds which would have 
                been payable on account of the project or activity 
                under this title but for this subsection.
            ``(3) Prohibition on training.--No Federal funds may be 
        used to provide training for carrying out value engineering 
        under this title.
            ``(4) Value engineering defined.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, the term `value engineering' means a systematic 
        process of review and analysis of a project or activity during 
        its design phase by a multidisciplined team of persons not 
        originally involved in the project or activity in order to 
        provide suggestions for reducing the total cost of the project 
        or activity and providing a project or activity of equal or 
        better quality. Such suggestions may include a combination or 
        elimination of inefficient or expensive parts of the original 
        proposed design for the project or activity and total redesign 
        of the proposed project or activity using different 
        technologies, materials, or methods so as to accomplish the 
        original purpose of the project or activity.''.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL TRANSIT ACT.

    Section 12 of the Federal Transit Act (49 U.S.C. App. 1608) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(n) Increased Federal Share for Value Engineering.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Federal grant for any project to be 
        assisted under this Act shall be increased--
                    ``(A) by 5 percent of the net project cost--
                            ``(i) if the project has an estimated cost 
                        of $2,000,000 or more;
                            ``(ii) if, before 35 percent completion of 
                        project design, value engineering is applied to 
                        the project;
                            ``(iii) if the grant recipient in carrying 
                        out the project complies with parts 48 and 52 
                        of title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations, 
                        relating to Federal acquisition regulations;
                            ``(iv) if the grant recipient submits to 
                        the Secretary for approval a completed value 
                        engineering analysis, signed by a certified 
                        value specialist, of the savings resulting from 
                        application of value engineering to the project 
                        design, including changes made in the project 
                        as a result of such value engineering; and
                            ``(v) if the Secretary determines that 
                        application of value engineering to the project 
                        reduces net project cost by 5 percent or more; 
                        and
                    ``(B) by an additional 5 percent of the net project 
                cost if the determination made by the Secretary under 
                subparagraph (A)(v) is that application of value 
                engineering reduces net project cost by 15 percent or 
                more.
            ``(2) Limitations.--
                    ``(A) Maximum federal percentage.--Notwithstanding 
                paragraph (1), the Federal grant for any project 
                assisted under this Act shall not exceed 100 percent of 
                the net project cost.
                    ``(B) Maximum federal dollars.--Notwithstanding 
                paragraph (1) and subparagraph (A), the amount of 
                Federal funds which may be expended under a Federal 
                grant under this Act for a project as a result of 
                application of this subsection to the project shall not 
                exceed the amount of Federal funds which would have 
                been available for expenditure under such a grant for 
                the project but for this subsection.
            ``(3) Prohibition on training.--No Federal funds may be 
        used to provide training for carrying out value engineering 
        under this Act.
            ``(4) Value engineering defined.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, the term `value engineering' means a systematic 
        process of review and analysis of a project during its design 
        phase by a multidisciplined team of persons not originally 
        involved in the project in order to provide suggestions for 
        reducing the total cost of the project and providing a project 
        of equal or better quality. Such suggestions may include a 
        combination or elimination of inefficient or expensive parts of 
        the original proposed design for the project and total redesign 
        of the proposed project using different technologies, 
        materials, or methods so as to accomplish the original purpose 
        of the project.''.