Page 49 TITLE 23—HIGHWAYS § 106

approving programs of projects under this section, the Secretary may give priority of approval to, and expedite construction of, projects

to complete construction of such segments.

(Pub. L. 85–767, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 891; Pub. L.

86–624, §17(b), July 12, 1960, 74 Stat. 415; Pub. L.

89–564, title II, §206, Sept. 9, 1966, 80 Stat. 736;

Pub. L. 91–605, title I, §§106(d), 132, Dec. 31, 1970,

84 Stat. 1717, 1732; Pub. L. 93–87, title I, §109(b),

Aug. 13, 1973, 87 Stat. 255; Pub. L. 95–599, title I,

§§111, 112, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2696; Pub. L.

97–424, title I, §109(a), Jan. 6, 1983, 96 Stat. 2104;

Pub. L. 102–240, title I, §1105(g)(7), Dec. 18, 1991,

105 Stat. 2036.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

Section 1105(f) of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, referred to in subsec. (k),

is section 1105(f) of Pub. L. 102–240, which is not classified to the Code.

AMENDMENTS

1991—Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 102–240 added subsec. (k).

1983—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 97–424 added subsec. (h).

1978—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 95–599, §111, inserted provision relating to selection of program projects after consultation with local officials in situations where public

roads and highways are under control and supervision

of State highway departments.

Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 95–599, §112, substituted ‘‘public

airports, public ports for water transportation, new

town communities, and new town-intown communities,’’ for ‘‘public airports and public ports for water

transportation,’’.

1973—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 93–87 substituted ‘‘projects

be selected by the appropriate local officials with the

concurrence of the State highway department of each

State and, in urbanized areas, also in accordance with

the planning process required pursuant to section 134 of

this title’’, for ‘‘projects be selected by the appropriate

local officials and the State highway department in cooperation with each other’’.

1970—Subsecs. (d) to (f). Pub. L. 91–605, §106(d), added

subsec. (d) and redesignated former subsecs. (d) and (e)

as (e) and (f), respectively.

Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 91–605, §132, added subsec. (g).

1966—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 89–564 added subsec. (e).

1960—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 86–624 repealed subsec. (e)

which required the Secretary, in approving programs in

Hawaii, to give preference to such projects as will expedite the completion of highways for the national defense or which will connect seaports with units of the

national parks.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1991 AMENDMENT

Amendment by Pub. L. 102–240 effective Dec. 18, 1991,

and applicable to funds authorized to be appropriated

or made available after Sept. 30, 1991, and, with certain

exceptions, not applicable to funds appropriated or

made available on or before Sept. 30, 1991, see section

1100 of Pub. L. 102–240, set out as a note under section

104 of this title.

ACCELERATION OF PROJECTS

Section 129 of Pub. L. 97–424 provided that: ‘‘The Secretary of Transportation shall by rule or regulation establish, as soon as practicable, alternative methods for

processing projects under title 23, United States Code,

so as to reduce the time required from the request for

project approval through the completion of construction. In carrying out this section the Secretary shall

utilize the knowledge and experience resulting from

the demonstration project authorized by and carried

out under section 141 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act

of 1976 [Pub. L. 94–280, title I, §141, May 5, 1976, 90 Stat.

444, set out as a note under section 124 of this title].’’

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 117, 131, 140, 143,

150 of this title.

§ 106. Plans, specifications, and estimates

(a) Except as provided in this section and section 117 of this title, the State highway department shall submit to the Secretary for his approval, as soon as practicable after program approval, such surveys, plans, specifications, and

estimates for each proposed project included in

an approved program as the Secretary may require. The Secretary shall act upon such surveys, plans, specifications, and estimates as

soon as practicable after the same have been

submitted, and his approval of any such project

shall be deemed a contractual obligation of the

Federal Government for the payment of its proportional contribution thereto. In taking such

action, the Secretary shall be guided by the provisions of section 109 of this title.

(b) SPECIAL RULES.—

(1) 3R PROJECTS ON NHS.—Notwithstanding

any other provision of this title, a State highway department may approve, on a project by

project basis, plans, specifications, and estimates for projects to resurface, restore, and

rehabilitate highways on the National Highway System if the State certifies that all

work will meet or exceed the standards approved by the Secretary under section 109(c).

(2) NON-NHS PROJECTS AND LOW-COST NHS

PROJECTS.—Any State may request that the

Secretary no longer review and approve plans,

specifications, and estimates for any project

(including any highway project on the National Highway System with an estimated

construction cost of less than $1,000,000 but excluding any other highway project on the National Highway System). After receiving any

such notification, the Secretary shall undertake project review only as requested by the

State.

(3) SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS.—Safety considerations for projects subject to this subsection

may be met by phase construction consistent

with an operative safety management system

established in accordance with section 303.

(c) LIMITATION ON ESTIMATES FOR CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING.—Items included in all such

estimates for construction engineering for a

State for a fiscal year shall not exceed, in the

aggregate, 15 percent of the total estimated

costs of all projects financed within the boundaries of the State with Federal-aid highway

funds in such fiscal year, after excluding from

such total estimate costs, the estimated costs of

rights-of-way, preliminary engineering, and construction engineering.

(d) In such cases as the Secretary determines

advisable, plans, specifications, and estimates

for proposed projects on any Federal-aid system

shall be accompanied by a value engineering or

other cost reduction analysis.

(e) LIFE-CYCLE COST ANALYSIS.—

(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish a program to require States to conduct

an analysis of the life-cycle costs of each usable project segment on the National Highway

System with a cost of $25,000,000 or more.
§ 107 TITLE 23—HIGHWAYS Page 50

(2) ANALYSIS OF THE LIFE-CYCLE COSTS DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘analysis

of the life-cycle costs’’ means a process for

evaluating the total economic worth of a usable project segment by analyzing initial costs

and discounted future costs, such as maintenance, reconstruction, rehabilitation, restoring, and resurfacing costs, over the life of the

project segment.

(f) VALUE ENGINEERING FOR NHS.—

(1) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall establish a program to require States to carry

out a value engineering analysis for all

projects on the National Highway System with

an estimated total cost of $25,000,000 or more.

(2) VALUE ENGINEERING DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘value engineering analysis’’

means a systematic process of review and

analysis of a project during its design phase by

a multidisciplined team of persons not 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

combining or eliminating otherwise 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.

(Pub. L. 85–767, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 892; Pub. L.

88–157, §7(a), Oct. 24, 1963, 77 Stat. 278; Pub. L.

91–605, title I, §§106(e), 142, Dec. 31, 1970, 84 Stat.

1717, 1737; Pub. L. 94–280, title I, §114, May 5, 1976,

90 Stat. 436; Pub. L. 100–17, title I, §133(b)(4),

Apr. 2, 1987, 101 Stat. 171; Pub. L. 102–240, title I,

§§1016(b), 1018(a), Dec. 18, 1991, 105 Stat. 1945,

1948; Pub. L. 104–59, title III, §303, Nov. 28, 1995,

109 Stat. 578.)

AMENDMENTS

1995—Subsecs. (e), (f). Pub. L. 104–59 added subsecs. (e)

and (f).

1991—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–240, §1016(b)(1), inserted

‘‘this section and’’ before ‘‘section 117’’.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–240, §1016(b)(2), added subsec.

(b) and struck out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: ‘‘In addition to the approval required under subsection (a) of this section, proposed specifications for

projects for construction on (1) the Federal-aid secondary system, except in States where all public roads and

highways are under the control and supervision of the

State highway department, and (2) the Federal-aid

urban system, shall be determined by the State highway department and the appropriate local road officials

in cooperation with each other.’’

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102–240, §1018(a), amended subsec.

(c) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (c) read as

follows: ‘‘Items included in any such estimate for construction engineering shall not exceed 15 percent of the

total estimated cost of a project financed with Federalaid highway funds, after excluding from such total estimate cost, the estimated costs of rights-of-way, preliminary engineering, and construction engineering.’’

1987—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 100–17 substituted ‘‘15 percent’’ for ‘‘10 per centum’’ and struck out at end ‘‘However, this limitation shall be 15 per centum in any

State with respect to which the Secretary finds such

higher limitation to be necessary.’’

1976—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 94–280 substituted ‘‘Federalaid highway funds’’ for ‘‘Federal-aid primary, secondary, or urban funds’’ and ‘‘such total estimate cost’’ for

‘‘such total estimated cost’’ and struck out 10 per centum limitation for any project financed with interstate

funds.

1970—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 91–605, §106(e), inserted reference to the Federal-aid urban system.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 91–605, §142, added subsec. (d).

1963—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 88–157 substituted ‘‘a project

financed with Federal-aid primary, secondary, or urban

funds’’ for ‘‘the project’’ and provided for limitation, on

items included in estimates for construction engineering on projects financed with Federal-aid primary, secondary, or urban funds, of 15 percent of total estimated

cost of the project where found by the Secretary to be

necessary and for 10-percent limitation on projects financed with interstate funds.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1991 AMENDMENT

Amendment by Pub. L. 102–240 effective Dec. 18, 1991,

and applicable to funds authorized to be appropriated

or made available after Sept. 30, 1991, and, with certain

exceptions, not applicable to funds appropriated or

made available on or before Sept. 30, 1991, see section

1100 of Pub. L. 102–240, set out as a note under section

104 of this title.

STUDY OF VALUE ENGINEERING

Section 1091 of Pub. L. 102–240 provided that:

‘‘(a) STUDY.—The Secretary shall study the effectiveness and benefits of value engineering review programs

applied to Federal-aid highway projects. Such study

shall include an analysis of and the results of specialized techniques utilized in all facets of highway construction for the purpose of reduction of costs and improvement of the overall quality of Federal-aid highway projects.

‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of

the enactment of this Act [Dec. 18, 1991], the Secretary

shall report to Congress on the results of the study

under subsection (a), including recommendations on

how value engineering could be utilized and improved

in Federal-aid highway projects.’’

MODIFICATION OF PROJECT AGREEMENTS TO

EFFECTUATE REQUIREMENT OF FOUR-LANES OF TRAFFIC

Pub. L. 89–574, §5(b), Sept. 13, 1966, 80 Stat. 767, as

amended by Pub. L. 97–449, §2(a), Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat.

2439, authorized Secretary to modify project agreements entered into prior to Sept. 13, 1966, pursuant to

section 106 of this title for purpose of effectuating

amendment made by this section (amending section

109(b) of this title to add a requirement of four lanes of

traffic) with respect to as much of National System of

Interstate and Defense Highways [now Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways]

as may be possible.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 109, 112, 117, 121,

143 of this title; title 40 App. section 201.

§ 107. Acquisition of rights-of-way—Interstate

System

(a) In any case in which the Secretary is requested by a State to acquire lands or interests

in lands (including within the term ‘‘interests in

lands’’, the control of access thereto from adjoining lands) required by such State for rightof-way or other purposes in connection with the

prosecution of any project for the construction,

reconstruction, or improvement of any section

of the Interstate System, the Secretary is authorized, in the name of the United States and

prior to the approval of title by the Attorney

General, to acquire, enter upon, and take possession of such lands or interests in lands by purchase, donation, condemnation, or otherwise in

accordance with the laws of the United States

(including the Act of February 26, 1931, 46 Stat.

1421), if—