II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 800 

To amend the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity 

Act: A Legacy for Users to reauthorize and improve the safe routes 

to school program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 12, 2011 

Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. UDALL of New 

Mexico, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. BENNET, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users to reauthorize 

and improve the safe routes to school program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Routes to School 

5 Program Reauthorization Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 Section 1101(a) of the SAFETEA–LU (119 Stat. 

3 1155) is amended by striking paragraph (17) and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(17) SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL PROGRAM.— 

6 For the safe routes to school program under section 

7 1404 of this Act, $183,000,000 for each of fiscal 

8 years 2012 through 2016.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL PROGRAM. 

10 Section 1404 of the SAFETEA–LU (23 U.S.C. 402 

11 note; 119 Stat. 1228) is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 1404. SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL PROGRAM. 

13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) VICINITY.—The term ‘vicinity’ means, 

15 with respect to a school, the area within bicycling 

16 and walking distance of the school (approximately 2 

17 miles). 

18 ‘‘(2) LOW-INCOME SCHOOL.—The term ‘low-in19 come school’ means a school in which 65 percent or 

20 more of students qualify for a free or reduced price 

21 lunch under the Richard B. Russell National School 

22 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.). 

23 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to this section, the 

24 Secretary shall establish and carry out a safe routes to 

25 school program for the benefit of children in kindergarten 


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1 through the twelfth grade, with a preference for primary 

2 and middle schools. 

3 ‘‘(c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program shall 

4 be— 

5 ‘‘(1) to enable and encourage children, includ6 ing those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to 

7 school; 

8 ‘‘(2) to make bicycling and walking to school a 

9 safer and more appealing transportation alternative, 

10 thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle 

11 from an early age and throughout adolescence; and 

12 ‘‘(3) to facilitate the planning, development, 

13 and implementation of projects and activities that 

14 will improve safety and reduce traffic, fuel consump15 tion, and air pollution in the vicinity of schools. 

16 ‘‘(d) APPORTIONMENT OF FUNDS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

18 through (5), amounts made available to carry out 

19 this section for a fiscal year shall be apportioned 

20 among the States in the proportion that— 

21 ‘‘(A) the total student enrollment in kin22 dergarten through the twelfth grade in each 

23 State; bears to 


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1 ‘‘(B) the total student enrollment in kin2 dergarten through the twelfth grade in all 

3 States. 

4 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM APPORTIONMENT.—No State 

5 shall receive an apportionment under this section for 

6 a fiscal year in an amount that is less than the 

7 greater of— 

8 ‘‘(A) an amount equal to 0.5 percent of the 

9 amounts made available to carry out this sec10 tion for the fiscal year; or 

11 ‘‘(B) $1,000,000. 

12 ‘‘(3) STATE INCENTIVE MATCHING FUND.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara14 graph (B), before apportioning amounts made 

15 available to carry out this section for a fiscal 

16 year, the Secretary shall set aside not more 

17 than 5 percent of the amounts to provide addi18 tional funds to States that match Federal funds 

19 with additional State funds for the purposes of 

20 this section. 

21 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—With respect to 

22 additional funds set aside under subparagraph 

23 (A)— 

24 ‘‘(i) the additional amount provided to 

25 a State from those funds shall be directly 


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1 proportional to the amount of matching 

2 funds provided by the State; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) any funds remaining after addi4 tional amounts are provided to States shall 

5 be distributed among all States in accord6 ance with the formula described in para7 graph (1). 

8 ‘‘(4) SET-ASIDES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EX9 PENSES, RESEARCH, AND EVALUATION.—Before ap10 portioning amounts made available to carry out this 

11 section for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall set 

12 aside— 

13 ‘‘(A) not more than 1.5 percent of the 

14 amounts for use in paying the administrative 

15 expenses of the Secretary in carrying out this 

16 subsection; and 

17 ‘‘(B) not more than 1.5 percent of the 

18 amounts for use in carrying out research and 

19 evaluation activities under subsection (j). 

20 ‘‘(5) DETERMINATION OF STUDENT ENROLL21 MENTS.—Determinations under this subsection re22 lating to student enrollments and funds provided to 

23 States shall be made by the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts ap2 portioned to a State under this section shall be adminis3 tered by the department of transportation of the State. 

4 ‘‘(f) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—Amounts apportioned 

5 to a State under this section shall be used by the State 

6 to provide financial assistance to State, local, and regional 

7 agencies (including nonprofit organizations), Indian 

8 tribes, and tribal organizations that demonstrate an ability 

9 to meet the requirements of this section. 

10 ‘‘(g) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) INFRASTRUCTURE-RELATED PROJECTS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts apportioned 

13 to a State under this section may be used for 

14 the planning, design, and construction of infra15 structure-related projects that will substantially 

16 improve the ability of students to walk, bicycle, 

17 or use other nonmotorized modes of transpor18 tation to school, including sidewalk improve19 ments, traffic-calming and speed reduction im20 provements, pedestrian and bicycle crossing im21 provements, on-street bicycle facilities, off-street 

22 bicycle and pedestrian facilities, secure bicycle 

23 parking facilities, and traffic diversion improve24 ments in the vicinity of schools. 


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1 ‘‘(B) LOCATION OF PROJECTS.—Infra2 structure-related projects under subparagraph 

3 (A) may be carried out on any public road or 

4 any bicycle or pedestrian pathway or trail in the 

5 vicinity of a school. 

6 ‘‘(C) SAFE ROUTES TO BUS STOPS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) USE OF FUNDS.—Each State 

8 may use up to 10 percent of amounts ap9 portioned to the State and used for infra10 structure purposes under this section to 

11 assist eligible recipients in making infra12 structure improvements that create safe 

13 routes to bus stops that are located outside 

14 of the vicinity of schools, as determined by 

15 the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION OF STRUCTURES.— 

17 Bus stop structures may not be con18 structed using amounts apportioned to a 

19 State under this section. 

20 ‘‘(2) NONINFRASTRUCTURE-RELATED ACTIVI21 TIES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara23 graph (C), in addition to projects described in 

24 paragraph (1), amounts apportioned to a State 

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1 structure-related activities to encourage walk2 ing, bicycling, and other nonmotorized forms of 

3 transportation to school, including for— 

4 ‘‘(i) public awareness campaigns and 

5 outreach to press and community leaders; 

6 ‘‘(ii) traffic education for children at a 

7 school, regardless of whether the children 

8 live in the vicinity of the school; 

9 ‘‘(iii) traffic enforcement in the vicin10 ity of schools; 

11 ‘‘(iv) student sessions on bicycle and 

12 pedestrian safety, health, and environment; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(v) funding for training, volunteers, 

15 and managers of safe routes to school pro16 grams. 

17 ‘‘(B) MANAGEMENT.—The use of funds to 

18 pay managers of local safe routes to school pro19 grams shall be an allowable use of funding, and 

20 shall not be considered a prohibited, reoccurring 

21 cost. 

22 ‘‘(C) MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE AMOUNT.— 

23 Not less than 10 percent nor more than 30 per24 cent of the amount apportioned to a State 

25 under this section for a fiscal year shall be used 


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1 for noninfrastructure-related activities under 

2 this paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(3) PLANNING GRANTS.—Amounts appor4 tioned to a State under this section may be used to 

5 provide planning grants to assist eligible recipients 

6 in developing a comprehensive safe routes to school 

7 plan that encompasses infrastructure and noninfra8 structure activities. 

9 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBILITY OF HIGH SCHOOLS.—A 

10 project that proposes to serve a high school shall be 

11 eligible to be carried out using amounts apportioned 

12 to a State under this section only if a portion of the 

13 project would also serve or benefit an elementary or 

14 middle school, as determined by the department of 

15 transportation of the State. 

16 ‘‘(5) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State that re18 ceives an apportionment under this section 

19 shall, beginning with the first fiscal year after 

20 the initial distribution of funds under this sec21 tion, carry out an assessment of the economic 

22 and geographical distribution of funding during 

23 previous fiscal years in accordance with this 

24 paragraph to ensure that low-income schools 


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1 are adequately able to access funds available 

2 under this section. 

3 ‘‘(B) ANALYSIS.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

5 120 days after the date of enactment of 

6 this paragraph, and for every application 

7 cycle thereafter, each State shall conduct 

8 an analysis of, and submit to the Secretary 

9 a report that describes, for the application 

10 cycle covered by the report and for all pre11 ceding application cycles— 

12 ‘‘(I) the percentage of low-income 

13 schools within the State; 

14 ‘‘(II) the percentage of applica15 tions for funds under this section that 

16 are received from low-income schools; 

17 ‘‘(III) the number of distribu18 tions of funds made under this sec19 tion, expressed as a percentage of the 

20 total number of applications for those 

21 funds that were received; 

22 ‘‘(IV) the amount of funds pro23 vided under this section to low-income 

24 schools; and 


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1 ‘‘(V) the geographical distribu2 tion of the amounts provided under 

3 this section. 

4 ‘‘(ii) OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL AS5 SISTANCE.—If the analysis conducted 

6 under clause (i) reveals that the percentage 

7 of low-income schools in a State that are 

8 applying for or receiving funds under this 

9 section is less than the percentage of 

10 schools in the State comprised of low-in11 come schools, the department of transpor12 tation of the State shall implement out13 reach and technical assistance measures to 

14 increase participation in the program 

15 under this section by low-income schools. 

16 ‘‘(iii) MONITORING.—The Secretary 

17 shall— 

18 ‘‘(I) monitor the compliance of 

19 each State with this paragraph; 

20 ‘‘(II) monitor the progress of 

21 each State in increasing participation 

22 by low-income schools in the program 

23 under this section; and 

24 ‘‘(III) direct the clearinghouse 

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1 vide States best practices, technical 

2 assistance, and support in serving 

3 low-income schools. 

4 ‘‘(6) SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL COORDI5 NATOR.—Each State receiving an apportionment 

6 under this section for a fiscal year shall use a suffi7 cient amount of the apportionment to fund a full8 time position of coordinator for the safe routes to 

9 school program of the State. 

10 ‘‘(h) CLEARINGHOUSE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

12 grants to a national nonprofit organization engaged 

13 in promoting safe routes to schools— 

14 ‘‘(A) to operate a national safe routes to 

15 school clearinghouse; 

16 ‘‘(B) to develop information and edu17 cational programs on safe routes to school; and 

18 ‘‘(C) to provide technical assistance and 

19 disseminate techniques and strategies used for 

20 successful safe routes to school programs, in21 cluding for inclusion of children with disabil22 ities. 

23 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall carry out 

24 this subsection using amounts set aside for adminis25 trative expenses under subsection (d)(4)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(i) TREATMENT OF PROJECTS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) NONINFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.—A non3 infrastructure project, a planning project that does 

4 not involve or lead directly to construction, or the 

5 placement of equipment, such as a mobile speed 

6 trailer that does not require any construction, shall 

7 not be considered to be a project on a Federal-aid 

8 system for the purposes of this chapter. 

9 ‘‘(2) INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.—Not later 

10 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this sec11 tion, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations for 

12 Federal-aid construction projects under this section 

13 that encourage the use of the programmatic categor14 ical exclusion, expedited procurement techniques, 

15 and other best practices (without waiving section 

16 113) to facilitate productive and timely expenditure 

17 of funds for projects that are small, low-impact, and 

18 constructed within an existing built environment. 

19 ‘‘(3) STATE PROCESSES.—The Secretary shall 

20 work with State departments of transportation to 

21 ensure that the regulations promulgated pursuant to 

22 paragraph (2) are implemented consistently by 

23 States and staff of the Federal Highway Adminis24 tration to avoid unnecessary delays in implementing 

25 projects and ensuring effective use of Federal funds. 


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1 ‘‘(j) RESEARCH AND EVALUATION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

3 and implement a comprehensive evaluation plan that 

4 includes— 

5 ‘‘(A) collaboration with the Centers for 

6 Disease Control and Prevention, the Environ7 mental Protection Agency, and the Department 

8 of Education to develop measures of the effec9 tiveness of safe routes to school with respect to 

10 health, safety, the environment, student aca11 demics, and student behavior; 

12 ‘‘(B) mandatory collection of standardized 

13 evaluation data on those measures for any 

14 project funded under this section; 

15 ‘‘(C) evaluation of data to determine the 

16 impact of safe routes to school on all purposes 

17 of the program, areas for improvement, and 

18 proven best practices at the national, State, and 

19 local levels; and 

20 ‘‘(D) the issuance not less than annually of 

21 updated best practices on State and local imple22 mentation. 

23 ‘‘(2) RESEARCH.—The Secretary shall des24 ignate independent research organizations or au25 thorities to conduct research and issue reports for 


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1 wide dissemination that benefit the safe routes to 

2 school program, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) robust, reliable, consistent, and fre4 quent measures of the use and safety of non5 motorized modes of transportation, including 

6 walking and bicycling for school-related travel; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(B) such additional research as the Sec9 retary determines will advance the safe routes 

10 to school program. 

11 ‘‘(k) FUNDING.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graphs (2) and (3), funds made available to carry 

14 out this section shall be available for obligation in 

15 the same manner as if the funds were apportioned 

16 under chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, ex17 cept to the extent that the Secretary determines that 

18 any requirement of that title (other than section 113 

19 of that title) is not consistent with the objectives of 

20 this section. 

21 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Funds made available to 

22 carry out this section— 

23 ‘‘(A) shall not be transferable; 


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1 ‘‘(B) shall remain available for obligation 

2 for a period of 3 years beginning on the date 

3 on which the funds are made available; and 

4 ‘‘(C) if allowed by a State to expire, shall 

5 be redistributed by the Secretary among States 

6 that obligated funds made available to the 

7 States during the 2-year period beginning on 

8 the date on which the funds were made avail9 able to the States. 

10 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of 

12 the cost of a project or activity carried out with 

13 funds made available under this section shall be 

14 100 percent. 

15 ‘‘(B) OTHER FUNDS.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A State or other 

17 eligible recipient of funds under this sec18 tion may elect to contribute other funds to 

19 a safe routes to school project. 

20 ‘‘(ii) LOW-INCOME SCHOOLS AND

21 HIGHER-RISK AREAS.—If a State elects to 

22 consider supplemental funds as part of the 

23 application of an eligible recipient for a 

24 grant from funds made available under 

25 this section, the State shall ensure that 


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1 low-income schools and schools in areas 

2 with higher risks of death and injury to 

3 child pedestrians and cyclists are not at a 

4 competitive disadvantage in the selection 

5 process.’’. 

Æ 


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