I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5161 

To provide for the establishment of Green Transportation Infrastructure 

Research and Technology Transfer Centers, and for other purpose. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2008 

Mr. WU introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee 

on Science and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of Green Transportation 

Infrastructure Research and Technology Transfer Centers, and for other purpose. 

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 ‘‘Green Transportation 

5 Infrastructure Research and Technology Transfer Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Transportation infrastructure contributes to 

2 the pollution of surface and ground water because it 

3 is comprised of impervious surfaces that concentrate 

4 contaminants which are introduced into the water 

5 supply during storms. 

6 (2) Scientists and engineers have developed nu7 merous technologies that can be incorporated into 

8 transportation infrastructure which control 

9 stormwater and mitigate nonpoint source water pol10 lution. 

11 (3) There has not been widespread implementa12 tion of green transportation infrastructure by gov13 ernments or private industry because of technical, 

14 regulatory, and social barriers, such as lack of train15 ing and awareness for builders. 

16 (4) The Federal Highway Administration, in 

17 partnership with the Environmental Protection 

18 Agency, has the technical expertise and capacity to 

19 promote the use of green transportation infrastruc20 ture technologies by State and local governments 

21 and private industry through education and outreach 

22 and technical assistance programs. 


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1 SEC. 3. REGIONAL GREEN TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH 

2 CENTERS. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subchapter I of chapter 55 of 

4 title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

5 section 5505 following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 5505A. REGIONAL GREEN TRANSPORTATION RE7 SEARCH CENTERS. 

8 ‘‘(a) GREEN TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE

9 RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.—The Sec10 retary of Transportation shall make grants to nonprofit 

11 institutions of higher learning or consortia thereof to es12 tablish and operate university transportation centers to 

13 carry out research and development and technology trans14 fer activities in the field of green transportation infra15 structure. 

16 ‘‘(b) OBJECTIVES.—The purpose of Centers estab17 lished pursuant to this section shall be to— 

18 ‘‘(1) generate innovative and cost-effective ap19 proaches to mitigating environmental impacts 

20 throughout the lifecycle of transportation infrastruc21 ture; 

22 ‘‘(2) develop holistic approaches to integrating 

23 green infrastructure into existing wastewater man24 agement systems; 


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1 ‘‘(3) promote adoption of innovative green 

2 transportation infrastructure systems by State and 

3 local governments and the private sector; and 

4 ‘‘(4) manage technology transfer programs to 

5 disseminate information on best management prac6 tices in the area of green transportation infrastruc7 ture to State and local governments and the private 

8 sector. 

9 ‘‘(c) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS.—In order to be eligible to 

11 receive a grant under this section, a nonprofit insti12 tution of higher learning or consortia thereof shall 

13 submit to the Secretary an application that is in 

14 such form and contains such information as the Sec15 retary may require. 

16 ‘‘(2) MERIT REVIEW; PRIORITY.—Grants shall 

17 be awarded under this section on a merit-reviewed 

18 competitive basis. 

19 ‘‘(3) REGIONAL CENTERS.—To the greatest ex20 tent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that 

21 there is at least one grant recipient from each of the 

22 10 United States Government regions that comprise 

23 the Standard Federal Regional Boundary System. 

24 ‘‘(4) SELECTION CRITERIA.—Except as other25 wise provided by this section, the Secretary shall seVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:02 Jan 30, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5161.IH H5161

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1 lect each recipient of a grant under this section 

2 through a merit-reviewed competitive process on the 

3 basis of the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) Demonstrated expertise in transpor5 tation research and environmental impacts of 

6 transportation infrastructure. 

7 ‘‘(B) Demonstrated research capacity and 

8 technology transfer resources. 

9 ‘‘(C) Existing or proposed partnerships 

10 with State and local governments and private 

11 industry involved in transportation-related con12 struction, environmental impact mitigation, or 

13 other areas related to green transportation in14 frastructure research. 

15 ‘‘(D) Capability to provide leadership in 

16 developing national best management practices, 

17 regional best management practices, or both in 

18 the field of green transportation infrastructure. 

19 ‘‘(E) Expertise in specific regional climate 

20 characteristics which impact the effectiveness of 

21 green transportation infrastructure technologies 

22 and practices. 

23 ‘‘(F) Demonstrated ability to disseminate 

24 results of research and education programs 


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1 through a statewide or regionwide continuing 

2 education program. 

3 ‘‘(G) The strategic plan the recipient pro4 poses to carry out under the grant. 

5 ‘‘(d) ACTIVITIES.—The types of activities the Sec6 retary may support under this section include the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(1) Research and development of innovative 

9 technologies, construction techniques, or best man10 agement processes that mitigate the environmental 

11 impact of transportation infrastructure, including— 

12 ‘‘(A) assessments of the lifecycle environ13 mental impact of local existing or planned 

14 transportation infrastructure; 

15 ‘‘(B) integration of green transportation 

16 infrastructure elements into existing transpor17 tation or waste management systems; and 

18 ‘‘(C) research, development, testing, and 

19 evaluation of new technologies or best manage20 ment practices. 

21 ‘‘(2) Establishment and operation of a regional 

22 technology transfer program to disseminate informa23 tion on new technologies and best management prac24 tices to State and local governments, institutions of 

25 higher learning, and private industry in the region. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Study of the impact of State, local, and 

2 Federal regulations on the implementation of green 

3 transportation infrastructure technologies and prac4 tices. These studies shall include collaboration with 

5 appropriate Federal agencies to evaluate the effect 

6 of and possible changes to Federal and State regula7 tions that impede implementation of green transpor8 tation infrastructure. 

9 ‘‘(4) Public education campaigns to raise 

10 awareness of the benefits of green transportation in11 frastructure technologies, including activities to raise 

12 awareness and foster collaboration among regional 

13 governments, private industry, and other public and 

14 private stakeholders. 

15 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL MEETING.—The Secretary shall con16 vene an annual meeting of the Centers established pursu17 ant to this section in order to foster collaboration and 

18 communication among Center participants and dissemi19 nate best management practices. 

20 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

22 sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

23 ‘‘(g) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘green 

24 transportation infrastructure’ includes infrastructure 

25 that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) preserves and restores natural processes, 

2 landforms (such as floodplains), natural vegetated 

3 stream side buffers, wetlands, or other topographical 

4 features that can slow, filter, and naturally store 

5 stormwater runoff and floodwaters for future water 

6 supply and recharge of natural aquifers; 

7 ‘‘(2) utilizes natural design techniques that in8 filtrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain water 

9 close to its source; 

10 ‘‘(3) minimizes the use of impervious surfaces 

11 in order to slow or infiltrate precipitation; 

12 ‘‘(4) minimizes lifecycle energy consumption, in13 cluding during construction, maintenance, use by ve14 hicles, and destruction and recycling; and 

15 ‘‘(5) minimizes lifecycle air pollution.’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec17 tions for such subchapter is amended by inserting after 

18 the item relating to section 5505 the following new item: 

‘‘5505A. Regional Green Transportation Research Centers.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. GREEN TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE 

20 AMENDMENTS. 

21 Section 504 of title 23, United States Code, is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (a)(3)— 

24 (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

2 subclause (V); 

3 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

4 of subclause (VI); and 

5 (iii) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new subclause: 

7 ‘‘(VII) the use of green transpor8 tation infrastructure (as defined in 

9 section 5505A(g) of title 49) for envi10 ronmental protection and mitigating 

11 environmental impacts of transpor12 tation construction.’’; and 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

14 subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(D) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The 

16 Institute shall coordinate the development of 

17 curriculum and courses with other Federal 

18 agencies with expertise in the course subject 

19 areas.’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (b)(2)(A)(i) by striking ‘‘and 

21 traffic safety countermeasures’’ and inserting ‘‘traf22 fic safety countermeasures, and options with respect 

23 to green transportation infrastructure (as defined in 

24 section 5505A(g) of title 49)’’. 

Æ 


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