II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1707 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to assist States to rehabilitate 

or replace certain bridges, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2019 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. KING, and 

Mr. CASEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to assist States 

to rehabilitate or replace certain bridges, and for other 

purposes. 

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 ‘‘Strengthen And For5 tify Existing Bridges Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘SAFE Bridges 

6 Act of 2019’’. 

7 SEC. 2. STRENGTHEN AND FORTIFY EXISTING BRIDGES. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) BRIDGE.—The term ‘‘bridge’’ means a 

2 highway bridge on a public road, whether on or off 

3 a Federal-aid highway. 

4 (2) ELIGIBLE BRIDGE.—The term ‘‘eligible 

5 bridge’’ means a bridge that is classified as in poor 

6 condition. 

7 (3) FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAY.—The term ‘‘Fed8 eral-aid highway’’ has the meaning given the term in 

9 section 101(a) of title 23, United States Code. 

10 (4) PUBLIC ROAD.—The term ‘‘public road’’ 

11 has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of 

12 title 23, United States Code. 

13 (5) REHABILITATION.—The term ‘‘rehabilita14 tion’’ means, with respect to a bridge, the carrying 

15 out of major work necessary, as determined by the 

16 Secretary— 

17 (A) to restore or increase the structural ca18 pacity of the bridge; or 

19 (B) to correct a major safety defect of the 

20 bridge. 

21 (6) REPLACEMENT.—The term ‘‘replacement’’ 

22 means, with respect to a bridge, the construction of 

23 a new facility that, as determined by the Secretary, 

24 is in the same general traffic corridor as the re25 placed bridge. 


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1 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Transportation. 

3 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

4 (A) a State; 

5 (B) the District of Columbia; and 

6 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

7 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es9 tablish a program to assist States to rehabilitate or re10 place eligible bridges. 

11 (c) APPORTIONMENT OF FUNDS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts made available to 

13 carry out the program established under subsection 

14 (b) for a fiscal year shall be apportioned to each 

15 State according to the ratio that— 

16 (A) the total cost to rehabilitate or replace 

17 eligible bridges in that State; bears to 

18 (B) the total cost to rehabilitate or replace 

19 eligible bridges in all States. 

20 (2) CALCULATION OF TOTAL COST.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of the 

22 calculation under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

23 shall multiply the deck area of eligible bridges 

24 by the unit price on a State-by-State basis, as 

25 determined by the Secretary, to determine the 


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1 total cost to rehabilitate or replace eligible 

2 bridges in each State. 

3 (B) DATA USED IN MAKING DETERMINA4 TIONS.—The Secretary shall make determina5 tions under this subsection based on the latest 

6 available data, which shall be updated not less 

7 than annually. 

8 (C) USE OF EXISTING INVENTORIES.—To 

9 the extent practicable, the Secretary shall make 

10 determinations under this subsection using in11 ventories prepared under section 144 of title 

12 23, United States Code. 

13 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds apportioned to a State 

14 under the program established under subsection (b) 

15 shall— 

16 (1) be used by that State— 

17 (A) for the rehabilitation and replacement 

18 of 1 or more eligible bridges; or 

19 (B) to maintain the surface coating and 

20 corrosion protection system of 1 or more eligible 

21 bridges; 

22 (2) notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

23 be administered as if apportioned under chapter 1 of 

24 title 23, United States Code, except that the funds 

25 shall not be transferable; 


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1 (3) be subject to the requirements described in 

2 section 1101(b) of the FAST Act (23 U.S.C. 101 

3 note; 129 Stat. 1323) in the same manner as 

4 amounts made available for programs under titles I, 

5 II, and III of that Act; and 

6 (4) not be subject to any limitation on obliga7 tions for Federal-aid highways or highway safety 

8 construction programs set forth in any Act. 

9 (e) CONDITION AT PROJECT COMPLETION.—On com10 pletion of the rehabilitation or replacement, a bridge that 

11 is rehabilitated or replaced under the program established 

12 under subsection (b) may not be classified as in poor con13 dition. 

14 (f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 

15 of a project carried out with funds apportioned to a State 

16 under the program established under subsection (b) shall 

17 be 100 percent. 

18 (g) REAPPORTIONMENT OF UNOBLIGATED FUNDS.— 

19 Any funds apportioned to a State under the program es20 tablished under subsection (b) and not obligated by that 

21 State at the end of the third fiscal year beginning after 

22 the fiscal year during which the funds were apportioned 

23 shall be withdrawn from that State and reapportioned by 

24 the Secretary to States that have not had funds withdrawn 


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1 under this subsection in accordance with the formula 

2 under subsection (c). 

3 (h) NONSUBSTITUTION.—In carrying out the pro4 gram established under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 

5 ensure that funding made available to a State under the 

6 program supplements, and does not supplant— 

7 (1) other Federal funding made available for 

8 the rehabilitation or replacement of eligible bridges; 

9 and 

10 (2) the planned obligations of that State with 

11 respect to eligible bridges. 

12 (i) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter if 

14 States obligated funds apportioned under the program es15 tablished under subsection (b) during that year, the Sec16 retary shall submit to the Committee on Transportation 

17 and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 

18 the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

19 Senate a report that describes the amounts obligated by 

20 each State for projects under the program. 

21 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

22 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

23 out this section $2,750,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

24 2020 through 2025, to remain available until expended. 


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1 (k) NATIONAL BRIDGE AND TUNNEL INVEN2 TORIES.—Section 144(b)(5) of title 23, United States 

3 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘structurally deficient bridge 

4 identified under this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘bridge 

5 classified as in poor condition’’. 

Æ 


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