II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1156 

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 

MAY 21, 2009 

Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. BURR, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MERKLEY, and Ms. 

COLLINS) 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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

8 1155) is amended by striking paragraph (17) and insert9 ing the following: 


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

2 For the safe routes to school program under section 

3 1404 of this Act, $600,000,000 for each of fiscal 

4 years 2010 through 2014.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL PROGRAM. 

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

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

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

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF VICINITY.—In this section, the 

10 term ‘vicinity’ means, with respect to a school, the area 

11 within bicycling and walking distance of the school (ap12 proximately 2 miles). 

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

14 Secretary shall establish and carry out a safe routes to 

15 school program for the benefit of children in kindergarten 

16 through the twelfth grade, with a preference for primary 

17 and middle schools. 

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

19 be— 

20 ‘‘(1) to enable and encourage children, includ21 ing those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to 

22 school; 

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

24 safer and more appealing transportation alternative, 


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1 thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle 

2 from an early age and throughout adolescence; and 

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

4 and implementation of projects and activities that 

5 will improve safety and reduce traffic, fuel consump6 tion, and air pollution in the vicinity of schools. 

7 ‘‘(d) APPORTIONMENT OF FUNDS.— 

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

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

10 this section for a fiscal year shall be apportioned 

11 among the States in the proportion that— 

12 ‘‘(A) the total student enrollment in kin13 dergarten through the twelfth grade in each 

14 State; bears to 

15 ‘‘(B) the total student enrollment in kin16 dergarten through the twelfth grade in all 

17 States. 

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

19 shall receive an apportionment under this section for 

20 a fiscal year in an amount less than an amount 

21 equal to 0.5 percent of the amounts made available 

22 to carry out this section for the fiscal year. 

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

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara25 graph (B), before apportioning amounts made 


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1 available to carry out this section for a fiscal 

2 year, the Secretary shall set aside not more 

3 than 10 percent of the amounts to provide addi4 tional funds to States that match Federal funds 

5 with additional State funds for the purposes of 

6 this section. 

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

8 additional funds set aside under subparagraph 

9 (A)— 

10 ‘‘(i) the additional amount provided to 

11 a State from those funds shall be directly 

12 proportional to the amount of matching 

13 funds provided by the State; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) any funds remaining after addi15 tional amounts are provided to States shall 

16 be distributed among all States in accord17 ance with the formula described in para18 graph (1). 

19 ‘‘(4) SET-ASIDES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EX20 PENSES, RESEARCH, AND EVALUATION.—Before ap21 portioning amounts made available to carry out this 

22 section for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall set 

23 aside— 

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

25 amounts for use in paying the administrative 


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1 expenses of the Secretary in carrying out this 

2 subsection; and 

3 ‘‘(B) not less than 1.5 nor more than 2.5 

4 percent of the amounts for use in carrying out 

5 research and evaluation activities under sub6 section (k). 

7 ‘‘(5) DETERMINATION OF STUDENT ENROLL8 MENTS.—Determinations under this subsection re9 lating to student enrollments and funds provided to 

10 States shall be made by the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts ap12 portioned to a State under this section shall be adminis13 tered by the department of transportation of the State. 

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

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

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

17 agencies (including nonprofit organizations), Indian 

18 tribes, and tribal organizations that demonstrate an ability 

19 to meet the requirements of this section. 

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

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

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

23 to a State under this section may be used for 

24 the planning, design, and construction of infra25 structure-related projects that will substantially 


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1 improve the ability of students to walk, bicycle, 

2 or use other nonmotorized modes of transpor3 tation to school, including sidewalk improve4 ments, traffic-calming and speed reduction im5 provements, pedestrian and bicycle crossing im6 provements, on-street bicycle facilities, off-street 

7 bicycle and pedestrian facilities, secure bicycle 

8 parking facilities, and traffic diversion improve9 ments in the vicinity of schools. 

10 ‘‘(B) LOCATION OF PROJECTS.—Infra11 structure-related projects under subparagraph 

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

13 any bicycle or pedestrian pathway or trail in the 

14 vicinity of a school. 

15 ‘‘(C) SAFE ROUTES TO BUS STOPS.— 

16 ‘‘(i) USE OF FUNDS.—Each State 

17 may use up to 10 percent of amounts ap18 portioned to the State and used for infra19 structure purposes under this section to 

20 assist eligible recipients in making infra21 structure improvements that create safe 

22 routes to bus stops that are located outside 

23 of the vicinity of schools, as determined by 

24 the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION OF STRUCTURES.— 

2 Bus stop structures may not be con3 structed using amounts apportioned to a 

4 State under this section. 

5 ‘‘(2) NONINFRASTRUCTURE-RELATED ACTIVI6 TIES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara8 graph (C), in addition to projects described in 

9 paragraph (1), amounts apportioned to a State 

10 under this section may be used for noninfra11 structure-related activities to encourage walk12 ing, bicycling, and other nonmotorized forms of 

13 transportation to school, including for— 

14 ‘‘(i) public awareness campaigns and 

15 outreach to press and community leaders; 

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

17 school, regardless of whether the children 

18 live in the vicinity of the school; 

19 ‘‘(iii) traffic enforcement in the vicin20 ity of schools; 

21 ‘‘(iv) student sessions on bicycle and 

22 pedestrian safety, health, and environment; 

23 and 


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

2 and managers of safe routes to school pro3 grams. 

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

5 pay managers of local safe routes to school pro6 grams shall be an allowable use of funding, and 

7 shall not be considered a prohibited, reoccurring 

8 cost. 

9 ‘‘(C) MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE AMOUNT.— 

10 Not less than 10 percent nor more than 30 per11 cent of the amount apportioned to a State 

12 under this section for a fiscal year shall be used 

13 for noninfrastructure-related activities under 

14 this paragraph. 

15 ‘‘(3) PLANNING GRANTS.—Amounts appor16 tioned to a State under this section may be used to 

17 provide planning grants to assist eligible recipients 

18 in developing a comprehensive safe routes to school 

19 plan that encompasses infrastructure and noninfra20 structure activities. 

21 ‘‘(4) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—Each State 

22 receiving an apportionment under this section shall 

23 ensure that funds to be used for infrastructure and 

24 noninfrastructure purposes are distributed in such a 

25 way that a fair balance of funding is provided to all 


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1 types of communities, including low-income commu2 nities and urban, rural, and suburban school dis3 tricts. 

4 ‘‘(5) 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 ‘‘(6) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Each State re11 ceiving an apportionment under this section shall 

12 form a multidisciplinary State advisory committee 

13 that includes relevant State agencies and other 

14 stakeholders (including nonprofit organizations, cit15 ies, and schools)— 

16 ‘‘(A) to provide guidance on program 

17 structure; 

18 ‘‘(B) to review applications for funding; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(C) to provide biennial progress reports 

21 on the implementation of safe routes to school 

22 program of the State. 

23 ‘‘(h) CLEARINGHOUSE.— 


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

2 grants to a national nonprofit organization engaged 

3 in promoting safe routes to schools— 

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

5 school clearinghouse; 

6 ‘‘(B) to develop information and edu7 cational programs on safe routes to school; 

8 ‘‘(C) to provide technical assistance and 

9 disseminate techniques and strategies used for 

10 successful safe routes to school programs, in11 cluding for inclusion of children with disabil12 ities; 

13 ‘‘(D) to carry out a national awareness 

14 and promotion campaign on the benefits of 

15 walking and bicycling to school and driver safe16 ty in the vicinity of schools; 

17 ‘‘(E) to maintain a national database of all 

18 projects assisted under this subsection; and 

19 ‘‘(F) to collect data relating to the pur20 poses of this program, including information on 

21 the prevalence of inclusion of children with dis22 abilities. 

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) TASK FORCE.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab3 lish a permanent, national safe routes to school task 

4 force composed of individuals who are leaders in 

5 health, transportation, and education (including rep6 resentatives of appropriate Federal agencies and 

7 nonprofit organizations), to assess and make rec8 ommendations on the implementation and evaluation 

9 of the safe routes to school program. 

10 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—Not later than 30 months 

11 after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and 

12 not later than 90 days before the end of the final 

13 fiscal year for which funds are authorized to be ap14 propriated to carry out this section, respectively, the 

15 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that in16 cludes— 

17 ‘‘(A) a description of the status of imple18 mentation of the safe routes to school program; 

19 ‘‘(B) recommendations on strategies for 

20 successful implementation of that program; and 

21 ‘‘(C) guidance on evaluation strategies for 

22 that program. 

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

24 this subsection using amounts set aside for research 

25 and evaluation activities under subsection (d)(4)(B). 


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1 ‘‘(j) TREATMENT OF PROJECTS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) NONINFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.—A non3 infrastructure project and an infrastructure project 

4 that does not involve or lead directly to construction 

5 for which assistance is provided under this section 

6 shall not be considered to be a project on a Federal7 aid system for purposes of chapter 1 of title 23, 

8 United States Code. 

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 to facilitate productive and 

16 timely expenditure of funds for projects that are 

17 small, low-impact, and constructed within an exist18 ing 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 ‘‘(k) 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 ‘‘(B) a school travel safety index capable of 

8 measuring both the mode share and crash his9 tory for school-related travel at the national, 

10 State, and local levels; and 

11 ‘‘(C) such additional research as the Sec12 retary determines will advance the safe routes 

13 to school program. 

14 ‘‘(3) SCHOOL SITING.—The Secretary shall as15 semble a working group composed of representatives 

16 of the Department of Transportation, the Depart17 ment of Health and Human Services, the Depart18 ment of Education, the Centers for Disease Control 

19 and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agen20 cy, States, and stakeholder groups (including non21 profit organizations and schools)— 

22 ‘‘(A) to examine the complex issue of 

23 school siting (including the impact of school 

24 siting on levels of walking and bicycling to 

25 school); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) to develop and annually update rec2 ommendations, strategies, and best practices to 

3 assist States and local governments in making 

4 decisions about siting schools. 

5 ‘‘(l) FUNDING.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graphs (2) and (3), funds made available to carry 

8 out this section shall be available for obligation in 

9 the same manner as if the funds were apportioned 

10 under chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, ex11 cept to the extent that the Secretary determines that 

12 any requirement of that title (other than section 113 

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

14 this section. 

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

16 carry out this section— 

17 ‘‘(A) shall not be transferable; 

18 ‘‘(B) shall remain available for obligation 

19 for a period of 3 years beginning on the date 

20 on which the funds are made available; and 

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

22 be redistributed by the Secretary among States 

23 that obligated funds made available to the 

24 States during the 2-year period beginning on 


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1 the date on which the funds were made avail2 able to the States. 

3 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

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

5 the cost of a project or activity carried out with 

6 funds made available under this section shall be 

7 100 percent. 

8 ‘‘(B) OTHER FUNDS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A State or other 

10 eligible recipient of funds under this sec11 tion may elect to contribute other funds to 

12 a safe routes to school project. 

13 ‘‘(ii) DISADVANTAGED SCHOOLS AND

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

15 consider supplemental funds as part of the 

16 application of an eligible recipient for a 

17 grant from funds made available under 

18 this section, the State shall ensure that 

19 disadvantaged schools and schools in areas 

20 with higher risks of death and injury to 

21 child pedestrians and cyclists are not at a 

22 competitive disadvantage in the selection 

23 process.’’. 

Æ 


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