II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1761 

To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to contract with an independent 

engineer to review the construction methods of certain Federal highway 

projects, to require States to submit a project management plan for 

each highway project financed with Federal funds, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 10, 2007 

Mr. KERRY (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to contract 

with an independent engineer to review the construction 

methods of certain Federal highway projects, to require 

States to submit a project management plan for each 

highway project financed with Federal funds, 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 ‘‘Safety and Account5 ability in Construction Act’’. 


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•S 1761 IS

1 SEC. 2. HIGHWAY SAFETY. 

2 (a) SUBMISSION OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

3 PLANS.—Section 106(a)(1) of title 23, United States 

4 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘such’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

5 project management plan and such other’’. 

6 (b) INDEPENDENT SAFETY REVIEWS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 4 of title 23, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘§ 413. Independent safety reviews 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the 

12 Secretary of Transportation (or the Secretary’s designee) 

13 is authorized to contract with a qualified independent en14 gineer to objectively analyze the planning, design, con15 struction methods, and materials used to construct any 

16 highway project financed with Federal funds if the Sec17 retary (or the Secretary’s designee) determines that— 

18 ‘‘(1) the project may endanger public safety; 

19 ‘‘(2) the planning, design, or construction of the 

20 project differs from the State’s existing Project 

21 Management Plan; 

22 ‘‘(3) the project is experiencing significant cost 

23 overruns; or 

24 ‘‘(4) there is a reasonable basis for requiring a 

25 safety review of the project by an independent engi26 neer. 


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•S 1761 IS

1 ‘‘(b) SELECTION OF INDEPENDENT ENGINEER.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary makes a 

3 determination under subsection (a), the Secretary 

4 shall select and hire an engineer to conduct the anal5 ysis described in subsection (a). 

6 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The engineer selected 

7 under this subsection— 

8 ‘‘(A) shall be a registered professional en9 gineer with a background in the appropriate en10 gineering discipline; 

11 ‘‘(B) shall have significant knowledge and 

12 experience in highway projects; and 

13 ‘‘(C) may not have any prior association 

14 with the project to be reviewed or any affiliation 

15 with any project participant. 

16 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—If an en17 gineer is selected under this section, the Secretary 

18 shall notify— 

19 ‘‘(A) the members of Congress of the dis20 tricts in which the project being reviewed is lo21 cated; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Commerce, 

23 Science, and Transportation of the Senate; 

24 ‘‘(C) the Committee on Environment and 

25 Public Works of the Senate; and 


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•S 1761 IS

1 ‘‘(D) the Committee on Transportation 

2 and Infrastructure of the House of Representa3 tives. 

4 ‘‘(c) ACCESS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The transportation depart6 ment of each State in which a highway project is 

7 being reviewed by an independent engineer selected 

8 under subsection (b), and any contractors involved 

9 in the project, shall provide the engineer with rea10 sonable access to the plans, records, and construc11 tion sites of the project. 

12 ‘‘(2) CONTRACT PROVISIONS.—Beginning on 

13 the date of the enactment of this section, each con14 tract relating to a highway project receiving Federal 

15 financial assistance shall explicitly— 

16 ‘‘(A) authorize the Secretary of Transpor17 tation to conduct a safety review in accordance 

18 with this section; and 

19 ‘‘(B) require the parties to comply with 

20 paragraph (1). 

21 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ANALYSIS FINDINGS.—At the conclusion of 

23 the analysis described in subsection (a), the inde24 pendent engineer shall submit a report containing 

25 the findings of such analysis to— 


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•S 1761 IS

1 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of Transportation; 

2 ‘‘(B) the Inspector General of the Depart3 ment of Transportation; 

4 ‘‘(C) the Administrator of the Federal 

5 Highway Administration; and 

6 ‘‘(D) the transportation department of the 

7 State in which the project is located. 

8 ‘‘(2) INTERNAL REVIEW.—The Inspector Gen9 eral of the Department of Transportation shall en10 sure compliance with the requirements under this 

11 section and shall submit a report describing such 

12 compliance to— 

13 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of Transportation; 

14 ‘‘(B) the Administrator of the Federal 

15 Highway Administration; and 

16 ‘‘(C) the appropriate congressional com17 mittees. 

18 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for each 

20 fiscal year to carry out this section.’’. 

21 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec22 tions in chapter 4 of title 23, United States Code, 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘413. Independent safety reviews.’’. 


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•S 1761 IS

1 SEC. 3. TUNNEL INSPECTIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 151 of title 23, United 

3 States Code, is amended— 

4 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘and 

5 tunnel’’ after ‘‘bridge’’; 

6 (2) in subsections (a) and (c), by inserting 

7 ‘‘AND TUNNEL’’ after ‘‘BRIDGE’’ each place it ap8 pears in the subsection headings; 

9 (3) by inserting ‘‘and tunnel’’ after ‘‘bridge’’ 

10 each place it appears; 

11 (4) by inserting ‘‘and tunnels’’ after ‘‘bridges’’ 

12 each place it appears; and 

13 (5) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘section 

14 104(a), section 502, and section 144 of this title.’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘sections 104(a), 144, and 502 for the 

16 bridge inspection program and sections 104(a) and 

17 502 for the tunnel inspection program.’’. 

18 (b) SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM.—Section 

19 133(b)(1) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by 

20 inserting ‘‘, tunnels (including safety inspections),’’ after 

21 ‘‘highways)’’. 

Æ 


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