II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 913 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a university transportation center to be known as the ‘‘Southwest Bridge Research Center’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 27, 2005 

Mr. DOMENICI (for himself and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the following bill; 

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

Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a university transportation center to be known as the ‘‘Southwest 

Bridge Research Center’’. 

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 ‘‘Southwest Bridge Re5 search Center Establishment Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BRIDGE RESEARCH CENTER. 

7 Section 5505 of title 49, United States Code, is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(k) SOUTHWEST BRIDGE RESEARCH CENTER.— 
2 

•S 913 IS

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the univer2 sity transportation centers receiving grants under 

3 subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary shall provide 

4 grants to New Mexico State University, in collabora5 tion with the Oklahoma Transportation Center, to 

6 establish and operate a university transportation 

7 center to be known as the ‘Southwest Bridge Re8 search Center’ (referred to in this subsection as the 

9 ‘Center’). 

10 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Center 

11 shall be to contribute at a national level to a systems 

12 approach to improving the overall performance of 

13 bridges, with an emphasis on— 

14 ‘‘(A) increasing the number of highly 

15 skilled individuals entering the field of transpor16 tation; 

17 ‘‘(B) improving the monitoring of struc18 tural health over the life of bridges; 

19 ‘‘(C) developing innovative technologies for 

20 bridge testing and assessment; 

21 ‘‘(D) developing technologies and proce22 dures for ensuring bridge safety, reliability, and 

23 security; and 

24 ‘‘(E) providing training in the methods for 

25 bridge inspection and evaluation. 
3 

•S 913 IS

1 ‘‘(3) OBJECTIVES.—The Center shall carry 

2 out— 

3 ‘‘(A) basic and applied research, the prod4 ucts of which shall be judged by peers or other 

5 experts in the field to advance the body of 

6 knowledge in transportation; 

7 ‘‘(B) an education program that includes 

8 multidisciplinary course work and participation 

9 in research; and 

10 ‘‘(C) an ongoing program of technology 

11 transfer that makes research results available 

12 to potential users in a form that can be imple13 mented. 

14 ‘‘(4) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—To be eligi15 ble to receive a grant under this subsection, the in16 stitution specified in paragraph (1) shall enter into 

17 an agreement with the Secretary to ensure that, for 

18 each fiscal year after establishment of the Center, 

19 the institution will fund research activities relating 

20 to transportation in an amount that is at least equal 

21 to the average annual amount of funds expended for 

22 the activities for the 2 fiscal years preceding the fis23 cal year in which the grant is received. 

24 ‘‘(5) COST SHARING.— 
4 

•S 913 IS

1 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal 

2 share of the cost of any activity carried out 

3 using funds from a grant provided under this 

4 subsection shall be 50 percent. 

5 ‘‘(B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non6 Federal share of the cost of any activity carried 

7 out using funds from a grant provided under 

8 this subsection may include funds provided to 

9 the recipient under any of sections 503, 504(b), 

10 and 505 of title 23. 

11 ‘‘(C) ONGOING PROGRAMS.—After estab12 lishment of the Center, the institution specified 

13 in paragraph (1) shall obligate for each fiscal 

14 year not less than $200,000 in regularly budg15 eted institutional funds to support ongoing 

16 transportation research and education pro17 grams. 

18 ‘‘(6) PROGRAM COORDINATION.— 

19 ‘‘(A) COORDINATION.—The Secretary 

20 shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) coordinate the research, edu22 cation, training, and technology transfer 

23 activities carried out by the Center; 

24 ‘‘(ii) disseminate the results of that 

25 research; and 
5 

•S 913 IS

1 ‘‘(iii) establish and operate a clearing2 house for information derived from that re3 search. 

4 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL REVIEW AND EVALUA5 TION.—At least annually, and in accordance 

6 with the plan developed under section 508 of 

7 title 23, the Secretary shall review and evaluate 

8 each program carried out by the Center using 

9 funds from a grant provided under this sub10 section. 

11 ‘‘(7) LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF

12 FUNDS.—Funds made available to carry out this 

13 subsection shall remain available for obligation for a 

14 period of 2 years after the last day of the fiscal year 

15 for which the funds are authorized. 

16 ‘‘(8) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—For each of fiscal 

17 years 2005 through 2010, the Secretary shall pro18 vide a grant in the amount of $3,000,000 to the in19 stitution specified in paragraph (1) to carry out this 

20 subsection. 

21 ‘‘(9) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 There is authorized to be appropriated from the 

23 Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit 
6 

•S 913 IS

1 Account) to carry out this subsection $3,000,000 for 

2 each of fiscal years 2005 through 2010.’’. 

Æ