Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Highway 
Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. HIGHWAY BRIDGE PROGRAM. 
(a) BRIDGES ON FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS.— 
(1) RISK-BASED PRIORITIZATION FOR REPLACE-
MENT
AND
REHABILITATION
OF
DEFICIENT 
BRIDGES.—Section 144 of title 23, United States 
Code, is amended by striking subsections (b) and (c) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(b) BRIDGES ON FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS.—The 
Secretary, in consultation with the States, shall— 
‘‘(1) inventory all bridges on Federal-aid high-
ways that are bridges over waterways, other topo-
graphical barriers, other highways, and railroads; 
‘‘(2) identify each bridge inventoried under 
paragraph (1) that is structurally deficient or func-
tionally obsolete; 
‘‘(3) assign a risk-based priority for replace-
ment or rehabilitation of each such bridge after con-
sideration of safety, serviceability, and essentiality 
for public use and public safety, including the poten-
tial impacts to emergency evacuation routes and to
regional and national freight and passenger mobility 
if the serviceability of the bridge is restricted or di-
minished; and 
‘‘(4) determine the cost of replacing each such 
bridge with a comparable facility or of rehabilitating 
such bridge. 
‘‘(c) BRIDGES ON OTHER PUBLIC ROADS.— 
‘‘(1) INVENTORY OF BRIDGES.—The Secretary, 
in consultation with the States, shall— 
‘‘(A) inventory all those highway bridges 
on public roads, other than those on any Fed-
eral-aid highway, which are bridges over water-
ways, other topographical barriers, other high-
ways, and railroads; 
‘‘(B) identify each bridge inventoried under 
subparagraph (A) that is structurally deficient 
or functionally obsolete; 
‘‘(C) assign a risk-based priority for re-
placement or rehabilitation of each such bridge 
after consideration of safety, serviceability, and 
essentiality for public use and public safety, in-
cluding the potential impacts to emergency 
evacuation routes and to regional and national 
freight and passenger mobility if the service-
ability of the bridge is restricted or diminished; 
and 
‘‘(D) determine the cost of replacing each 
such bridge with a comparable facility or of re-
habilitating such bridge. 
‘‘(2) INVENTORY
OF
BRIDGES
FOR
HISTORIC 
SIGNIFICANCE.—The Secretary may, at the request 
of a State, inventory bridges, on and off Federal-aid 
highways, for historic significance. 
‘‘(3) INVENTORY OF INDIAN RESERVATION AND 
PARK BRIDGES.—As part of the activities carried out 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary, in consultation 
with the Secretary of the Interior, shall— 
‘‘(A) inventory all those highway bridges 
on Indian reservation roads and park roads 
which are bridges over waterways, other topo-
graphical barriers, other highways, and rail-
roads; 
‘‘(B) identify each bridge inventoried under 
subparagraph (A) that is structurally deficient 
or functionally obsolete; 
‘‘(C) assign a risk-based priority for re-
placement or rehabilitation of each such bridge 
after consideration of safety, serviceability, and 
essentiality for public use and public safety, in-
cluding the potential impacts to emergency 
evacuation routes and to regional and national 
freight and passenger mobility if the service-
ability of the bridge is restricted or diminished; 
and 
‘‘(D) determine the cost of replacing each 
such bridge with a comparable facility or of re-
habilitating such bridge.’’. 
(2) PROCESS FOR ASSIGNING RISK-BASED PRI-
ORITIES.— 
(A) DEADLINE
FOR
ESTABLISHMENT.— 
After modifying national bridge inspection 
standards in accordance with the amendments 
made by section 3 and not later than 18 
months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary, in consultation with the States, 
shall establish a process for assigning risk- 
based priorities under sections 144(b)(3), 
144(c)(1)(C), and 144(c)(3)(C) of title 23, 
United States Code, as amended by paragraph 
(1) of this subsection. 
(B) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—Not later 
than 18 months after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of
the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Environment and Public Works of the 
Senate a report containing a description of the 
process for assigning risk-based priorities estab-
lished under subparagraph (A). 
(C) INDEPENDENT REVIEW.— 
(i) 
PARTICIPATION
OF
NATIONAL 
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—Not later than 
18 months after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall enter into ap-
propriate arrangements with the National 
Academy of Sciences to permit the Acad-
emy to conduct an independent review of 
the process for assigning risk-based prior-
ities established under subparagraph (A). 
(ii) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 
than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Academy shall submit a re-
port on the results of the review to the 
Secretary, the Committee on Transpor-
tation and Infrastructure of the House of 
Representatives, and the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works of the Sen-
ate.