I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2125 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to carry out programs and activities 
to improve highway safety. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 27, 2009 
Mr. RAHALL (for himself, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, and Mr. GER-
LACH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to carry out 
programs and activities to improve highway safety. 
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 ‘‘Surface Transpor-
tation Safety Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. WORKER INJURY PREVENTION AND FREE FLOW OF 
VEHICULAR TRAFFIC. 
The Secretary of Transportation shall modify regula-
tions issued pursuant to section 1402 of the Safe, Ac-
countable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: 
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A Legacy for Users (23 U.S.C. 401 note; 119 Stat. 1227) 
to allow fire services personnel that are subject to the reg-
ulations to wear apparel meeting the high visibility re-
quirements set forth in NFPA 1971–2007 (Standard on 
Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and 
Proximity Fire Fighting) in lieu of apparel meeting the 
requirements set forth in ANSI/ISEA 107–2004. 
SEC. 3. POSITIVE PROTECTIVE DEVICES. 
Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall modify 
section 630.1108(a) of title 23, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, to ensure that— 
(1) at a minimum, positive protective measures 
are used to separate workers on highway construc-
tion projects from motorized traffic in all work zones 
conducted under traffic in areas that offer workers 
no means of escape, including tunnels and bridges, 
unless an engineering analysis determines otherwise; 
(2) temporary longitudinal traffic barriers are 
used to protect workers on highway construction 
projects in stationary work zones lasting 2 weeks or 
more when the project design speed is 45 miles per 
hour or greater and the nature of the work requires 
workers to be within one lane-width from the edge 
of a live travel lane, unless— 
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(A) an engineering analysis determines 
otherwise; or 
(B) the project is located in a State with 
a population density of 20 or fewer persons per 
square mile, outside of an urbanized area, and 
on a roadway with an annual average daily traf-
fic load that is less than 100 vehicles per hour; 
and 
(3) when positive protective devices are nec-
essary for highway construction projects, such de-
vices are paid for on a unit pay basis, unless doing 
so would create a conflict with innovative con-
tracting approaches such as design-build or a per-
formance-based contract where the contractor is 
paid to assume a certain risk allocation and payment 
is generally made on a lump sum basis. 
SEC. 4. USE OF PATENTED OR PROPRIETARY ITEMS TO 
FURTHER STATE STRATEGIC HIGHWAY SAFE-
TY PLANS. 
Section 112 of title 23, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) USE OF PATENTED OR PROPRIETARY ITEMS TO 
FURTHER
STATE
STRATEGIC
HIGHWAY
SAFETY 
PLANS.— 
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‘‘(1) APPROVAL OF USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.— 
The Secretary shall approve the use of Federal 
funds made available to carry out this chapter by a 
State in the payment of patented or proprietary 
items if the State transportation department cer-
tifies, based on the documented analysis and profes-
sional judgment of qualified State transportation of-
ficials, that— 
‘‘(A) the patented or proprietary item will 
contribute to the accomplishment of one or 
more goals set forth in the State’s strategic 
highway safety plan; 
‘‘(B) no equally suitable alternative item 
exists; 
‘‘(C) any specified patented or proprietary 
item will be clearly identified as a patented or 
proprietary item in bid documents; and 
‘‘(D) any patented or proprietary item 
specified pursuant to the certification will be 
available in sufficient quantity to complete any 
project identified in bid documents. 
‘‘(2) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—The au-
thority to utilize patented or proprietary items pro-
vided in paragraph (1) is in addition to authority to 
utilize such products that exists under this section 
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